Hooked on Gold Gazette 2/27/2010

Point Bar State Recreational Area

• Gold Spot Closing Price for Friday: $1118.70

• Spot price last Gazette : $1118.90
________________
Gold ‘N’ Store
Calendar of Events
FEBRUARY
• Tucson Show in Tucson, Arizona
• 2nd Groundhog Day
• 4th Heritage Lecture at the Western Mining Museum SOLD OUT
• 7th Super Bowl Sunday
• 12th Lincoln’s Birthday
• 10th GPOC General Meeting 7:00 p.m. Colo. Sprgs.
• Denver Museum with GPOC
• 14th Valentine’s Day
• 15th Presidents Day
• 22nd Washington’s Birthday
• 26th – 28th Gem and Mineral Guild Spring Show – Jefferson County Fairgrounds

MARCH
• 1st Motorized equipment season begins on the Arkansas River
• 14th Daylight Savings time begins
• 17th St. Patrick’s Day remember to wear your green
• 20th Spring Equinox
• 28th Palm Sunday
• 30th Passover
_______________________________________
NEWS
It was tough to find any news on gold or gold prospecting this past week. The Olympics dominated everything, as it should, so everything that had a link to gold was about gold medals.

Gold made a bit of a comeback in the markets late this week so those of us who will be prospecting for gold soon are happy the price is only down 20 cents over last week. Of course, it does help to make the backbreaking work a little easier to take when you know your gold will bring a nicer price when you sell it……if you sell it.

Some more information has come our way concerning the Point Bar claims that were claimed last year by someone from Texas. As you will recall, he listed one on E-Bay right away and sold it. He then found at least two others to buy into a third of the claims that were left, and then sold the last third on E-Bay this last week. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I’d like to own a third of three mining claims with two other people I may or may not know. These types of partnership never turn out well, but hopefully those involved here will get along. We all know that won’t happen, though. Remember also that these claims are not patented and so the claim owners will only be allowed to camp there 2 weeks out of six. Oh, and it looks like our friend from Texas made about 8-10 thousand dollars on the claims that he will probably never visit again and has made a mess of Colorado claims that have been available to the public for a long time now. ‘Moneygrubber’ is all I can say.

OK enough of my soapbox as this whole deal makes me sick and I try not to be to critical of prospectors, but I’m pretty sure this person is no prospector and was only interested in the money that could be made by selling these claims, which they did in less than a year. However, I also have new news about the water. Read on.

It seems the person who originally did the platting of the new claims was not entirely accurate and there is substantially more water available to the open area. I am just now reading this new information and the map provided isn’t real clear, so I will need a little more time to decipher where the open area begins and ends. The claim owners may not be aware of this yet, and so their markers will most probably have to be moved.

Spring is almost upon us and the opening of the Arkansas River to motorized equipment is on MONDAY! While we continue to be plagued with colder than usual weather, warmer weather will prevail at some point. That means we will all be able to do more prospecting for gold soon. Even metal detecting for coins has been impossible with the ground staying stubbornly frozen. Summer plans continue to be made, though, and our new areas for exploration are numerous. Setting up camp for this summer will also be interesting. I’m not sure I will have any kind of internet connection, so we may be hit and miss with blogging as connections permit. We are truly looking forward to working with Chad Watkins this summer and helping him get TinPan Prospecting up and running strong. Visit us this summer for some interesting gold prospecting when you get tired of fighting the public areas.

Trying to find other news from around the web was pretty difficult this past week. I visited a lot of blogs that had two short paragraphs with little content or they didn’t really have anything to do with the subject of gold, but Florida golden sunsets, etc. I did find a couple of interesting videos to share. The first one is an interesting one about one way to find underground streams and using culverts as a sluice box at
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-pan-gold-ancient-riverbeds-high-benches-302352 , and another from Australia testing out a new small highbanker. Looks like it works pretty good, too. http://downlinesecret.net/33949/highbanker-banjo-first-test-alluvial-gold-prospecting-in-australia

