NUPA NUGGETS

Volume XXI, Issue 3 March 2012

This Months Meeting

President:
Sandy Patterson 801-393-2132

1st Vice President:

Mike Kozlowski

This months meeting is learning how to Snipe and Dredge by Curt Dayton. Hes great at instructing the wheres, whys, whens and hows of both those areas of prospecting (he taught me everything I know about it). Be sure to be entertained and informed!

2nd Vice President:

David Linton

Treasurer:
Tom Garfield

Secretary:
Sheri Gaddis

Parliamentarian:
Dave Deheer

Re-new dues are just $25 and send your money to: Northern Utah Prospectors Association P.O. Box 13301 Ogden, Utah 84412 With sadness in our hearts, we regret to inform you of the death of Lonnie Fausetts wife, Marion. She has had a long battle with cancer, and it overcame her on March 10. Marion had a gentle soul and a kind heart and will be missed by family and friends.

Claims Director:
Lonnie Fausett

Members at Large:
Mike John Kim Patterson Donale Richan Leo Richan Bob Shriber Hal Berry Alan Meyer

Newsletter Editor:
Donale Richan 801-589-2445

Current precious metal prices: Gold: $1660.10 Silver: $32.56

From www.kitco.com as of March 16, 2012

Check out the N.U.P.A. website at: Www.nupainc.org Or http:// nupagold.blogspot.com

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 3

Spring is almost here; not that we had much of a winter. A lot better than last year, I think. Maybe we can get out prospecting sooner. So get your equipment ready and get going. I know I really, really want to go somewhere soon. Our prayers and condolences go out to Lonnie Fausett and his family for the loss of Marion. I know I will miss her. She was an awesome lady! We have some exciting things coming up, I hope. The Rock Show, The GPAA show, Curt Daytons talk about sniping and dredging, a representative from Cascade Refinery has agreed to come and talk to us, Donales class on wire wrapping; just to name a few. I hope this will keep you entertained and help you all learn something. Be sure to renew your membership and sign up to volunteer, help out, participate, etc. See you at the meeting! Sandy
How To Make CHEAP Campfire Starters Materials needed: 1 Egg Carton (the pressed cardboard not the Styrofoam type) Wax (an old candle works great) **Optional materials - helps your fire started work better: Dryer lint Sawdust Twine Step 1 & 2: Melting & Pouring Your Wax First, melt your wax in a pan or pot that you dont mind never being able to use for food again. Dont overheat the wax; it could catch on fire (this is bad, but if it happens, just place a wood board over the pan to smother the flames. DO NOT throw water on it!). When the wax is melted, stir in some sawdust/lint/twine. Pour the wax mixture into the individual sections of the egg carton, filling just half way. Add more sawdust/lint/twine and finish filling the individual sections to the top. Step 3 & 4: Drying & Finishing Let the wax dry completely. It could take 4 to 6 hours or let sit overnight. Once the wax is dry, cut each section apart to make 12 or 18 individual fire starters (depending on the size of your egg carton. When its time to use them, light the corner and place it into your fire pit.

Treasurers Report:
Checking: $1236.91 Savings: $5675.11

Prices of gold and silver coins: http://www.mjpm.com/ silver.cfm

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 3

How to Mine and Prospect for Placer Gold

By J.M. West (Continued from last month)
How To Go About Mining When a site where gold is known to occur has been found, and after it has been sampled and judged worthy of further effort, the ownership status should be checked to assure that the ground is open for claiming. Then, after staking adequate claims (or arranging to lease if the ground is not open to claim), you are ready to consider mining. Whether mining permits are required by those State agencies involved with fish and game or watersheds should be investigated, because placer operations of any size may drastically change the local water quality. A simple operation may have virtually no effect on a stream or surroundings, but when materials amounting to more than a few cubic yards a day are handled, the possible effects begin to become significant. Choosing a Method Among the simpler hand methods of recovering gold are the gold pan, the rocker, the dip -box, the long tom, and the sluice. Panning has been described in a previous section, entitled "How to Look for Placers," and will only be discussed briefly here. The pan is generally too slow to be effective for anything more than prospecting. The rocker is a timehonored device of the small-scale miner with limited means. The dip-box and long tom might be considered more like simplified sluicing methods than distinct methods in themselves. As a method, the long tom has never been very popular but is described here for its possible historical interest. Other methods used in specific circumstances would include the surf washer, the dry washer, and skin-diving. The simpler methods all normally involve hand-mining operations (shoveling and/or picking of the gold-bearing materials). Limited mechanization is sometimes practical for moving and washing gravels in even the smallest operation, and this possibility should not be overlooked. Even motorized devices for panning are marketed by several manufacturers. Pumps and small excavators can often be adapted to the small mining operation by the enterprising miner. The more complex methods, such as ground sluicing, hydraulicking, drift mining, excavation using powered equipment, and dredging, require considerable investment, knowledge, and experience; a full discussion of these methods is beyond the scope of this report. The choice of method depends primarily on the scale of operation and the availability of water. These and other characteristics of the different methods are discussed below. Gold Pan Panning is the hardest way to wash gold from placer gravels, but it is an inexpensive and completely mobile method. A person can dig with a pick and shovel much faster than he can pan the material dug, so it pays to treat only the highest grade products by panning once one has settled down to mining. An experienced person can wash about 10 large pans per hour, the equivalent of approximately 1/2 to 1 cubic yard of gravel per day, depending on how clean the gravel is. A level -full, standard 16-inch pan might contain roughly 22 pounds of dry bank gravel; there are approximately 150 to 180 pans per cubic yard of gravel. More than twice as many 12-inch pans would be required per cubic yard. The top dirt or cover is usually cast aside and the few inches of material directly above bedrock and the material scraped from crevices is panned. Places to look and the proper panning technique have been covered in earlier sections.

