Princeton’s first all-women gold prospecting company is ready for business.
Three-year intermediate prospector Lynda Harris started Foxy Lady Paydirt late last year after she realized there was a huge void in marketing gold to women.
“The majority of people who buy gold online are men,” she said.
“My company targets women in a way traditional companies don’t.”
Foxy Lady Paydirt sells small bags of dirt with specs of gold in them that need to be panned out by hand.
She sells online - about 90 per cent of her customers are in the United States.
Harris’ signature logo - a busty blonde prospector with a pile of gold - is on every bag, along with the quote “Foxy Lady Paydirt mined exclusively by foxy ladies.”
“I got a couple my girlfriends together - who weren’t afraid of chipping a nail - to bushwack with me to locate our producing claims,” Harris said.
Gold mining isn’t for people who are afraid of hard work.
Harris spends days at a time in the forest searching for gold.
She uses land owned by fellow Princeton gold prospector Gino Del-Ciotto. They find their gold from land he owns the mineral rights to.
Harris’ customers reap the benefits of her hard work.
They sift through the dirt looking for specs of gold and platinum that they set aside in a small vile. A large wash bin, clean water and dish soap are used to separate the paydirt.
“I have really learned that money doesn’t grow on trees - it’s dug out of the ground,” Harris said.
The ladies located a decent patch of gold during a prospecting expedition not far from where Harris learned the trade.
The gold comes from Granite Creek and the Tulameen River near Princeton.
Harris dries and bags the paydirt, which is only screened for nuggets bigger than one-quarter of an inch.
The rest of the gold is left inside and extra gold may be added to make sure customers are getting what they want, Harris said.
Harris’ prospecting partner has sold over 18,000 bags of paydirt online in the last eight years.
Harris hopes to follow suit by attracting more female cutomers to her company.
“I only work with other women, and that appeals to people. It’s fun to think the gold they buy was taken out of the ground and packaged by women.”
The crafty ladies will be hauling out gold from Lodestone Mountain near Princeton this summer.
“The area has some of the rarest gold and platinum concentrated in the world,” she said.