Off to Jefferson County Fairgrounds and some rock hunting under roof. Have a great week out there, and if you are on the Arkansas let us know how you are doing. Oh, and before I forget, Blogger’s new platform has changed again and is even more difficult to work around and so I will be moving this blog to a wordpress blog and using another of my hookedongold domains to run it with. I’ve been waffling about this for almost 2 years now and this final change has pushed me there. I’ll have a new template and format so the look will be a bit different, but more in my control, and we know everything is all about control, right? LOL! The old one is looking a bit messy and I can use some better aps in the wordpress version. It probably will take me a few weeks to get everything set up, so you won’t be surprised next week, but it will happen as soon as I can get everything uploaded to the server and arranged in the new template. I’ve used wordpress for a couple of other blogs I’ve run and like it much better. Hopefully you will, too. That’s it for me. How about you? :>D

Until next week…….
Good Prospecting to You,
Shirley (MQS)

Google has begun running third party ads and is requiring adsense sites to include information about this change on their websites. You can read about this on our Privacy Policy page.

World Open Panning website has this year’s world wide panning competitions listed and they add more all the time. A great site to visit: http://www.worldopenpanning.homestead.com/ . If the links do not work, copy and paste them into your browser.

If you find a broken link, please let us know

THE ARKANSAS RIVER is now CLOSED TO MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT until MARCH 1st.
_______________________________________
http://www.hookedongold.com/
http://www.hookedongoldprospecting.ning.com/ A prospecting forum and social posting community
hookedongold@gmail.com contact us

PLEASE BE ADVISED: Ads that you might find on this blog or on a website using ads, may use cookies or other tracking means to track your movements on the web. Please read our Privacy Policy to see how this affects you and what you might want to do to prevent cookies being used to track you.

Hooked on Gold Gazette 2/20/10

Old Smelter Stack at Smelter Town near Salida

• Gold Spot Closing Price for Friday: $1118.90

• Spot price last Gazette : $1094.20

________________
Gold ‘N’ Store

Calendar of Events

FEBRUARY
• Tucson Show in Tucson, Arizona
• 2nd Groundhog Day
• 4th Heritage Lecture at the Western Mining Museum SOLD OUT
• 7th Super Bowl Sunday
• 12th Lincoln’s Birthday
• 10th GPOC General Meeting 7:00 p.m. Colo. Sprgs.
• Denver Museum with GPOC
• 14th Valentine’s Day
• 15th Presidents Day
• 22nd Washington’s Birthday
• 26th – 28th Gem and Mineral Guild Spring Show – Jefferson County Fairgrounds
_______________________________________

NEWS

I’ve been catching up a bit on my reading, which has been put on hold for far too long. We have about 3 or 4 days of cold and snowy weather coming at us right now, so I hope to find time to catch up even more. That means I’ll be telling you about some of the information I find as I read.

It was very gray this morning when I got up, and was thinking about how soon March 1st will be here, reopening the Arkansas River to motorized equipment for this gold prospecting season. The storms coming at us will most certainly put some snow on the ground in that area, but March usually brings some nicer weather on the southern sections of the Arkansas, and the water level will be very low. The lower water makes it possible for you to dredge for gold by reaching some of the middle parts of the river with your dredge you can’t get to during the summer. You will have no rafters to deal with in early spring, however, finding open water that isn’t claimed and being worked will be even harder this year.

Some of what I have been reading has to do with California’s suspension of suction dredging. If you do not visit International California Mining Journal’s website at least once a month for some of their free updates on gold mining, I suggest you do. While much is only open to subscribers, you will find good information that is there for everyone. You can find information on their website under the ‘Resources’ tab and then look for Suction Gold Dredging Info. Public Lands for the People (PLP) is the organization fighting this in California courts. There is a lot more, but I probably shouldn’t waste your time with it when you can go and read it for yourself at www.icmj.com . Now, you might not think this has anything to do with you if you aren’t in California, but believe me it will spread if their legislature gets its’ way. We stand to lose another basic right granted to us by U.S. Federal laws.

Got a message from the ‘Tin Pan Prospector’, Chad Watkins this last week. He headed up to Alma just to look things over and get out of town. Also spent a day or two at his cabin in the woods. Nice looking place. One room, no heat except from the wood stove. No electricity, either. Nice and quiet with snow on the ground and the sun shining. Today is probably another story, but hopefully he got home before the skies dumped snow on us again last night. If not, he may have to stay a while. Bummer. Wish I was there. Cabin Fever is running rampant at my house. How about yours?

