RMPTH APRIL 2015 NEWSLETTER

v. 19, n. 4 April 2015 Going for the Gold

Rocky Mountain Prospectors & Treasure Hunters Newsletter

The News Visit RMPTH On The Internet At http://rmpth.com

Contents

The President is the direct representative of the American people ... [and is] elected by the people and responsible to them.

- Andrew Jackson

1 Cocos Island Treasure Finally Found

2 About The News 4 Find Of The Month Program 5 Penny Could Be Worth $2 Million 6 Another Monster Aussie Nugget 7 Diesel Says Know Your Batter-

ies 7 Map, Compass & GPS Clinic 8 Manhattan: Poudre Canyon's

Ghost Town 10 Calendar of Events 11 Calendars 12 Terms Jewelers Use 13 Cheap Coin Cleaner 14 No Mercury 16 Trading Post 18 2015 Schedule of Events

Cocos Island Treasure Finally Found

Fabulous 200 Million Dollar Treasure Hoard Unearthed in Cocos Island

San Jos

A group of Costa Rican park rangers patrolling in the Parque Nacional Isla del Coco after a recent storm, have discovered one of the most amazing treasure hoards in modern history. The treasure con-sists of gold and silver coins and ingots, jewellery, can-dlesticks and religious items, and is estimated to be worth almost $200,000,000. Cocos island is a small island designated as a National Park, located in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 550 km (342 mi) from the Pacific shore of Costa Rica. It was well-known for possibly holding various legendary treas-ures, but its protected area status had forbidden treas-ure hunting on it since 1978. A group of six rangers who were walking around the is-land to evaluate the damage done by a storm on the nest-ing colonies of migratory seabirds, when they noticed that the tide had unearthed what looked like an old

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The News, April 2015

T he News is the official newsletter of the Rocky Mountain Prospectors and Treasure Hunters Club (RMPTH): our mailing address is 278 Sierra Vista Drive, Fort Collins, CO. 80524. Opinions expressed in The News are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the club or its members. Publication of information in The News constitutes no guarantee of accuracy. Use of any information found in this publication is at the sole risk of the user. Neither RMPTH, nor its coordi-nators, nor The News, nor its editors or contributors assume any liability for damages resulting from use of information in this publication. Submissions Articles, letters and short items of interest on pros-pecting, detecting and treasure hunting topics are welcome and encouraged. All items submitted for publication are subject to editing. Submittals for pub-lication may be made in writing or, preferably, in AS-CII text format on IBM-compatible disk. If you have questions about a submission, please contact the edi-tor for information. Copyright Unless otherwise noted, other nonprofit groups may reprint or quote from any articles appearing in The News without prior permission, provided that proper author and publication credits are given and that a copy of the publication in which the article ap-pears is sent at no cost to RMPTH at the above mail-ing address. Clubs wishing to exchange newsletters with RMPTH are invited to send a copy of their news-letter together with an exchange request.

About The News Advertising Classified advertising for topic related items is free for non-business ads. See the Trading Post section for donation pricing of camera-ready display ads. Do-nations for ad makeup from sketches, etc., are avail-able on request. About RMPTH RMPTH is an independent nonprofit hobbyist social club, open to anyone interested in prospecting, detect-ing or treasure hunting. Its purpose is to provide an educational and social forum of mutual benefit for members. RMPTH holds a monthly meeting and con-ducts various field outings, as well as offers special presentations and seminars. Active participants have voting privileges. The monthly newsletter, The News, is readily available on the Internet. Annual dues are $25 payable in June. Applicants joining in any month other than June pay partial dues of $2 per month for months remaining prior to following June plus $1.

CLUB MEMBERS TAKE NOTE

Club Hats, Shirts, Jackets, & Patches are again available. Ask for info at the club meetings to purchase your club items!

We will be running a 50/50 Drawing at each club meeting. At the end of each

meeting Tom will split the pot 50/50 and a lucky member will go home with more money than they came with.!

The remaining 50% goes to the club treasury.


bor as they were instructed, Thompson and his crew killed the Viceroys men and sailed to Cocos Island, where they buried the treasure. Hundreds of attempts to find treasure on the island have failed. Prussian adventurer August Gissler lived on the island for most of the period from 1889 until 1908, hunting the treasures with the small success of finding six gold coins. Since it was discovered in a National park, the totality of the treasure is now the property of the Costa Rican gov-ernment, and it should be exposed at the Museo Na-cional de Costa Rica, in San Jos. The rangers who dis-covered the treasure have been promised a reward for their role in the finding, but the amount of the reward remains undisclosed. worldnewsdailyreport.com EdThe fact that this particular treasure has finally sur-faced just goes to show that some of the old treasure tales are, in fact, true. This treasure tale has been dis-cussed for years and years with nothing to show for it, until now. Its still out there . go get it!

