Jessica Bjorkman, 25, seriously considered going to university but couldn't think of a good enough reason to do so. Working in the wilderness, hiking through the bush, riding quads and snowmobiles and flying across the breathtaking beauty of Northern Ontario was a lot more appealing to her than sitting in classrooms for four years.

Growing up on the shores of Whiskey Jack Lake, 40 km outside Atikokan, with her nature-loving parents and five

younger siblings, Jessica felt right at home in the wilderness, helping her dad who had quit a desk job with Ontario Hydro to take up prospecting.

When she came to the fork in the road following graduation, Jessica joined the family "prospecting business" full-time. Since then, sisters Katarina, 23, and Ruth, 19, and brother Bjorn, 21, have done the same. She also has two younger sisters.

"It's too bad that people don't know about prospecting," says Jessica. "Kids don't even consider it as an option. People have this image of an old guy in the Yukon panning for gold. They don't even know what we do."

Almost every mine in Ontario traces its origin to a prospector who came across an interesting rock sample and sent it away to be assayed. These days, prospectors use computer databases and the Internet to research promising ground and carry global positioning systems to pinpoint potential mineralization, but not much else has changed.

Claim staking
If an assay result is promising, the next step is to stake a claim to the property. Jessica and her family stake some claims for themselves, and do contract claim-staking for mining and exploration companies. Staking a claim requires marking each corner of the property in a precise way and registering it with the provincial mining recorder's office. This gives the owner of the claim exclusive mineral rights to the property.

But it's not exactly a walk in the park.

"It's a lot harder than people realize," says Jessica. "They think you're walking on a trail or something, but there are no trails in the bush. It's always over rough terrain.

"You definitely have to have the personality to put up with harsh conditions and just keep going. You can't be a quitter. It's just a mindset. Some people get scared and think they can't do it, but it's all in your head."

Bad weather, rough terrain, mosquitoes, and bears are some of the harsh conditions she has in mind.

Bears
"I've had three encounters with bears," says Jessica. "The first one chased me through a swamp, the second one I had to spray right in his face. I carry a can of pepper spray right on my hip. You don't want it in your pack where you have to dig for it. The third time, my sister and I were working and we came upon a moose that had been killed and mostly eaten. We were between it and two bears and they ran right at us. We yelled at them and waved our arms and they took off."

The worst conditions are in the spring when the snow in the trees melts and falls on you, she says. "You're soaking wet all day and there's nothing you can do about it."

Then there's so-called "blowdown," where dead trees toppled by windstorms make for slow going.

At the other extreme, there's "dreamland" - widely spaced jackpine forest, which is both awe-inspiring and easy to hike through. In winter, Jessica is happiest "in open forest with a few feet of snow that has a good crust on it so you don't fall through and a temperature of around -20 Celsius with no wind."

Encounters with wildlife aren't always life threatening. Once, a moose passed right in front of her. "I could have reached out and touched him," she says.

Aside from an evening course in Geology at Confederation College in Thunder Bay and a four-day wilderness first aid course, Jessica has learned most of what she knows from her father and people she works with.

Contract prospecting and claim staking jobs can range from a few days to two or three weeks. For the first few years, business was slow, but once word got out that they did a good job, the phone started ringing. Jessica works year round and makes a pretty good living.

Compensation
"On average I would make $325 per day claim staking," she says. "It can be deceiving though. You need to factor in the time spent preparing and traveling. As well, you have to take into consideration that it's not a steady job, especially when you first start out. So you work a few days and you're off for a few days."

A lot of prospectors have something else to fall back on. In her case, she's thinking of starting an adventure tourism business in the winter.

As a prospector with claims of your own, you can also make money optioning your property to mining and exploration companies. Compensation is usually in the form of cash and shares, and if the property becomes a mine, a net smelter royalty kicks in, which is about the same as winning the lottery.

Anyone interested in considering a career as a prospector can investigate summer employment opportunities with the Ontario Geological Survey, join one of seven regional branches of the Ontario Prospectors Association or stop by one of the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines' resident geologist offices.

"Forget about a résumé" advises Jessica. "Networking is the way to go. Be really keen and tell them you want to work in the bush. They'll know who's hiring."

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