Our crippled up friend with the hip replacement it doing just fine, too. He is healing up pretty fast and is graduating from his walker to crutches this weekend. Gonna get out of the house and visit his doctor next week to show him how good he’s doing. Still on pain meds, but they said he would be for some time what with the bone trying to attach to the new apparatus. His physical therapist is pleased with his progress and he can also get in and out of his chair without help.

Oh, and BTW, the schist piece we went to see at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science last Saturday wasn’t out of Tarryall, but Telluride, and it still wasn’t being displayed at the museum right now. I also forgot to tell all of you that our oldest grandson was in a rollover accident very early on Saturday morning, too. I can count one of the scariest texts I ever got was “Car is totaled but he’s OK”. Everyone at the museum can attest to the quickness with which I left the gold room to get to a window so I could text back, “WHAT!” Turns out that was the second page of a two page text and the first one told me that the boy was OK and the particulars of the accident that was sent to me by his Dad. Thankfully we were not attending a funeral this week and I would now be in such a deep abyss that even thinking about writing this would be out of the question. Needless to say, it’s been a busy week.

I didn’t take time to find a video for you today and I didn’t find any other interesting links to share. Some weeks are like that. I may find a video for you in the next few days, though, so check back. That’s it for me today. Stay warm if its’ snowing where you are. If it isn’t, then don’t get sunburned! LOL! Oh, and before I forget, I noticed how sloppy my calendar got this month. Don’t know, but it looks like I forgot how to count and how to put in dates. What can I say….it’s February.

Until next week…….

Good Prospecting to You,

Shirley (MQS)

Google has begun running third party ads and is requiring adsense sites to include information about this change on their websites. You can read about this on our Privacy Policy page.

World Open Panning website has this year’s world wide panning competitions listed and they add more all the time. A great site to visit: www.worldopenpanning.homestead.com . If the links do not work, copy and paste them into your browser.

If you find a broken link, please let us know

THE ARKANSAS RIVER is now CLOSED TO MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT until MARCH 1st.

_______________________________________

www.hookedongold.com

www.hookedongoldprospecting.ning.com A prospecting forum and social posting community

hookedongold@gmail.com contact us

PLEASE BE ADVISED: Ads that you might find on this blog or on a website using ads, may use cookies or other tracking means to track your movements on the web. Please read our Privacy Policy to see how this affects you and what you might want to do to prevent cookies being used to track you.

BLM Gold Prospecting Regulation Changes for Gold Prospecting Public areas on the Arkansas River in Colorado 2010

Orange Stripped Tree Downed Due to Undercutting

I know better than to give even an inkling as to when my next post will be, 'cause something almost always comes up.  Anyway, I am back to give you some more updates on the Arkansas River valley in Colorado gold prospecting regulation changes for 2010.

Water was another item that came up at last Wednesday's GPOC meeting with guest speaker Stepanie Carter of the Royal Gorge BLM office in Canyon City, Colorado.  Diversion of the water in the small creek at Cache Creek was discussed, and Ms. Carter said that even with the small creek in question, people will need to be mindful of diverting any water in the creek to even an overflow area that deprives others using any other part of the creek from water flow even for a short distance with rocks, dirt or sand. 

We also discussed the 'diversion' of water by highbankers who pump water up to 300 feet away that never returns to the creek for use by sluicers and panners.  The fee involved to them is in part so that they may pump water for their usage.  The other involves the use of the pump.  This case is not considered 'diverting the stream', but water usage. 

BLM is interested in finding other water to bring to the gold prospecting area at Cache Creek, and will be looking into that possibility with available water in the area.

Another question raised was whether teachers will be required to fill out the forms and be limited to the 14 day rule if they are not in the area for finding gold, but to give assistance to others, or school groups.  Since there will be a part time person this summer, they might be able to make this exception.  That is to be determined, however.

Trees are also another probelm facing the new season.  As in the photo above, you will see that BLM has marked trees that are not to be undercut or disturbed in any way.  This is due to the number of trees in the area that are infested with pine beetle. There are a couple of species that are not suceptible to the beetles that they want preserved.  DO NOT MINE NEAR, UNDER, or within 10 Ft. of these marked trees.

