rmpth january 2015 newsletter

Big Blue Diamond

South African miner finds 'exceptional' 29.6-carat blue diamond

January 21, 2014, 7:57 pm nbcnews.com LONDON

A 29.6-carat blue diamond, one of the rarest and most coveted in the world with a possi-ble price tag of tens of millions of dollars,

has been discovered at a South African mine by Petra Diamonds. The miner said the "exceptional" acorn-sized dia-mond, small enough to fit into the palm of a hand, was unearthed at the Cullinan mine near Pretoria. The mine, owned by the firm since 2008, was also where the Cullinan Diamond was found in 1905 - described as the largest rough gem diamond ever recovered and weighing 3,106 carats. Other notable diamonds found in the mine include a 25.5 carat Cullinan blue diamond, found in 2013 and sold for $16.9 million, and a diamond found in 2008, known as the Star of Josephine, which was sold for $9.49 million. Chief Executive Johan Dippenaar told Reuters the

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v. 19 n. 1 January 2015 Going for the Gold

Rocky Mountain Prospectors & Treasure Hunters Newsletter

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

Contents

It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.

- Andrew Jackson

1 Big Blue Diamond 2 About The News 3 2015 Event Planning Meeting 4 Find Of The YEAR Program 6 Clam Treasure 6 Buffalo Soldiers 9 Shipwreck Found 10 Calendar of Events 11 Calendars 13 Colorado Minerals 14 Family Treasure Hunters 16 Trading Post 18 2015 Schedule of Events 19 Contact List

2014

RMPTH Prospector of the Year Brian Hoover

RMPTH Detectorist of the Year

Tom Warne

The News, January 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. See Paul Mayhak 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.


latest blue diamond discovery could outstrip recent finds. "By some margin ... this is probably the most sig-nificant stone we've ever, in terms of blue stones, recovered," he said. "The stones in the last year or so are selling well above $2 million per carat. That's not my quote, that's updates in the market," he said ahead of the company's first-half trading statement. Petra Diamonds is due to release figures on pro-duction and sales for the six months to December 31 on Thursday, but these will not take into ac-count the find which occurred in January. Analyst Cailey Barker at brokers Numis thought the diamond could fetch between $15 million and $20 million at auction. Diamonds from both the Cullinan mine in South Africa and the Williamson facilities in Tanzania, both owned by Petra, have been displayed at Lon-don's Buckingham Palace and are regarded as among the rarest and most valuable in the world. The 1905 Cullinan Diamond has been cut into two stones - the First Star of Africa and the Second Star of Africa - and form part of Britain's Crown Jewels held in the Tower of London. Dippenaar said the company would decide what to do with the diamond in the next week. —Reuters

(Continued from page 1)

The 29.6-carat blue diamond,

We will be holding a Planning Session for

2015 Programs and Events. The meeting will be held at 6:00pm at the meeting room of

the Loveland Golden Corral on East Eisenhower Boulevard.

Come to the meeting, enjoy a meal and share your ideas for a fun and successful year of

prospecting, detecting and treasure hunting.

If you can’t meet this meeting we still need your input. Please pass along any ideas you

have to any club board member.

Colorado Territory Newspapers There is an interesting story relating to how the first newspaper in Colorado came to be. In 1859 there was a "Pikes Peak Gold Rush" which turned out to be a false alarm. John L. Merrick came to Denver City with the intention of starting a newspaper. Four days later William Buyers came to town with the same intention. Soon the pending competition became evident. Both publishers worked frantically to put their newspaper off the press first. Both were faced with many prob-lems. One such problem to race was that the roof leaked and the rain was pouring over their presses and work area. Canvas was stretched over the presses to help keep them dry and in working order. Excitement was mounting among the townspeople. Bets were placed on just which would be the first paper off the press! Buyers produced the first copy of The Rocky Mountain News on Saturday evening, April 23, 1859. Just a mere 20 minutes later Merrick had the first copy of The Rocky Mountain News on the street. Very soon thereafter, Merrick sold his press and left to seek his fortune in the gold fields. The Discovery Channel http://www.discovery.com


AMERICA! Designed by

geniuses, Run by idiots.

