Striking Gold in East Timor

A preliminary geological survey of East Timor indicating deposits of rare metals like gold

Next month I will be traveling to East Timor on an expedition to locate gold deposits only about fifty kilometers south of Dili. While those in the US struggle to afford housing, wages have stagnated, and mass layoffs have rocked industries from tech to Hollywood, fortunes may more easily be found elsewhere - and one spot that holds promise is a small island country just north of Australia.

East Timor is a underdeveloped country that is open to foreign investments, and while their main industries are farming and oil, in spite of preliminary findings of gold and other precious metals, has curiously attracted very little attention or formal surveying - making it the perfect location for any adventurous and entrepreneurial individual to step in. While most of the country lives in poverty, foreign investments could spur a rise in living conditions and violent crime remains lower than one might expect.

The country is largely Catholic (90%) which forms the basis for local customs and social support in the area, and provides a kind of cultural and social cohesion and collective identity. Any traveler would require basic survival skills and the ability to understand the complexities of living in the wilderness in a variety of conditions (fortunately, I've lived completely off-grid for an entire winter in conditions colder than the arctic in Iowa, off-grid in the Arizona desert summer, and off-grid on the set where old western films used to be filmed in Corgainville, California).

The first expedition will require basic supplies - a drone, metal detecting equipment, basic sleuices, tents or backpacking and camping equipment, pickaxes, food, and water. After placer gold or alluvial quartz veins are located, small samples can be retrieved to fund a permit with local authorities for an official survey. During this second mission, gold can can collected to fund scaling up operations.