wooden box or chest. The began unearthing it, only to discover that there were actually five different chests and other items, that they had been buried there for a very long time. We were walking on the beach, and we saw something protruding from the sand says park ranger Ignacio Ra-mirez.We dug it out and found a bunch of old wooden chests. They were all filled with gold and sil-ver! Then we dug out two incredible golden statues of the Virgin Mary, and other religious symbols. We called our bosses and said we just found a treasure!. They thought we were kidding, but we explained what we had found and they decided to send a team of experts. All in all, the treasure con-tains an astronomical 89,000 coins, ingots and artifacts of gold and silver.. Many religious items made of gold or silver and adorned with precious stones were among the findings, including 36 crosses, 3 chalices and two life-size solid gold statues of Mary holding the baby Jesus. Many treasure legends have been associated with Cocos island for centuries. The first claim is associ-ated with the pirate captain Ben-nett Graham who allegedly buried 350 tons of gold raided from Span-ish galleons on the island in the 18th century. Another pirate cap-tain, the Portuguese Benito Bonito, is also supposed to have buried treasure on the island, this time in the 19th century. Archaeologists and historians be-lieve, however, that the discovery is actually linked to the best known of the treasure legends tied to the island: that of the treasure of Lima. According to the legend, with the army of Jos de San Martn ap-proaching Lima in 1820, Viceroy Jos de la Serna is supposed to have entrusted the treasure of the city to the British trader, Captain William Thompson, for safekeeping until the Spaniards could secure the country. Instead of waiting in the har-

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This amazing statue of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus, weighs an incredi-ble 84.7 kilograms of solid gold, mean-ing its shear metal value is more than

$1,450,000.

A total of 80,000 silver pieces of 2, 4 or 8 reales and 2,800 gold pieces of 2 and 8 escudos were found by the park rangers.


One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor

TREASURE HUNTERS CODE OF ETHICS

I WILL respect private property and do no treasure hunting without the owner's permission. I WILL fill all excavations. I WILL appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources, wildlife, and private property. I WILL use thoughtfulness, consideration, and courtesy at all times. I WILL build fires in designated or safe places only. I WILL leave gates as found. I WILL remove and properly dispose of any trash that I find. I WILL NOT litter. I WILL NOT destroy property, buildings, or what is left of ghost towns and deserted structures. I WILL NOT tamper with signs, structural facilities, or equipment.

Gold Glossary DRY PLACER - Placer deposit of gold, silver, or other valuable stones or minerals that are located in a dry area.

Find of the Month Winners

January, 2015 Most Valuable Coin: Bud Yoder - 1875 Indianhead Cent Oldest Coin: Bud Yoder 1926-D Lincoln Cent Largest Raw Gold: Bud Yoder Small Nugget Most Raw Gold: Bud Yoder Placer Gold Best Bottle: Anne Nichols - Antique Bottle Best Jewelry: Ray Hettinger - Silver Heart Pen-dant Most Unique Find (Excavated): Tom Warne - US Belt Plate Most Unique Find (Non-Excavated): Bud Yoder - Double Spring Wolf Trap Rock, Gem, Mineral & Fossil: Bud Yoder - Very Large Quartz Crystal Still Frozen But .. Some Gold!


Property Wanted For Detector Hunt

RMPTH is looking for private property on which to hold an organized club detector hunt. Obviously, it would be most ideal if this property is known to have seen some

past historical activity. If you have such property or know of someone who does, please contact Rick

Mattingly to plan a club field outing event.

Mineral Specimen Identification As part of their community outreach, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Dep. of Earth & Atmospheric Science, Professional Services Division offers FREE MINERAL SPECIMEN IDENTIFICATION. Participants will aid in the education of future Geoscientists! Details and specimen submittal forms with instructions can be downloaded from: SPECIAL OFFER FREE MINERAL SPECIMEN http://college.earthscienceeducation.net/MINPET/MINID.pdf

Penny Could Be Worth $2 Million Bloomberg msn.com

A U.S. penny forged in 1792 is up for auction at Stacks Bowers in Baltimore, with an estimated value of $2 million. If the March 26 auction meets expectations, the coin will have realized a 200 million percent increase in value in 223 years. Lest you start hoarding pennies in hopes that your great- great-great-grandchildren will net similar gains, keep in mind that this is not your average piece of currency. Named the Birch Cent after its designer, the coin is one of the first pieces of U.S. currency ever minted, and it's one of just seven of this particular design that remain. On one side of the copper coin, a young woman with curly hair (blown back as if in Revolutionary wind-tunnel), sits in profile, surrounded by the words Liberty Parent of Science & Industry. According to the lot notes, the face was chosen after a conference in the fledgling U.S. house, which decided on lady lib-ertyagainst the wishes of the U.S. Senate, which ap-parently lobbied for the face of George Washington, then the sitting U.S. president. On the reverse, a laurel wreath surrounds the words One Cent, which is surrounded, in turn, by The United States of America in a larger font. In case there was any confusion about the value of the cur-rency, theres a helpful 1/100 underneath the wreath. The Birch Cent, one of the first pieces of U.S. cur-


