Rhodium fetches $9,500 to $12,000 an ounce, the highest price of any element on the periodic table. Taylor Ford says his Colorado claim assays at six to seven ounces of it per ton. He has spent nearly fifty years in exploration, worked in Exxon refineries, built and ran his own refinery in South Texas, and built one of the first horizontal drills. Thirty years ago a book about a platinum producer pulled him toward the mining side, and he has been testing rock ever since.
A note on the numbers below. Grades, assay results and production claims in this episode are Taylor Ford's own, from his own testing on his own claims. They have not been independently verified by Rare Earth Exchanges and do not appear in any public filing. We publish them as his account, not as established fact.
From Oil Exploration to Critical Minerals
Taylor Ford learned exploration in the oil business, working across what he describes as almost every method available: magnetometer surveys, seismic, geochemistry, satellite data, even reading tree colour for ethane escape at the surface. Oil exploration, he argues, is a well-defined discipline. Minerals are not.
- The methods do not transfer cleanly: in minerals you are chasing veins, and there is no equivalent of the constraints that tell an oil explorer where to stop.
- Most miners are not explorers: Taylor says the majority know how to mine but have little experience finding anything, unless they are placering a creek.
- Your lab is the whole game: he insists on finding a lab that knows the specific element you are looking for, rather than assuming any lab knows what it is doing.
- What pulled him across: a miners meeting thirty years ago, where he sat beside a ninety-two-year-old guest speaker who later walked him through ground he had not seen since 1941 and showed him vein assaying twenty-eight ounces a ton.
Rhodium, and Why It Is the One to Chase
Asked which element makes the most financial sense to pursue, Taylor does not hesitate.
- Price: rhodium fetches $9,500 to $12,000 an ounce, which he calls the highest price for any element.
- His grades: he says thirty percent of the five platinum-family elements in his tests are rhodium, working out to roughly six or seven ounces a ton.
- The rest of the basket: total platinum group metals show at twenty-one ounces a ton in his testing, but nothing else in the basket clears about $2,500 an ounce.
- Why it matters: a ton of rock, as he points out, is only about 2.75 feet cubed. The economics turn on grade, not tonnage.
The Alumina Find
After nine years of testing the same platinum property, Taylor says the last test turned up something he had not been looking for: alumina in a form pure enough, in his account, to skip conventional processing entirely.
- His claim: crush the ore, extract the aluminum, and it is ready for the smelter with no further steps.
- The contrast: aluminum normally comes from bauxite, requiring a great deal of ore processing for a modest amount of metal.
- How rare he believes it is: he says he can find only two or three comparable productions worldwide, naming Minnesota and South Africa.
- Our position: this is the least verified claim in the episode and a chemically bold one. We would want to see the assay and the lab named before treating it as established.
Why the Industry Is Scared
Taylor's diagnosis of American underperformance in critical minerals is not about ore bodies. It is about whether anyone will commit capital across an election.
- His estimate: the United States is at least twenty years behind, and possibly twenty-two to twenty-four.
- The pattern: administration versus administration versus administration, with nobody making a commitment. He says he has watched it happen seven times in oil.
- His own case: he sought government funding for a horizontal drill he had modified and was told the money would have been there six months earlier, before a new president arrived who did not want to spend on oil and gas.
- The scale of what was lost: that drill, he says, would have helped seventy percent of American wells, wells that through the early 2000s were producing seventy percent of daily consumption while each made under ten barrels a day.
- The conclusion: for the little guys there is never any support, or it is so weak as to make no difference.
Advice for New Prospectors
For anyone considering exploration, Taylor offers a specific starting point and a warning about cost.
- Start with dumps: find old mine dumps and have the ore analyzed across a spectrum of roughly 150 elements to see what stands out.
- Budget honestly: that testing runs into thousands of dollars before you know anything, and in his words it is not for the faint of heart.
- Mix your targets: pair something that pays in the short term with two or three elements you can chase over time, and mix rare earths with critical metals.
- Where he would look: silver, which he says is neglected because the price keeps anyone from working hard-rock deposits; uranium; and aluminum, because nearly everything contains it. Tungsten too, though sources are far scarcer.
- Where he would work: Arizona, because the state is used to mining and the government runs tighter. Colorado and California make him nervous, and Nevada is largely taken by major players.
- On timing: when you see it does not mean the world sees it. He reckons he has been about ten years ahead his whole career, and treats that as a hazard rather than a boast.
