Gold Question of the week, May 16, Summer Edition

Get your panning cons for some panning fun! Find them on the site HERE

GOLD QUESTION OF THE WEEK SUMMER EDITION

I picked up an interesting tid bit this past week concerning small miners and how much mercury they take out of the streams and rivers. In Washington, there has been an ongoing struggle with the state and prospectors over how much damage they do or do not do to the environment. Well, the small miners in Washington have been saving all of the mercury they have been collecting and in late February the Washington Dept. of Ecology was invited to attend the Washington Gold, Gem, and Mineral Show. The collected mercury was turned over to their representative at the show and the total amount presented to the Ecology Department was 73 lbs. The Ecology Dept. was said to be "impressed that small-scale miners were actively removing mercury from state rivers and streams." To date, small miners have presented the department with over 150 lbs. of mercury. What they don't understand is how much we all enjoy taking heavy metals out of the waterways. When YOU find mercury in the rivers and streams, no matter where you are, please put into a vial or jar filled with water, cap it, and save it until you find someone who can take care of it. DO NOT put it back into the water. Ask any prospector on the river you come in contact with what to do with it when you encounter them. Some of us identify areas that contain mercury and collect it at the end of a season, as it will foul carpets when you get into a bunch of it. The first silver bead of mercury I ever saw was outside of Silverton, Co. on Cement Creek. Like gold, the first time you see it, you WILL know what it is. It will look similar to a shiny, liquid, silver sinker. If it is chunky looking, it has gold in it.

Gold in Pre-Columbian South America

To your left is a modern day example of the excellent work still coming out of Colombia in gold and emeralds brought to you by T.L.E. International.

South American, pre-Columbian gold placers made it possible to produce incredibly intricate gold objects created and formed by many cultures in the region. Placer mining was done by ground sluicing, and diverting streams using stone riffles that could be built during dry seasons. Material was dug from dry riverbeds, stockpiled and "washed" through the stone riffles during the flooding season trapping the concentrates in the stone riffles. The gold was then separated from the concentrates by hand using a large cone shaped wooden pan called a "batea" by the Spaniards who found the natives using them much later.

The Waywakans of the south central Andes Mountains are accredited with being first to mine and work gold, with gold artifacts found and dated at around 1500 B.C. Annealing was devised to hammer the metal into thin sheets to use for breastplates, masks, and many other types of large objects. Considering they used stone tools to work the gold, the ability they had to make intricate adornments is, at the least, amazing.

Etching, casting, and embossing were developed by Peruvians around 200 B.C., as well as alloying and the use of mercury in gilding. Colombians perfected working with gold, refining, alloying, casting, gilding, and all other aspects of gold work. Tumbaga was their special alloy of copper and gold. It was strong, easily worked, had a low melting point, and casted very well. Its reddish color was pleasing and the surface was easily washed with acid to reveal a beautiful yellow color. As gold was not a status of wealth, but religion, some villages sacrificed gold to their deities by throwing it into nearby deep lakes.

By the time Christopher Columbus reached the New World, gold had been worked in South America for some 3,000 years. The natives of San Salvador were wearing simple crude gold ornaments made of gold from Hispaniola when he arrived there. When he reached Central America, he named the area "Costa Rica", or Rich Coast, due to the finely crafted gold the natives wore. As all know, the Spanish went on to steal all the gold they could find from the natives in South America, looting even graves in their thirst for the yellow metal.

Today, South American governments do all they can to preserve the pieces that remain. More of the intricate gold is found every year in lost and forgotten burial sites and other hiding places. Several museums in South America hold thousands of these pieces as a testament to the skills of these artisans of long ago.

For more information on gold and prospecting spend a few minutes with Hooked on Gold

Hooked on Gold was lost in space

If you missed hooked on gold yesterday, the server was once again down. Didn't find out in time to post much yesterday, but we will be switching servers this week with at least a home page to direct and redirect you until we can get the whole gold site back up and running. Gold is headed higher this morning above $670. Did all of you have a golden Mother's Day? We are ready to go to Salida this weekend for Let's Go Gold Panning Day's. Camping, prospecting, and jawing with like minded folks for a whole weekend. A FANTASTIC way to start the summer season! For more information on Let's Go Gold panning Days visit the GPOC Temp. Page See you there.

Gold Question fo the Week for May 2, 2007.

The Gold question for May 2, 2007 is:

In what century was large scale gold mining begun in India and where?

ANSWER: According to minelinks.com, "Large scale mining in India began with the Mauryan colonization of the Deccan about the end of the fourth century B.C." "Large scale" mining does not necessaruliy mean large gold mining equipment, but can include the scope of the area mined and the number of people who did the mining as well as consider the undertaking of mining for gold with primitive tools. "Large scale" does not necessarily mean the number of cubic yards moved either. India was a known source of large amounts of gold even at the beginning of the Christian era. While modern machinery and industry can produce larger amounts of gold now than in ancient times, the amounts of gold recovered during those times should certainly be equated with "large scale" mining, as the technology produced as much gold as was possible with what was known at the time.

The pendant in the picture above is a lovely piece of California Crystal gold for sale in our catalog at hookondongold.com.

Gold Question of the Week for April 25, 2007.

Gold has taken a mighty dive! It has been flirting with $672 again, but it doesn't look like it's a serious "thang".

This week's gold question takes us to the Orient and along the trade routes to the middle east. Gold was long known for being abundant in the eastern countries, and our question is about North Korea. Spend a little time looking up this answer and reading the accounts of where gold was found in this country. For the next question visit hookedongold.com. You'll find some interesting information on gold and prospecting there, too. Copy and paste it into your browser if it isn't live for you, or click on the link in the links box.

WOOHOO! Take a look at these beauties! We have many very nice pieces of gold for sale in our catalog, as well as panning sand, corrugated mini sluice, and the ocassional piece of jewelry. http://hookedongold.com/catalog244888.html will give you an eye full of really nice gold.


CONGRATULATIONS TO: JOHN for being the first, qualified, correct answer to the gold question for the week of April 25.

Hooked On Gold's QUESTION OF THE WEEK: April 25, 2007.

In what century was gold first mentioned (or approximate date) as being abundant in North Korea, who wrote about it and what part of the world was he from?

ANSWER: Abundant gold in North Korea was first mentioned in the 9th century by Ibn Khordadzbeth. He was from the middle east.

Gold Question for April 18, 2007.

WOW! Gold has been jumping around this past week going up over $692 and then falling back to around $682. Right now, gold is back on the uptick, so watch for it to go to $700(?) soon.
The gold question for this week was not a question, but a link to some interesting information that is effecting prospecting and small mining now. We first found our about this issue last year when a friend who owns a claim found he had to comply with water quality issues when discharging dredge water into the river. http://hookedongold.com/catalog244888.html will take you to the gold and panning sand page where you will find this lovely pendant and it's description.

Hooked On Gold's QUESTION OF THE WEEK: April 18, 2007.

Something different this week. Follow this link for some information on what is going on with water quality issues and small mining. We are dealing with this in Colorado as well, so be prepared for your local water boards to get involved with small mining.

www.waterboards.ca.gov/cwa401/docs/wrapp/publicnotice040907.pdf



ANSWER: No answer this week, just information you should see

If this link is not live, copy and paste it into your browser to view.

Gold Question of the Week for April 11, 2007.

Hooked on Gold's Gold Question of the Week for April 11, 2007.

During the California gold rush, what method of mining was the largest source of gold before 1884?

ANSWER: Hydraulicking was the mining method that was the largest source of gold before 1884.

The picture is from the Tuscon Show. A FABULOUS example of leaf and crystal gold on its' background rock from Nevada. This show always has some of the best specimen pieces for show and sale we see all year. A great day for gold fans.

Gold is down again

Gold is down a bit again this evening after going over $684 on Friday. OOPPPS! Now it's back up over $685. Speaking of gold being down, if you've been online today looking for hookedongold.com you won't find it. Yup, that's right. The server is down again. That means that we will be switching to a new searver sooner than we thought we would. It also means we will be rebuilding the site, so you will be seeing a shortened version of hooked on gold while we rebuild. Hopefully we will be able to find a template we can modify to redo all of the pages at once on our home computer and upload all at once as well. Anything will be better than this mess.

That also means the question of the week is not for certain this week either. Watch this blog and the site to see if we are back in business or not. Those of you who get the newsletter read about the many colors of gold and how different metals mixed with it naturally or metallurgically make the color different, but does not always mean a lower percentage of gold content.

Gold Question of the Week for April 4, 2007.

Hooked on Gold's gold question for the week of April 4th takes you to the tropics and an unusual place to have found gold. And, not only gold, but a rare type of gold deposit. Unfortunately I don't have a picture example of what this rare type of gold looks like, so you will have to be content with just plain gold from one of the cases of Collectors Edge at the Tucson show.

Hooked on Gold's Question of the week for April 4th:

When was placer gold discovered in the Tavua area, and who is accredited with finding it? Also, tell me where Tavua is located, the type(s) of gold found, and when serious prospecting was begun.

ANSWER: Tavua is located in the Fiji Islands and its modern gold was discovered by Baron A.B. de Este in 1872. Placer deposits contained visble gold, but the lodes were in tellurides. Serious prospecting was not begun until 1932. One point that I should mention is that the gold on the island had been first discovered by the natives. More infomation on this can be found on the minelinks site under alluvial gold.

