Idaho
Gold Prospectors Association
E-Newsletter
President's Message:
Happy New Year everybody! Hope everyone had a great holiday season and we are all rarn' to go for the New Year. There are no job prospects on the horizon for the moment so hopefully I will be able to make this meeting. Other than seeing a 40-ounce nugget on the GPAA show last night, nothing new is going on in my life. So, we will all meet on the 8th and catch up at the meeting. Happy New Year to all!
Al Palin, President
IGPA minutes 01/11/05
The meeting was called
to order by
president Al Palin. There were 55 present. He greeted the members and
guests. Al also thanked the members for the plaque that was presented
to him and Tami at the November meeting. Larry Steele welcomed the
guests. A motion was passed to approve the minutes, even though there
was no newsletter. Rodney Poe gave the treasurer report.
There is $2532.13 in the checking account, $625 in the Miss Lucy Bond,
$50 in petty cash, for a total of $3207.13. There was extensive
discussion regarding water rights for the Miss Lucy claim. Warren
Jindrich will check into getting water rights for this. Al Palin talked
about places to go prospecting. Chuck Knapp talked about the fact that
the Forest Service told him he needed a plan of operation to even pan
on his claim on Mores Creek. Al will check out these new rules. Al
talked about the Sprag Pole bar in Murray/Pritchard and the large
nuggets found in that area. He also discussed the Crystal Gold Mine in
Kellogg. He talked about the Kirtley Creek outing being on a recent
episode of Prospecting America on the Outdoor Channel. He again
encouraged everyone to bring friends to the meetings. The upcoming gold
show in Hooper, Utah, was discussed. This will be in April. There did
not seem to be any enthusiasm for our club setting up a booth down
there. The raffle was held. Al Malmstrom won the presidents drawing and
will provide the refreshments for the February meeting. The following
people donated prizes for the raffle;
Jerry McMullen........Digital gold scale
Jerry McMullen.......Silver/Coin Annual magazine
Jerry McMullen.......LED light/magnifier
Jerry McMullen.......Gems of Idaho book
Loren Gray..............5 specimen cases
The 50/50 drawing was held, and was won by Diana Jensen, a new member.
She took home $44. NEW BUSINESS:
Al discussed the upcoming election of new officers. We will form a
search committee in February, who will contact members asking if they
would be willing to run for the four positions. Then the committee will
report their results at the March meeting. These results will also be
published in the April newsletter, and the election itself is held in
April. Please be considering whether you would like to help with the
committee or are interested in running for an office. The yearly
auction is also coming up in May. Please bring items to be auctioned
off including mining equipment, supplies, outdoor equipment, baked
goods, white elephants, etc. Al Malmstrom has a preliminary schedule
made up that will be in the newsletter. Al also announced that he was
having health problems and would not be as actively involved in the
club this year. Ron Mackelprang graciously agreed to put together a
claims guide for this year again. Rob Forbes also had a list of the
outings for the Nampa GPAA club. Their website is http://www.idahogpaa.org
. Gerry McMullen announced there was a cancellation for the Gaines
Creek Alaska trip. Contact him if you are interested. It is $2500 plus
air fare. His website is www.gerrysdetectors.com,
there is also a link to his website on the club website. There will be
a hearing on the proposed Atlanta mine on the 20th
and there will also be hearings coming up regarding the proposed
Black's Creek mines. Everyone was reminded that the club has mining
equipment to rent. We tentatively scheduled a panning demo for April. A
lady from a lands access group will be here in March to speak for a
half hour to the club. The meeting was adjourned. Refreshments were
provided by Ken Held.
Respectfully
submitted, Tami Palin, Secretary
I want to thank all members who came out to the January meeting. That was the largest turn-out ever for the first meeting of a new year. Let's make 2005 the best year in our clubs history. Keep inviting new people to come and join with us.
Enclosed elsewhere in this newsletter is a tentative outings and agenda schedule for 2005, subject to change due to weather or a vote of the club members.