TREASURE HUNTER’S 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 Highbanker - A highbanker is a sluice box with mobility. Instead of being put right in the creek like a sluice, the highbanker uses a water pump to transport the water into higher and sometimes richer placer reserves. In addition to the ability to go just about anywhere, the highbanker also is able to run more material in less time than the sluice. These characteristics make the highbanker a common modern day mining tool

Find of the YEAR Winners

December, 2014 Most Valuable Coin: Mike Noll - 1914-D Lincoln Cent Oldest Coin: Tom Warne - 1834 Capped Bust Half Dime Largest Raw Gold: Brian Hoover - Clear Creek Gold Most Raw Gold: Brian Hoover - Clear Creek Gold Nugget Best Bottle: Tom Warne - Cumberland Sauce Bottle Best Jewelry: Dave Landes - Antique Pocket Watch Most Unique Find (Excavated): Mike Noll - Antique Lighter Most Unique Find (Non-Excavated): Tom Warne - Cavalry Crossed Sa-bers Pin Rock, Gem, Mineral & Fossil: Barb Schuldt - Quartz Crystals

Find of the YEAR

Dave Landes - Antique Pocket Watch


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

Refreshment Volunteers January — Rick Mattingly February— David Longmore March—Gary Dahlgren April—Betsy Emond & Mike Noll May—Ed & Mai Edwards June—Fred Sugden July—Dick & Sharon French August—Ray & Loralee Hettinger September—Bard Schuldt October—Ray McGehee & Ann Nichols November—George & Peggy Stumpf


Clam Treasure

$15 clam meal turns into $3,000 treasure The Associated Press By The Associated Press on December 15, 2014 at 11:23 AM

A Virginia Beach woman is happy as a clam after finding a rare 4.5-carat lavender pearl in a lit-tleneck purchased at the Great Machipongo

Clam Shack in Nassawadox. "I bit down on it and I pulled it out and said, 'Look at this,'" said Kathleen Morelli. Billy Bowen of B&E Seafood in Willis Wharf, who has been in the clam-growing business for a quarter cen-tury, said he has never found a pearl in a clam grown through aquaculture like the one Morelli bit into. The littleneck, grown in Hog Island Bay, likely was between 1 1/2 and 2 years old, he said. "In the natural clams you could find them in there, about once a month you could find them. But in all my experience, I have never seen one to come out of an aquaculture clam — it's very rare," Bowen said. The pearl's large size, found in such a small clam, makes it even more unusual. "We've been buying from him for years. When he told me that he has never seen one in an aquacultured clam, I said, 'Gosh, that's fascinating,'" said Jean Mariner of the Clam Shack. Morelli was traveling to see her sister in Philadelphia when she stopped at the restaurant and seafood mar-ket to pick up a couple of bags of clams. "Every time anybody goes north or south, we always stop at the Clam Shack," she said. After she arrived, family members were enjoying a feast including steamed clams when Morelli found the pearl. She liked its look, but didn't realize how rare it was. "I put it in my change purse and brought it home to show my husband," she said. After returning home, she placed the purple orb in a dish on the dining room table, among other bits and pieces she's collected from nature. "We've just enjoyed looking at it," she said. When her husband, Joe Morelli, started researching, he discovered just how unusual his wife's find was. "From what I've read, one in 5,000 clams will grow a

pearl; when you're talking about anything of decent size" it's much more unusual. A pearl of this size and type is more like a one-in-a-million-clam find, he said. Pearls are not really Kathleen's style of jewelry, so they likely will sell the gem, which could retail for $3,000 or more, he said. "Which is not bad for a $15 bag of clams," he said. This story was written by Carol Vaughn of Eastern Shore News.

Buffalo Soldiers From a presentation to the Eureka! Treasure Hunters Club Friday, March 14, 2003 by Lieutenant Mitch Bart 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, Inc.