GPOC is wondering what they will be doing for Let's Go Gold Panning Days, now that they are severley restricted in the amount of area they can prospect at Point Bar.  However, it was also brought up that most of the areas they prospect are within the allowed areas.  There are a few riverside pits that others had used, but it is felt that should not necessarily be a problem. 

Well, folks, that's about it.  There will be more to tell you about as we get closer to the season open.  Which, BTW is March 1st for motorized equipment on the Arkansas River or when you can stand the cold and  snow everywhere else in Colorado.  Better get that equipment in working order now.  Spring is coming sooner than you think!

Good Prospecting to You,
Shirley
http://www.hookedongold.com/

Hooked on Gold Gazette 2/13/10

HOOKED ON GOLD GAZETTE

• Gold Spot Closing Price for Friday: $1094.20
• Spot price last Gazette : $1066.90
________________
Gold ‘N’ Store

Calendar of Events

FEBRUARY
• Tucson Show in Tucson, Arizona
• 2nd Groundhog Day
• 4th Heritage Lecture at the Western Mining Museum SOLD OUT
• 7th Super Bowl Sunday
• 12th Lincoln’s Birthday
• 10th GPOC General Meeting 7:00 p.m. Colo. Sprgs.
• Denver Museum with GPOC
• 14th Valentine’s Day
• 15th Presidents Day
• 22nd Washington’s Birthday
• 26th – 28th Gem and Mineral Guild Spring Show – Jefferson County Fairgrounds
_______________________________________

NEWS

Did everybody’s team win the Super Bowl? No? Bummer! Missed my deadline on the Gazette yesterday as things piled up on me. You know how it is. When it rains it pours. You go for weeks without much going on and then everything hits at once and everything has to be done at the same time. This will be short this morning as we are off in a little while to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science with GPOC. The gold room is our objective and hopefully the schist piece with gold in it is in the show case that came out of the Terryall area.

Also, our friend who had hip surgery needs us to lend a hand this weekend as he is released from the hospital and goes home. They live way out of town have stairs everywhere, so we will be going along for the weekend to make sure they can get around everywhere and Larry is there to help if there are problems or things need to be modified.

BLM information for this season continues to come out and I will be posting more on what information I have next week after I am sure our friends don’t need a hand with things after this weekend. That first three days are the worst, but after that things seem to settle down.

Everyone is getting antsy to get out in the water. My monster sluice is itching to get wet, too, and everything is ready but the weather. Come on sun! All for now. Gotta run. Here are a few links to keep you busy while I’m away. In case you missed this amazing video showing an elk herd crossing a road near Estes Park you should give it a look. Over 4 minutes and they kept on coming. Several were wearing radio collars, too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SxxOTkfKPk These vids are of amazing lightening strikes in extremely slow motion. http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2010/02/gallery-lightning . I did not find any that were interesting on gold prospecting this week, but these are definitely worth a look see. Have a happy Valentine’s Day!

Until next week…….

Good Prospecting to You,
Shirley (MQS)

Google has begun running third party ads and is requiring adsense sites to include information about this change on their websites. You can read about this on our Privacy Policy page.

World Open Panning website has this year’s world wide panning competitions listed and they add more all the time. A great site to visit: www.worldopenpanning.homestead.com . If the links do not work, copy and paste them into your browser.

If you find a broken link, please let us know

THE ARKANSAS RIVER is now CLOSED TO MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT until MARCH 1st.
_______________________________________

www.hookedongold.com

www.hookedongoldprospecting.ning.com A prospecting forum and social posting community

hookedongold@gmail.com contact us

PLEASE BE ADVISED: Ads that you might find on this blog or on a website using ads, may use cookies or other tracking means to track your movements on the web. Please read our Privacy Policy to see how this affects you and what you might want to do to prevent cookies being used to track you.

New BLM regulations for Arkansas River Drainage in Colorado for 2010

 

Cache Creek gate sign at the entrance to the area

Information concerning this year's gold prospecting season in Colorado at Cache Creek and Point Bar Recreational area is coming out as the BLM gets a handle on the huge volume of calls concerning the areas for this summer.  Many calls are coming out of California this year as dredging has been discontinued there and their prospectors look for other places to find gold.