Refreshment Volunteers AprilBetsy Emond & Mike Noll MayEd & Mai Edwards JuneFred Sugden JulyDick & Sharon French AugustRay & Loralee Hettinger SeptemberBard Schuldt OctoberRay McGehee & Ann Nichols NovemberGeorge & Peggy Stumpf


Another Monster Aussie Nugget

Australian Gold Prospector unearths 87-Ounce Solid Gold Nugget in Victoria

A ustralian gold prospector Michael Brown has uncovered an astonishing 87-ounce solid gold nugget dur-ing a prospecting expedition in Inglewood, a town located in the state of Victoria, Australia. Im still in absolute shock about finding a gold nugget of this magnitude! As a professional gold prospector, this find is a monumental accomplishment in my career, said Brown. Ive been using Minelab detectors for years and the investment has more than paid off. Get In Touch with Minelab https://bay179.mail.live.com/?tid=cmYBTJapHJ5BGmqgAjfeM0jA2&fid=flinbox

Another good deed done . Someone could have tripped over this and hurt themselves!

Rich Streets! The streets of Victor, Colo., are literally paved with gold. During the boom there was so much rich ore in the area that the low grade stuff was used to level out the streets. In 1936 the town raised $5,000 by "mining" the yard in front of the post office. Quoted from page 11 of the May 1997 issue of Lost Treasure magazine. The golden streets of Victor, From State Treasure Tales By Anthony J. Pallante.


Diesel Says Know Your Batteries

W hy is it not OK to mix different AA batteries? Because they all dont produce the same volt-age, the voltage a battery produces depends on the particular chemicals inside, regardless of the size. Alkaline batteries all produce 1.523 volts, ni-cads pro-duce 1.2 volts, lead-asides produce 2.2, and typical con-sumer lithium batteries 3.7 volts. Lots of electronic de-vices are not all that dependant on voltage, so they can handle either alkaline or ni-cads, for instance. And they would not be bothered if you mixed battery types. But the batteries themselves wouldnt like it. Batteries are like pumps for electrons. They can pump electrons at various pressures, and that pressure is measured in voltage. If you mix two different types of batteries, the higher pressure one can force the other one to work backwards. And it will break it. Broken batteries just usually die or leak, but sometimes they can pop or even explode. Its very important that everyone remove the batteries in your detector when you store it for ant length of time. In the case where your batteries leak or explode, and dam-age your detector or worse the manufacturer will not cover you under their war-ranty. But! it is of value for you to know when you buy good quality batteries and dont mix brands, and there is a problem like leakage. Duracell, Eveready Energizer, and Rayovac offer to repair any damage caused by leaking batteries. I only buy them and never store brands. Even though the discount store brands of-fer the same performance for a lot less money , when you eventually have one leak in your detector youll be very, very glad that you werent using store brand alka-lines ! Diesel and Goldfinger say!Buy American. Top rated by consumer reports was (Duracell Ultra Power). Berkshire Corporate Park, Bethel, CT 06801 USA Attn. Consumer Dept. Energizer Battery Company Consumer Affaires 25225 Detroit Road Westlake, OH 44145-2536 Thanks to George Streeter

Map, Compass & GPS Clinic On Saturday, April 21, 2015 RMPTH member Rick Mattingly will present a clinic on the use of USGS Topo Maps, Compass and GPS Units. Knowledge of proper use of these items are critical to keeping yourself located in the wild. This knowledge is also extremely useful in completing research to find that hidden mine, ghost town, etc. that we are all looking for. Please join Rick at the Allnutt Family Center in Fort Collins, 650 W. Drake Road, from 9:00am to 12:00pm for this clinic. The meeting room is located at the south end of the Allnutt building nearest Drake Road. If you have any of the items mentionedUSGS Topo Map, Compass or GPS Unitplease bring them. A donation of $1 will be collected at the door to pay for room rental. Now thats cheap learnin! Reservations are required! Sign up at the April club meeting or Ricks contact info may be found in the Contact List at the rear of this newsletter. See you there - If you can find this secret location with your GPS!


