BEDROCK-NEWS THE OFFICICIAL QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE BEDROCK PROSPECTORS CLUB April, May, June 2016 MONTHLY MEETING PLACE PUYALLUP MASONIC HALL 1005 West Pioneer Ave. HELD ON THE THIRD MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH 7:30 pm 9:30 pm Monroe Gold Show: The new year of club activities has started already with our participation at WPMA s Monroe Gold Show. It sure didn t take long to get the booth set up with all the help. We had a good turnout of club members, some of us even camped up there! The Pres took his new trailer to test out and towed it up with the new truck. He said it looked pretty big parked in his driveway, but gotta say that it looked pretty small parked in between those bigger trailers! Some of us even had time to help out on the Resources Coalition booth. They both look happy to be there! The booth layout Some of us had time to get our mug shots drawn up. Some were better than others, but all were very accurate and we could always tell whose mug it was.
We ran three raffles at the show. Two were awarded at the show (Seahawks Jacket and a Nugget). We spent the last 30 minutes before the drawings counting money and getting ready for the drawings. The show closed down at 4PM and most of us were on the highway by 6PM. Some of us stuck around to help with the tear down and vendor packing. This lady won the Seahawks jacket and very appreciative with her win. She planned on giving it to a son. Of course, you can never have a nugget drawing without our own Colleen buying tickets. Guess who won our nugget draw? We can t figure out how she does it! We need to watch her a lot closer! April 2-3 Gold Show: The April Gold, Gem, and Treasure Show is over with and we did well with our planning. As of Feb. 23, we had 17 elementary schools that agreed to participate, we placed an announcement in the JBLM newsletter, and into a South Sound online newsletter. We have gotten notification of our show in Lost Treasures and ICMJ magazines. We have invited the State Legislature (Democrats and Republican caucuses). We have sold out all but four of our available booths and had one committed food vendor. We received door prize donations from Mine Lab, Irish Mining Stuff, NW Underground Explorations, Tom Bohmker (author), Black Bear Outpost, and from members of Bedrock.
April 2-3 Gold Show (Continued) We planned well and implemented our plan, but we just simply didn t have the turnout for a real successful show. We learned a lot and will take that forward if we decide to try this again next year. Enjoy the pictures and a big thanks to those of you who remembered to get some memories snapped! The coin scramble is pictured above and other snapshots of the show and potluck follow. Entrance Booth One of our Toys for Tots reps Panning Trailer Panning Trailer Amigos
Learning Metal Detecting Vendor Booth Bedrock Booth Signs Signs Signs Resources Coalition Booth Gold Coin Winner!! Vendor Booth Sand Box with Polished Stones
Potluck Fixins Richards Cobbler YUM! Redneck Lounge Chair Colleen s Nugget Cake YUM! Shutup & EAT!
CLAIMS INFO: McCoy Creek This information was requested by Skip Kidd from www.highwayshopper.com. Not only do I have no info re: when repairs will be made. But we fear that there are very many roads impassable due to Dec. 9 huge rainstorms, many not even discovered yet because of snow cover and snow obstructing access, and the very short staffing that the Forest has now (200 twenty years ago down to 23 now). We fear that many now impassable roads may be very delayed- years- to get repaired, that very sadly many may never get repaired. The Forest Service local people have been working to apply for funds but the funds available are only for the most major roads #23 & #25 and maybe #26. The funds are not for other lower-grade roads. I presume that the Forest Service road maintenance crew will work as usual on the roads prioritized according to: 1) most urgently needed, 2) require the least repair, and only finally 3) the rest of the roads. Both #28 and #29 are among those "lower grade" roads with impassable damage, but I've heard nothing specific about their repair- only the sad report that these special funds won't apply to them and that their repair is very uncertain. I've asked the ranger station to give us regular reports of roads damages, closures and estimated repair dates, and will put those reports in the Shopper as I receive them. Claims Work report We had a discussion on filling out the Claims work forms by Jim Curtiss (claim s chairman) at our last meeting. A copy of our form is attached for your use as you visit our claims. Jim s biggest concern is getting adequate information for the BLM reports. We get a lot of forms without the correct claim name (i.e. Blewett claim is inadequate). We need to insure that we put our name(s) on the bottom of the form. Each form can be used for two claims, three days on that claim, and two different work types (maintenance or mining). Don t put details about your finds keep it general (you can brag or cry about it in a private conversation. Claim conditions should be detailed enough so that we can find any issues without spending hours looking for it! GOLD