O n June 28, 1866, an Act of Congress author-ized the creation of several regiments of Black cavalry troops (the 9th and 10th) and four

infantry regiments (24th, 25th, 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st, later to be combined into the 24th and 25th in-fantry regiments). While the term “Buffalo Soldier” was originally bestowed on the men of the 10th Cav-alry Regiment, it was eventually given to all of the Black regiments. These troops went on to play a major role in the his-tory of the West, as the "Buffalo Soldiers." Orders were given to station the Black troops west of the Mississippi to the western war arena, where they would join the army's fight against the Indians, bank robbers, and other types of outlaws . The Plains Indi-ans began to call the Black cavalrymen "Buffalo Sol-diers," partly because of their dark hair and skin color, but mostly because, like the mighty buffalo, the Black soldiers fought ferociously to the end. The troopers accepted the title and wore it proudly be-cause to be associated with the fighting spirit of the Indian's sacred buffalo was a measure of respect. The motto of the 10th Cavalry is "Ready and Forward." The 9th, headquartered in Greenville, Louisiana, and the 10th, formed on September 21st, 1866, by Colo-nel Benjamin Grierson, headquartered at Leaven-worth, Kansas. The two cavalry units were destined to



become the most decorated of all U.S. Military Regi-ments during the Indian Wars period. Thirteen Congressional Medals of Honor were pre-sented to Buffalo Soldiers during the western cam-paigns. For more than 20 years, the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments served on the frontier from Montana to Texas, along the Rio Grande in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and the Dakotas. They built forts; con-structed roads; strung telegraph lines; protected rail-road crews; escorted stages and trains; protected set-tlers and cattle drives; controlled mobs; pursued outlaws, cattle thieves, and even Mexican revolution-aries along the border; mapped uncharted wilderness areas; pinpointed water holes; and fought Comanche, Ute, Kiowa, Shoshone, Cheyenne, Bannock, Kickapoo, Sioux, Apache, and Blackfoot warriors (the Crow fought on the side of the army). On one occasion, a unit of 30 Buffalo Soldiers lost only three men when they were attacked by 300 Cheyenne Indians. The In-dians couldn't understand why the Blacks, who had been slaves, would fight for their country. It was be-cause they wanted to prove themselves. Dangers such as cholera and rabid wolves, however, sometimes took more lives than Indian warfare. The Buffalo Soldiers had the lowest desertion rate in the army, though their army posts were often in the worst country in the west yet official reports, show these soldiers were frequently subjected to the harsh-est of discipline, racist officers, poor food, poor equipment, and poor shelter. Buffalo Soldiers, start-ing with the trooper, received $13.00 a month in wages, plus food, clothing, and shelter, as compensa-tion for their military service. In the field, they had to live on Uncle Sam's beans, black coffee, saltless hard-tack biscuits, jerky, whatever wild game they could obtain, and infrequently, salt pork. They received cast-off Civil War Sharps rifles, ill-fitting McClellan sad-dles, tack, sabres, revolvers, and spurs. Army cavalry had always been given the finest of horses, but not the Buffalo Soldiers. Although they received the crippled and sickly horses left from the Civil War, they quickly learned that sometimes your horse could be the difference between life and death and cared for their gentle horses better than they cared for themselves. In 1866, Cathay Wil-liams, a Black woman who wanted to make her own living and not be dependent of relations or friends, hid her female identity and joined the army as Wil-liam Cathay. The army surgeon might have examimed Cathay superficially, or not at all, and the new army recruit was declared "fit for duty." Private William Ca-

(Continued from page 6) thay of the 38th U.S. Infantry, ensured her place in history as the only documented female Buffalo Sol-dier. During a bout of sickness, she was finally exam-ined by a doctor, found out to be a woman, and was discharged in 1868. She settled in Trinidad, Colo-rado, and ran an orphanage. She died at the age of 82, the only documented Black woman who served in the U.S. army prior to the 1948 law that officially al-lowed women to join. Henry Ossian Flipper was West Point's first Black graduate (May 25, 1873) and America's first Black officer. He was stationed at Fort Elliott, Texas in 1879. Flipper was com-missioned a Second Lieu-tenant and was assigned to frontier duty with the all-Black 10th U.S. Cav-alry at Fort Sill, Okla-homa (Indian Territory). In 1880, Lt. Flipper was transferred to Fort Davis with his company where he became the post quar-termaster and the acting "commissary of subsis-tence," which meant that he was in charge of hous-ing, supplies, and equip-ment for the fort. On Sundays, Lt. Flipper and Mollie Dwyer, a white woman from town, joined other officers and their la-dies chasing coyotes and jackrabbits on the plains. Almost immediately after one Colonel Shafter took over command of the fort, he stripped Lieutenant Flipper of his quartermaster duties. Shafter then asked Flipper to move the commissary funds from the quartermaster's safe to Flipper's quarters. The chief commissary of the Department of Texas con-tacted Shafter, asking why July's money had not been deposited as usual in the bank in San Antonio. Later that evening, Shafter accused the army's only Black officer of embezzling government funds and arrested him. A court-martial, convened on September 17, 1881, in the Fort Davis chapel, lasted until December, when the court found Flipper not guilty of embezzle-ment but guilty "of conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman," and sentenced him to be "dismissed from the service of the United States." It was a harsh sen-tence, particularly in view of two prior cases involving white officers who were found guilty of embezzlement in which neither officer was dismissed nor dishon-ored. Flipper was dishonorably discharged on June 30, 1882. On February 19, 1999, President William