Manhattan: Poudre Canyon's Ghost Town By Kenneth Jessen Correspondent

T he once busy town of Manhattan, located ap-proximately 45 miles west of Fort Collins, has vanished. Only a lush meadow, a few grave markers and some bits of wood and glass are all that mark the site. The story of Manhattan began in 1886, when a num-ber of prominent Fort Collins citi-zens put together an organization to systematically search for pre-cious metals in the hills west of town. The group hired three experi-enced prospectors. In September, these men reported finding gold ore on the divide between Seven Mile and Elkhorn creeks. The prospec-tors boasted that gold could be panned from almost any piece of crushed rock. This immediately caused a gold rush, and in the process, over 300 claims were filed. Prospectors started a town and gave it the unlikely name of Man-hattan. It had a hotel, stores a post office and even a newspaper called the Manhattan Prospector. This frontier newspaper lasted less than a year. The saloon, the Ace of Clubs, was located at the corner of the town's two main streets, Chestnut and Manhattan. The Ace of Clubs had a central two-story portion with three shed-like structures attached to its sides. Even for a Colorado mining town, the structure had an odd and unique appearance. Population estimates for Manhattan vary considera-bly, with some placing it at well over 1,000. A more realistic figure for Manhattan's population is 100 to 200. Photographs show that the town did have more

Before You Buy That Metal Detector Handbook Check:

http://www.mdhtalk.org/articles/before-you-buy-hb/before-you-buy-handbook.pdf

than 40 structures. In a mine explosion at the Black Hawk tunnel in 1892, two Manhattan miners were killed. A cemetery was established, and they were buried north of the present day road through the town site. It is possible that others who died in Manhattan were also buried in the cemetery. Even as recently as 1970, the cemetery was used for burials. A local character named "Rattlesnake Jack" Brinkhoff let his family know that he too wanted to be buried there, and when he died, his remains joined the others. Manhattan had a one-room schoolhouse. At first, the school year lasted only four months,

but was later expanded to six months. The school in-cluded eight grades. On cold days, the younger chil-dren got first choice in seating near the stove. After the population of Manhattan began to decline, the school building was moved to Elkhorn.


Manhattan Viewing to the West1885


A number of companies sold stock in the mines at Manhattan. Among these was the French Creek Min-ing & Milling Co. Another was the Robertson Gold Mining Co. with a Fort Collins druggist A. W. Scott as its president. The Missouri Mining & Milling Co. had three mines in the area. Prominent Fort Collins resi-dents Abner Loomis and Frank Stover ran the Democratic Mining Co. In 1888, Fort Collins businessmen financed construc-tion of a mill, and it was built on Seven Mile Creek. It never operated properly and was eventually disman-tled. The Zimmerman brothers built a five-stamp mill and reduction works at a placed called Poudre City along the Poudre River about 3 miles above Rustic. This mill crushed a lot of ore, and the concentrate was shipped to St. Louis for refining. The results were so poor, the mill was abandoned. In 1890, Fort Collins butcher shop owner Benjamin Burnett proudly displayed ore from the district. Bur-nett owned the general store in Manhattan and was involved with the mining towns of Teller City and Lulu City. Some of the mining properties had imaginative names such as the Laugh-a-Lot, the Bacon, the Bullfrog, Wedding Bells, Honeymoon, the Joker, Evening Star and Tidal Wave. F.C. Goodell was born in Manhattan and tells of a trip that he took when he was 12 years old. He drove one of two wagons loaded with ore from Manhattan to Denver to be milled. The mine's owner drove the other wagon. When the owner received payment for the gold content, he fig-ured he had been working his mine for a dollar a day. As late as 1898, mines in the area were being pat-ented, but Manhattan was all but abandoned. The post office was closed and moved to Elkhorn. Some of the buildings were moved to other locations. Those cabins that remained were burned by the Forest Ser-vice during the 1930s. At this point, it might be well to include some com-ments by Ansel Watrous in his "History of Larimer County" on mining in this region. He said that al-though thousands of dollars and many years were spent prospecting in the hills of Larimer County, the returns in dollars and cents bear no comparison to the cost. Watrous points out that almost every square foot of the mountains from the southern to the north-ern boundaries of the county, from the foothills to the summit of the Medicine Bow Range have been ex-plored looking for precious metals. As of 1911 when his book was published, not a single profitable mine had ever been opened and worked. From the North Forty News, 2005



Calendar of Events

MAP TO THE MEETING PLACE Pulliam Community Building

545 Cleveland Avenue, Loveland, Colorado

Directions: The Pulliam Community Building is situated on the west side of Cleveland Avenue in Loveland,

Colorado. Park at the rear of the building (west side). Entry to the meeting room is from the doorway on the south side of the building (not the main entrance on Cleveland Avenue!).

April Meeting Wednesday, April 1. We will meet at the Pulliam Building in downtown Loveland at 6:00PM. Refer to the adjoining map for directions. Meeting Agenda 6:00 - 7:00 Social Hour & Finds Program 7:00 - 7:30 Business, Announcements & Find of the Month Program 7:30 - 7:45 Break 7:45 - 9:00 "Metal Detecting By RMPTH mem-bers Tom Warne and Rick Mattingly.