Stephanie Carter, from the BLM office in Canyon City, was the speaker at last night's GPOC meeting in Colorado Springs and talked at length about Cache Creek and the Point Bar Recreational Area.  Point Bar had the entire area that was claimable claimed last summer.  The claims involved include almost all of the river frontage and there is a question as to whether prospectors digging in the pit area will have access to the water. 

The pit, as it is known, is not in a claimable area, and is still open to the public.  BLM will research whether those digging in the pit still have a right to wash their dirt in the river located on claimed areas.  The claims have also been overfiled and the new claimants are wanting BLM to police the area.  Once an area is claimed, it is up to the claimants to police the claims and not the BLM.  This area is a large State Recreational area and many people use the area on a regular basis.  Controlling that area is the major reason GPOC did not claim it many years ago.  They had worked with BLM to make the area more usable to prospectors, and effectively do the reclamation needed to keep the area up.  Those responsibilities now lie with the claimants.

Cache Creek was heavily discussed as the number of people expected to be using the area will double this year, if not more.  As such, many limitations are being imposed so that people have access to the area in a more orderly manor than last year, and the abuses of the area that took place will not be repeated this year.  

First on their list is to hire a summer time employee who will be in charge of monitoring both the Arkansas River areas and Cache Creek.  Everyone using Cache Creek will be required to fill out a day use pass each day they are there, placing half of it into a receptacle and keeping the other half on their person.  These will be collected by the BLM personnel and checked for proper documentation of everyone in the area as well as  what type of equipment being used.  The number of days you are using Cache Creek will be counted and enforced.  

Everyone will be limited to 14 days of use PER SEASON.  That means you will be allowed to access Cache Creek for the purpose of prospecting for a total of 14 days this year.  Not 14 days a month, or 14 days in and 14 out, or any other combination you can come up with.  Your days will be counted by the BLM and enforced.  People who came into the area last year and stayed all of last season will have their activities curtailed regardless of what equipment they are using.  Highbankers will have their allowed days increased to 14 with a $30.00 charge but with no additional extension. NO DREDGING WILL BE ALLOWED AT CACHE CREEK.

Much more is going on, but I will save that for another day.  If you have not been on the BLM website lately you should check them out.  Stephanie has been working hard to revise it, integrating the geocommunicator and the LR2000 more effectively.  You can access those sites at http://www.geocommunicator.gov/ , http://www.blm.gov/lr2000 ,  http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/rgfo.html (This link goes to the Royal Gorge Field page. Click on the first link entitled 2010 Placer Maps and Information) and the http://www.blm.gov/ site that you can click through to the state, then the field office and find most of these links from there.  More this weekend after the Gazette comes out tomorrow.

Good Prospecting to You

hookedongold.com 

questions?

hookedongold@gmail.com

Hooked on Gold Gazette 2/5/10

Beautiful Diamond Heart Pendant in 14K Gold in White Quartz

· Gold Spot Closing Price for Friday: $1066.90
· Spot price last Gazette : $1083.70
________________
Gold ‘N’ Store
(Links to our affiliates. Good deals, and GREAT folks)
You can find Panning Kits
Monthly Prospecting Equipment Specials
Basic Prospecting Equipment
Click around their site a bit to find what you want.
Calendar of Events
FEBRUARY
· Tucson Show in Tucson, Arizona
· 2nd Groundhog Day
· 4th Heritage Lecture at the Western Mining Museum SOLD OUT
· 7th Super Bowl Sunday
· 12th Lincoln’s Birthday
· 10th GPOC General Meeting 7:00 p.m. Colo. Sprgs.
· 14th Valentine’s Day
· 15th Presidents Day
· 22nd Washington’s Birthday
· 26th – 28th Gem and Mineral Guild Spring Show – Jefferson County Fairgrounds
_______________________________________
NEWS