Henry Ossian Flipper


Clinton awarded a pardon to Lt. Henry Ossian Flip-per. The valor and exemplary service of the Buffalo Soldiers did not end on the Western Frontier. They went on to serve with Teddy Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders" as they stormed up San Juan Hill (contrary to political publicity of the time which had them "prodded" up the hill). The Buffalo Soldiers served with distinction under Harry Truman. Some went on to become famous, such as John J. "Black Jack" Per-shing who served with the Tenth Cavalry as a young lieutenant. Because Lt. Pershing fought with the 10th Cavalry and respected his men, he was given the nick-name “Black Jack” (the nickname was meant to be a slur to Lt. Pershing but he accepted it with pride). They also fought and died in the First and Second World Wars and the Koren Conflict. The all-Black, and ever-proud 9th and 10th Calvary Regiments were integrated in 1952, eighty-six years after being commissioned. Many of the members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment set-tled in the Denver, Colo-rado, area. It was the end of an era and the end of an important saga of American History. On July 25, 1992, a bronze statue of mounted 9th and 10th Cavalry troopers was unveiled at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The purpose of the latter-day 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, Inc., of which Mitch Bart is a member, is to educate the public, especially youngsters, about the true history of these worthy sol-diers and their sacrifices and heroism and to show that the United States is the best country in the world. The group holds re-enactment battles and have even "fought" a group of Indians in four re-enactment bat-tles. They have "Drill and Ceremony" that includes a sabre drill in which melons atop posts are sliced in half at full gallop. Riders also try to snag three brass rings from horseback with their sabres. Because the Buffalo Soldiers wore the same uniforms as the rest of the U.S. Army of the same time period,

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Before You Buy That Metal Detector Handbook Check:

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

so do the members of the group. Their uniforms are of heavyweight wool and they wear high-topped cav-alry boots. The officers, for example, wear eagle-head with winged-strap spurs, black "slouch" hats, white gloves, sky blue trousers with yellow striping, dark blue coats, and all other accoutrements that would have been worn during the campaigns. The group is composed entirely of ex-military person-nel. Most are combat veterans and most are retirees. Mr. Bart, for instance, was a master sergeant. Some mem-bers were extras in the film "Buffalo Soldiers" starring Danny Glover. Mr. Bart hopes to have his website ( http://www.10thuscav.org ) on the World Wide Web around June of 2003. The Eureka! Treas-ure Hunters Club president, Jeff Lub-bert, presented Mr. Bart with a certifi-cate of appreciation at the end of his presentation. For further information about the Black troops in the early West, read Buffalo Soldiers by William H. Leckie, University of Oklahoma Press. This article was compiled and edited by Dick Oakes. From Soundoff, newsletter of the Eureka! Treasure Hunters Club, April 2003


NOTICE If you have an ad in the

online or newsletter Trading Post please check to see if it is still needed. Let Rick Mattingly know if it should be removed

please. Thanks!