New Gold Blog Look

Blogger has added some realy neat stuff like news feeds and video streams at the left hand side of the page. Check them out! I have gold panning, metal detecting,and gold prospecting videos steaming on the side for you to click on and watch. Also, newsfeeds about mining in general. You can click on the titles to change the newsfeeds to what you would like to read. Stories about mining, mining stocks, silver mines, gold mines, and more! Have some fun with this one!!

Gold question of the week for March 28, 2007.

Gold is back up above $670 this morning and it looks like it might keep rising. Or not. The picture on the left is of gold taken fron Gains Creek, Alaska, and was sitting in the cases of the Colorado Nugget at the Tucson Show in Feb, 2007.

This week's gold question takes a bit from ancient history and ties it back to today. Much of what the Egyptians knew is still used today, and many of their ingenious ways to extract gold from rock and placer areas are the same today as they were back then. We just use more modern materials. A search on the net for gold in ancient Egypt will give you a wealth of information about ancient techniques that will look and sound very familiar to the prospector. Take a trip down the Nile River in Ancient Egypt for some very interesting information on gold and how to get it.

Hooked On Gold's QUESTION OF THE WEEK: March 28, 2007.

According to the Code of Menes, what was the value of gold to silver. Compare to today.

ANSWER: According to the Code of Menes in ancient Egypt, the value of gold was 2 1/2 times the value of silver. Today it is about 50 to one.

Gold and the new age of "Green" energy

Gold is back up this morning to over $666.00. I will have a link in the Hooked on Gold newsletter this week sent to me by a reader to a video with a diferent viewpoint on global warming. I will link it here as well when I get it. The youtube version's sound is more in sink than the videogoogle. Very interesting point of view put out by the BBC, and an hour and 13 minutes long. What these scientists have to say is enlightening and profound in the end. Yesterday, here in Colorado, our Democratic controled legislature passed a bill requiring untilities to increase their "green" production to 20%. I don't know about you, but I'm really sick of utility bills going up and the power companies getting the blame. Green power isn't cheap! It is expensive to build and is unreliable as an energy source, however, those of Al Gore's ilk have decided for us that we WILL pay higher utility bills while they do whatever they can to gt their hands on more of your money to do it. Now, you ask me what this has to do with gold. Mines use electricity to operate, and this legislature has effectively made it harder for any mining (this means oil, too) to be profitable. There are now, also, too many people who used to be with Green Peace that no longer agree with their "vision". What would this world be like without mans use of fossil fuels and metals? Where would the computer age be without gold?

Beetle Kill in Gold Country

What is beetle kill in gold country? Any of you who travel to Colorado have noticed the pine trees turning reddish and then brown and then grey. Most of you are probably aware that it is caused by pine beetle that burrow under the bark of the trees and kill them by "ringing" them, thus cutting off the tree's system it uses to get water and nutrients to all of its' parts. Thus, beetle kill in gold country. There is an article in today's paper that says up to 90% of the trees in Summit and Grand counties are infected and will die, and that the infestation encompasses at least 1,000 square MILES of forest. This tragedy is due to overzealous environmentalism, which hinders and prohibits the husbandry management of forests. Environmentalists do not seem to be interested in preserving what we have, but allowing mother nature to "take her course". Well, believe me, mother nature could give a RIP about what species lives or dies. Only man cares. Only man can protect what is here, and only through careful MANAGEMENT can that happen. Mother Nature has destroyed these forests which will take decades to replace. Careful logging and management of the forests would have preserved them. Instead of using wisely what we have, environmentalists have WASTED entire forests to neglect and non management, but then I suppose fire IS better. The Haman fire we had a few years ago attests to that. I am sure no one was bothered by the smoke, and the animals that died in it were better off. Yes, it was started by man, but the conditions that existed were also created by man. What does this have to do with gold prospecting? We work in the natural environment, educate the public to responsibility, and teach how to properly engage in activities that might be seen as destructive, to be done in positive ways. Fish love us! We provide new, freshly turned spawning beds when we dredge responsibly in rivers. Gold panning, sluicing, dry washing, and metal detecting get us out in nature where we can experience and connect with it. To watch the destruction of the forests in my state is heartbreaking and irresponsible of our government. All the prospectors,large and small, put together have not damaged the number of acres that this trend in environmentalism has. 1,000 acres in two counties. This number does not encompass the entire state, which has also seen the devastation of the forests. Drive up Clear Creek from Denver and see what I mean. All those trees that are dying have already infected 5 or 6 more, and this June, those trees will infect 5 or 6 more. One thing that is certain. The beetles will eventually stop spreading. They do tend to literally eat themselves out of house and home without management, and even the U.S. Forest Service agrees that it is too late to stop the complete destruction of the forest in some areas. So what is going on now to clear the dead trees? Clear cut logging.

Gold is back down

Gold is back down this morning to around $655. Hooked on Gold still cannot make changes to the website as the server is still "upgrading". Three days is a long time to not be able to make changes or blog. Sure, we have weeks that are busy and there isn't much to say, but not this time of year. The gold Question of the week didn't go off because there was no way to post it. I try several times a day and get the same "page cannot be found" messages, and so far I haven't gotten an answer to my queries about when I can get back into the sitebuilder. For now, you have static pages to view. We will be off to the mining museum at the School of Mines tomorrow, and looking forward to seeing their excellent selection of mining "stuff". They have an excellent library. Newsletter recipients got a short discussion of global warming and some of the possible effects on mining. I read an interesting analogy on the rising seas theory. Everyone learned in school how water expands when it freezes. If global warming causes the ice to melt, wouldn't the seas fall as the water compresses back to it's liquid state? I am not sure this is the correct way to interpret this, but it is an interesting suggestion to think about. Not exactly anything to do with gold, but an interesting thought, none the less.

So, is anyone out with a metal detector or a gold pan yet and finding anything interesting? We are itching to get out, but have decided that we MUST do something about the build up in the house before this season gets started in earnest. One truck load of "good stuff" has gone to the ARC store already, and I am sure another will find it's way there soon. Motorized equipment season is about here on the Arkansas River. It wiil start April 1st, and with the nice weather we have been having, and the river still not in run off stage, it may be a really good time to hit the sand bars while they are exposed. Water quality is becoming an issue with the State, and it seems that claim owners will have another State government agency to deal with. Some claim owners are being required to pump DREDGE water to the bank for settling before returning it to the river. That's right. You read me correctly. DREDGE water. Water quality agencies are getting there fingers in. Another agency wants to get their fingers in on the permitting side too. Information on these two new agencies is being received now and more information will be coming out on these issues as time goes on, so stay tuned for more of what they will be requiring.

Gold Question of the week Where is it?

Howdy all. As you have noticed this week's Question on gold is not on the Hooked on Gold site. The reason is that my server, clickincome.com/clicksitebuilder is down and has been since yesterday morning! No way of telling when we will be back online, so be patient until they get it fixed. This is just the latest in a number of frustrations with this company, and we will be looking at taking the major site to another server. Can't call. No one answers the phone and online or email tech support, usually right there, must be inundated with mail as there was no response from them either. So, you will need to wait for your chance at winning the gold for now. Also, the blog! Good thing for Blogspot or I would have no way to communicate with you. Unfortunately, their builder is very easy to use and I will hate to leave it. Who knows. Maybe the "fixes" will make it worthwhile to stay with them. Don't know. I need more pages and the upgrade just costs too much. The mentoring program was good, but not long enough and I can find lots of the same information on the web for a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately, when I began as a complete novice,I didn't know any better. I will be putting together a program that a newbie can use at their own pace instead of a 12 week slam telephone course and then access to a mentor by e-mail for a year. There were a thousand questions that have come up since my year is up that I can't get an answer to. Yes, I am ranting, and fuming, and down right mad! If there was any way to ask for refund from these people I would. However, they are very careful to not guarantee ANYTHING and, believe me, the cost is way too much for what you get. Also, don't fall for the "You gotta have a merchant account to take credit cards with". Believe me, PayPal works fine until you get to the point where you are BIG, and then you will have a $5,000.00 month limit. In the meantime, it will cost you about $50.00 a month PLUS the 3% on the credit card amounts. Their affliate programs are coming off my site and offering my "Free gifts" with them are ending, too. Enough on that for now.

Gold is up again at $663.30 as I write. We will be headed this weekend for a tour of the gold, gemstone, mining museum at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. Looking forward to another tour, as it has been a few years since we were last there. We will be meeting with some of the members of the Denver GPR club at 9:30 a.m. in the north parking lot. Everyone is showing us their metal detecting finds for the past month, and we have been having grandchildren and throwing out household stuff and trying to get things back under control before the season starts....again! Looking over my gold nugget inventory, some of my prices are looking cheap agin, so you might want to grab some of it before I am forced to raise them due to the continued rise in the replacement price of gold.

Gold Question of the Week for March 7-14, 2007.

Gold is beginning to make a recovery these past few weeks with highs around $670.00.

CONGRATULATIONS TO: RANDY for being the first, correct, qualified answer to the Question for the week of March 7 - 14th!

Hooked On Gold's QUESTION OF THE WEEK: March 7, & 14, 2007.