Visit RMPTH On The Internet At http://rmpth.com

RMPTH DUES

RMPTH is an unincorpo-rated Social Club with

no income generated. All expenses are covered by $25 annual dues. Mem-bers are requested to

consider minor donations at each monthly meeting to cover refreshments.


April 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 RMPTH Finds Program & Social 6:00P RMPTH Meeting 7:00P

2 3 4

5 Easter Sunday

6 7 8 9 RMPTH Board Meeting 6:00P

10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Local Detector Hunt

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Map, Compass & GPD Clinic

26 27 28 29 30

May 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

3 4 5 6 RMPTH Finds Program & Social 6:00P RMPTH Meeting 7:00P

7 8 9 Prospecting & Detect-ing Clinic at Lions Park 9:00-12:00

10 Mothers Day

11 12 13 14 RMPTH Board Meeting 6:00P

15 16 Armed Forces Day Denver GPAA Gold & Treasure Show

17 Denver GPAA Gold & Treasure Show

18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 Memorial Day

26 27 28 29 30

31


RMPTH Field Outing Statement

NOTE: The Coordinators and participants stay in touch and continue to review and plan upcoming presentations and outings for the year on a monthly basis. Our editor Rick Mattingly needs timely event information for each

issue of The News. Please get information about any par-ticular event to him by the 15th of the month to meet the

printing deadline for the next issue.

Planned trips, outings, activities, and meeting programs are in the newsletter and on line at the clubs website.

Planning is a work in progress and additional outings and activities are added and sometimes deleted on an ongo-

ing basis. Events planned in the upcoming month are emphasized to the attendees at the monthly meetings. Contact the Presentations Coordinators or Editor if you have any suggestions or ideas throughout the year for

fieldtrips, outings, and programs.

The best made plans may change at the last minute due to the illness of the Trail Boss, weather, land access, ve-hicles breaking down, wrong meeting sites, etc. Please

be understanding of extenuating circumstances and con-tact the coordinator or Trail Boss of a specific event if there is any question of an event being cancelled or

changed at the last minute.

least 1/20 of the total weight of the piece of jewelry. If you see a mark that reads 12KGF, the item is gold filled. GOLD ELECTROPLATE consists of a very thin layer of gold, at least 10K, over a base metal. Methods of apply-ing the gold vary. Electroplate is less durable than gold filled and gold overlay. VERMEIL is a thin layer of gold over sterling silver. Mu-seum catalogs offer a lot of vermeil (and gold-filled) jew-elry PINK WHITE, YELLOW & GREEN Gold can be 10K, 14K, or 18K. The colors have nothing to do with the fineness of the gold. Theyre related to the types and proportions of base metals used. Copper and silver make gold look pink. White gold requires nickel in the allow. Silver cadmium, and copper create green. Different finishes can give gold jewelry different looks. The DIAMOND-CUT finish is probably the most heavily promoted. Tiny cuts in the surface - like facets on dia-monds - give a little gold a lot of sparkle. HAMMERED gold has evenly spaced indentations. Roses and scrolls, such as you might find in a traditionally styled bangle bracelet, are often ETCHED. A HIGH-POLISH finish scratches easily but, over time, the scratches can give the piece a rich patina. A MATTE finish has a dull, soft look. Reprinted from Consumer Reports, December 92 Thanks to Eureka! TH Club for running it in their May 93 issue.

Terms Jewelers Use Every business has its own language. Here are important jewelry terms you need to know. KARATS are a measure of golds fine-ness. PURE gold is 24 karats. its the snuff of which the gold bars in Fort Knox are made. Gold coins, such as American Eagles, are also 24K gold. Pure, 24K gold is too soft to be used for jewelry. SOLID gold is an item made of at least 10K gold that is solid through and through, rather than hollow. BASE METALS like copper, zinc, silver, and nickel are mixed with gold to make an alloy are enough to use for jewelry. 18-KARAT gold is used for jewelry most often in Europe. Its 18 parts gold to 6 parts base metal. 14-KARAT gold is 14 parts gold and 10 parts base metal. Most of the jewelry you find in U.S. stores is 14K gold. 10-KARAT gold is commonly used for mens rings and childrens jewelry. Be-cause its 10 parts gold and 14 parts base metal, its harder and more damage resis-tant than 14K. GOLD FILLED & GOLD OVERLAY are essentially the same thing, a base metal coated with gold. The gold mush be at least 10K and it must equal at

Lot Of Gold The following amazing fact is quoted from a recent article in the "International California Mining Jour-nal." "Major mining companies in the Black Hills (South Dakota) produced 527,400 ounces of gold last year (1997), state reports show. That's down from 558,896 ounces the previ-ous year (1996)." Now that's a lot of gold!


may bubble it out of the container over time so place it in a sink or something. $1.25 for a bottle and I've cleaned well over thirty dollars with it, so it is cost effective.