So, how’s your game face for this weekend. Got your favorite team to root for? Of course you do! Super Bowl hype for their famous commercials is all over the news and the web. Everyone promises to give you a special look/see at the best of ‘em, but I haven’t seen anything that has actually shown me anything. Of course, if I had the time I could do a search and probably find them, but I have been working on the website and started to upload some changes. I DID come across this item for those Super Bowl parties I thought you might like to chuckle at. http://www.sportspickle.com/article:620/super-bowl-cheat-sheet

You will notice the next time you visit on the home page that the layout is a bit different. My old website template may not be up to the changes I want to make, so I may try to rebuild it this Spring. Hopefully, it will come out similar but with some updated features in the menu. I have had a few comments about the twitter updater, but it updates the blog and home page, so I am compromising and putting it at the bottom of both. Hopefully this will satisfy all of us. If you like to follow along you still can, those who don’t like it don’t have to see it above the fold, and I get to update the pages more regularly.

Valentine’s Day is coming up soon! Check out goldnstore for that special gold jewelry or prospecting themed gift for your sweetie before it is too late to ship. Anything in stock I can get to you in three days, but the 8th will be the last ship date I can do that and get it there in time for you to wrap.

I have heard that the BLM is absolutely slammed with inquiries about Cache Creek and this summer. I have not heard what their final changes are, so I cannot update you much, but what had been discussed at the end of last year included daily fees for everyone and restrictions on the number of days you can use the area regardless of what equipment you are using. Also, they were looking into hiring a summer employee to cover both the Arkansas and Cache Creek area with someone who would be taking the fee packets in and monitoring the area with ticket writing and enforcement abilities. With the number of people using the area they need better control of the area. GPOC is looking into whether they will be assisting again this year or not. This is before their board now and will be decided in the next month.

Tin Pan Prospecting in Fairplay is getting together an interesting array of properties to prospect on, so check them out this summer, too. Chad’s areas are pay for use, and are on private or patented land. He has a large portion of Mt. Bross and the Dolly Varden properties already under agreement along with some other promising areas that have not committed as of yet. His website is also undergoing a facelift and changes. Looks like a good season of gold prospecting is in store on the East side of Mosquito Pass, too.

If anyone cares, the weather at the Tucson show started out wet and cold, but I got a report today that said it was about 65 degrees. With all of the rain the cacti should bloom well in about a month or so. That’s about when the snakes come out, too. LOL!

GPOC members might like to know that our good friend Glen Orhns is going into surgery on the 10th to finally have his hip replaced. He should have plenty of time to heal up in time to tramp around the mountains this summer prospecting for gold and get in a few hunts next Fall. Too bad he will miss the pig hunt in March, but, hey, nobody said it would be all gravy. Besides, when he went in for the evaluation they said he was a 10. Probably the only time in his whole life he was ever a 10. LOL!

I keep finding a few blogs on gold prospecting, or blogs that put up a page or two on the subject, and I always notice how nicely the articles read and look. I always think I should do the same, but I always seem to come back here just to chat with you about gold, gold prospecting and finding gold while sharing with you some of the interesting things I find on the web and the outings we go on. I should do it more often, but I actually do have a life outside of the web, and today, I don’t have the vacuuming done. Is that ‘real’ enough for ya? I guess I’ll let the website give you the information you want and use the email address to answer questions with. If I do that, I can ramble here all I want to, and you can read it or not as you like. Hopefully, I get some good information and updates out to you, or least a little bit of fun now and again.
Until next week…….

Good Prospecting to You,
Shirley (MQS)
Google has begun running third party ads and is requiring adsense sites to include information about this change on their websites. You can read about this on our Privacy Policy page.
World Open Panning website has this year’s world wide panning competitions listed and they add more all the time. A great site to visit: www.worldopenpanning.homestead.com . If the links do not work, copy and paste them into your browser.
If you find a broken link, please let us know
THE ARKANSAS RIVER is now CLOSED TO MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT until MARCH 1st.
_______________________________________
www.hookedongold.com
www.hookedongoldprospecting.ning.com A prospecting forum and social posting community
hookedongold@gmail.com contact us
PLEASE BE ADVISED: Ads that you might find on this blog or on a website using ads, may use cookies or other tracking means to track your movements on the web. Please read our Privacy Policy to see how this affects you and what you might want to do to prevent cookies being used to track you.