What is the term "mineral light", and to whom is it attributed?


ANSWER: GOLD was referred to as the "mineral light", and is attributed to Hindu Philosophers. The ancient Hindu's also considered gold to be sacred and a symbol of wealth, prosperity, love, generosity, power, and illumination. Thus the illumination of gold was the "light".

Gold Question of the Week for Feb. 28th

Hooked on Gold's Question of the Week for Feb. 28th, 2007.

In what state was the first buckline dredge, that was successful in the U.S., located, where was it located and when. By 1910 approximately how many buckeline dredges were operating in California.

ANSWER: The first successful bucketline dredge in the U.S. was operated on Grasshopper Creek in Montana near Bannock in 1895. In 1910 there were 63 dredges still operating in California.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JAN for being the first, qualified, correct answer to this week's question.

Gold Question of the Week for Feb. 21,2007

From mid February through mid March, how many potential miners passed through San Diego on average per day in 1889 to reach the gold placers in the Santa Claras? How much is estimated to have been spent on mining equipment and supplies as a whole on the venture, and how many dollars worth of gold was estimated to have been extracted.

ANSWER: The gold rush to the Santa Clara's came at the end of the large rushes to the north, and was joined by many who had been there, but a little late. They quit jobs, left families, and journeyed south for their dream. 300, on an average day, passed through San Diego on their way to Mexico and were plaqued at the border with restrictions and delays. It is estimated that a quarter of a million dollars was spent by these people before mid March was over, for the total dollar amount of $20,000 worth of gold that was extracted. The experienced miners did the best with the Mexicans coming in second. The first group knew what they were doing and the second helped each other. The rest had no clue what to do, how to do it, or what to do when the water ran out. San Diego History.org will give you the rest of the story. And it is a fascinating one to read.

Gold Question of the Week for Feb.14, 2007.

CONGRATULATIONS TO: Glenn with 2 n's for being the first, correct, qualified, COMPLETE answer to the question for Feb. 14th.

Hooked On Gold's QUESTION OF THE WEEK: February 14, 2007.

Which is more rare - A 5 carat Diamond or a 1 oz. gold nugget? PART TWO: Since it is Valentines Day, give me your answer to this question as well. Which is more rare - the answer to the first part of the question or true love?

When you send in the answer to the first part, include your source as the question is pretty easy to guess. I want to know that you looked it up.

NO COPY AND PASTE ANSWERS, PLEASE.

There were lots of quick obvious answers here, but no sources were submitted with them. Congratualtions to Glenn for sending in his answer WITH the source.

ANSWER: A one ounce Natural Nugget is more rare than a 5 carat diamond. One source for this answer is at: fairfield.k12ct.us. Search: gold nuggets and diamond facts You will also find a great site under this search about not getting ripped off from auctions and buying gold nuggets in general.

Is a one ounce natural nugget more rare than love? The overwhelming vote was that true love is more rare than a natural one ounce gold nugget, and finding it is even more rare. Are any of us surprised?

Gold at the Tucson Show

From top, Nevada gold specimen,California gold specimen, Tiger Eye from Australia.

For those of you who don't know about the Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil show held each February in Tucson, Arizona, you are missing one of the real treats of the winter. The shows span about 4 weeks, with many overlapping each other. We had heard about this show for many years, but were unable to attend due to work conflicts. This was the first year we were able to go, and it was all we had heard and 10 times more.

Both wholesale and retail venues abound, and it was hard to find what we wanted to see in the 4 days we were there. We settled on making sure we saw the vendors we know personally, buying gold, and catching a small part of a couple of the wholesale gem shows. We saw a lot and missed a lot more. The shows are so big you could pick one to attend and not see all of IT in 4 days.

The gold we saw and bought was abundant, but not as much as there had been a few years ago when gold was the show theme. However, we did see and photograph fabulous gold specimens from the U.S. and around the world, and bought gold nuggets at reasonable prices. Remember, I didn't say "sand" prices, but reasonable "gold" prices. Special specimens were shown from California (with a couple of large specimens being bought by collectors before they were even seen), Nevada, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Australia, and Arizona. Do you notice a pattern with gold places beginning with the letter A? LOL!

Shuttling from place to place is recommended, as the shows blanket the city. Parking, trying to drive everywhere, and finding your venue is a dunting task that the shuttle drivers can relieve you of. Traffic can be a problem and will be worse next year as Tucson plans to be working of the downtown bidges and freeway interchanges. We had no problem finding restaurants with little waiting for seating. We had anticipated a problem with this due to the number of people in town for the events, but this proved not to be the case.

If you have a passion for gold, gems, minerals and fossils this show is a must at sometime in your future. If you have been there, you know it is a treat to be there. The weather in the middle of winter is an added plus as it was 83 degrees while we were there. A great trip, and a great time.

Gold Question of the Week for Feb. 7, 2007

Hooked On Gold's QUESTION OF THE WEEK: February 7, 2007.

How much of the "Mother Lode" is said to be still in the ground?

ANSWER: As many of you found out, this is another of those questions that has many answers. Sources report anywhere from 74% to 95% of the "Mother Lode" is still in the ground.

Hooked on Gold Question for Jan. 31, 2007.

Jan. 31, 2007 Question of the Week: What percentage of gold found in Alaska was within 25 miles of Fairbanks?

ANSWER: 37 % of the gold found in Alaska was within 25 miles of Fairbanks.

Hooked on Gold Question for Jan. 24, 2007.

Gold is used in many ways on Air Force One. In what major way is gold used in its' defense?

NO COPY AND PASTE ANSWERS, PLEASE.

Lots of answers about the use of gold in the computer components, but we were looking for something a bit more interesting.

ANSWER: Gold plated reflectors are used to protect Air Force One from heat seeking missiles. Pretty cool piece of trivia, don't cha think?

A Golden Trip Part ll

Jan 27, 2007

Fog. The morning started with the people above us coming
in around 11:00 p.m., and having their children run around
until 12:47 a.m. Not much sleep for us, as we were up
before 6:00. Albuquerque was shrouded in dense fog, but
we left after breakfast around 8:00, and the sun burned
it off as we went, by about 8:45. The day was clear and
warm, around 40 most of the day. This leg of the trip
has many sights and excursions one can take, with the first
sight at Laguna. Here you will find the only white
mission I have ever seen. There must be more, but out
in the middle of nowhere like it is, it must have been
an eye catcher for travelers in the wilderness, as it
sticks out and can be seen for miles around. White eye
catchers were used frequently by the Spanish to mark trails.

Around Grants, N.M. you will find several roads that go
off to the north announcing the Bandero Volcano. Along
the road, here, you will see where the lava has bubbled
up out of the earth's crust instead of flowing. Also in this
area, the mesa colors turn from the desert beiges to reds
and oranges.

Another oddity is the fact that the continental divide
is here at mile marker 47, a much lower elevation
than at Flagstaff where you might have expected to find
it. You will also see the beginnings of spires that tell
of Monument Valley and Chaco Canyon located to the north.
The Indian jewelry centers in Gallup could take a week to
visit all by themselves.

In Arizona you can see TeePee's, the Painted
Desert, the Petrified Forest, and the largest Petrified
Tree in the world. Notice, also, the layers of red and
green sediment in the rock in the cuts along the highway.
Indian markets are numerous all the way to Winslow. You
remember Winslow, Arizona, don't you? It was immortalized
in song.

After you leave Winslow, the landscape begins to roll.
You think you are in the foothills of Flagstaff Mountain,
which is looming in the distance, but, you would be wrong.
You see, you are approaching the rare and nicely preserved
natural landmark of a meteor crater. Off to the south
of the highway, about a mile away, you can see the rim of
the crater. Get off at exit 233 at crater city and go see
this wonder of the southwest. The crater is about 2 1/2
miles around, 550 feet deep, and 4,000 feet across. Those
rolling hills you have just been through are the consentrical
rings around the impact site, much like the rings a pebble
makes when thrown into water.

While we are marveling once again at the crater, we find
the scrub brush turning to Ponderosa pine and know that we
must begin our watch for the Elk herds that abound around
the big mountain. At Flagstaff we turn south down highway
17 towards Camp Verde where one of the desert forts was
located. Montezuma's Castle, a very well preserved group
of cliff dwellings, and Montezuma's Well are all located at
Camp Verde. From here it is a short trip to the top of the
hill, then west across the mountain range to Humbolt and our
next week's adventures in the Bradshaw's Here, also, the
cactus start to show up. Further south there are sauguaro and
joshua trees. Both large cacti survive there where the
Mojave and Sonoran deserts merge.

We hear we missed all the snow in Denver today. Too bad.
We've never seen snow before! LOL!

A Golden Trip with Snow, or Arizona Dreaming

We are away on time this morning and missing most of the
traffic out of Denver.The morning passed quickly as we
chatted and as we approached Walsenburg, we wondered about
crossing the mountains over to Alamosa and taking 285 south
to Santa Fe. After a brief discussion, we decided to do that,
since neither of us has ever been over La Veta Pass, and we
have been enjoying 285 down to New Mexico in recent years.
It proved to be a good choice with little traffic and
beautiful scenery. The valley at Alamosa was a cold 21 degrees
after the down-right balmy 41 degrees in Pueblo!