Key Takeaways
- Rhodium is the highest-priced element Taylor Ford tracks, at $9,500 to $12,000 an ounce, and it is what he intends to pursue on his Colorado ground.
- His grade figures, six to seven ounces a ton of rhodium out of twenty-one ounces a ton of total platinum group metals, are his own assays and are not independently verified.
- He believes the United States is twenty or more years behind, and blames policy that resets with every administration rather than any shortage of geology.
- Small operators find deposits and receive almost no support, a pattern he says holds identically in oil and in mining.
- For a newcomer, he recommends assaying old mine dumps across roughly 150 elements, and looking hardest at silver, uranium and aluminum.
- He is an explorationist, not an operator, and is openly looking for a contractor he can trust across minerals, oil and gas, geothermal or water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is rhodium more valuable than gold or platinum?
Rhodium is one of six platinum group metals and by far the scarcest in commercial supply. Taylor Ford puts its price at $9,500 to $12,000 an ounce and calls it the highest price of any element, well above the roughly $2,500 ceiling he cites for the other platinum group metals on his property. That is why he says rhodium, not gold or platinum, is the one worth chasing.
How much does it cost to start prospecting for critical minerals?
Taylor Ford advises a newcomer to find old mine dumps and have the ore analyzed, running a spectrum of roughly 150 elements to see whether anything stands out. He is candid that this runs into thousands of dollars before you learn anything, and that a serious program means years of testing, nine years in the case of his own platinum property.
Do you need a permit to prospect for minerals?
Taylor Ford says one advantage of minerals over oil is that you generally do not need a permit, but you do need to know whose land you are on. The trade-off is effort: mineral work means physically climbing the ground and carrying samples to a lab, which he describes as more tedious than oil surveys but far more accurate about what is actually there.
Which critical minerals does Taylor Ford think are most overlooked?
Three: silver, which he says is being neglected because the price keeps anyone from going after hard-rock deposits; uranium; and aluminum, on the grounds that nearly everything we manufacture contains it. He also points to tungsten as a real opportunity, with the caveat that sources for it are far scarcer.
Why does he think the United States is behind on critical minerals?
Policy inconsistency rather than geology. Taylor Ford argues the industry is scared because commitments do not survive a change of administration, something he says he has watched happen seven times in the oil business. His own example: government funding for a horizontal drill that would have served 70 percent of American wells fell through because a new president arrived who did not want to spend on oil and gas.
Transcript
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Dustin Olsen (00:00)
Hi Taylor, welcome to the show. How are you doing?
Taylor Ford (00:03)
Thank you. I'm glad to be here.
Dustin Olsen (00:06)
Taylor, we are so glad to have you here as well. you have quite the experience in this space. And for those who don't know you who are listening in, you are in the mining part of the industry, the prospecting more specifically. And so we're excited to get your perspective.
Taylor Ford (00:27)
I started off in the I've been in the oil business over almost fifty years. So and a lot of it the oil exploration business. So that's where I really learned the basics of exploration. I've worked in almost every angle of exploration there is, including state of the art type explorations and geochemical and so now eventually I switch from o I didn't I'm not firmly switched, but partially, where I now look into the critical metals and the rare earths. I did stumble in a in a book thirty years ago that told me about a platinum producer and it was so rare 'cause I'd already been looking at platinums even forty years ago. I guess because I I've built a refinery, I've worked in Exxon's refineries, and as you know the catalyst in refineries is platinum. one of the platinum elements. So and they each have different purposes. So I was like, wow. Platinum, you know, you don't hear much about platinum in Texas you don't hear about it at all, but guess what? I found some in Texas
Taylor Ford (01:41)
with test. but I have never touched it. I never it was it was held in areas that were oil leases. So trying to get old oil leases just wouldn't be worth it. So there's always the economics. switching gears, I ended up getting into the mining claims in Colorado and it wasn't the first set of mines I bought, it was a second set because of the platinums. And I thought, it was just a small it was small, you know, less than let's say five hundred acres, seven hundred acres. And I thought, Well, no one's ever figured out the source. So again, here I come from a background of exploration, and I'm like, you know, there's gotta be a source on this. And I don't know, you know, if it was a placer for those for those years it was produced. So it was not an actual mine even though there was one small mine on the property. back to the exploration side, you know, most people do not most miners even don't have the experience in the exploration side. they know how to mine. Unless they're unless they're placering a creek, it is it's still a a little bit foreign. and let me tell you there's whether I used magnetometer or any seismic or geochemical
Taylor Ford (03:01)
even satellite data and other arrays or are looking like in oil and gas you're looking for ethane escape at the at the soil and tree you're looking for forests that change color. So maybe a darker green than the whole area. But the point is it exploration is a very defined in this and in oil industry it's very defined as to what you're gonna be limited on or what's gonna show you the path. Minerals, a little bit so but not as much. minerals, you're always looking at the veins. Y I don't think I've ever done as many rock tests as I've ever done in this industry. I mean if you don't you better have a lab that you can depend on that does exactly what you need to do. And if they don't if you're looking for certain elements, then you have to get a lab that knows that element. Don't just take a wild guess and say, okay, they can they know what they're doing, 'cause that's not the truth. So you need to you need to hook up with a lab that's gonna actually help you by a hundred
Taylor Ford (04:15)
percent. And because that's a big
Dustin Olsen (04:16)
Taylor Taylor, just really quick, so you started your career in oil and doing the exploration for them. What drew you to critical minerals and rare earths? What caused that switch?