Cheap Coin Cleaner

A cheap coin cleaner tip from the Internet Posted by Thomas Hill - [email protected] April 20, 1998

R ead this somewhere and it has worked real well for me. If you want to clean clad coins but don't want to spend a lot of money doing it, pick up toilet bowl cleaner (I use Lime Away) and just soak you coins in it for a day or so. Put pennies in a separate container or they will turn the others brown. I can't believe how well this works, good enough to spend them. This stuff has acid in it so use glass con-tainers and keep your eyes away from it. The pennies


No Mercury

Tom Ashworth shares his technique for extracting gold from black sand

without mercury. By Tom Ashworth

T here have been many questions on here about how to get gold out of black sand. I thought I would post a method that I use on cleaning up on my 6" dredge. I clean up the top of my sluice box every-day and the rest of the sluice box when it is needed. One problem I see with a lot of new miners is they clean up too often and this takes away from the time the could be dredging and finding more gold. If you have the sluice on your dredge set up so that the gravel is not getting too full between the rifles and not running so fast that it sweeps the rifles, then once a day clean up is all you should need on most store bought dredges. The perfect set up for the sluice is so you have about one quarter inch of carpet showing between the gravel of the mid-dle riffle of the sluice and the one be-low it. Now dredge all day. After dredging all day I empty my dredge into a large wash tub. I then screen those concentrates using a 20 mesh screen into a 5 gallon bucket. I then pan the con-centrates that did not go through the 20 mesh screen while down at the river (looking for nuggets of course). Any gold found in the concentrates that were too large to fit through the 20 mesh screen, I put in a vial. I then put a shovel sluice (a Keene or Le Trap sluice works well) inside the dredge sluice so that the shovel sluice is close to the header box or jet flare. I use a modified Keene A-52 sluice. It has some NoTrax matting glued in the top to catch fine gold. I then start the engine on the dredge at idle so the water runs down the shovel sluice. I adjust the engine so that the water flow is swift enough to wash out light sand and still save all of the black sand and gold. The output of the shovel sluice goes back into the dredge sluice and there are still several riffles in the dredge sluice that will catch any flour gold that happens to escape (this will remain until the next time I dredge). I then scoop the concentrates that I screened into the shovel sluice. When all concentrates are run, I then empty the shovel sluice into a 5 gallon bucket. To do the final clean-up I use a panning wheel and a mi-crosluice. You can also pan down to get to the last of the impurities. These impurities usually consist of a small amount of black sand, a few iron rocks, and pieces of lead.

There are many ways to go about doing this final cleanup. Personally, in general cleanup I like to stay away from the use of mercury, as there is a faster way without it. I also like to stay away from the use of nitric acid because its usually not needed either. There are times when the use of mercury and nitric acid can help speed thing up. Usually though, I can do the final cleanup without them. Here's one quick procedure to do the final cleanup; (1) Dry out the gold by pouring it into a metal pan and heating it over a stove outside. Don't get it so hot that any pieces of lead which are still with the gold will melt. Heat it up just hot enough to dry it out. It is a good idea to stay upwind anytime you put gold in a pan and heat it up. Mercury attaches itself to gold in different amounts. Often it's there but you can't see it. When heating the

gold to certain tem-perature, the mer-cury vaporizes off. These vapors are very dangerous. So it is good practice to heat your gold outside and down-wind of you, even when heating it up just enough to dry it out. Also, the pan you use for heating up gold during cleanup should be

used only to cleanup, not for cooking. (2) Once the gold is dry, bring it inside, out of the wind, and pour it onto a piece of clean paper. You can now pick out the larger impurities from the gold with tweez-ers. (3) Now a magnet can be used to extract most of the re-maining black sands for you gold. I use a Keene Gold Magnet. (4) By lightly blowing over the gold, you can finish ex-tracting the rest of the impurities. If you can locate a very fine screen you can use it to separate the smaller pieces of gold and impurities for the larger ones just after dry-ing it out and this speeds the process up a bit. (5) Put you gold back in the metal pan, take it outside and heat it up, hotter this time, in order to vaporize any further mercury for the gold. This will bring your gold back to the basic deep rich beauty which we love. (6) Now you can put it in a bottle. If you want to sell it keep it dry, but if it is for show put water in the bottle to keep it beautiful.


Gold Glossary ELUVIAL DEPOSIT - A deposit of gold and other lode materials that have been swept away from the original load, but have not yet reached a running stream of water.

