NUPA NUGGETS

Volume XXI, Issue 4 April 2012

This Months Meeting

President:
Sandy Patterson 801-393-2132

The April 24th meeting will feature Chris Wright from Cascade refining. Cascade Refining is a family owned business that specializes in buying small lots (0-20 grams). They have laboratory techniques that allow them to buy unmarked items such as melted lumps and gold nuggets without assay or other costs. Bring your questions on how to sell gold, how they process it, etc.

1st Vice President:

Mike Kozlowski

2nd Vice President:

David Linton

Treasurer:
Tom Garfield

Secretary:
Sheri Gaddis

Troy Weight Gold and silver are measured in Troy weight, a system that includes pennyweights, ounces and pounds. The ounces and pounds do not equal the Avordupois or customary U.S. system that other common goods are measured in. For example a troy ounce weighs about 10 percent more than a Avordupois ounce. 24 grains = 1 pennyweight = 1.5552 grams 1 gram = .64 pennyweight 1 pennyweight = 1.56 grams or .05 troy ounce 20 pennyweight = 1 troy ounce = 31.1035 grams 12 ounces = 1 pound troy = 373.24 grams.

Parliamentarian:
Dave Deheer

Claims Director:
Lonnie Fausett

Members at Large:
Mike John Kim Patterson Donale Richan Leo Richan Bob Shriber Hal Berry Alan Meyer

Newsletter Editor:
Carolyn Durga 801-479-7247 cardurga@msn.com

Gold: $1658.50 Silver: $31.50

From www.kitco.com as of April 14, 2012

N.U.P.A. website at: www.nupainc.org or http://nupagold.blogspot.com

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 4

The weather is getting better, the flowers are in bloom, and it is time to begin prospecting. I hope all of you can get out to lots of places this summer. I would like each of you to do the club a favor; Whenever you go prospecting, no matter where it is, write a trip report. Tell us where you went, what you found, the equipment you used and any other stories you would like to share. I would like to see these reports printed in the newsletter, so that the members can get a better idea about claims, prospecting and general information. We have a lot of new members this year, with more to come, and any information they can get before setting out on a trip would be helpful. Plus it is fun to read about others experiences and adventures. The club has tied up a claim in the Caribou Mountains, which is up by Soda Springs, Idaho. We will have 90 days to look it over before deciding if we want to lease them. Lonnie can give you the specifics on where they are and how to get there. Its pretty country, but the mosquitoes are bad. I would like express my thanks to Carolyn Durga for taking over the newsletter. I really appreciate it and so does DonaLe. By the time you get this the Rock Show will be over and I want to thank everyone who helped out at that. I am sure it will be a success again. I am working on getting a tentative calendar made up for club outings this summer. We are going to do road clean-up on April 28th. We will meet at the Peter Ogden Skeen historical marker on highway 89, by the old Rocky Point. Be there at 9:00am and the club will buy breakfast after we are done. The Spring Fling is set up for May 26th at the Shady Lane Park in Pleasant View. The Spring Fling is a prospectors swap meet and B.S session. The club furnishes hamburgers and hot dogs and members are asked to bring a salad, desert, chips, etc. Bring your kids, grandkids, friends, and neighbors, anyone you want. The April 24th meeting will feature Chris Wright from Cascade refining, so it should be good. Bring your questions on how to sell gold, how they process it, etc. See you on the 24th of April at the meeting, if not sooner at the Rock Show, April 13 th, 14th, and 15th. Sandy