Taylor Ford (04:30)
Yeah, because I went to a miners meeting. I'd been wanting to look into some gold and this has been thirty years ago. So I went to some miners meeting, they're all there in coveralls, and there's like twenty of And I sat at the table near the front and a gentleman sat next to me, and he was ninety two years old, and he and I became friends, but he was tell I didn't know but he was like the guest speaker. And everything he had to say just awed me. And so I actually took him up to an area that he had mined and he showed me things that he hadn't seen since nineteen forty one. And he showed me where some old portals were and he showed me some pieces of vein that I was astounded at, twenty eight ounces a ton. And I was just like, wow, I was at the right I was at the right place at the right time. So I and he and I stayed friends forever until he had to go to a nursing home. But what made me jump was that. and I found gold in Arizona, found gold in New Mexico Colorado for sure. I've found diamonds in areas unknown in Arkansas and at the diamond mine there.
Taylor Ford (05:50)
I've found platinum
Dustin Olsen (05:50)
So Taylor, quick question then.
Taylor Ford (05:52)
in finding platinum in Texas. That's me. I'm just I'm just Sherlock Holmes on the trail. So that's a good analogy.
Dustin Olsen (06:02)
There you go. Taylor, just out of curiosity, really quick. So you're exploring across state lines, you're based in Texas, but you've been to all these other states exploring. do you need a permit? Do you have to own the land? How do you how can you be a prospector and get around some of that?
Taylor Ford (06:19)
yeah. Well, that's w that's one thing nice about the minerals is you really don't need a permit but you gotta know the land you're on. Same definitely with oil. And so but with oil even, let's say you can do surveys down the highway, the roads, the small country roads and no one knows. So and there's ways to do geochemical that way on the side of the road, no one'll know. But with minerals, you have to climb over that land, you gotta take stuff and take it into the lab. So it is more tedious. but you're gonna have an accurate snapshot of what you have. And that's what I do all the
Taylor Ford (07:02)
time. As I just got four tests back in the last month. just to finalize something on the platinum property.
Daniel O'Connor (07:11)
I had a question. I find prospecting, exploration fascinating. Taylor, you've been a supporter of rare earth exchanges. We're grateful. Does your exploration for minerals, critical minerals, metals, rare earths, is it more word of mouth? that you talk to through your network or are you doing a lot of research, geological research to look for old mines?
Taylor Ford (07:36)
No, it's wow. No, it's
Daniel O'Connor (07:41)
Sorry.
Taylor Ford (07:41)
all research. I only stumbled across this one miner at a miners meeting, but otherwise you better be willing to put in thousand hours of research before you start spend investing money and I've invested a lot in mines and wells and you just you know, but eventually that's what you wanna do. But you put in the time because it's not worth go second guessing.
Daniel O'Connor (08:06)
So if we look at some of the findings that we've seen lately and that you're considering listing on the REEx Marketplace. So for example, you found aluminum, right? So lately,
Daniel O'Connor (08:22)
I want to describe that. This is pretty exciting. It's actually in a pure form. Usually aluminum comes in bauxite ore. You have to process a
Taylor Ford (08:27)
Comes from bauxite.
Daniel O'Connor (08:30)
whole lot of ore to get a little bit of aluminum.