Symbol: AU Atomic Number: 79

Atomic Weight: 196.967 Melting Point: 1063 (1945 F)

Specific Gravity: 19.2 MOHs Scale of Hardness:

2.5 - 3

Karat

24K = 100% Pure Gold 18K = 75% Pure Gold 14K = 58% Pure Gold 10K = 42% Pure Gold

Troy Weights

1 grain = 0.0648 grams

24 grains = 1 penny weight (DWT) = 1.552 grams

20 DWT = 1 ounce = 480 grains = 31.10 grams

Gold Facts

YOUR ADVERTISEMENT COULD BE HERE! Call Rick Mattingly at 970-613-8968 or [email protected]

rency minted. This isnt the first time the coin has come up for sale. It was consid-ered a collectors item as early as 1882, when it was offered as part of the collection of Charles I. Bushnell Esq., a collector of Americana. It popped up eight years later, in 1890, and again in 1921. Four years after that, in 1925, it was advertised for sale for $1,000 (approximately $13,500 today, adjusted for inflation). It last appeared in 1975, when it was purchased by the current consignor, who is sell-ing it to benefit the Henry P. Kendall Foundation, which works to nur-ture sustainable food systems in New England. The auction has a total of 560 lots. Aside from the Birch Cent, other standouts include a silver cent, also from 1792, which is expected to sell for around $400,000, and an (ill- fated) Confederate States of America half-dollar, which also features lady libertythis one seated and endowed with dubious physical proportionswhich is expected to sell for more than $600,000. In total, the collection is expected to net from $5 million to $10 mil-lion. Other standouts include a silver cent, also from 1792, which is expected to sell for around $400,000 The auction comes at a time when the coin market is at its highest point ever. In 2014, an esti-mated $536 million of rare coins sold at auction, and the U.S. market rose to an estimated $5 billion, according to the Professional Numis-matists Guild. A representative from Stacks auction house says that a range of collectors will be vying for the Birch cent: Americana collec-tors, coin collectors, and investors hoping to capitalize on the coins rarity. Although the auction house wont comment on specific bid-ders, heres reason to believe that the coin will easily surpass the $2 million estimatea Birch coin sold for a stunning $2,585,000 in January.


Heritage Auctions/AP Photo This photo provided by Heritage Auctions shows an experimental U.S. penny struck to test a design in 1792 that sold Thursday, Jan. 8,2015 for $2,585,000 to a California

man according to Heritage Auctions in Dallas.


All mistakes and misspellings were

intentionally made so that you could have the

pleasure of finding them.

Trading Post

About Trading Post The News runs classified ads in Trading Post for three consecutive issues. Trading Post ads

for topic related items up to 10 lines (or 70 words) long are free. To place an ad in Trading Post contact Rick Mattingly at (970) 613-8968

evenings or e-mail at: [email protected]

Commercial Advertising Specifications

(Monthly Donation Rate) Full Page (8 1/2" X 7") $30 Half Page (3 1/4" X 7") $20 One Third Page (3" X 4") $15 Business Card (2 3/4" X 1 1/2") $ 5

Ads must be received by the 15th of the preceding month. Contact Rick Mattingly for in-

formation on this service at (970) 613-6968 evenings or e-mail at:

[email protected].

Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum Golden, Colorado

Contact us: 303-273-3815 or

[email protected]

Identification of specimens is performed between 10 a.m. and noon, Tuesdays and

Thursdays.

WANTED: By NRA Card Holding Law Abiding Private Citizen. Colt S&W Ruger Taurus .357 Wheel Gun/Revolver for Home/Personal Defense. If you have a Collectors Item, Please keep it. Im looking for a gun to shoot/Not display. LMK what ya got. Thanks. 970.222.2323 FOR SALE: Jewelers propane/oxygen torch, many cabo-chons, beads and tools. Contact Ann at (970) 6667-3705. FOR SALE: A "MUST HAVE" T-Shirt for every Prospector and Treasure Hunter. Quality 100% cotton tees. See and order from: http://BestBlackandGold.com. FOR SALE: Minelab SD2200 Gold Nugget Metal Detector: 10-1/2" Mono Super Coil, 10-1/2" SD Series Super Coil, two batteries w/wall & car charger, headphones, backpack, waist battery pack, signal enhancer, extra lower stem, in-struction booklet & video, carry case. Ready to go for the gold. New Price: $1625. Contact Paul at (970) 482-7846. FOR SALE: 5HP pump motor, Gold King 3" Hi-banker with dredge attachment w/adjustable stand, Gold Grabber Hi-banker, 125 feet hose, Rock net and steel cable, misc. fit-tings and valves & large metal bucket. Prefer to sell all to-gether for $1,350 but negotiable. Call Eric Stickland at (303) 833-6848 or [email protected]. WANTED: Used lapidary equipment. Call Kathie 970-221-1623 WANTED: Federal or state duck stamps; mint or used. Con-tact John Hart at (307) 778-3993.

NOTE: Purchase arrangements are between the buyer and

seller only and involves no financial benefit to RMPTH.