Treasurers Report:
Checking: $768.71 Savings: $5675.11

Dont forget !!!!! sign up for Spring Fling at the April 24th meeting

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 4

How to Mine and Prospect for Placer Gold

By J.M. West (Continued from last month)
Rocker:
At least twice as much gravel can be worked per day with the rocker as with the pan. The rocker or cradle, as it is sometimes called, must be manipulated carefully to prevent loss of fine gold. With the rocker, the manual labor of washing is less strenuous, but whether panning or rocking, the same method is used for excavating the gravel. The rocker, like the pan, is used extensively in small-scale placer work, in sampling, and for washing sluice concentrates and material cleaned by hand from bedrock in other placer operations. One to three cubic yards, bank measure, can be dug and washed in a rocker per man-shift, depending upon the distance the gravel or water has to be carried, the character of the gravel, and the size of the rocker. Rockers are usually homemade and display a variety of designs. A favorite design consists essentially of a combination washing box and screen, a canvas or carpet apron under the screen, a short sluice with two or more riffles, and rockers under the sluice. The bottom of the washing box consists of sheet metal with holes about 1/2 inch in diameter punched in it, or a l/2-inch-mesh screen can be used. Dimensions shown are satisfactory but variations are possible. The bottom of the rocker should be made of a single wide, smooth board, which will greatly facilitate cleanups. The materials for building a rocker cost only a few dollars, depending mainly upon the source of lumber. After being dampened, the gravel is placed in the box, one or two shovelfuls at a time. Water is then poured on the gravel while the rocker is swayed back and forth. The water usually is dipped up in a simple long-handled dipper made by nailing a tin can to the end of a stick. A small stream from a pipe or hose may be used if available. The gravel is washed clean in the box, and the oversize material is inspected for nuggets, then dumped out. The undersize material goes over the apron, where most of the gold is caught. Care should be taken that not too much water is poured on at one time, as some of the gold may be flushed out. The riffles stop any gold that gets over the apron. In regular mining work, the rocker is cleaned up after every 2 to 3 hours, or oftener when rich ground is worked and gold begins to show on the apron or in the riffles. In cleaning up after a run, water is poured through while the washer is gently rocked, and the top surface sand and dirt are washed away. Then the apron is dumped into a pan. The material back of the riffles in the sluice is taken up by a flat scoop, placed at the head of the sluice, and washed down gently once or twice with clear water. The gold remains behind on the boards, from which it is scraped up and put into the pan with the concentrate from the apron. The few colors left in the sluice will be caught with the next run. The concentrate is cleaned in the pan. Skillful manipulation of the rocker and a careful cleanup permit recovery of nearly all the gold. Violent rocking should be avoided, so that gold will not splash out of the apron or over the riffles. The sand behind the riffles should be stirred occasionally, if it shows a tendency to pack hard, to prevent loss of gold. If the gravel is very clayey it may be necessary to soak it for some hours in a tub of water before rocking it. Where water is scarce, two small reservoirs are constructed, one in front and the other to the rear of the rocker. The reservoir at the front serves as a settling basin. The overflow drains back to the one at the rear, and the water is used over again. The capacity of rockers may be increased by using power drives. Such a device might be rocked by an eccentric arm at the rate of approximately forty 6-inch strokes per minute. The capacity of the typical machine with two men working is 1 cubic yard per hour. Where gravel is free from clay, the capacity may be as great as 3 cubic yards per hour. The cost of the mechanized rocker and a secondhand engine for driving it is estimated at $400.

More next month!

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 4

Door Prize Winners

Rachael Meyer
Mini Hammer

Raffle Winners
Lonnie Fausett
Collection Box Gold Pan Pay Dirt

Miguel Romo
Mini Flashlight Microscope

Steve Cramer Curtis Roche

(donated by Bud Johnson)

Bob Henderson Jayce Gaddis

Gold

Ryan Larkin
Small Nugget Large Nugget

Just as a reminder, winners of the door prizes are asked to bring refreshments for Aprils Meeting. The treasurer will gladly reimburse you for this expense if you give him your receipt.

Rich Roper

Quarterly Nugget

Jeramy Richan

The club is looking for a painter for the clubs trailer. Do you know of someone or can do it yourself? We have the design, we just need someone who is willing to paint it. This is great advertisement for the club! Please contact our President (Sandy not Obama!) We want GOLD. The club wants to buy fine material (2030 mesh) to be used for panning material. Bring what you are willing to sell to the next General meeting on April 24th or the next Directors meeting May 8th. Utah dredge permits are available for online filing at: http://www.waterrights.utah.gov/streamdb/rds/default.asp Nevada dredge permit and fee available at: http://ndow.org/about/license/pdf/app04/dredge.pdf Idaho dredge permits are available at:
http://www.idwr.idaho.gov/RulesStatutesForms/StreamChannel/ DF/2012_Stream_Channel_Alteration_by_Recreational_Mining_Instructions_Final.pdf

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 4

The Cost of Advertising

Do you have a business youd like to see advertised in the newsletter? Well heres the breakdown the cost. Just let the newsletter editor have the information.