If you have never experienced the mountains south of Alamosa,
you should. You come to Antonito, just north of the state line,
near where the oldest church in Colorado, Our Lady of Guadalupe
Parish is located. The chursh was built in 1856 by settlers to
the area. Another attraction south of Antonito is the Cumbres
and Toltec Scenic Railroad, a narrow gauge that is open in the
summer for touristexcursons. Check their website at
www.cumbrestoltec.com for more information. Their 2007
summer schedule is not posted yet, but check back later
this spring for their phone number, when they will begin
and prices. If you go, mention us.

The snow in the mountains between Antonito and Tres Piedras
glistened like a million diamonds, and the white was blinding.
As we dropped off the escarpment south of Tres Piedras, the
temperature rose sharply 40 degrees and climbed steadily to
44 degrees at Mesa Vista. On to Espinola and down to the
Veterans Highway that bypasses Santa Fe to the west. We
have decided to stop in Albuquerque for the night and take
the last leg tomorrow to Humbolt. We only wish we could
stay a day to investigate and examine the pertoglyph park
again. Maybe on the way back when we visit with relatives.
Tommorow we will have our first chance at finding gold when
we reach the Prescott Valley. Wish us luck!
We know you wish you were here.

Hooked on Gold Question of the Week for Jan. 17, 2007.

What is the fineness grade of the gold found in the main tertiary channel gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California, and briefly describe why it is this grade.

NO COPY AND PASTE ANSWERS, PLEASE.

ANSWER: The grade of the gold found in the tertiary channel gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California is 900. The lode mines of the area have gold deposits that are much lower in grade, due to the silver that is found with it. It is thought that the percolation of the water over and around the placer gold deposits leaches the silver out of the gold over time, leaving the placer deposits of a finer grade of gold than the lodes they come from.

Gold profile

Wow! I hadn't realised I had been posting as long as I have to my gold blog. I wandered around a bit and found out that I hadn't posted a gold profile, so it is there now. There are so many little lose ends to tie up when you start so many pages that you lose the logins! LOL! You might like my answer to my "question" they threw at me. I'm sure you've "never" heard it before. Gold is back up today. $631.60 as I see it on my Kitco streamer right now.

Gold, Gold Prospecting, Metal Detecting, Videos

WOW! I found a collection of gold prospecting videos that I have posted at http://www.thevideosense.com/user/MQS/ The permanent link is in the right hand linking column. They include a video by Tom Massie about the early years of George "Buzzard" Massie and the beginnings of the GPAA, a story of the Klondyke, a video on a restored mining town in Australia, one on a gold panning demonstration, specimen gold from the 16 to 1 mine in California, vacation footage, metal detecting, and more. The library will be added to every week as we find videos to include, and we will be posting our own as well. Grab a cup of "joe" and plan to set a spell and be entertained. A couple of these are half an hour of pure pleasure!

Gold Question of the Week for Jan. 10, 2007.

WELCOME TO HOOKED ON GOLD'S QUESTION OF THE WEEK. Here is the place for some FUN, INFORMATION, and WINNING FREE GOLD!

A 2 grain vial of crystalized gold from the Mad Muther Mine in Nevada is up for grabs, and can be yours just for being qualified,and the first to correctly answer the QUESTION OF THE WEEK! To insure that the gold gets passed around, winners will be limited to winning once every EIGHT weeks. Answers to the question of the week come in fast, so be quick. You will find the new Question posted on Wednesday mornings. A hint to the question will be given in the newsletter if a winner is not found before Friday morning so subscribe to the newsletter to get your updates on the question of the week, as well as other site updates and schedules. OK, now let's win some GOLD!


CONGRATULATIONS TO: AARON for being the first, qualified, correct answer to the question for Jan. 10, 2007!

Hooked On Gold's QUESTION OF THE WEEK: JANUARY 10, 2007.

What is considered to be the most likely source of the placer gold found in southeastern North Dakota, briefly describe how the deposit was formed, and how it was uncovered.

NO COPY AND PASTE ANSWERS, PLEASE.

ANSWER: The most likely source for the gold found in southeastern North Dakota is generally accepted as having come from the Black Hills, brought down over the preglacial surface by an ancient river flowing in that direction. The placer deposit was covered by glacial material, and then uncovered by the Sheyenne River where it was found by prospectors in 1884. http://www.state.nd.us/ndgs/NDNotes/ndn6_h.htm for the link to this page. (This link does not look live for some reason. If you would like to read the information, copy and paste it into your browser).

Jan 3, 2007 Gold Question of the Week

Gold's roller coaster ride continues into the New Year! Hey, did you see the winner for the gold question last week? If not, here it is. Check on Wednesday mornings for the current questions. Be the first, qualified, correct answer to the week's question and win a 2 grain vial of Mad Muther gold from Nevada. Good Luck on winning the gold!

CONGRATULATIONS TO: GLENN for being the FIRST Winner in 2007! Also, for being the first, qualified, correct answer to the question for Jan. 3, 2007.

Hooked On Gold's QUESTION OF THE WEEK: JANUARY 3, 2007.

In Montana, name the county that has produced the most placer gold to date, and what is the total amount in ounces?

NO COPY AND PASTE ANSWERS, PLEASE.

ANSWER: Madison County.....2,507,250 ounces of placer gold. That number is half of the total amount found in the county including lode gold. It is not usual that the placer gold amount is anywhere near the lode amount.

A Golden New Year

Another New Year is just beginning, and all of our hard work is paying off. We found more gold last year than we did the year before, sold some gold, bought some gold, looked at gold, coveted beautiful specimens of gold, ate, drank, and slept gold. Yes, it was a GOOD year! We found gold in the river, on the mountainside, in the desert, and just about everywhere we went looking for gold. Some times we found a lot of gold, some times we only found a pinch, but the adventure was worth each and every trip! This year is shaping up to be just as golden, and we are looking forward to seeing YOU everywhere we find gold. If you are looking for gold, let us know. We may be able to help you find it in the area you are looking. If not, we can probably point in the right direction for help. Talking and e-mailing with prospectors is always fun! May your NewYear be golden as well.

Gold Question of the Week for Dec. 13

How many Christmas Carols are there that include the word "gold" in the title? Also, please name.

NO COPY AND PASTE ANSWERS, PLEASE.

ANSWER: Here are Jim's answers: Everyone should at least have thought of "Silver and Gold"

1-Glorious, Beauteous, Golden-Bright
2-The Golden Carol
3-The Golden Time is now at hand
4-The Golden Tyme is nowe at hande
5-Lovelist Dawn of Gold and Rose
6-My heart of Gold
7-Rich Gold from the Earth is Delved
8-Silver and Gold
9-They leave the land of Gems and Gold

Hooked on Gold Gazette Dec.15, 2006.

December 15, 2006.

We had a reader find a problem with the shopping cart this past week which appears to be resolved. If anyone continues to have a problem, please drop us note and tell us at hookedongold@msn.com. Many thanks to Mark for telling us so we could get it fixed. He is awarded a 2 lb. bag of MQS Magic panning sand.

Question of the Week: http://www.hookedongold.com/custformnew258670.html
CONGRATULATIONS TO : Jim for being the first qualified answer to come up with the most Christmas Carols having the word “Gold” in them. Check the question page for the list of9 he found.

GOLD PRICE DEC.15, 5:00 a.m. $624.80

REMEMBER THE GOLD will be 20% off AND FREE SHIPPING. Also, a bag of Madam Queen Shirley’s Magic Black Sand Panning Concentrate will be included with each “PoopTube” Mini Sluice through the Holiday Season.

www.hookedongold.blogspot.com Gold panner had a little to say this past week. You might want to mozy over to blogspot and read his piece. We are archiving newsletters and now question of the week so you can keep up. Newsletters will be archived as long as we have the two newsletter system.

http://downloads.desktopsubscriber.com//reader/win/146/354
The new reader is FREE, more efficient, faster, guaranteed delivery, safer than e-mail, easily opted out of and uninstalled. All of this type of mail will be converting over in the next year or so, so download your copy now. YOU WILL NOT BE ADDED TO ANYONE ELSES LIST…..EVER! Readers are purely up to you whether you wish to receive information from the provider of the reader, and you can opt out any time you want to with ease. Information collected is: first and last name, company (That one is for you to put in your Colorado Club affiliation so we can get information to only you), State and Country. Those last two are only ‘cause we would like to know how many states and countries we send to. You will get a yellow “caution” sign on your taskbar that will let you access your messages, delete them, mark as read, or read. Right click on it to see the option menu. You will get a “pinging” pop up when there is a new message for you. IF YOU GET A SECURITY WARNING WHEN YOU CLICK THE LINK, pick “yes” to continue your download. Your filters are only trying to make sure you know what is going on. . That’s all there is to it. You are welcome to contact us if you have any problems at hookedongold@msn.com.

The new reader has several links to mining equipment you can “do it yourself” with. The reader link is: http://downloads.desktopsubscriber.com//reader/win/146/354

CHRISTMAS TIME IS FOR KIDS……..Young and old. HobbyTron has a selection of “toys” for all ages. R.C. cars, helicopters, boats, you name it, Airguns, Robots , Kits. You won’t believe what they have for you. There are money off coupons on the website you can use towards your purchases and shipping. Check the blog page for the link.