More next month!

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 3

Door Prize Winners

Quinn Meyer
Tweezer Kit

Raffle Winners
Tami Matthews
Dirt Probe

Automatic Feeder Mini Micro Clamps

Glen Gaddis

Gold Pan (Proline)

Ryan Larkin

Donale Richan Alan Meyer

Gold

Curtis Cottrell
Alaska Gold

Ryan Larkin
Small Nugget

Just as a reminder, winners of the door prizes are asked to bring refreshments for Marchs Meeting. The treasurer will gladly reimburse you for this expense if you give him your receipt.

Large Nugget

Rich Roper

Congratulations Everyone!

The club is looking for a painter for the clubs trailer. Do you know of someone or can do it yourself? We have the design, we just need someone who is willing to paint it. This is great advertisement for the club! Please contact our President (Sandy not Obama!) I am looking for someone who would like the challenge of designing the newsletter and put your mark on the club. It is a great opportunity to expand your creative juices and it looks good on a rsum. (I know thats one of the reasons I landed a great position at my work. I became an instructor and then a computer animator.) If you (or your spouse, significant other, girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever) would like to give their hand at designing the newsletter, please let me know...ASAP. I am planning on being gone most of the spring and summer. Donale Richan Phone: 801-589-2445 Email: richan.goldgems@hotmail.com

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 3

The Cost of Advertising

Do you have a business youd like to see advertised in the newsletter? Well heres the breakdown the cost. Just let the newsletter editor have the information.

Ad Size 3 Months 6 Months 12 Months 1/4 page $3.00 $5.50 $10.00 1/2 page $4.50 $8.00 $15.00 Full Page Business Ad for 1 month $8.00

You can never tell by how much noise the horn makes, How much gas is in the tank.

Items For Sale:

Post your items here. Its free to club members!

Expanded metal, punch plate and woven wire. If your building a new sluice or renovating a old one and need classification material, call me. I have a lot of different sizes and shapes and may have just what your looking for without buying a full sheet or paying a cut charge. Kim 801 393-2132

To get your items in the newsletter, e-mail your ad to me at: richan.goldgems@hotmail.com by the second Tuesday of the month.

If you do not learn to be patient, You could become one!

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 3

March 27...General Meeting @ Ogden Hinckley Airport Terminal Building at 7:00 pm. This months meeting
is learning how to Snipe and Dredge by Curt Dayton. Hes great at instructing the wheres, whys, whens and hows of both those areas of prospecting. Dont be left out on this one!

April 10...Board of Directors Meeting @ Ogden Hinckley Airport Terminal Building at 7:00 pm. April 13-15...Rock and Mineral Show at the Golden Spike Events Center...We will have sign-up sheets at the meetings to help man the booth this year. Two hours of your time will help the club and give you a chance to look around the show afterwards.

Upcoming Outings and Events: Mark Them On Your Calendar! Approx. May 5th or 12th...Road Clean-up Approx. May 5th or 12th...Spring Fling May 12 & 13 GPAA Gold Show in SLC Fair Grounds Set-up time is Friday at
8:00 am. We will need all the people we can get to help with the set-up and then to help with manning NUPAs booth. The hours for the show is Saturday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. And Sunday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Tear-down will follow when the shows over. April 24 general Meeting...Cascade Refining Cascade Refining will be speaking on the how-tos of refining the gold we find. May 22 General Meeting...Wire wrapping Class This will be a hands-on class. Sign-up sheet will be at the Marchs Meeting.

Approx. November 10...Turkey Shoot Approx. Dec. 15...Christmas Party

Make sure you come to the meetings and put your input in for what and where youd like to do and go!

For Mays General Meeting, weve set up a hands-on class to learn wire-wrapping. If you are interested, we need to know so we can get all the supplies ordered. Basically this will be the wire and a cabochon. I have many of the tools that we will need, but, unfortunately, I have a limited supply of some of them. If this is something youd like to learn, please sign up ASAP. I will also show how to do a simple wrap for a nugget. Tools that we will be using are: Chain nose pliers Flush Cutters Round nose pliers Pin vise If you have any of these tools, please bring them. We will be using 24 or 22 gage square wire and 22 gage half-round wire.

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 3

March 2012
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday
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Thursday 2

Friday 3

Saturday

10

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13 Directors 14 Meeting 7:00 pm @ Airport 20 21

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27 General 28 Meeting 7:00 pm @ Airport

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April 2012
Sunday
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Monday
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Thursday 6

Friday 7

Saturday

10 Directors

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Meeting 7:00 pm @ Airport 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

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24 General 25 Meeting 7:00 pm @ Airport

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Arbor Day

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