Ad Size 3 Months 6 Months 12 Months 1/4 page $3.00 $5.50 $10.00 1/2 page $4.50 $8.00 $15.00 Full Page Business Ad for 1 month $8.00

Items For Sale

TROMMEL For sale
Rex left his trommel with me to try and sell it while he is in Alaska this summer, he is asking $1850 for it. If interest contact me to see it and make him an offer. Kim 801 393-2132 Expanded metal, punch plate and woven wire. If youre building a new sluice or renovating a old one and need classification material, call me. I have a lot of different sizes and shapes and may have just what youre looking for without buying a full sheet or paying a cut charge. Kim 801 393-2132

Free ad for club members!

To post your items in the newsletter, e-mail your ad to: by the second Tuesday of the month

cardurga@msn.com

Swap meet at Spring Fling May 26

Sign up at the April 24 General meeting

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 4

Upcoming Outings and Events: Mark Them On Your Calendar!

April 24...General Meeting @ Ogden Hinckley Airport Terminal Building at 7:00 pm. Cascade Refining will be speaking
on the how-tos of refining the gold we find.

May 8...Board of Directors Meeting @ Ogden Hinckley Airport Terminal Building at 7:00 pm. April 13-15...Rock and Mineral Show at the Golden Spike Events Center...We will have sign-up sheets at the meetings to help man
the booth this year. Two hours of your time will help the club and give you a chance to look around the show afterwards.

April 28th...Road Clean-up We will meet at the Peter Ogden Skeen historical marker on highway 89, by the old Rocky Point. Be there at 9: oo am and the club will buy breakfast after we are done. May 12 & 13 GPAA Gold Show in SLC Fair Grounds Set-up time is Friday at 8:00 am. We will need all the people we can get to help with the set-up and then to help with manning NUPAs booth. The hours for the show is Saturday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. And Sunday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Tear-down will follow when the shows over. May 22 General Meeting...Wire wrapping Class This will be a hands-on class. Signup sheet will be at the Aprils Meeting. May 26thSpring Fling...Shady Lane Park in Pleasant View. The Spring Fling is a prospectors swap meet and B.S session. The club furnishes hamburgers and hot dogs and members are asked to bring a salad, desert, chips, etc. Bring your kids, grandkids, friends, and neighbors, anyone you want.

Approx. November 10...Turkey Shoot Approx. Dec. 15...Christmas Party

Make sure you come to the meetings and put your input in for what and where youd like to do and go!

For Mays General Meeting, weve set up a hands-on class to learn wire-wrapping. If you are interested, we need to know so we can get all the supplies ordered. Basically this will be the wire and a cabochon. I have many of the tools that we will need, but, unfortunately, I have a limited supply of some of them. If this is something youd like to learn, please sign up ASAP. I will also show how to do a simple wrap for a nugget. Tools that we will be using are: Chain nose pliers Flush Cutters Round nose pliers Pin vise If you have any of these tools, please bring them. We will be using 24 or 22 gauge square wire and 22 gauge half-round wire.

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The Official Newsletter of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association

Volume XXI, Issue 3

April 2012
Sunday
1 2

Monday
3

Tuesday
4

Wednesday
5

Thursday 6

Friday 7

Saturday

10 Directors

11

12

13

14

Meeting 7:00 pm @ Airport 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22

23

24 General 25 Meeting 7:00 pm @ Airport

26

27
Arbor Day

28

Road cleanup

29

30

May 2012
Sunday Monday
1

Tuesday
2

Wednesday
3

Thursday 4

Friday 5

Saturday

8 Directors

10

11

12

Meeting 7:00 pm @ Airport 13

GPAA Show

GPAA Show

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22 General 23 Meeting 7:00 pm @ Airport 29 30

24

25

26

Spring Fling

27

28