September 15, 2001 CVGP Meeting Announcement. CVGP: Central Virginia Gold Prospectors. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CVGP MEETING NOTICE-NEWSLETTER #18 Dear Fellow Prospectors, SPECIAL MEETING NOTICE !!!!! The 18th meeting of the Central Virginia Gold Prospectors; (CVGP)will be a combined meeting and "Miners Day" and will take place at the RED BARN in Orange County, VA on Saturday, 9/15/01 at 10:00 AM. (More details of this special event are below). DIRECTIONS to the RED BARN: If you're heading north on Route 15, the RED BARN is about 2 miles North of Gordonsville on Route 15 on the right. If you're coming from the north (Fredericksburg area), take Rt. 3-West to Route 20 and make a left. Continue on Rt. 20 which "dead ends" into Rt. 15. Turn left and travel South on Rt. 15 approx. 9-10 miles and the RED BARN will be on your left. If you get into Gordonsville, you passed it and need to turn around and head back about 2 miles. There is an open sided pavilion and that is where the meeting/Miner's Day will take place. **** IMPORTANT NOTICES APPEAR IN THIS NEWSLETTER RIGHT AFTER THE FINANCIAL REPORT AND ARE MARKED WITH 4 ASTERICKS (****). PLEASE READ THESE NOTICES !!!! *(We ask those that have been receiving this notice/newsletter for a while to be patient with items that are repeated. We need to do this for the benefit of new CVGP members that are continuing to signup with the club. We will now try to keep these repetitive items located towards the end of the newsletter and which occasionally will have some changes.) First, the minutes of the last meeting ============================================================= MINUTES OF THE 17th MEETING "Central Virginia Gold Prospectors" Date/Time: 8/18/01, 10:38 AM-11:01 AM Place: Small Country Campground, Louisa, VA Attending: 22 Members & guests. - Joe Coyle, CVGP President, opened the meeting with aprayer. - Joe discussed the "Miners Day" plans for the Sept. 15th meeting at the Red Barn and gave the directions. - Joe mentioned an historical organization called the "Field Day of the Past" that is requesting help from any CVGP members that would be interested in giving panning demonstrations or talks on prospecting at their 10th Field Day on Sept. 21-23. Last year Palmer Sweet helped out but can't participate this year. If interested, please talk to Joe Coyle or myself for some forms you would need to fill out. - Joe also mentioned someone contacting him requesting CVGP members start writing letters to Wash., DC about some new changes to the mining laws that are in the works. We're expecting a Fax from the person on specifics and will let you know more when we receive it. - Ron reminded everyone that the vote regarding whether or not the CVGP should be a chapter of the GPAA was extended to Sept. 1st and urged any members that have not voted yet to cast their vote either at the meeting, by E-Mail or by "Snail" mail. - Joe again mentioned the VERY important need for volunteers for the CVGP Claims Committee and also if any members know the names of property owners on potentially good gold bearing areas to bring it to the attention of the Claims Committee (currently John Hakala is the only member!)or to any of the club officers. - John had some comments to make regarding certain by-laws the GPAA requires of it's chapters that are not appropriate. - Club member, Gilbert Sorg, mentioned that prospecting clubs in Georgia and North Carolina are set up to pay any member that passes on info for a potential claim that eventually becomes a club claim. - John passed a pan around asking all attending members to donate $1 for to give to Small Country Campground for the use of their pavilion. - Joe suggested that members should feel free to bring any prospecting equipment to CVGP meetings to either demo or offer for sale to members. - Ron Pope reminded everyone that the term of the current CVGP officers will expire at the end of this year and new officers will need to be elected at the last meeting of the year on October 20th. (**** More on this below). - Attendance list was passed around. - Raffles (including raffle for a nice gold nugget) and club sales were conducted after the meeting. - The meeting adjourned at approx. 