TREASURE NEWS SEPTEMBER 2015! A Copyrighted Publication of the Prospectors Club of Southern California

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1 TREASURE NEWS SEPTEMBER 2015 A Copyrighted Publication of the Prospectors Club of Southern California 1

2 Cover Story Esteemed PCSC member Steve Karno found a WHOLE LOT OF GOLD not far from downtown Los Angeles. Steve submitted the following (edited and cropped) photos along with his written impressions: 2

3 A Golden Treasure Near Downtown Los Angeles: I was surrounded by a huge abundance of gold, both natural and refined. Mixed within were many natural samples of silver, copper, exotic minerals of all descriptions, and cut gemstones galore. All items were beautifully displayed, with informative labels, and numerous storyboards. So, where was I? The Los Angeles Natural History Museum's Gem and Mineral Hall. Located in the northwest wing of the museum, this exhibition is simply spectacular. The history of California's gold boom is captured in a large, dedicated display. Nearby is the "Vault" where the most valuable gem specimens are highlighted in glass tablets. Other areas focus on natural and cut jade, large meteorites, and almost anything else you can imagine. Have children or grandchildren? The large dinosaur wings have been updated and expanded just for those youngsters to enjoy. There is also a relatively new, interactive science wing designed just for those budding young scientists to explore. Finally, as a bonus, the museum hosts a variety of "Special Exhibits" including this month's Butterfly Pavilion. Starting September 18 a new Mummy Exhibit will open to the public. The Los Angeles Natural History Museum is located at 900 Exposition Blvd, just across the road from the USC campus. Plenty of parking can be found on Bill Roberston Lane (just west of the main museum building). I guarantee you will enjoy your visit to this wonderful museum Submitted by Steve Karno A Report From PCSC Prospectors Who Returned From Alaska Seven PCSC members traveled north to Alaska, six of whom shared their adventures at the August meeting. Seen immediately below with the big grin is Jon K. and some of his nuggets. 3

4 PCSC member Ray Proefrock (pictured below) actually worked at the AKAU facility in the Anvil Creek vicinity for over 40 days. Not to worry Ray got a chance to prospect and found some gold of his own. Ray told of a party that included some of the local Bering Sea Gold personalities. He also described the wonderful food that was served up such as meaty crab legs galore and fresh caught salmon. Mitchel Noble and his wife, Lu, talked about the side trips they took such as a salmon fishing trip and visits to other points of interest. Mike Picci (below) put together a slide show that was presented on the meeting hall movie screen. Patrick Swift displayed some of his nuggets. 4

5 September 25, 26, 27 PCSC Prospecting Outing Info Submitted by Joe Chmiel Our September outing will be hosted at the Pilgrim Claim near Randsburg. The drive is less than 3 hours from LA. This claim is on the same road as the LDMA's Duisenburg claim and is easy access right off Hwy 395 with two wheel drive vehicles, trailers, motor homes or any wheeled mode of transportation that you use. The claims where we do our prospecting are another matter. It is best to have a high clearance 2 wheel drive or a 4 wheel drive vehicle depending on the road conditions. If you have never been to a PCSC outing before, you have been missing out on a good part of the very reason you joined the club (coinshooters excepted.) And while not attracting the thousands that showed up for our annual desert conventions back in the '70s, we still keep the tradition alive by hosting outings a few times a year. So even if you are new to prospecting, take us up on our offer to teach techniques, lend equipment and point you in the right direction. We will have a potluck at 6pm on Saturday night, so bring a dish to share (with food in it I mean... not for eating off of.) Instead of the customary Sunday morning bingo, I will set up a coin hunt where you can win valuable prizes... a coin detector will suffice for this activity. I think we can kick the hunt off at 8:30am. Tent camping on the claim can work out if the tent can withstand high winds. It's not always windy but be prepared. Other than that, if you have any questions, please call Lucky Joe at or see me at the September meeting. We haven't had an outing all summer, so I expect this one will be well attended and I hope to see you there Editor s notes: A porta-potti will be delivered on Thursday, September 24th and will remain until Monday. The prevailing wind direction and location of the main (smokey) fire pit should be taken into account when selecting a camp spot. Please bring a camp chair and some firewood it makes for a great wine sipping and storytelling atmosphere. Motels, gas stations, stores and cafes are plentiful in nearby Ridgecrest about 17 miles distant. Rumor has it that the top coin hunt prize will consist of a generous amount of natural gold 5

6 The Prez Sez Our August Klamath River Adventure I missed the August club meeting because of some business I had to take care of. Also, I planned a mini-vacation that I needed. I was originally going to take care of the business and then go prospecting at Roaring Camp. The Roaring Camp plan changed when I was invited to go to the Klamath River on the Dave McCracken, New 49ers claims. With the invite there was no hesitation on my part to accept. First off, just meeting Dave made the trip worth the 6 additional hour drive. Dave is an encyclopedia of knowledge on prospecting the Klamath. Ranay & I teamed up with 4 other PCSC members and a 7th person who is a New 49er member and who made the contact with Dave and got us on the New 49er claims that run 70 miles along the Klamath starting near the 5 Fwy and extend West past Happy Camp. To my surprise we ran into John and Tina Ellis, PCSC club members who just finished a trip in Alaska. NICE Gold country to Gold country. Living the Dream. Just a little bit about the Klamath Claims. There is gold everywhere. We started digging and we got gold. We moved to another location and we got gold. We were High-banking and Dry-washing, both got gold. Using both the Highbanker and the Dry-washer on the Klamath proved to be worth their weight in gold. Some campers were watching us use the machines and became very inquisitive about what we were doing. We offered to let them try the dry-washer and then do a clean-up. After about 10 minutes of shoveling dirt into the drywasher, we did a clean-up. Call it beginners luck but the yellow gold jumped out of that clean-up. It was one of the best clean-ups. The wife immediately told her husband, You need that Dry-washer. It was a good clean up and we let them keep the gold they found. After a week on the Klamath we all got nice gold including my wife Ranay who found her first gold. Because our club supports the New 49 ers in the various legal fights against the state and other entities, Dave extended an end of season opportunity for current PCSC members to join the New 49 ers. Since PCSC has no wet claims this seems to be a pretty good opportunity for us. Special to PCSC Members only: Membership onetime payment $3, reduced to $2,500. Payment plan $ down & $22.50 per mo until paid. No interest and no binding contract. Annual Maintenance fee $