GPOC Temporary Page is at:
http://www.hookedongold.com/new263863.html The Christmas party was well attended again this year and the Marines took two tables of toys back with them for their drive. Many thanks to them for their service and for holding this very worthwhile project each year.


GPR will be holding their members Christmas Party 20th at the Clements Community Center.

Link partners for Christmas are: www.colorado-trails.com which has several media items on Spanish trails and signs in the Southwest that can lead to old Spanish mines, and
www.historicmapsrestored.com which reproduces historic maps, many of which have never been reproduced before, from around the U.S. Check out their wide selection of maps today. P.S. they are not affiliate sites, just good folks with items of interest to you.

If you find a broken link PLEASE LET US KNOW so we can fix it. Thanks to Mark this past week for finding the shopping cart problem and alerting us to it. He is awarded a 2 lb. bag of MQS Magic panning sand.

If you are coming off the river with lots of black sand and you have never found a way to separate it fast and easily, then it is time to get your mini sluice concentrate separator. You can find it at: “ http://www.hookedongold.com/catalog244861.html”
It comes complete with adjustable legs, pump, hopper, hose and the mini sluice. It will separate black sand faster and more easily for you than anything else we have used, and at an affordable price. Works GREAT with the blue bowl for separating instead of screening before you do your last separation with the bowl. During the Christmas Season, a bag of Madam Queen Shirley’s Magic Black Sand Panning Concentrates will be included with your order.

The new FREE, easy reader downloadable link is here: http://downloads.desktopsubscriber.com//reader/win/146/354

Anyone interested in getting a continuing gold quote streamer on your computer taskbar can go to www.kitco.com and look for the little Kcast blue and gold banner near the top of the page. It isn’t always there, but if you refresh the page a few times it should pop up. I haven’t seen it on their page for a long time, but I’m glad it’s there now. I was able to put it on the taskbar of the laptop last night so I can see what the price is anytime I am online.

EVERYBODY LOVES gold! The larger nuggets are posted for you to consider for gift giving and collecting. One piece of particular interest is a bailed pendant of California gold. ALL ARE ON SALE NOW! The 2 lb. bags of Colorado dredge concentrate with Colorado gold on the gold page are waiting for you to get cleaned up. Look for “Madam, Queen Shirley’s Magic Black Sand Panning Concentrates”. Make your gold pan Magically turn yellow. Colorado Concentrates, Colorado GOLD! Comes with our Black Sand Separation panning tips. GOLD AND CONCENTRATES ARE AT:
http://www.hookedongold.com/catalog244888.html GET ONE……GET TWO for double the fun! [Just added to the panning concentrates: While we are cleaning some of the ore pieces we find, some of it falls off and is too small to do anything with, so we are adding a piece or two of the wires, flakes or crystal pieces to the bags. You may find them clean, or with ore still attached that is black, quartz, or red. Some pieces may be larger than the other sands, too.]

THE ARKANSAS RIVER WILL BE CLOSED TO MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT FOR THE WINTER UNTIL APRIL 1st, 2007. The river will still open for panning, sluicing, and dry washing.

That link to the reader again is: http://downloads.desktopsubscriber.com//reader/win/146/354

With Christmas get togethers coming in the next two weeks and the preparations for the holidays looming, the Question of the Week will be suspended until after the New Year. Rejoin us on Jan 3, 2007 for the first question of the New Year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS! May you have golden memories during your Holiday Season!

Until Next Week.

Good Prospecting to You,
Larry and Shirley Weilnau
www.hookedongold.com
www.hookedongold2.com A COOL little website!
hookedongold@msn.com
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please drop us a note at: hookedongold@msn.com

Hooked on Gold Gazette Dec. 8th

December 8, 2006

Question of the Week: http://www.hookedongold.com/custformnew258670.html
CONGRATULATIONS TO : Cookie (I think I missed John last week, sorry) for being the first correct qualified answer to this week’s question! Take a look at the answer if you haven’t been onsite to see it yet.

NOW THAT YOU HAVE HAD A CHANCE to view the gold pieces this week, we are giving you a break on their prices for the Christmas Season. We will be offering 20% off the price of the larger nuggets, the new pendant, AND FREE SHIPPING. Also, a bag of Madam Queen Shirley’s Magic Black Sand Panning Concentrate will be included with each “PoopTube” Mini Sluice through the Holiday Season.

www.hookedongold.blogspot.com Archiving newsletters and now question of the week so you can keep up. Newsletters will be archived as long as we have the two newsletter system.

http://downloads.desktopsubscriber.com//reader/win/146/354
The new reader is FREE, more efficient, faster, guaranteed delivery, safer than e-mail, easily opted out of and uninstalled. All of this type of mail will be converting over in the next year or so, so download your copy now. YOU WILL NOT BE ADDED TO ANYONE ELSES LIST…..EVER! Readers are purely up to you whether you wish to receive information from the provider of the reader, and you can opt out any time you want to with ease. Information collected is: first and last name, company (That one is for you to put in your Colorado Club affiliation so we can get information to only you), State and Country. Those last two are only ‘cause we would like to know how many states and countries we send to. You will get a yellow “caution” sign on your taskbar that will let you access your messages, delete them, mark as read, or read. Right click on it to see the option menu. You will get a “pinging” pop up when there is a new message for you. IF YOU GET A SECURITY WARNING WHEN YOU CLICK THE LINK, pick “yes” to continue your download. Your filters are only trying to make sure you know what is going on. . That’s all there is to it. You are welcome to contact us if you have any problems at hookedongold@msn.com.

The new reader has several links to mining equipment you can “do it yourself” with. The reader link is: http://downloads.desktopsubscriber.com//reader/win/146/354

CHRISTMAS TIME IS FOR KIDS……..Young and old. HobbyTron has a selection of “toys” for all ages. R.C. cars, helicopters, boats, you name it, Airguns, Robots , Kits. Check them out by clicking on the link below! You won’t believe what they have for you. There will be money off coupons on the website you can use towards your purchases and shipping in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Check the blog page for the link.


GPOC Temporary Page is at:
http://www.hookedongold.com/new263863.html
They will be having their annual Children’s Toy Drive at the Christmas Party this year. Bring an UNWRAPPED gift or two for the drive on December 13th, (cash works, too) plus a dish to share.

GPAA COLORADO SPRINGS CHAPTER will be holding their Christmas Party December 9th at Las Palomas Restaurant.

GPR will be holding their members Christmas Party 20th at the Clements Community Center.

I have a couple of link partners that I would like to tell you about for Christmas. Both of these sites have items that the prospector in your life would love to have.
www.colorado-trails.com which has several media items on Spanish trails and signs in the Southwest that can lead to old Spanish mines, and
www.historicmapsrestored.com which reproduces historic maps, many of which have never been reproduced before, from around the U.S. Check out their wide selection of maps today. P.S. they are not affiliate sites, just good folks with items of interest to you.

If you find a broken link PLEASE LET US KNOW so we can fix it.

If you are coming off the river with lots of black sand and you have never found a way to separate it fast and easily, then it is time to get your mini sluice concentrate separator. You can find it at: “ http://www.hookedongold.com/catalog244861.html”
It comes complete with adjustable legs, pump, hopper, hose and the mini sluice. It will separate black sand faster and more easily for you than anything else we have used, and at an affordable price. Works GREAT with the blue bowl for separating instead of screening before you do your last separation with the bowl. During the Christmas Season, a bag of Madam Queen Shirley’s Magic Black Sand Panning Concentrates will be included with your order.

The new FREE, easy reader downloadable link is here: http://downloads.desktopsubscriber.com//reader/win/146/354

Anyone interested in getting a continuing gold quote streamer on your computer taskbar can go to www.kitco.com and look for the little Kcast blue and gold banner near the top of the page. It isn’t always there, but if you refresh the page a few times it should pop up. I haven’t seen it on their page for a long time, but I’m glad it’s there now. I was able to put it on the taskbar of the laptop last night so I can see what the price is anytime I am online.

EVERYBODY LOVES gold! The larger nuggets we promised are posted for you to consider for gift giving and collecting. One piece of particular interest is a bailed pendant of California gold. ALL ARE ON SALE NOW! The 2 lb. bags of Colorado dredge concentrate with Colorado gold on the gold page are waiting for you to get cleaned up. Look for “Madam, Queen Shirley’s Magic Black Sand Panning Concentrates”. Make your gold pan Magically turn yellow. Colorado Concentrates, Colorado GOLD! Comes with our Black Sand Separation panning tips. GOLD AND CONCENTRATES ARE AT:
http://www.hookedongold.com/catalog244888.html GET ONE……GET TWO for double the fun! [Just added to the panning concentrates: While we are cleaning some of the ore pieces we find, some of it falls off and is too small to do anything with, so we are adding a piece or two of the wires, flakes or crystal pieces to the bags. You may find them clean, or with ore still attached that is black, quartz, or red. Some pieces may be larger than the other sands, too.]

THE ARKANSAS RIVER WILL BE CLOSED TO MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT FOR THE WINTER UNTIL APRIL 1st, 2007. The river will still open for panning, sluicing, and dry washing.

Yup that new mining journal said it was half a MILLION ounces of platinum. The edition in the new reader has the details. That link again is: http://downloads.desktopsubscriber.com//reader/win/146/354

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot-B4V8oqPQ

Until Next Week.