11:01 AM Submitted by: Ron Pope ________________________________________________________________________ ______ __________ CVGP FINANCIAL REPORT The Central Virginia Gold Prospectors currently does not charge dues or fees of any kind to be a member of the club. To cover any expenses for club activities such as outings, dinners, property leasing costs, postage, etc. we hold raffles, sell 50/50 chances, accept donations, etc. Therefore, a regular part of this monthly newsletter will be an up to date financial report indicating both income & expenses and current balance of the CVGP account (a CVGP checking account was opened on 7/28/00 with F&M Bank). As voted and approved at the 4/21/01 meeting, a $100.00 (maximum) Petty Cash Account was started. $100.00 was retained from the 5/19/01 meeting proceeds to start the Petty Cash Account. Any future Petty Cash expenses will be replenished from meeting proceeds as required to maintain a $100 Petty Cash balance ): STARTING Check Account BALANCE (as of 7/25/01)...........$ 1820.14 INCOME - 8/18/01- Club Raffles & Sales....................................................$ 262.00 EXPENSE - Joe Coyle -reimbursement - Postage (from Petty Cash)..-$ 12.60 - Miners Keepers – Nuggets for raffles & prizes.........-$ 386.90 - Walter Carr - (15) CVGP "T" Shirts (Chk #112).........-$ 100.00 PETTY CASH BALANCE.......................................$ 100.00 *($12.60 replenished from 8/18/01 meeting proceeds) CVGP CHECK ACCOUNT BALANCE (as of 8/29/01)...............$ 1582.64 TOTAL CVGP BALANCE (as of 7/25/01).......................$ 1682.64 **** "MINERS DAY" –The "Miners Day" at the Red Barn on Sept. 15th should be a fun day for all. Joe Coyle has arranged to have a Roasted Pig to satisfy our appetites. There is also a panning contest (for a gold nugget prize) planned. We hope to have a number of different types of prospecting equipment on display and ask that members who have any unusual or "homemade" equipment to bring to the event. May even be some door prizes. Members are encouraged to bring any dishes to compliment the hog such as cole slaw, potato salad, refreshments (non-alcoholic please), snacks, deserts, etc. Maybe someone would like to bring some Horse Shoes for a CVGP tournament??? ________________________________________________________________________ ______ _______ **** VOTE EXTENSION ! - Regarding the question of whether or not the CVGP should be a chapter of the GPAA, the Sept. 1st deadline has passed and all of the votes have been counted. The results will be announced at the Sept. 15th Meeting/Miners Day. (P.S.- thanks to the many members who have expressed their wishes regarding this matter by casting their vote !) ________________________________________________________________________ ______ _________ **** CVGP NOW ON THE WEB ! - A big THANK YOU to new member, Dave Saum for putting a CVGP page on his web site "http://infiltec.com/gold" which has a link to the CVGP page. Or, you can go directly to the CVGP page using "http://www.infiltec.com/cvgp". I'm sure Dave would appreciate hearing from CVGP members that may have any ideas or suggestions regarding his Web site and/or the CVGP page. ________________________________________________________________________ ______ __________ **** UPCOMING CVGP OFFICER ELECTION - The 2 year terms of the current CVGP officers will expire the end of this year. An election will be held at the last meeting of the year on Oct. 20th for: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer (or Secretary/Treasurer) and Claims Committee Chairman. THE CVGP WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO FUNCTION WITHOUT THESE OFFICER POSITIONS FILLED! So, if you are interested in any of these positions or would like to nominate someone , please talk to, call, write or E-Mail either Joe Coyle, John Hakala or Ron Pope before the Oct. meeting. I'm sure there are numerous members that would do an excellent job in leading the CVGP in the right direction maybe with some fresh ideas! (P.S.- the new Claims Committee Chairman will be needing volunteers for assistants...a good number would probably be 3-6 assistants). CVGP MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY – I STAND CORRECTED!!!! At the last meeting, one of the members asked why we can't have a membership directory available for all members to have and I told him I was under the impression that Privacy laws would prevent this. I've been since advised and corrected that there is no Privacy Law problem as long as the directories are passed out to CVGP members only and kept amongst the members only. So, we will look into what it would take to develop a directory that could be put together and maintained without an excessive cost to the club or membership. More on this later…. maybe a good project for the new incoming club officers??? ________________________________________________________________________ ______ __________ BUY/SELL/TRADE BULLETIN BOARD 6/27/00 - Russ Neitzelt, a prospector in Ohio who had to cancel his visit to CVGP in Sept.