UPS Aircraft Maintenance Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one. After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a gripe sheet, which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of hu-mor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints sub-mitted by UPS pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers. By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident... P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement. S: Almost replaced left inside main tire. P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough. S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft. P: Something loose in cockpit S: Something tightened in cockpit P: Dead bugs on windshield. S: Live bugs on back-order. P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground. P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear. S: Evidence removed. P: DME volume unbelievably loud. S: DME volume set to more believable level. P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick. S: That's what friction locks are for. P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode. S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode. P: Suspected crack in windshield. S: Suspect you're right. P: Number 3 engine missing. S: Engine found on right wing after brief search P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!) S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be seri-ous. P: Target radar hums. S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics. P: Mouse in cockpit. S: Cat installed. And the best one for last P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer. S: Took hammer away from the midget

WEEKEND & SMALL-SCALE MINERS CODE OF ETHICS

I WILL respect other prospectors claims and not work those claims without the owners permission I WILL have on-site all necessary permits and licenses I WILL build fires in designated or safe places only, and in accordance with current State and Federal guidelines I WILL be careful with fuels and motor oils and be cog-nizant of their potential destructive effect on the envi-ronment I WILL remove and properly dispose of all trash and debris that I find - I will not litter I WILL be thoughtful, considerate and courteous to those around me at all time I WILL appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources, wildlife, fisheries and private property, and respect all laws or ordinances governing prospecting and mining I WILL NOT remove stream bank material, destroy natural vegetation or woody debris dams, nor discharge excess silt into the waterways I WILL NOT refuel motorized equipment in the stream I WILL NOT allow oil from motorized equipment to drip onto the ground or into the water I WILL NOT prospect in areas closed to prospecting and mining

Offer Your Assistance To Any Of Our Program Coordinators


Month Meeting Program Trip/Activity

January Cheyenne War: Indian Raids on the

Roads to Denver, 1864-1869 By Jeff Broome

No Trip/Activity Scheduled

February Cache Hunting By Rick Mattingly No Trip/Activity Scheduled

March Setting Up A Gold Sluice Box By RMPTH Members No Trip/Activity Scheduled

April Metal Detecting By Tom Warne & Rick Mattingly Local Detector Hunt

Map, Compass & GPS Clinic

May Gold Nugget Shooting With Detector By Rick Mattingly

Prospecting & Detecting Clinic at Lions Park Denver GPAA Show

Lets Go Gold Panning On The Arkansas Event GPOC

June Gold Dredging By RMPTH Members Clear Creek Gold Outing

State Annual Gold Panning Championships

July Map Reading for Prospectors by Wayne Sutherland WSGS Clear Creek Gold Outing

Eldora Ski Resort Detector Outing - Robert Crain

August Surface Finds by Tom Warne Vics Gold PanningBlackhawk

September Map & Internet Research By Bud Yoder & Rick Mattingly Local Detector Hunt

October Gold, Silver & Gem Recovery by David Emslie Local Detector Hunt

November Annual Show & Tell & Silent Auction No Trip/Activity Scheduled

December Annual Find of the Year Awards & Christmas Party Flatirons Mineral Club & Model Train Show

Good Hunting in 2015!

Rocky Mountain Prospectors and Treasure Hunters Club 2015 Schedule of Events


Lets Go For The Gold !

Rocky Mountain Prospectors & Treasure Hunters

Contact List RMPTH Coordinators Home E-Mail

President Bud Yoder [email protected]

Interim Vice President Shane Manenti 1-970-590-9183 [email protected]

Treasurer Dick & Sharon French 1-970-482-2110 [email protected]

Secretary Rick Mattingly 1-970-613-8968 [email protected] The News Staff

Editor-in-Chief Rick Mattingly 1-970-613-8968 [email protected]

Internet Web Site

Web Master Rick Mattingly 1-970-613-8968 [email protected]

Volunteers/Coordinators

Finds Program Dave Landes Betsy Emond Joe Johnston

1-720-985-4186 1-970-218-0290 1-303-696-6950

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Presentations Rick Mattingly 1-970-613-8968 [email protected]

Club Historian Volunteer Needed

Club Meeting Greeter Barbara Schuldt 1-970-407-1336

Club Librarian Joe Johnston 1-303-696-6950 [email protected]

Club Photo Librarian Tom Warne 1-970-635-0773 [email protected]

Meeting Setup Jim Friedricks 1-970-590-9183

Door Prize Shane Manenti 1-970-590-9183 [email protected]

50/50 Drawing Woody Hogdon 1-970-667-5010 [email protected]

Coin Raffle Woody Hogdon 1-970-667-5010 [email protected]

General Information Contact: Rick Mattingly at 1-970-613-8968

Visit RMPTH on the Internet at: http://rmpth.com

Zinc Penny Project Tom Marschall 1-970-396-0133 [email protected]

APRIL, 2015 ISSUE

The News Rocky Mountain Prospectors & Treasure Hunters Club 278 Sierra Vista Drive Fort Collins, CO. 80524

Documents

RMPTH APRIL 2015 NEWSLETTER