Good Prospecting to You,
Larry and Shirley Weilnau
www.hookedongold.com
www.hookedongold2.com A COOL little website!
hookedongold@msn.com
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please drop us a note at: hookedongold@msn.com

Gold Question of the Week for December 6, 2006.

Hooked on Gold's Question of the Week for December 6, 2006.

What was the Dunedin, its' significance, location, years of operation and volume of gold produced.

ANSWER: The Dunedin was a dredge that was in operation in NEW ZEALAND on the Clutha River. It pulled up gravels for 20 years, from 1881 to 1901 and produced 17,000 ounces of gold. The significance of it? It was the world's first COMMERCIALLY successful gold dredge.

A Golden Summer

Hidee,

this hears the gold panner. bin out in the wilds findin a poke o gold fer gittin me n Jack thru the winter. dun pritty good this past summer, two. Ol Jack, he dont lik the cold so much any mor, so we high taild it to aryzona sos he can warm his ol bons up sum. we wanderd round a lot lass sumer an pikt up sum mihty nice gold in the streems around the tall mountins. heerd that my frens Larry n Shirley did purty good as well. ol dredger an his frens pikt up sum mor claims they cud uss wif ther flotin dredg machins. nevr did git to ast them what they found. heerd that ther wuz a bunch o fitin bout sum o the claims round Buna Vista at the end o the season, but I think it all got cleered up. we had sum heelashush weather in the mountins this lass yr, an wif the snow cumin erly agin me n jack hav gon south to try our luk wif dry placer. we be heded to tuscon fr the big show in feb. alus a big crowd an plenty o gold. mebe I kin fin a byer fur what me n jack gots in the pok sak. we bin lolygaggin in flagstaff, but its gittin to cold here fur jack, so we be mozyin down to jerome, or closr to the bradshws an prescott. mebe we will mak it dwn to quartzit latr this winter. don no, mebe we r on vacashun! heeheehee ! thas all i gots to say fur now.

Gold information on the web

HOOKED ON GOLD GAZETTE

December 1, 2006

Question of the Week: http://www.hookedongold.com/custformnew258670.html

CONGRATULATIONS TO : JOHN for being the first correct qualified answer to this week?s question! Take a look at the answer if you haven?t been onsite to see it yet.

NOW THAT YOU HAVE HAD A CHANCE to view the gold pieces this week, we are giving you a break on their prices for the Christmas Season. We will be offering 20% off the price of the larger nuggets, the new pendant, AND FREE SHIPPING. Also, a bag of Madam Queen Shirley?s Magic Black Sand Panning Concentrate will be included with each ?PoopTube? Mini Sluice through the Holiday Season.

www.hookedongold.blogspot.com posting this past week was last week?s newsletter. There is more to post, but we have been busy with a new website and a new newsletter format that we haven?t worked the bugs out of yet. I have put in way too many hours to try and get it to work, but it is like trying to get anything to work with HP?..won?t work. The format I found is very nice, but I can?t seem to get it to work with any program and it breaks my sitebuilder template. So? for now I am sending the old one in the old style.

NEW! We found a conversion chart that went in nicely on the charts/ethics page. Take a look at it.

CHRISTMAS TIME IS FOR KIDS??..Young and old. HobbyTron has a selection of ?toys? for all ages. R.C. cars, helicopters, boats, you name it, Airguns, Robots, Kits. Check them out by clicking on the link below! You won?t believe what they have for you. There will be money off coupons on the website you can use towards your purchases and shipping in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Check the blog page for the link.

You?re gonna find more info at the bottom of the page that slipped by me as I ran through and updated the newsletter. DANG! I HATE it that the new format isn?t working yet.

GPOC Temporary Page is athttp://www.hookedongold.com/new263863.html They will be having their annual Children?s Toy Drive at the Christmas Party this year. Bring an UNWRAPPED gift or two for the drive on December 13th, plus a dish to share.

GPAA COLORADO SPRINGS CHAPTER will be holding their Christmas Party December 9th at Las Palomas Restaurant.

GPR will be holding their members Christmas Party 20th at the Clements Community Center.

I have a couple of link partners that I would like to tell you about for Christmas. Both of these sites have items that the prospector in your life would love to have.

www.colorado-trails.com which has several media items on Spanish trails and signs in the Southwest that can lead to old Spanish mines, and

www.historicmapsrestored.com which reproduces historic maps, many of which have never been reproduced before, from around the U.S. Check out their wide selection of maps today. P.S. they are not affiliate sites, just good folks with items of interest to you.

If you find a broken link PLEASE LET US KNOW so we can fix it.

If you are coming off the river with lots of black sand and you have never found a way to separate it fast and easily, then it is time to get your mini sluice concentrate separator. You can find it at: ? http://www.hookedongold.com/catalog244861.html? It comes complete with adjustable legs, pump, hopper, hose and the mini sluice. It will separate black sand faster and more easily for you than anything else we have used, and at an affordable price. Works GREAT with the blue bowl for separating instead of screening before you do your last separation with the bowl. During the Christmas Season, a bag of Madam Queen Shirley?s Magic Black Sand Panning Concentrates will be included with your order.

Anyone interested in getting a continuing gold quote streamer on your computer taskbar can go to www.kitco.com and look for the little Kcast blue and gold banner near the top of the page. It isn?t always there, but if you refresh the page a few times it should pop up. I haven?t seen it on their page for a long time, but I?m glad it?s there now. I was able to put it on the taskbar of the laptop last night so I can see what the price is anytime I am online.

EVERYBODY LOVES gold! The larger nuggets we promised are posted for you to consider for gift giving and collecting. One piece of particular interest is a bailed pendant of California gold. ALL ARE ON SALE NOW! The 2 lb. bags of Colorado dredge concentrate with Colorado gold on the gold page are waiting for you to get cleaned up. Look for ?Madam, Queen Shirley?s Magic Black Sand Panning Concentrates?. Make your gold pan Magically turn yellow. Colorado Concentrates, Colorado GOLD! Comes with our Black Sand Separation panning tips. GOLD AND CONCENTRATES ARE AT:

http://www.hookedongold.com/catalog244888.html GET ONE??GET TWO for double the fun! [Just added to the panning concentrates: While we are cleaning some of the ore pieces we find, some of it falls off and is too small to do anything with, so we are adding a piece or two of the wires, flakes or crystal pieces to the bags. You may find them clean, or with ore still attached that is black, quartz, or red. Some pieces may be larger than the other sands, too.]

THE ARKANSAS RIVER WILL BE CLOSED TO MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT FOR THE WINTER UNTIL APRIL 1st, 2007. The river will still open for panning, sluicing, and dry washing.

We sure are in a deep freeze here! Gave me some time to wander around on the forums. GPAA has a new one up at www.goldprospectors.org. You might want to give it a look.

The new Mining Journal is out, and a brief look at it showed me an article on platinum placers in Alaska. Not about gold, but they sure did pull one heck of a lot of platinum out of the ground! Over 50 million ounces! Or was it 500 million? Can?t remember. It?s too late, and I?ve been working too long. LOL!

I have had many reports of people prospecting down at the new GPOC claim, Prospector #3, that have been getting lots of flour gold coming our of the sand bars. The weather has been pretty good the past few weeks, and the claims have had people on them most weekends. If the weather holds in B.V., it sounds like a good place for members to go and play for a day or two.

Until Next Week.

Good Prospecting to You,

Larry and Shirley Weilnau

www.hookedongold.com

www.hookedongold2.com A COOL little website!

hookedongold@msn.com

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please drop us a note at: hookedongold@msn.com

Gold question of the week for November 29, 2006.

Hooked on Gold Question for the week of Nov. 29th, 2006. Congratulations to John for being the first, qualified, correct answer to the Question of the Week!

In which country is gold size referred to as "lifeless, nit, louse, bug, and cockroach", and the size of the largest recorded nugget found there, where and when?
Answer: FINLAND - Largest recorded nugget was 393 Grams, found in Laanila, Lapland by Eevert Kiviniemi in 1935.

Gold Question of the Week for Nov. 22, 2006.

Nov 22nd Question of the Week:

What was the bird of choice at the Thanksgiving dinner in what Alaskan town in 1903?

ANSWER:Wild Goose in Fairbanks (I bet you thought it would be "Wild Turkey" LOL)

Hooked on Gold Gazette

November 17, 2006

Question of the Week: http://www.hookedongold.com/custformnew258670.html
CONGRATULATIONS TO : GLENN for being the first correct qualified answer to this week’s question! Take a look at the answer if you haven’t been onsite to see it yet.

NEW GOLD PIECES HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE SITE THIS PAST WEEK. Look for their announcement and a description of the special piece near the bottom of the newsletter.

www.hookedongold.blogspot.com will be carrying extra information that you may be interested in. It will fill the gap for us until we can add more pages to the main website. Also, we will be posting the Friday newsletters later in the week for you to view.