-Oct has the following FOR SALE: Fisher M-Scope Two Box Detector. 80's Model. Good Shape. Needs batteries which can be purchased at Radio Shack. Has instructions to go with unit. Will take $250.00 and you pay for shipping. Russ Neitzelt, E-Mail: neitzelt@eohio.net, Phone: 704-968-4734 8/13/00 - Member, Harold Riley has a 3 inch combination High Banker/Dredge FOR SALE. NEVER BEEN USED! Asking $1,100.00. For more details, call Harold at 304-456-4490 or talk to him at a meeting as he attends regularly. 11/6/00 - Member, Roland Harris is looking for the following: 1) Good boots (not waders) with sturdy sole to use when shoveling and working in water with a high-banker. 2) Anyone that has a Minelab 2000 series detector to give Roland a demo (preferably at Contrary Creek) and for possible purchase. Roland can be contacted by phone at 703-354-8764 (home 6-11 PM), 1-800-311-1078 (leave message-24 hrs.) or by E-Mail at shaveclose1@juno.com 1/24/01 - Member, Roland Harris has the following NEW Briggs & Stratton engines FOR SALE: 1) 5 HP B&S Engine, 6-1 gear reduction ratio, new in original carton w/Tiny Tac (meter for usage), 135252-1049, Model # 135252, Type: 1049E1, Code:980608YA, $330.00 including shipping in USA. 2) 10 HP B&S Engine, 6-1 gear reduction ratio, new in original carton w/Tiny Tac (meter for usage),226452-0049, Model # 226452, Type: 004901, Code: 961106YD, $670.00 including shipping in USA. Roland can be contacted by phone at 703-354-8764 (home 6-11PM), 1-800-311-1078 (leave message-24 hrs.) or by E-Mail at shaveclose1@juno.com 2/26/01 - Member Roland Harris has a Gold Genie spiral wheel, a 4" Dredge with air and a 6" Dredge with air that is willing to loan to any "RESPONSIBLE" person or help anyone needing help in learning to operate these types of equipment. Roland can be contacted by phone at 703-354-8764 (home 6-11 PM), 1-800-311-1078 (leave message-24 hrs.)or by E-Mail at shaveclose1@juno.com 3/27/01 - Member, Paul Ensogna, Sr. is looking for an easy to carry around Sluice, 3 feet or smaller. Paul can be contacted by EMail at ensognas@shentel.net. * (If Your Message Is Not Needed On This Bulletin Board Anymore, or if you have contacted someone that no longer is interested in buying, selling or trading a listed item PLEASE LET ME KNOW so we can remove from the list!) Ground rules for this BULLETIN BOARD: 1) Contact Ron Pope by E-Mail (RPASSOC@aol.com) to have your item put on the Bulletin Board. THIS WILL BE THE ONLY WAY FOR NOW TO GET YOUR NOTICE ON THE BULLETIN BOARD!!!! 2) When submitting, please give us your name, E-Mail address or phone # and a BRIEF description of the item(s) you want to buy, sell, trade or swap for. You will have the option on whether you want to have a price in your message. 3) We will review your submission to decide whether or not it's appropriate to be included in the Bulletin Board. 4) If your message is received by us too late for the next meeting notice, it will be posted in the notice for the following meeting. 5) Please notify us as soon as possible if your notice is no longer needed to be on the Bulletin Board, so we can then remove it and always keep the Bulletin Board up to date (P-L-E-A-S-E!!!!) 6) Any transactions as a result of Bulletin Board notices are ABSOLUTELY NOT to take place during CVGP meetings!!!!! Only discussions that will be permitted during a CVGP meeting regarding the Bulletin Board will be discussions or suggestions concerning format or ground rules of the Bulletin Board. 7) CVGP will not be responsible for sellers description or representation of items. Buyers will be solely responsible for understanding what they are purchasing from a seller. In other words, as with any purchase,.."Buyer Beware". 8) CVGP will not in anyway be a part of or responsible for any transactions other than providing a means for its members to communicate to each other their desire to sell, buy, trade or swap items amongst themselves. If there is any dissatisfaction over a transaction, it will be the sole responsibility of the parties involved to settle their differences. ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ THANKS ! - Many thanks to the members that continue to bring food, goodies, snacks and refreshments to the meetings and to those who have made cash donations and/or donate their 25/25/50 winnings back to the CVGP. ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ CONTACTING CVGP CLUB OFFICERS,COMMITTEE MEMBERS, Etc. - Should you ever need to contact any of the CVGP club officers or committee members, please jot down the following numbers for future reference: CLUB OFFICERS: Joe Coyle, President - PH: 540-672-9113; E-Mail: jhcoyle@ns.gemlink.com John Hakala, Vice.Pres. - PH: 434-457-2407; E-Mail: johniblu@juno.com Ron Pope, Sec./Treas. - PH: 434-263-5981; E-Mail: rpassoc@aol.com CLAIMS COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Chairman - (POSITION VACANT! -NEED VOLUNTEER TO FILL!!!!) John Hakala - PH:434-457-4178; E-Mail: hcwald@erols.com ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ FUTURE CVGP CLUB MEETING DATES John Hakala advised me that Small Country Campground will continue to allow us to use the pavilion for our club meetings every 3rd Saturday of the month through and including October. So For those who like to plan ahead, the meeting dates for the rest of the year will be: 9/15/01 and 10/20/01. ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ CVGP VOLUNTEER REQUESTS 1. As previously requested, the Claims Committee could use the talents of someone that has surveying experience to assist in difficulties they are experiencing reading old plats, identifying old boundary markers, etc. (Contact John Hakala if you can offer assistance). 2. If the CVGP is to have a "Miners Day" open to the general public next year, members should start thinking now about forming a committee soon to properly plan this event. ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ MEMBER DONATIONS You've probably noticed that in just about every CVGP Financial Report, there are "donated" amounts showing up. Some winners of 25/25/50 raffles at past meetings turned over their winnings back to the club. Others donate by participating in the various raffles or bringing covered dishes to the meetings or donating their time and talents or simply donating information regarding prospecting. This is the type of member participation that will ultimately insure the success of our club ! If you do not need to specify what you want your cash donation to be used for it will be deposited into the clubs general fund. However, if you want to make a cash donation for a specific purpose, please see me and make sure to let me know what you want your donation to be used for. We will keep a record of your donation so that it is only used for the purpose you designated. ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ Member Participation We are attempting to keep the CVGP meetings as informal and as relaxed as possible since we don't want to get into arguing parliamentary procedures instead of discussing what we all come for......prospecting! So, if you have a suggestion, an idea, prospecting hint or tip, a question or anything relating to the club and/or prospecting, please do not hesitate to bring it up at a meeting. Except for the opening prayer, committee reports, club announcements, etc., consider the entire meeting an "open discussion" period for you to participate to your hearts content. ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ INTERESTING PROSPECTING WEBSITES (If you know of some real interesting and informative gold prospecting Websites and would like to share the Web address with the rest of the members, please let me know and we'll put it in the next newsletter.) - I recently came across a Web site called "Prospecting Near Washington, DC". Has information on prospecting places in Virginia and Maryland, access to prospecting equipment plans, topo maps, prospecting dealers, Mineral Resources Depts. and loads of links to other interesting sites many of which relate to the Virginia and Maryland areas. The site address is: "http://www.infiltec.com/gold". (This is new member, Dave Saum's site in which he has added a CVGP page as noted above!). ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ MEETING HANDOUTS Several members often bring in copies of various prospecting articles, prospecting tips, prospecting "how to" sheets, duplicate prospecting magazines, etc. to share with the members. If you have come across something you would like to share with the members, please make some copies and bring with you to a meeting. If you do not have access to a copy machine, if you give me the article, I'll be glad to run off some copies to distribute to the others. ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ GMM Card, Sportsman Pledge Cards One of our members, Dennis McClevey, showed me his GMM (General Mineral Mining) card which shows that he took a mining safety course. Seems to me that having such a card might just be one more sign of credibility you can use when attempting to get property owners permission to prospect. Dennis says the Virginia Div. of Mineral Resources should be able to give you details on who will be giving the next course and where and when. Related to this, Dennis can show you an "Operation Respect Pledge" card which is very similar to the "Sportsman Pledge" cards John Hakala has. All of these things should help prevent a land owner from looking at you as being a "crazy" but instead as someone who will treat his property with respect! ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MINERAL RESOURCES - PUBLICATIONS & UPDATE In past newsletters, we've listed a number of gold prospecting related publications that are available from this very valuable resource. Instead of continuing with our listing, it would probably be better for you to obtain their latest "Catalog of Publications and Maps" which is 33 pages long! It includes a listing of all of their publications, bulletins, reports, maps, books, etc. Prices (which are VERY reasonable) are also listed. You can even purchase rock and mineral sets. You can also bring in your rock/mineral finds to have them identified. CONTACT INFORMATION: (Hours 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM / Monday-Friday) Virginia Div. of Mineral Resources, Box 3667, Charlottesville, VA 22903 Information Phone #: 804-951-6354; Publication Ordering Phone #: 804-293-5121; FAX #: 804-951-6365; E-Mail: JMARR@geology.state.VA.US (John Marr, Information Officer) WEB Site: http://www.geolgy.state.va.us ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ PROSPECTING IN VIRGINIA Please keep in mind that with a few exceptions, most gold bearing areas in Virginia are located on Private Property! We do not want to create a bad image of recreational prospectors in Virginia not to mention the fact of having to face a judge for Trespassing charges! ALWAYS get permission from the property owner BEFORE starting your prospecting activities on private property! Also, if you have a place that you have permission to prospect on, PLEASE show your appreciation to the property owner by not "trashing" his place. Remember, if you bring it in (bottles, soda cans, paper bags, etc.) take it out. Leave the property in the same if not better condition than when you first came there. Then, for sure, you'll be welcome to come back. ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ FUTURE OF CVGP The registration list of the CVGP continues to grow from meeting to meeting. Currently at over 170 registrants! Attendance at the last few monthly meetings runs anywhere from 30+ to 50+. Important matters concerning the future of CVGP often come up at most every meeting. So for your benefit and the benefit of all members, please attend as many meetings as possible and feel free to join in any of the discussions with your thoughts, ideas and viewpoints. ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ GUEST SPEAKERS AT A FUTURE MEETING We were fortunate to have geologist, Dave Wooley at the April meeting. Maybe with a little "arm twisting" we can convince him to come back and again share some more of his valuable knowledge with us? Efforts are also continuing to line up other Guest Speakers at future meetings. If you know someone that would be able to offer some valuable information regarding prospecting in Virginia, by all means please do not hesitate to invite them to attend one of our meetings. ________________________________________________________________________ ______ ___________ LOOKING FOR A PROSPECTING "BUDDY"? We now have 170+ prospectors registered on our club listing that live throughout the state of Virginia, West Virginia and even Ohio. Many prospectors find that this hobby/recreation is more enjoyable when they have some company with them. So, if you would like to get in contact with someone near you, please contact either: Joe Coyle (540-672-9113; JHCOYLE@ns.gemlink.com), John Hakala (804-457-2407; Johniblu@juno.com) or Ron Pope (804-263-5981; RPASSOC@aol.com.). Due to Privacy Laws, we cannot give you any names but we can pass on your name and phone number to other prospectors in your area and if they're interested, they'll contact you. CVGP CLAIMS COMMITTEE The "CVGP CLAIMS COMMITTE" was formed at the July, 2000 meeting. This is the KEY for our club to develop more prospecting places for club members to go to in Virginia!!!!! If you are aware of a property that may have good potential as a club claim, PLEASE bring it to the attention of either of the Claims Committee. It is their job to determine if there is legal public access to the property or if private property, to determine the property owners for the purpose of either obtaining permission and/or any special arrangements such as leasing for club members. (By the way, leasing is one of the reasons to build up the club "kitty"). (NOTE: The Claims Committee currently needs a Chairman and 3-6 committee members!!!!). OTHER PROSPECTING INFO ON THE WEB & TV -Occasionally, you may find documentary shows regarding the history of Gold Prospecting as well as Treasure Hunting on TV channels such as & "The Learning Channel (TLC)", "The History Channel" or "The Discovery Channel" so it might be good to keep an eye out on these channels when browsing through your TV guide. - The national GPAA has a WEB site "http://www.goldprospectors.org" which every prospector should check periodically and in particular the Forums. The GPAA site also has links to their prospecting sites where you can find loads of info even including plans on how to make your own prospecting equipment! The GPAA also has several prospecting shows such as "Prospecting America", "Gold Fever Show" and "Buzzardite Classics" on the Outdoor Channel on TV (check with your cable TV provider or for dish owners, the Outdoor Channel is located on Galaxy 10/24 and X4/402). E-MAIL CLUB NOTICES/NEWSLETTERS At present, it is only practical to get these somewhat detailed monthly notices/newsletters to members that have E-Mail (about 1/2 of the entire membership). Eventually, all those without E-Mail will be getting "snail mail" postal card notices thanks to the hard work of Joe Coyle and the generosity of member Jack Rankin who has a printing business. However, the "snail" mailed notices will be only to alert members of the next meeting dates. If you have not been receiving these E-Mailed notice/newsletters, it's either because you don't have E-Mail or we do not have your E-Mail address! If you know any members that are not getting any of these E-Mails, please have them E-Mail me (RPASSOC@aol.com) their E-Mail address and we'll be sure to add them to the E-Mail listing. SUGGESTIONS Please remember, your suggestions, thoughts, ideas, information for the club meetings, monthly newsletters, etc. are ALWAYS welcome. We do not ever want to forget that the main goals of the CVGP are to not only promote the hobby/recreation of Gold Prospecting but to also make it more enjoyable and rewarding for those already involved. Even if you think that whatever you have to contribute is unimportant, believe me, if it has anything to do with prospecting, you can count on the others being interested in what you have to say!!!! CVGP IS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION The CVGP currently does not charge membership dues or fees of any kind. To cover the cost of any club expenses such as phone calls, postage, outing related expenses, property leasing, etc. we raise money by holding raffles, 50/50 chances, selling or auctioning donated prospecting items, receiving donations (of either time or money), etc. Your support of any of these fundraising activities (or contribution of your talents or resources) would not only be appreciated by all of the members but ultimately will benefit all members in reaching our common goals for this club. ALL ARE WELCOME! Please feel free to bring along any prospecting buddies of yours, family members especially your children or friends that want to find out more about prospecting to the meetings. CVGP meetings are open to ALL those interested in prospecting! HAPPY PROSPECTING and hope to see you all on Sept. 15th Regards, Ron Pope Secretary/Treasurer - CVGP (804-263-5981) RPASSOC@aol.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please send comments or problems with this web page to the CVGP Webmaster.