My grandfather did a similar thing! He had an independent uranium geology/prospecting/speculating business in the 70s -- with a bunch of young roughneck employ

My grandfather did a similar thing! He had an independent uranium geology/prospecting/speculating business in the 70s -- with a bunch of young roughneck employees he would go out with a drill rig to the middle of nowhere on private land, trading a new well to the landowner for the opportunity to take a core sample. He was making decent money in mining claims, then Three Mile Island happened, and uranium prices dropped through the floor, killing all cash flow. A bunch of the employees effectively became family, practically living with them on little pay. When uranium prices bounced back in the 90s, my grandfather sold a number of claims (the business's previously-worthless assets), and his old loyal employees who had eventually moved on to paying work got really late 5-figure+ bonuses.