CHRISTMAS TIME IS FOR KIDS……..Young and old. HobbyTron has a selection of “toys” for all ages. R.C. cars, helicopters, boats, you name it, Airguns, Robots, Kits. Check them out by clicking on the link below! You won’t believe what they have for you. There will be money off coupons on the website you can use towards your purchases and shipping in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
HobbyTron.com Blow Out Specials - Up to 60% Off (Limited quantities)

GPOC Temporary Page is at:
http://www.hookedongold.com/new263863.html

I have a couple of link partners that I would like to tell you about for Christmas. Both of these sites have items that the prospector in your life would love to have.
www.colorado-trails.com which has several media items on Spanish trails and signs in the Southwest that can lead to old Spanish mines, and
www.historicmapsrestored.com which reproduces historic maps, many of which have never been reproduced before, from around the U.S. Check out their wide selection of maps today. P.S. they are not affiliate sites, just good folks with items of interest to you.

If you find a broken link PLEASE LET US KNOW so we can fix it.

Well, as soon as these two announcements left this page, we had some new people tell us they wanted to prospect on Clear Creek in Wheatridge, so back up it goes. Fortunately, we got to tell them before the cops did. LOL! I have a couple of announcements about Clear Creek as it runs through Wheatridge, and also about Boulder County. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT you cannot use ANY type of equipment on the river in Wheatridge. You WILL have your equipment confiscated and you will be ticketed, even if you are only using a finish pan.
Also, prospecting is still being allowed in Boulder County, BUT ONLY ON FEDERAL LAND. If you are caught using any equipment anywhere else you will be fined and your equipment will be confiscated, even if you are only using a finish pan.

If you are coming off the river with lots of black sand and you have never found a way to separate it fast and easily, then it is time to get your mini sluice concentrate separator. You can find it at: http://www.hookedongold.com/catalog244861.html
It comes complete with adjustable legs, pump, hopper, hose and the mini sluice. It will separate black sand faster and more easily for you than anything else we have used, and at an affordable price. Works GREAT with the blue bowl for separating instead of screening before you do your last separation with the bowl.

Anyone interested in getting a continuing gold quote streamer on your computer taskbar can go to www.kitco.com and look for the little Kcast blue and gold banner near the top of the page. It isn’t always there, but if you refresh the page a few times it should pop up. I haven’t seen it on their page for a long time, but I’m glad it’s there now. I was able to put it on the taskbar of the laptop last night so I can see what the price is anytime I am online.

EVERYBODY LOVES gold! The larger nuggets we promised are posted for you to consider for gift giving and collecting. One piece of particular interest is a bailed pendant of California gold. The 2 lb. bags of Colorado dredge concentrate with Colorado gold on the gold page are waiting for you to get cleaned up. Look for “Madam, Queen Shirley’s Magic Black Sand Panning Concentrates”. Make your gold pan Magically turn yellow. Colorado Concentrates, Colorado GOLD! Comes with our Black Sand Separation panning tips. GOLD AND CONCENTRATES ARE AT:
http://www.hookedongold.com/catalog244888.html GET ONE……GET TWO for double the fun! [Just added to the panning concentrates: While we are cleaning some of the ore pieces we find, some of it falls off and is too small to do anything with, so we are adding a piece or two of the wires, flakes or crystal pieces to the bags. You may find them clean, or with ore still attached that is black, quartz, or red. Some pieces may be larger than the other sands, too.]

THE ARKANSAS RIVER WILL BE CLOSED TO MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT FOR THE WINTER UNTIL APRIL 1st, 2007. The river will still open for panning, sluicing, and dry washing.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING! Now is the time to look for all those things you want Santa to bring you so you can put it on your list.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE! May your day with family and friends be extra special. Until next week,

Good Prospecting to You,
Larry and Shirley Weilnau
www.hookedongold.com
www.hookedongold2.com A COOL little website!
hookedongold@msn.com

Gold weights and equivalents and Karat fine

I have had several requests for a more expanded weights table for gold so that you can convert the values more easily. This table shows gold's specific gravity to be 19.3, but you can find any number of resources that will quote it as 19.1, also. The conversion of gold troy weights to gold auvoidupois can be very confusing and this table should help you do that more easily. An ounce in ordinary weights is about 2 Tablespoons. Also included is the Karat system of purity for gold usually used in jewelry, but also used in raw gold weight to determine price according to what impurities are running with the gold. You know, that nasty stuff like silver, copper and lead.

Gold

• The chemical symbol for gold is Au.
• Gold’s atomic number is 79 and its atomic weight
is 196.967.
• Gold melts at 1064.43° Centigrade
• The specific gravity of gold is 19.3, meaning gold
weighs 19.3 times more than an equal volume of
water.
··········

WEIGHT EQUIVALENTS
1 troy ounce = 480 grains
1 troy ounce = 31.1 grams
15.1 grains = 1 gram
1 gram = .03215 troy ounces
1000 troy ounces = 31.3 kilograms
1 kilogram = 32.15 troy ounces
1 tonne = 32.150 troy ounces
1 ordinary ounce = .9115 troy ounces
1 ordinary pound = 14.58 troy ounces


··········


Percent Gold = European System = Karat System
(the Karat system = purity
the carat system = gem weight)

100 % = 1000 fine = 24 karat

91.7 % = 917 fine = 22 karat
75.0 % = 750 fine = 18 karat
58.5 % = 585 fine = 14 karat
41.6 % = 416 fine = 10 karat

November 3, 2006 Newsletter

For your convenience, we are adding our weekly Friday newsletter to the blogspot. Those of you who have trouble getting it, can view it here each Monday in one of our public spaces.

HOOKED ON GOLD NEWSLETTER

November 3, 2006

Question of the Week: http://www.hookedongold.com/custformnew258670.html
CONGRATULATIONS TO : Aaron for being the first correct qualified answer to this week’s question! Take a look at the answer if you haven’t been onsite to see it yet.

GPOC Temporary Page is at: http//:www.hookedongold.com/new263863.htlm Larry Weilnau will be doing a presentation on what steps to take to find a spot that you can run your metal detector on (this works with any type of prospecting as well), what gold sounds like, and what to expect when you think you have found it, at the November 8th GPOC meeting.

I have a couple of link partners that might have some interesting things for you to look at for Christmas. We are not affilites, so we do't get anything for promoting them, but they are great folks with great products.

www.colorado-trails.com which has several media items on Spanish trails and signs in the Southwest, and
http://www.historicmapsrestored.com/ which reproduces historic maps, many of which have never been reproduced before from around the U.S. Check out their wide selection of maps today.

REMEMBER TO VOTE! Even if you are a Tory or a Whig.

This winter we want to give you some excerpts of articles we find or ideas and conversations we have with others that might be of interest to you. This week we are looking at the International California Mining Journal which often follows legislation around the U.S. This month there is the third part of a story on how to find a metal detecting site….you know researching and such. Well, to make a long story short this fellow researched and found an old site for a prospecting group, whose members didn’t find much ‘cause they didn’t search much, and didn’t like the rough road or the rough terrain and decided not to use it. The man and his companions filed on it, worked it, FOUND the gold…..a LOT of it, and when they were finished with it, offered it to the prospecting group, who took them up on it and then found even MORE gold, although no one yet has taken anything as big as the original group did. If you do not read this magazine, you might want to pick a copy up from your local prospecting shop or get your own subscription at http://www.icmj.com/ another great gift idea.

CHECK OUT OUR NEW COOL LITTLE e-BAY WEBSITE www.hookedongold2.com. We have gold nuggets listed on the home page, but you can use the eBay search bar to find whatever you want. It also has a tool you can use to look for misspelled words in your searches, or sign up for an e-Bay account right from the page. A link back to Hooked on Gold is on the links page or you can use your back button. HAVE FUN with this page. It really is COOL!

There is a NEW CHAPTER OF GPAA that has been started in the Colorado Springs area. They are meeting the first Wed. of the month in the Toyota dealership. HookedonGold has put up schedules and details for them on the events page.

HMMMMM Paypal is tougher to integrate then they lead you to believe.

If you find a broken link PLEASE LET US KNOW so we can fix it.

NEW for you. If you are interested in purchasing gold or some of the poop tube items with a check instead of a credit card, as a newsletter recipient you may e-mail us with your request, and we will save the item(s) for you until 10 days after we receive the check so it clears, and then ship or deliver to you. An invoice would be sent via e-mail with your shipping options so you would know how much to send and the address. We thought some of you might appreciate the extra service. Also, we can deliver anything that is ours on the catalog pages to anyone attending the GPOC or GPR club meetings.

PLEASE BE ADVISED: Some of the items in the catalog are drop shipped. Regardless of what their copy says, delivery can take 2 to 4 weeks. We have no control over this, but we will attempt to assist you if you have a problem with delivery.

I have a couple of new announcements about Clear Creek as it runs through Wheatridge, and also about Boulder County. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT you cannot use ANY type of equipment on the river in Wheatridge. You WILL have your equipment confiscated and you will be ticketed, even if you are only using a finish pan. We had this announcement most of the summer in this newsletter, and as soon as we took it down, a new reader did not get the message and had planned on panning in this area. Luckily, we were able to get the info to them BEFORE they got told by the cops.

Also, prospecting is still being allowed in Boulder County, BUT ONLY ON FEDERAL LAND. If you are caught using any equipment anywhere else you will be fined and your equipment will be confiscated, even if you are only using a finish pan.

