News and Updates

GPAA launches online Mining Guide

GPAA launches online Mining Guide

Leveraging the knowledge, experience of all members

For years now, members have been asking about getting online access to the GPAA Claims Club Membership Mining Guide. In the past, updated versions of the Mining Guide were released every two to three years based on the number of updates from the prior edition. The Pick & Shovel Gazette was used as a tool to help provide bi-monthly updates to members between edition releases, but with the advancements in technology, members have asked why an online edition has not been introduced.

Friday, January 20, 2017   •   Views: (27587)

NUGGET SHOOTER: Hunt like you mean it!

NUGGET SHOOTER: Hunt like you mean it!

Load up with know-how at Bill Southern’s detecting seminars

If there’s one ornament Bill Southern does not want to see hanging in your home this holiday season it’s a “closet ornament” in the form of a high-dollar metal detector. Think exercise equipment — a graveyard of barbells and fat-burning contraptions. The same can happen with prospecting equipment as dusty dredges get bogged down under car parts and Christmas decorations and metal detectors sit propped up next to umbrellas and folding chairs. The answer to keeping your expensive equipment out of the closet is education and a little bit of matchmaking, said Bill Southern, owner of Nugget Shooter in Morristown, Ariz.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016   •   Views: (13195)

Agency pushes for gold prospecting restrictions

Agency pushes for gold prospecting restrictions

California State Parks seeks hands-and-pans-only rule on American River

Small-scale miners in California’s Mother Lode are watching history repeat itself as California State Parks tries to implement a hands-and-pans-only rule along the American River in Auburn, Calif.—again. “We’ve been through this rodeo before,” said Gold Prospectors Association of America River City Prospectors President Jim Hutchings, adding that the last time the state parks attempted this ban on other prospecting practices within the Auburn State Recreation Area, the gold miners crashed the parks’ system because it was so inundated with responses in protest.

Monday, October 10, 2016   •   Views: (14536)

Prospectors fight for rights in Black Hills

Prospectors fight for rights in Black Hills

Forest Service cites fairy slipper orchid as reason to ban new mining claims

The U.S. Forest Service proposed  nearly 18,000 acres of land in the Black Hills National Forest to be “withdrawn from mineral entry,” which means no new mining claims would be allowed. The proposal was recorded in the Federal Register on Sept. 24, 2015, but Sam Griner, a member of the Northern Hills Prospectors — a local chapter of the Gold Prospectors Association of America — said he wouldn’t have even known about the proposed withdrawal had he not scanned the Forest Service’s Schedule of Planned Action (SOPA) website.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016   •   Views: (5242)

Of fairy slippers, toads and yellow-legged frogs

Of fairy slippers, toads and yellow-legged frogs

Agency rule-making continues to restrict land access, prospecting

Once upon a time, the U.S. Forest Service was a respected federal agency that served the interests of the American people, and not just the interests of radical environmentalist lobby groups. Those days seem like such a long, long time ago in a land far, far away. It is simply astounding how much things have changed in one generation when it comes to the federal policy on public lands. 

Monday, September 26, 2016   •   Views: (6776)

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