Taylor Ford (08:32)
That's right. And what I have on this one is pure aluminum alumina and you don't have to do anything except crack up you know, smash your ore and take the aluminum out. That's it. And it's ready to go to the smelter. That's how pure it is. But you just gotta get it out, you know, separated away from extracted from your whatever your ore is. But it takes no other steps. I there's only as I can find, there are only three main two main productions in the world and one of 'em's in Minnesota and also one in South Africa where both the platinum mines are. And I do have this has platinum but I never knew it was gonna you know, I'm just thrilled. I was you know, I was on my last test on nine years of testing and I did when I found this aluminum staring me in the face. You know, I just I didn't know exactly it was aluminum, but I had to have it tested. But when you find something and I tell that to any miner, any explorations for ya. You're just like, I did it. You know, it's that kind of success story. Even if
Taylor Ford (09:46)
you never do anything more. But it's like I frickin' found it. It's like one of the wells I my first well that I ever drilled, I had speculated the depths of it and I speculated five different pay zones and each depth from what to what. And I hit all five and I was only off one by three feet. So And I've done that multiple times. I can I look at old fields, I can tell you if they've missed something or not, if it might be worth it, maybe not. But, you know, to feel this and to find it, you know, that's more than the icing on the cake. it it just in my angle, you know, it's just like You just got rewarded, you know? And that's the way you have to look at it. It's just like, Okay, God, thank you, you know?
Daniel O'Connor (10:42)
Let's talk about that for a minute, though. If I remember, you have a way of
Taylor Ford (10:47)
I mean way.
Daniel O'Connor (10:49)
sensing. that let's just take oil.
Taylor Ford (10:51)
Let's just take oil.
Daniel O'Connor (10:52)
You have a way of sensing when there is oil under the ground.
Daniel O'Connor (10:58)
And when, this is important, when did you first... consciously recognize that you had that ability.
Taylor Ford (11:08)
the in the late eighties. I had owned a refinery. I owned one of the first and we built the refinery. I was president of it. And I owned and built the one of the first horizontal drills that Schlumberger ended up taking. And When the oil industry went to eight dollars for I mean the oil price went to eight dollars, you know, I lost the refinery. I had to sell it and I did sell it. But to you know, it's like, man, what a why do I gotta go through this? You know, here I just built it and here it is you know, technically fantastic. And yet I'm being served you know, a kick. So I looked at it as like, okay, so I knew someone who said they could find oil. I didn't believe it at the time. I didn't know if that was real or not. But I put in over ten thousand hours and I have I have to say yes because all The history shows us that everybody did it. All the civilization civilizations did it in a way that we don't understand. They found things all over the earth, all over the world. So I went on that premise and took this a step and now anything I feel or see I just draw it. no one else I offered it to Exxon to be
Taylor Ford (12:35)
And I knew Exxon was already using some people to do this. And the Marines taught the Marines how to do it to find the Vietnamese tunnels. And so there were all different things, reasons why I said, okay, I'm gonna have a leap of faith here, I'm gonna do it. My background was already every exploration method possible. So now I said, okay, let me feel this out. And I did. And then I drilled my first well and that was that was another start. But I'd already been I'd already tested myself and done research. wow. At least five to ten thousand wells on during this episode. And now I don't second guess it. You know, I would put my own money in it. but it's is it faint of heart? Yeah. Is it would I want three other things to confirm it? Yes. I'd for me enough to think I'm an explorationist that I would bet my own money on a dry well, yeah, I would do it. I'd do it in a second. Because I feel like somehow I have this little angle that I'm using myself, so why not? And that's how I look at it. Now
Taylor Ford (13:48)
I've done it on the minerals. But it's just very interesting. I haven't followed through. I plan to follow through next summer with seeing if what I've written and recorded is going to spatially occupy where I think it does. and I'll see it in the walls of the mines.
Daniel (14:09)
Well, I was going to ask you with the same sense that
Taylor Ford (14:11)
Yeah, that's
Daniel (14:13)
you've had with oil, you know, when you're up in the mountains in the Rockies, which I know your claims are mostly up in the Rockies.
Taylor Ford (14:20)
Yeah.
Daniel (14:22)
We don't know where, of course, that's secret. But now, do you, is there the same sense that has manifest when you're up there or is it different? In other words, like you said, it's different with the mineralization. It could be the trees, could be certain types of plants, could be certain types of soil, could be a bunch of things.
Taylor Ford (14:46)
Well, I found helium in Colorado and so I wouldn't mind trying one well in that. I thought I had someone out of LA that wanted to go in with that, but there it's flukish. Anyway, and helium's very much in demand and very priced for space use. And
Daniel (15:04)
Well, just on that note, helium is made through, I believe, the petrochemical process. there's obviously, yeah, it's extracted.