At our March meeting we will have a special speaker, Peggy Blickfeldt. Peggy is the area representative for the American Land Foundation out of Tyler, Texas. They are an organization that fights for private rights and we, as a club are a member. They currently have a case filed with the UP.SO. Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of the Endangered Species Act. The information she will impart to us should be of interest, so be sure to attend that meeting.
May each of you find gold this year and enjoy the fellowship of other club members.
Al Malmstrom
New
BLM Office in Marsing
The BLM opened a new field office to oversee the federal lands in
Owyhee County. The federal government owns about 76 percent
of the land in Owyhee County. The office will continue on government
programs such as mining, off road use, grazing permits and wild horse
management.
The
Owyhee Wilderness Initiative Plan
This plan is calling for
the closing of 100 miles of remote roads while nearly 200,000 acres
that have been off-limits to ranchers and motorized vehicles would be
reopened.
Taken from the Idaho Press-Tribune, Lane Bettencourt
PO Box 190124
Boise, ID 83719
We're on the Web!
Treasurer Account
The club has received approval for exempt status for the Idaho Gold Prospectors Association 501(c)(7) and the IGPA Mining Claims, Inc. 501(c)(2). We are officially nonprofit. If you would like to see any of the paperwork please contact one of the club officers.
It is time to renew your membership, please see me at the meeting or mail it to the clubs address. Please be sure that I have your correct and complete address, phone number, and email address. Please let me know if you would not like your information placed into a membership directory.
The club voted on presenting new (1st time) paid members with a gold pan. I'm putting together a package that will include a Claims Guide, pan, vial, suction tweezers, snuffer bottle, and panning directions. I purchased the pans and vials from the Lifestyle store and got them for under $3.00 each. I will be purchasing snuffer bottles from Chuck Knapp. These should supply us for two years. I also made copies of some simple panning techniques. With the right tools these members will be able to catch some of that elusive gold.
The IGPA is keeping involved in the mining and open land issues with a paid membership in the following 2 groups; Idaho Mining Association (IMA) and the American Lands Access Association Inc. (ALAA). We also receive a newsletter for the North Central Washington Prospectors. We reciprocate by sending them an IGPA newsletter. The club may also want to look into the American Land Rights Association; I found their web site on the Internet.
This is the year the club elects new officers. I will be unable to maintain the treasurer position, but I have asked some members if they would be interested running for the position. There will be a nomination committee selected at the February meeting. All Executive Board Officers positions will be up for election, if you are interested in holding an office please contact the nomination committee. Election ballots will be mailed out in the April newsletter for election at the April meeting.
Rodney Poe, Treasurer
American Lands Access
Association http://www.gamineral.org/alaa.htm
American Lands Rights Association http://www.landrights.org/index.htm
Anyone
can learn how to pan for gold!
Follow these simple gold panning instructions and start panning for
gold today.
There is no use panning for gold in a stream where there is no gold so go to a stream where people have found gold before. Since gold is much heavier than water (about 19 times heavier), the gold stays on the bottom and gets caught in the sand in slow moving areas around bends of the stream and along the shore. It also tends to get stuck in small crevices in rocks and wedged in pieces of wood. Try to find places like this along the stream.
Put about 4 handfuls of material into your gold pan. Submerse the pan in the stream. While holding the gold pan under water, move the pan in a circular motion so that the lighter materials will be carried out of the gold pan. Don't move it too rapidly or you may lose gold along with the rocks and sand. Keep doing this until about half of the material in the gold pan is gone.
Lift the pan out of the water and begin swirling it around with it tipped slightly to the side where the riffles are. When all the water is gone dip the pan into the water again, bring it back out, and start swirling again. Keep doing this until nearly all the material in the pan is gone.
Use a suction tweezers to spray water into the pan and separate any nuggets or flakes of gold from the sand in the bottom of the gold pan. The tweezers is also useful to suck up small flakes of gold and deposit them into a display vial or other container. If you didn't find any gold, don't worry. It takes practice, patience, and a little luck to find, but keep trying. There's nothing like finding gold in the bottom of your gold pan!