7 Progress Report Of 501(c)(3) Status In an effort to enhance the club s effectiveness and growth we have been moving forward with the transition from a California Non-Profit to a Federal Tax Exempt Non-Profit status. Two members Steve Karno & Martin Milas joined with me to form a three person committee to undertake and oversee the transition. Although I have formed many corporations in the past I asked Steve and Martin if they would like to be part of the committee. Both Steve and Martin were more than happy to join with me in the transition. I think we have some initial questions that need answers. When we get the answers and feel comfortable, that s when we will move forward. But, before we spend any of the club s money we want to make sure we don t waste it. For example, we don t want to pay money to a 3 rd party only to find out that something in our Mission Statement or our Articles of Incorporation prohibits the completion of our transition. Ultimately it may be best to seek out the expertise of a 3 rd party to guide PCSC through all the paperwork and government red tape. Meanwhile, Martin brought to my attention that there may be something in our Articles of Incorporation that could be a problem. Until we get that figured out our transition is on hold for now. More updates to follow. Ray Kender President PCSC PCSC Youth Panning Competition September 18, 2015 The 2015 PCSC Youth Panning Competition is open to any child under the age of 18 who is sponsored by a PCSC member in good standing. Typically this consists of relatives of members. However, as long as an adult PCSC member sponsors a child (such as a neighbor s boy or girl) and is responsible for that child during the competition, then a non-related child may compete. The maximum number of entries is pegged at 18 (this is based on a show of hands at the August Meeting and the need to know in advance of the competition how many vials of gold and panning materials need to be prepared). In the event more than 18 entries show up, then a drawing of straws will reduce the number. As in the past each and every contestant gets to keep all the gold they recover and a vial even if they dropped some of the targets into the panning tub. Each contestant must record their finish time from a stopwatch provided immediately after screwing the cap onto their completed vial of targets. The heats of the competition will be monitored by judges and stopwatch timed independently with the top four or six contestants of the First Round (depending 7

8 on total number of contestants) moving to the Second Round and the top two remaining gold panners moving to the Final Round. The number of flakes, nuggets and targets will increase in number and size in each successive round (as will the amount of magnetite added to the panning medium) The basic rule is strait forward: fastest panner wins. HOWEVER, adjustments may be made to the order of finish based upon whether ALL targets were properly recovered, proper compliance with competition protocol and/or a tie-breaker rule based upon the least amount of dirt in the vial. The decisions of the judges will be final. A demonstration of the panning protocol will be made prior to the start time and an opportunity will be made for questions to be answered. The 2015 Youth Panning Champion will have the option of taking possession of (and the responsibility for) the perpetual trophy which will be engraved with the champion s name. A cash prize of $25 will be presented to the champion. The top four youth finishers will be eligible to compete with the adults in the October OPEN PANNING COMPETITION. 8

9 Special Drawing Nuggets At September 18th Meeting The two chunksters are specimen grade with host stone inclusions. All of these natural gold nuggets were metal detected in Northern California. Tickets will be available at the September 18th Meeting. See Carole Wray to examine, heft and obtain tickets. Drawing occurs near end of meeting. Guess who won last month s Special Drawing? This could be YOU if your ticket is drawn 9

10 Bill Watson: Best Overall August Display Winner Hey, we have a new kid on the block PCSC member #3410, Bill Watson, won the Best Overall Display vote at the August 21st Meeting. This is the first time Bill won Best Overall. Other winners were: Mitchel Noble (Best Manmade Gold); Jingxiong Lu (Best Manmade Silver); Nancy Waters (Best Coin); Patrick Swift (Best Natural Gold); and Wally Chmiel (Most Unusual). Honorable Mentions went to: Martin Milas, James Flaherty, David Zirkelbach, Barbara Bradbury, Jon Kishi, Joe Chmiel and Ray Proefrock. Alberto Mafud Will Announce Details Of Next Coin Hunt Sept 18th At the time the Treasure News went to press Alberto Mafud was still working out the details of the next PCSC Coin Hunt. An announcement is anticipated at the upcoming meeting. 10

11 Chief Johnson Recognizes Outstanding Crime Scene Search Unit Contributors Chief George Johnson recognized Lloyd Davidson (5 19 ) of Buena Park for his outstanding support of the Crime Scene Unit over the years. He also wished Lloyd a quick recovery from a recent illness. Danny Parrino (right) also was recognized for his superb forensic evidence recovery skills and long track record of participation in this vital service that PCSC provides to law enforcement. Editor s Note: Due to current insufficient space the conclusion of Why Do I Do The Things I Do will be included in a future issue of the Treasure News. PCSC members are invited and encouraged to submit poetry, prose, articles or essays for inclusion in the Treasure News. Submissions may be ed to: <mhmilas@yahoo.com>. 11

12 Treasure News Sept Publication of Prospectors Club of So. Cal. Martin H. Milas, Editor Palms Hwy, #333 Yucca Valley, CA STAMP PCSC meets at 8:00pm on the third Friday of each month at the Downey Woman s Center located at 9813 Paramount Blvd. in Downey. Guests are welcome Visit our website at < Copyright