Taylor Ford (15:12)
extracted in the petrol chemical process.
Daniel (15:16)
And right now, because of the conflicts in the Middle East, kinetic conflict, there's
Daniel (15:21)
a helium shortage.
Taylor Ford (15:23)
Yep. That's why I've been wanting to drill look at drilling I had proposed I think ten wells for helium. i know we're gonna I'm almost positive we'll hit gas, but if you can get the helium it'll double your price that you get on a daily basis. So helium's worth it. Now, back to minerals and You know, I love y'all's guys' website. you know, I like to keep up a little bit with the international, but I have been ahead of the game on thinking that we are so far behind. Truth honestly, I think we're almost we're at least twenty years behind. maybe close to twenty two or twenty four years behind. And I hate it. I hate it. I've been on my
Daniel (16:05)
I... I... Yeah.
Taylor Ford (16:07)
been on my path for nine years. And that's before I even thought, yeah, I'm gonna do it, you know. I know there was some pre thought on it. But we you know, it blind very blind administrations and yeah, now they're catching up and They're not throwing away money by any means, but you know, if you're not a public company then why are you talking to us? And you know, there's so many resources out there and small people who own And th talk about this needs to be the new gold mining area. You know, that forget you know, I'm not saying don't look for gold, but the rare earths and the critical metals. are so essential to life as we know it that We are gonna injure ourselves even worse, worse than we have. and there's not gonna be a catch up to this.
Daniel (17:01)
Taylor, in terms of critical mineral rare earth exploration, do you see, I mean, you know, obviously you're in that community, do you feel like there is a growing interest
Taylor Ford (17:11)
Okay.
Daniel (17:13)
among business people, entrepreneurs, or investors based on the chatter and the communications and, you know, the sites and the places you go to?
Taylor Ford (17:25)
Yeah. Interesting
Daniel (17:26)
Is there growing interest in exploration of critical and rare earths?
Taylor Ford (17:27)
exploration. In general, yes, but nobody knows what to how to find it or what to do. And it's not because they can't, but most of are you know, if it's you know, they don't wanna travel or they don't wanna go spend a bunch of money on tests they don't know about. You know, there's just
Daniel (17:45)
Right.
Taylor Ford (17:46)
all reasons and the incentives I guess are there. if you have a monazite deposit, yeah, you can extract maybe a little bit easier, but you have to extract a lot. You know, it's like digging a big pit. And
Daniel (17:59)
Yeah.
Taylor Ford (17:59)
but I think the industry's scared. And there's several reasons for that. They're scared because they've seen you know it's administration versus administration versus administration. Nobody makes a commitment. I've seen it in the oil business seven times. And the oil industry doesn't have any faith.
Daniel (18:19)
Just before we get too deep into that, I want to try to ensure I'm understanding what you're saying. Are you saying that as we switch from one administration to another to another, we do not have a consistent
Taylor Ford (18:30)
Why you can describe it to an left with a tool and left with it, yes.
Daniel (18:35)
mining and mineral policy for the nation?
Taylor Ford (18:39)
Correct. And it's it's the same on oil and gas. It's the same even on water and water resources. We wait till there's a casualty or a some kind of you know, collapse or even a you know, a harmful You know, I've seen areas when I had a refinery in South Texas, when that's the one I built, the town was going a town on the ocean was going they had no water. So all the fresh water we produced through the refinery, it was distilled. we ran it through, you know, a couple of hundred filters and other stuff, and we gave it to the town. You know, but how many refineries do that or how many you know, is anybody thinking out of the box? No. No, and especially not DC. You know, they think it's out of the box if they decide to do it in the US versus somewhere else. That's a that's as close as you get to out of the box. And
Daniel (19:42)
Yeah, that's very interesting. So
Taylor Ford (19:42)
No that's really interesting. So
Daniel (19:44)
basically you have a lot of groupthink, fear, underlying people are afraid. think environmental litigation, regulation created a culture that
Taylor Ford (19:56)
yeah.
Daniel (19:57)
was not conducive to mining.
Taylor Ford (20:00)
Or invest for investing. Yeah. Investing. Okay.
Daniel (20:03)
Yeah, or investing. so I think, one thing, you know, we don't get political in this channel, but
Taylor Ford (20:09)
Yes, I understand.
Daniel (20:11)
one thing we can recognize is Trump, President Trump
Taylor Ford (20:14)
no problem.
Daniel (20:16)
2.0, this second administration has done more for critical mineral rare earth industrial policy than any other administration since probably before the Cold War.