SIZING INFO: The size of individual gold particles ranges widely. Commonly the gold in lode deposits occurs in particles of submicroscopic size. In placer deposits the finest flour gold may be too tiny for individual particles to be seen without the aid of a magnifier, but they may be as large as nuggets that weigh several pounds each. One of the largest nuggets is the Welcome Stranger, weighing 190 pounds and was found in 1869 near Ballafar in Australia. The largest nuggets found in Washington are from the Swauk district in Kittitas county. A 73 ounce nugget was found in 1900 at the Elliott placer on Williams Creek, and a 77 ounce nugget came from a bench on Swauk Creek above the mouth of Baker Creek. Placer gold particles are classified as follows: Coarse More than 0.06 inch in diameter (about the size of a grain of rice). Medium Less than 0.06, but more that 0.03 inch in diameter (1/2 a pin head) Fine Less than 0.03, but more than 0.015 inch in diameter (1/4 a pin head and 12,000 colors/ounce). Very Fine less than 0.015 inch in diameter (40,000 colors/ounce) Flour 300,000 colors/ounce
April 2016 4/2 4/3 Thurston County Gold, Gem, & Treasure Show: This is a Bedrock Prospectors sponsored event with Toys for Tots, Resource Coalition, and local clubs (rock hound, metal detectors, prospecting clubs). It ll be at the Thurston County fairgrounds from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Camping will be available. 4/5 Board Meeting 4/9 Breakfast at Johnnies (in Fife at 9 AM) 4/10 Salmon Creek Rock Hounding trip for Carnelian and Coprolite. This is another fun trip and is led by Jim Curtiss. 4/15 4/17 GPAA Monroe Gold Show 4/21 4/22 4/23 4/24 Upper Yakima River and Sauk Creek Rock Hounding trip for agates and Ellensburg Blue. This trip is led by Jim Curtiss and is a good dry run for future outings. Cashmere Gold Show. Bedrock has a booth at this show for membership drive and a raffle. Need members to participate and help man the booth. Camping should be available. 4/18 General Meeting May 2016 5/3 Board Meeting 5/7 First Creek Rock Hounding trip for agate nodules and Ellensburg Blue. This trip is led by Jim Curtiss 5/7 5/8 Cape Disappointment Beach Mining 5/16 General Meeting 5/26 5/28 Resources Coalition Gold Show 5/28 5/29 Blewett Claims Cleanup. This is an annual event and our first planned club trip up to our Blewett claims. Claims cleanup will start at 9AM and there ll be a potluck dinner on Saturday night (6PM at Scotty creek campground). We re usually done with cleanup by noon and spend the rest of the time playing in the dirt! June 2016 6/4 Hanson Creek Rock Hounding trip for terminated crystals and amethyst. Jim Curtiss is leading this super trip is led 6/7 Board Meeting 6/11 Bedrock Prospector s Rendezvous 6/20 General Meeting
BEDROCK PROSPECTORS OFFICERS AND BOARD 2016 President: Dennis Petersen 253-848-8112 Pete_N_Gwen@comcast.net Vice President: Richard Holcomb 253-359-5890 raholcombsr_bedrock@msn.com Secretary: Charlotte Marriner 206-245-4490 - no email address Vice Secretary: Vic Pisoni 206-722-4238 tunnelhound@gmail.com Treasure: Bill Willette 253-581-2342 wdwillette@comcast.net Vice Treasure: Colleen Zimmerman 360-897-9043 zimmerc@comcast.net Board Positions: 1: Mark Smith 253-312-1556 mfinman59@gmail.com 2: Vic Pisoni 206-722-4238 tunnelhound@yahoo.com 3: Ugene Tucksen 206-713-8995 samuri2503@aol.com 4: Ken Denny 253-230-1779 kddenny@q.com 5: Mike Lindsay 253-218-5700 kenaikelly1@msn.com 6: Gene Zimmerman 360-897-9043 zimmergc@comcast.net Sgt. at Arms: Alex Dunaway 425-533-6779 akdunaway1358@gmail.com Claims Chairman: Jim Curtiss 360-427-7210 mining4minerals@comcast.net Membership Chairman: Colleen Zimmerman 360-897-9043 zimmerc@comccast.net Membership Drawing: Teresa Doll 253-882-2498 teresadollfame@gmail.com Web Master: Ron Larson 253-850-0699 rlarson686@comcast.net 2016 Dues are due now. Your dues may be sent in with the application page in an envelope. Be sure to update all contact information so you may get the latest notices on upcoming events and outings. Other ways to pay your dues: At all of our meetings Outings if pre-arranged Events and gold shows. We take credit and debit cards, checks and of course, cash. You don t want to miss out on what may prove to be a very spectacular year for the club.
Bedrock Prospectors Club Members Claim Work Report Form For the purpose of required annual assessment work that must be completed on our claims, please complete this form and return it to the Claims Committee on or before the August club meeting (3 rd Monday of the month), or return by mail to: Bedrock Prospectors Club P.O. Box 25 Puyallup, WA 98371 Claim Name Type of Work Performed (Dredge, Sluice, Panning, etc.) Maintenance Work Performed (Removing Trash, Cleaning Trails, etc.) Training/Education (Panning, Dredging, Sluicing, Highbanking) Condition of Claim and or Problems: Precious Minerals Recovered: (Size, type- Gold or Gem) Claim Name Type of Work Performed (Dredge, Sluice, Panning, etc.) Maintenance Work Performed (Removing Trash, Cleaning Trails, etc.) Training/Education (Panning, Dredging, Sluicing, Highbanking) Your Name: Condition of Claim and or Problems: Precious Minerals Recovered: (Size, type- Gold or Gem) :