If you are coming off the river with lots of black sand and you have never found a way to separate it fast and easily, then it is time to get your mini sluice concentrate separator. You can find it at: http://www.hookedongold.com/catalog244861.html
It comes complete with adjustable legs, pump, hopper, hose and the mini sluice. It will separate black sand faster and more easily for you than anything else we have used, and at an affordable price. Works GREAT with the blue bowl for separating instead of screening before you do your last separation with the bowl.

Anyone interested in getting a continuing gold quote streamer on your computer taskbar can go to http://www.kitco.com/ and look for the little Kcast blue and gold banner near the top of the page. It isn’t always there, but if you refresh the page a few times it should pop up. I haven’t seen it on their page for a long time, but I’m glad it’s there now. I was able to put it on the taskbar of the laptop last night so I can see what the price is anytime I am online.

EVERYBODY LOVES gold! We have added 2 lb. bags of Colorado dredge concentrate with Colorado gold to the gold page. Look for “Madam, Queen Shirley’s Magic Black Sand Panning Concentrates”. Make your gold pan Magically turn yellow. Colorado Concentrates, Colorado GOLD! Comes with our Black Sand Separation panning tips.
http://www.hookedongold.com/catalog244888.html Just added to the panning concentrates: While we are cleaning some of the ore pieces we find, some of it falls off and is too small to do anything with, so we are adding a piece or two of the wires, flakes or crystal pieces to the bags. You may find them clean, or with ore still attached that is black, quartz, or red. Some pieces may be larger than the other sands, too. Thinking of that special gift for Christmas? One of our gold pieces would make a wonderful gift for that special guy or gal. CHRISTMAS IS COMING…….THIS MAKES A TERRIFIC GIFT FOR YOUR FAVORITE PROSPECTOR. Get one…get TWO for double the fun.

THE ARKANSAS RIVER WILL BE CLOSED TO MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT FOR THE WINTER UNTIL APRIL 1st, 2007. The river will still open for panning, sluicing, and dry washing.

Thanks to everyone who has supported our affiliates this past year. Hopefully, you have found some good information and products from them. CHRISTMAS IS COMING! Now is the time to look for all those things you want Santa to bring you so you can put it on your list.

Until next week,

Good Prospecting to You,
Larry and Shirley Weilnau
http://www.hookedongold.com/
http://www.hookedongold2.com/ A COOL little website!
hookedongold@msn.com

Gold Up

Whoa! It certainly has been a busy Fall. WAY too much going on. GPOC has had their claim posts put in place on their newest gold placer claim, Prospector three, and there have been no additional problems in B.V. But, then the motorized season is over. However, those that were down there before it was, did not report any harrassment.

ARE YOU WATCHING GOLD? It has reached its' breakout price and is moving steadily higher. Did ya buy any at 560? Higher gold means a weakening dollar, and it looks like some of those banks that have been dumping gold are now looking to buy it back. The supply simply will not keep up with the demand in India, where gold is treasured and hoarded. We all know how the Chinese feel about gold, having gleaned every speck possible out of every placer operation they touched around the world. Anybody looked at the prospects for the Pebble discovery in Alaska? Northern Dynasty is trying to bring that one to full production. I think Rio Tinto has a hand in it, if I remember correctly. Hope you are ready to dig in and find some gold this next season, or head for warmer climates this winter for some of the yellow stuf. Me, I'll be headed for Arizona around the end of January while the snakes are still asleep, or at least groggy. LOL!

Arkansas River claim part Two

GREAT news today! We have someone else who has overfiled on the GPOC claim north of B.V. as of August 18th. Did someone get them to file again since the other three didn't go through? HMMMM.

HookedonGold

Arkansas River Claims

A note to anyone filing a claim.....BEFORE you decide to throw people off your new "claim", you might want to wait until the BLM has approved those claims. Wheatridge has sent a letter to the Salida claimants who overfiled the GPOC claim and the lower area, that states they have closed those three claims. They included an area already claimed and area that the BLM does not have the mineral rights to. The two lower claims were removed in 1897. That area has been lpng known in the area to be an alternate water storage area, and not open to mineral claiming. The area IS still open to anyone wanting to propsect the area until such time as the water storage is needed. PLEASE be aware of the private property in the area as well, and do not tresspass.

www.HookedonGold.com

Arkansas River Claims

Back from vacation. Saw that gold paner had a few things to say this past week. Claims on the Arkansas River near B.V. have been in the news lately. Seems someone took to sugaring the pumps of some of the men working their claims in the area last week. There has been talk of claim jumping and overfiling again this year. GPOC has a new claim in the area that was overfiled and the new claiments tossed some members out saying that the claim wasn't legal. At trip to the Lakewood office this week will tell all. Good Prospecting to you. And be safe out there.
HookedonGold

burra races an sich

Hidy, gold panner here. I bin up n down at bit in th past few weeks wif my gold pan, an thoz burra races alwys tikl me the way they run them beests up an down them passes an such. Hek, Jack nivr let me treet him that a way. He is alwys complannin bout walkin much less runnin all day wif a full pack. A gennl soul, ol Jack is. But don git him riled, or he'll kick the ---- out o ya! HeeHee. It'll larn ya ta stan a hind him when he don wann ya too, or supriz him an see what hapins. I gess the Weilnaus dun OK at their gold pannin in Breknridg lass weeken. They tell me they took a passl o gold an silver home wif em. Sounds lik they dun better n me, cuz I dint find much gold or silver recentlee. Some dust an enough to get me by. I don need much, though. Jus some grass for Jack an enough beans to keep me goin. I luv sleepin undr the stars an listnin to the silenc an the trees talkin in the breez. An wakkin the mountins lookin for the muthr lode. One that ain't on aneebodee elses land. I ain't no claim jumper! Not lik thos folks in Fairplay that jump claims up Bever Creek! Fairplay! Humph! Ust ta be a place wif honest men. Now a bunch o hooligans liv there that don care 'bout no budys rights, only doin what they want 'cause there ain't no budy ta stop em but theyself an they ain't a gonna do that unless somebudy makes em. Down rite scandulus! Thatz all I got ta say taday.

Colorado State Gold Panning Competitions

Hey all
Wow! The gold panner is a hoot, huh? The Colorado State Gold Panning Championships are being held this weekend on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of August, in Breckenridge, Colorado. There will be three days of competitions from kids to old timers. 8 separate competitions will take place and panning for the public will also be available. Leadville will be holding their annual hard rock mining competitions and the second leg of the Burro Races the same weekend, with the third leg of the burro races being held in Buena Vista Aug, 12th and 13th during Gold Rush Days. The Cotton Tail Gem show will be in B.V. at the fairgrounds the same weekend. Come on out and visit Breckenridge one day and Leadville the next for some fun! Then plan on seeing what goes on in Buena Vista next weekend. Gold Panning will be available in Breckenridge and Buena Vista with the Gold Prospectors of Colorado.

Whatz that in the road?

Hi'dy, Bin up round Fairplay awanderin' so I wandered in ta town to take a look at the goin's on. WHOOOO EEEEE! Did you ever see such a bunch o turists and greenhorns! An evrbody seems to bring their animals. Now, I went to see the burros race up to the top o the pass an back, but there was a passll a strange lookin beast with heads that looked like a goat an a huge body that looked big as a cow. I don know, but they must've not liked the area, or the air was too rarefied for 'em, cause one of 'em laid plum down in he middle o the street, an wouldn't budge. Dangedest thang I ever seen!!! Runned into my good friends Dale and Gale an asted them 'bou the roads that got shut off on privit property on ol' Mt Bross, an' they says that people just don't respect no body's private propety. They run around the gates and cut fences an dump oil in the middle o the road that runs down the mntn inter the lakes below an kill all the fish for years. Now, I don know where all these feriners is comin from, but their mommas sure din't learn them no manners! Them mines up there have tunnels running all over unner ground and the ground is unstbl sometimes, so the people who own them want people to stay off certain roads for their own safety. Ifn you r trespassin on somebody's property, I'd like your address to your home sos I kin visit you and run my burro all over yr bakyard. That's all I got ta say ta day.

Hooked on Gold Prospectors Blog: Gold Prospecting on Cache Creek

Hooked on Gold Prospectors Blog: Gold Prospecting on Cache Creek
www.hookedongold.com www.hookedongold2.com A COOL little website

Gold Prospecting on Cache Creek

Hi'dy, I got ast'd by the folks at hooked on gold to hep them with their prospectin' blog. Don't zactly know what that is, but it sounds like some girls' diary. Now, I'm not sure I wanna write in some diary, but they tell me all I hafta do is ramble on 'bout what I know and what I think, so here goes.

I'm known 'round here as the Gold Panner. I met up with Larry and Shirley back a few years, and since then we have become thick as thieves. Seems they is mostly in the same neck o' the woods as me, so we meet up offen. Good folks and honest to boot. Got 2 sons and a couple of grandkids with more in the oven.

Bin up 'round Cache Creek lately, an I bin seein' a few folks up there 'round the cemetury pokin'holes in the ground. Now, I heerd that the BLM tol everbody to stay up by those lectric poles by the road, an that the cemetury was a historic place to be preezrvd. I could name names, but don't wanna rock no boats. Meybe I'll git me one o' those pitchur takin thangs an wander down there. Cors it's a BLM problem, but I al'ays thought prospectors was law abidin' an honest, not a bunch o scoundrels. That's all I got ta say taday.