Taylor Ford (20:28)
Yeah. So it's pretty than you know, yeah.
Daniel (20:28)
So it's pretty unprecedented. Do we agree with every investment? Probably not, but I think his administration has done a good job of changing the tone.
Taylor Ford (20:41)
The tone, yes.
Daniel (20:43)
So we're excited about that.
Taylor Ford (20:45)
reducing the paperwork all across the board. Yeah.
Daniel (20:48)
That's right. we look at, just to have a little fun here, what's your most exciting critical mineral or element to pursue? You're in exploration
Taylor Ford (20:59)
Well.
Daniel (21:00)
mode. As far as money, what makes the most sense from your standpoint? Is
Daniel (21:05)
it gold? Is it, or something else, platinum?
Taylor Ford (21:09)
It's kinda yeah, I would love to do the I've got rhodium which as you know fetches ninety five hundred to twelve thousand an ounce. And that's the highest price for any element. So and I
Daniel (21:18)
That's a lot. That's a lot. Rhodium.
Taylor Ford (21:23)
a third of all my tests show that I've got a third sorry, third of all my tests. All my tests show that thirty percent of the five elements that I show in the platinum family are rhodium. And that comes out, I think, to six, seven ounces a ton. And a ton's only about mm two and a half feet, a little bit more, two point seven five feet cubed. So a ton of rock's not really that much, but you gotta pull out you know, six, seven ounces. And even though the total platinum show at twenty one ounces a ton, the rhodium's the one to go after. You know, it all the rest of are not getting over twenty five hundred bucks. They're not getting any higher than that.
Daniel (22:10)
Right.
Taylor Ford (22:10)
next summer I wanna do I'm gonna go to the gold claims that I've owned for a long time. And I'm gonna
Daniel (22:16)
Mm-hmm.
Taylor Ford (22:17)
go after that because it's in the gravels. I've got pieces bigger than your fingernail. And they
Taylor Ford (22:23)
they were pulled from less of best friend of mine or good friend of mine. He di he was on the edge of my property on his and he pulled out nuggets the size of your thumbnails from a foot and a half deep. Now, do
Taylor Ford (22:39)
I think I have much in foot and a half deep? No. But I want to go deeper, a lot deeper. So he lucked out. And it's just beautiful. He you know he did he did it. You know, and he pulled out three, four ounces in no time.
Daniel (22:55)
Well, that's, you know, three, four ounces right there is like, you know, what, 15 grand right there.
Taylor Ford (23:00)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it made his day. But now he said, Well, can
Daniel (23:03)
Yeah, I bet.
Taylor Ford (23:05)
I come on yours? And I said, Well, I guess, but share me You know. And but
Taylor Ford (23:10)
I don't think there's that much that shallow anymore. You've gotta be you've gotta you almost have to trench across the whole creek and find your sweet spot. But I wanna go deeper 'cause I know it was never touched deeper.
Daniel (23:27)
But if we look at gold, mean, like if you go to the, you know, my home state of California, of course,
Taylor Ford (23:33)
Yeah,
Daniel (23:33)
the gold rush was there. The gold country was the Sierra foothills.
Taylor Ford (23:37)
Mm-hmm.
Daniel (23:38)
And a lot of the gold would come out of the rivers. A lot of it was placer.
Taylor Ford (23:42)
Yeah.
Daniel (23:43)
But they also had deep mines, you know, some of these towns in the Sierra Nevada.
Taylor Ford (23:46)
Sure. I've been out there feeling it.
Daniel (23:50)
Is that, if you could pick an area in the country to be, you know, exploring to get more claims, it be the Sierra?
Taylor Ford (23:55)
More follow up two
Daniel (23:58)
Would it be Arizona? Would it be, where would you go?
Taylor Ford (24:02)
I like Arizona because they're used to it. Okay, and they don't have big cities and I like the way the government's run a little bit tighter.
Daniel (24:11)
Yeah.
Taylor Ford (24:12)
Colorado still makes me nervous. California definitely makes me nervous. Nevada would be another one I think worth out, but all the big guys have already moved in there. I mean some big, huge claims.
Daniel (24:23)
Yeah, there's some huge, Nevada right now has a lot of gold, some big gold mining operations plus
Daniel (24:32)
Taylor, know, up there north of Winnemucca is the largest lithium deposit they're saying in the world, I believe. It's massive. It's under development now. So, you
Taylor Ford (24:42)
Okay. It's under development now.
