Questions and Comments
This is where you can find FAQ and leave Questions or Comments.
The most Frquently Asked Questions are:
FAQ: How do you tell if it is gold, or fools gold (pyrite)?
ANSWER: The quickest test is that both will shine brightly in direct sun light, but when shaded pyrite will lose it’s luster and gold will not. Also, when struck with a hard object pyrite will shatter, gold will flatten out.
FAQ: Who owns the gold in the ground?
ANSWER: Who ever owns the mineral rights to the land technically owns the gold. In areas open to the public it is Federal land, and if you are a citizen of this country you are part owner. For private land, ownership of the land does not give you the mineral rights, you must claim the mineral rights as well.
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
My ? is I’m a member of the gpaa and I was told I couldn’t go to any rich hill claims. Is this true? Thank’s Carl Spears
You have not reached the GPAA / LDMA website. Their site is www. goldprospectors.org (you left the s off) The reason I have a site with a name close to theirs is because I have been a lifetime member of both organizations for over 30 years. I haven’t been to Stanton in the last 10 years, but go to http://www.goldprospectors.org and they will help you. Enjoy your prospecting!
Tom McAndrews
I renewed my membership the first part of this month, Member # 2787641, and I have not yet received my new card. I renewed on the internet. I have received 2 calls wanting me to renew and I told them I had renewed on the internet but I still haven’t received anything.
Mildred
This not the GPAA website. I am a lifetime member of both the GPAA and LDMA, and this is my personal site. There site is almost the same, but it has an ‘s’ at the end of goldprospector. http://www.goldprospectors.org will get you to their site. Sorry for any confusion. It is a great organization.
Tom McAndrews
Ypu have a terrible website! My husband and I saw your organization’s great ad in Gold Prospectors magazine , issue Sep/Oct 2011 about the 2012 Alaska expedition. We were pointed to your web site or an 800 number for more information. There is nothing on your web site concerning this expedition! how disappointing!
Tommye Ledbetter
tommyeledbetter@aol.com
This is not the GPAA site. I have been a lifetime member of both the GPAA and LDMA organizations for many years, and this is my personal site. Their site is http://www.goldprospectors.org. If you leave the ‘s’ off of the word goldprospector you go to my site. They are an excellent organization, and have a great website. I’m sorry for any confusion.
Tom McAndrews
Can you tell me if GPAA members are welcome on LDMA sites
I know there are times when GPAA members are invited to special outings. I am a lifetime member of both, so I haven’t had a reason to ask that question. I wouuld suggest sending an email, or calling the GPAA/LDMA headquarters. Their toll free # is 800-551-9707 and you can email them at info@goldprospectors.org. If you are ever near an LDMA property, stop in and say Hi, they are all very nice people.
I hope this helps, and have a great summer with very successful prospecting.
Tom McAndrews
Please correct our listing, Thank you
Central Valley Prospectors (Fresno CA) Email: cvprospector@cvprospectors.org CVP President Nancy Roberts Phone: (559) 681-5144 Meets third Tuesday monthly @ 6:30 PM, River Bluff Elementary School, 6510 W. Palo Alto Ave, Fresno
Thank you for updating your club information, and the changes have been made. I hope all is going well for your club, and if you need anything else, please let me know.
Hi,I”m looking for someone to contact in Washington!Thanks,Tim.
Tim,
The only one I know of for sure is in Puget Sound, WA
http://www.wwgpaa.org
Western Washington Chapter
Rob Matthews wwgpaa@yahoo.com
360-329-6685
I hope this helps . . . Rob may know of others.
Best of Luck, and Good Prospecting,
Tom McAndrews
where do I find the plans for a rocker box? as seen on your show…
Hi Billy . . . I have been a proud lifetime member of both the GPAA and LDMA organizations for over 30 years. My website is goldprospector (without the s) which is very similar to the GPAA site. You will need to go to goldprospectors.org for that information, and they will take care of you right away. It is a great organization.
I built my original site about six years ago when I retired, and I just finished rebuilding the site about a week ago. It is intended to help inexperienced prospectors get started by sharing what I learned over the years. I’ve always said “there is no substitute for experience, even if it is someone elses”. I will certainly appreciate any comments you might have about my new site.
Thank you, “May the bottom of your pan always be as golden as your dreams”!
Tom McAndrews
hi watching show and relized i paid for this year on phone and haven’t got any new cards . we have a few claims in az and one in co. and love getting out and prospecting . the claim in co. is in cotopaxi we have 3/4 mile of arkansa river with creek running down by goblers knob . looking forward to getting back out there . we live in pa near erie and playing with highbanker we found small stuf in french creek near ny line . well any info on cards would be apprciated . started club we call gold and gem diggers , aka redneck prospecters . lol
Hi Don . . . I have been a proud lifetime member of both the GPAA and LDMA organizations for over 30 years. My website is goldprospector (without the s) which is very similar to the GPAA site. You will need to go to goldprospectors.org for that information, and they will take care of you right away. It is a great organization.
I built my original site about six years ago when I retired, and I just finished rebuilding the site about a week ago. It is intended to help inexperienced prospectors get started by sharing what I learned over the years. I’ve always said “there is no substitute for experience, even if it is someone elses”. I will certainly appreciate any comments you might have about my new site.
Thank you, “May the bottom of your pan always be as golden as your dreams”!
Tom McAndrews
I live in Las vegas I have fine gold in alot of black sand which i would like to remove, do you have any equipment that could perform this operation?
Hi Larry . . . . it sounds like you will need a camel wheel for recovering real fine gold. My wife and I are tentatively scheduled to meet you and Sam later next week for lunch, we can talk about it then.
Thanks Tom
It’s lookin good Tom! Makes me lonesome to go prospecting again. I still have the videos of our last expedition before Mike got sick. I especially like one of the scenes in the videos taken early in the morning when all the guys and gals were out digging and the motors cranking out the noise and the dust a flying. Those were the good old days!! Another good one was the day everyone was arriving at the camp and some had been givn the wrong directions etc. Us included, but how happy we all were to finally be there.
Thanks Kate – Yes those days were fun, and we always found some gold too!
looking for plans for mini rocker that was on gold prospecting show
I’m not sure which plans those were exactly. I am just building this website now, and plan on having plans for different equipment available in the future. For now you can get some plans for a rocker at the URL shown below. I hope this will help you. Thank you for your inquiry
http://lapidaryworld.com/pdf/gold_rocker_box.pdf
gpaa claim on coker creek tn.
owner of property gave us a hard time about prospecting here
said in the past gpaa members had really mistreated his land
may want to emphasise about courtesy to people who own our claims
fellow name was jim.
Greg,
Thank you for the information. I hope you reported that to the GPAA. I have always found our fellow members to respect the land, but a reminder never hurts. I have added a reminder on my GPAA claims page as you suggested.
Thanks again,
Tom