Daniel (24:48)
know, in fact, That was partially an inspiration for rare earth exchanges because I've always been a mineral collector myself. I've gone all over the
Taylor Ford (24:57)
Okay.
Daniel (24:57)
place. And, you know, I drive from Salt Lake to San Francisco and I spoke with some miners about the lithium development out there. But any for individuals that want to get into prospect exploration, prospecting, What's your advice? Because it's an exhilarating process. I've been involved with it. It's
Daniel (25:23)
fun. What's some of your advice as someone that's been doing this for a long time?
Taylor Ford (25:28)
Yeah, it go for definitely go for something that's gonna pay. I mean and I'm talking about a good price, not just long term, but get into something short term and then also get into something that's gonna you know, if you find two or three elements that you can chase over time, mix that. I still say mix the rare earths with the critical metals. I have I think six or seven of the lanthanide family from the supermagnets. I have three radioactive elements on this is all on the platinum property, but I'm not chasing any of them. but to have three radioactive and this is the kind of the region that Madame Curie found used found her radium. so it's the real thing. I'm surrounded by silver, gold, and molybdenum and yet I don't have that much of any three of You know, it's just funny how you don't know until you start testing, you know, but all right, so back to your question. I think the silver mines right now are being neglected. So if someone wants to invest,
Daniel (26:40)
You too.
Taylor Ford (26:42)
I would look at silver. but then again, it's hard rock mining. a lot of it was picked but they're still out there and because of the price no one's going after it. another one I think I think uranium is another
Daniel (26:54)
Right. just on silver, there was a huge silver, sorry, uranium.
Taylor Ford (27:02)
So silver, uranium, probably aluminum because everything we do has aluminum in it.
Daniel (27:08)
Yeah.
Taylor Ford (27:10)
aluminum. So if I pick three, those three now I know I've got a guy I'm w I'm talking to and working with, he's got Tungsten. And
Daniel (27:24)
Yeah, that's a big one.
Taylor Ford (27:26)
so I could see tungsten, but you know, that's a that's even rarer than some of the other stuff. You know, so you've got to look at your sources for tungsten, but there are you know, for the guy just getting into it, go find some dumps and have the ore analyzed. You know, that'd be one thing right there. Have the ore analyze and do a spectrum of maybe a hundred and fifty elements and just see if anything stands out. But now you're talking spending thousands just to find out. You know, by the time it's all said, done in time, you're
Daniel (27:57)
Yeah, no, yeah, yeah.
Taylor Ford (28:01)
easily in thousands. so it's not for the faint of heart and
Daniel (28:03)
No, yeah, yeah, I think. Yeah.
Taylor Ford (28:06)
you know, it'd be best if you could I don't know. I did it all by myself, but I'm sure there's maybe a group coming together and coming together and trying to do it. I don't know. everything's
Daniel (28:18)
What?
Taylor Ford (28:18)
so expensive these days, y'all know that, no matter what you do.
Daniel (28:22)
Yeah.
Taylor Ford (28:23)
it's not the old days. I yeah, I think that's where I'll leave that.
Daniel (28:29)
No, that's very helpful. think we're grateful. You've been a supporter of Rare Earth Exchanges pretty much since we started. And you're
Taylor Ford (28:38)
Yeah.
Daniel (28:39)
an exploration person and prospector. So I have a personal interest in that. And it's been great to see your finds as we're trying to build the platform up.
Taylor Ford (28:49)
Right. Yeah. So
Daniel (28:53)
You know, your participation and contribution has been greatly appreciated. You
Taylor Ford (28:57)
Thank you.
Daniel (28:58)
know, and I think, you appreciate what we're trying to do. We're trying to make awareness
Taylor Ford (29:02)
Yes, I do. Yep.
Daniel (29:04)
about the importance of
Taylor Ford (29:05)
I just wish I were here ten years ago, but I think it would have been tougher.
Daniel (29:10)
Yeah, think we're having an impact, I think, but I also think there's a lot of misinformation out there too.
Taylor Ford (29:21)
Yeah. I just wanna say
Daniel (29:24)
Yeah.
Taylor Ford (29:25)
this. It seems like a good half of my life 'cause I've done you know, I've built many things. I've been on the trail of a billion dollars at least eight, ten times. And it seems like I'm myself, I'm always ahead, you know, by about ten years. And that's the case. I mean it so you gotta watch out on timing. That's all I'm gonna say about this. Is
Daniel (29:50)
Yeah.
Taylor Ford (29:50)
when you see it doesn't mean the world sees it. So study the facts of what's needed now. And when I built the horizontal drill, the first one wasn't I wasn't the inventor, but the second one I was and I modified it. So I went in to get money from the government and they said, we would have funded you six months ago. But a new president had come in and they said, We can't he doesn't want to spend any money on oil and gas. So and that was a horizontal drill I built that would have take helped 70% of the wells in the United States. And
Daniel (30:25)
Wow. Wow.
Taylor Ford (30:27)
because most people don't know this, but those seventy percent of the wells up through the early two thousands were making seventy percent of the oil in our daily consumption. Seventy percent. And they were all making less than ten barrels. So
Taylor Ford (30:43)
there's for the little guys and this comes with the mining too, for the little guys there's never any support or it's so weak. And I don't know how we ever rectify that going forward.
Daniel (30:57)
Well, I was just going to say, you know, one of our missions is to spur and be a catalyst for industrial policy. part of that, Taylor, now we're not talking about the government coming in and picking winners. We're talking about
Taylor Ford (31:12)
Yeah.
Daniel (31:13)
governments, public, private, whatever, providing support. Like, look, it's a national security matter. So when Taylor Ford goes out and is prospecting and exploring. If you make a find, yes, you can benefit, but the whole society can benefit. We need to encourage and incentivize. So through the tax code and through other means. Let me give you an example. I'm OK. Some of these, there needs
Taylor Ford (31:41)
Okay.
Daniel (31:42)
to be shared services where prospectors can get things done more economically. That's going to induce more people to be out there looking for good things. There's a lot of treasure out there, Taylor. There's a lot out there. But again, we need more people to find it. We need younger people that are coming up to also get be interested in the stuff.
Taylor Ford (32:01)
Yeah, it's been crash.
Daniel (32:05)
anyway, I know we're running short of time. Definitely, you know, if there's folks interested in partnering, Want to learn more, investors, how can they find you?
Taylor Ford (32:16)
Wow. you know, the company's Ark Energy and it's Arkenergy two zero two zero at Yahoo dot com and they can just email me. I think that'd be the best way. but
Daniel (32:28)
Okay.
Taylor Ford (32:29)
but I you know, right now I'm not I'm not I'm already with the Department of Energy trying to work out some contractors through them because they've already screened Yeah, I and that's my side of it. I'm an explorationist, but I need a real contractor, someone who I can hopefully trust, you know, to
Daniel (32:51)
Yeah.
Taylor Ford (32:52)
to take this and spin it and do what we gotta do. I think I've got
Daniel (32:56)
Yeah.
Taylor Ford (32:57)
one person by the way, his name's Taylor too. And so i guess, you know, who knows if that's synchronicity. But I'm open. If someone doesn't want to do minerals, they want to do oil and gas, they want to do geothermal or water. I'm open I've got some geothermal things, you know, that I think should be done, should be completed. and I'm not talking, you know, wacky stuff. So it just depends on their risk, you know, their risk reward, and what their appetite's like. You know, this takes this takes sometimes funny money. don't you know, don't get me wrong on that. It's just it is risky. It is it is risky. I'm not gonna tell anybody
Daniel (33:42)
yeah, yep.
Taylor Ford (33:44)
any different.
Daniel (33:46)
But the reward can be, again, it's not just the monetary, but it's also, like you said, when you actually find something in nature. know, it is a Eureka! It is a...
Taylor Ford (33:51)
it's Eureka. We all see that that minor holding up that Eureka, you know. And it's that moment. It's just spectacular.
Daniel (34:05)
It's a spectacular moment. agree. Dustin, think we have to start wrapping up.
Dustin Olsen (34:13)
Yep, we do. Taylor, thanks for being on the show and sharing your wisdom and your insights from your throughout your career, which is sounds like has been really rewarding, the ups and the downs and hopefully someone takes you up on your offer.
Taylor Ford (34:25)
Yeah. You have to go through both. You have to go through both, Dustin. Because then you
Dustin Olsen (34:30)
Hundred percent.
Taylor Ford (34:31)
you hold steady. You know, it's you want to become steadfast as you're doing this. You know, and I'm not a marketer. I'm
Daniel (34:39)
That's it.
Taylor Ford (34:40)
I'm just all my life I've done R and D or exploration and that's what I like. That's what I'm good at. And so I need y'all to be the market. I know you are.
Daniel (34:52)
We're there for you.
Dustin Olsen (34:52)
You got it. Thanks, Taylor.
Taylor Ford (34:56)
Sounds great. Thank you. Let's do it again. Okay.