Shipwreck Found

Divers Locate Missing Shipwreck In Great Lakes

By: Kara Gilmour NewsOxi.com December 29, 2014

A shipwreck found in the Great Lakes is sus-pected to be Le Griffon, which is considered to be the holy grail of wrecks lost in the Great

Lakes. The ship sunk in 1679 and has been missing for more than 300 years, according to The Inquisiter. But divers Kevin Dykstra and Frederick Monroe say they believe they found the Griffon, and Dykstra said he was four feet away from it. “We were literally in the water for a couple of hours when we got a hit on the sonar … When I was down there, I turned around and I was literally four feet from this shipwreck and I never saw it on my way down, so my return trip was quite fast.” The Griffon is only one of 2,000 shipwrecks in Lake Michigan, but none have been more sought after this gem. It was a French ship built by the explorer Le Salle. The Griffin disappeared in northern Lake Michigan during a storm on its maiden voyage after leaving Green Bay, Wisconsin. Kevin Dykstra says they have viewed the photos taken of the sunken ves-sel. “It really wasn’t until we got back to a computer and viewed the photos that I realized I very well could have been photographing the Griffin … There’s no cables, no cabin and no smokestacks … It almost looked like the empty hull of a large canoe, and there were no mechanical devices of any kind in the de-bris.” While the Le Griffon shipwreck may have been found, Dykstra and Monroe set out on a diving expedition three years ago. The divers say that if they had seen the same image on their sonar, they wouldn’t have given it a second thought to dive down and investigate it because it was so small, according to The Blaze. Through extensive research, and consultations with experts, Dykstra and Monroe have concluded that they, in fact, found the Griffin. “We researched online to find a 17th-century French



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!).

January Meeting Wednesday, January 7. 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 "Cheyenne War: Indian Raids on the Roads to Denver, 1864-1869” By Dr. Jeff Broom.

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.


January 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 New Years Day

2 3

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

8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 RMPTH Board Meeting 6:00P

16 17

18 19 20 21 22 RMPTH 2015 Event Planning Session 6:00P

23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

February 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 RMPTH Finds Program & Social 6:00P RMPTH Meeting 7:00P

5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 RMPTH Board Meeting 6:00P

13 14 Valentine’s Day

15 16 Presidents Day

17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28


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.


Molybdenum - is used in alloy steels (47% of all uses) to make automotive parts, construction equipment, gas transmission pipes, stainless steels (21%); tool steels (9%); cast irons (7%); super alloys (7%); and chemicals and lubricants (8%). As a pure metal, mo-lybdenum is used because of its high melting tem-peratures (4,730 degrees F), as filament supports in light bulbs, metalworking dies and furnace parts. Colorado molybdenum is used in the construction of automobile safety airbags and as an agent for remov-ing sulfur from crude oil. Nahcolite (Sodium Bicarbonate) - The “Green” Min-eral. Nacholite is used in baking soda, toothpaste and food industries. It is Colorado's "green" mineral, used in industrial applications to protect the environment. It is also used in glass container manufacture; in fi-berglass and specialty glass; in liquid detergents; in medicine; and as a food additive, just to name a few uses. Colorado is home to the only pure sodium bi-carbonate (nahcolite) deposits in the United States. Silver - is used in photography, chemistry, jewelry; in electronics because of its very high conductivity; as currency, usually as an alloy; in lining vats and other equipment for chemical reaction vessels, water distil-lation, etc.; as a catalyst in the manufacture of ethyl-ene; in mirrors; silver plating; table cutlery; dental, medical and scientific equipment; bearing metal; mag-net windings; brazing alloys, and solder. Mined in 56 countries, silver's largest reserves are in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Peru and CIS. Titanium - is a metal used mostly in jet engines, air-frames, and space and missile applications. Colorado is home to the largest titanium resource in the United States, the White Earth Project near Gunnison, Colo-rado. Uranium - is used in the production of clean, emis-sion free nuclear energy, which accounts for 20% of the electricity generated in the U.S. Source: Facts about Minerals, National Mining Asso-ciation

Colorado Minerals Minerals Produced In Colorado and Their Uses

M ost folks don't spend much time thinking about where their food comes from or what went into the manufacture of their houses,

homes and computers, just to name a few examples. Yet the National Mining Association states that the average American consumes about 40,000 pounds of minerals each year. Many of these minerals are pro-duced right here in Colorado and are used in every-thing from stainless steel sinks and cement sidewalks to cars and computers. These are some of the miner-als produced in Colorado and their uses:: Coal - is a very complex and diverse energy source. It is a combustible material formed from the remains of trees, ferns, and other plants that existed and died during the time of the dinosaurs. There are four basic varieties: lignite, bituminous, subbituminous, and anthracite. Most of the reserves in Colorado are of the subbituminous and bituminous variety, and are used for generating electricity. Coal is the most widely used, inexpensive source of electricity. It is used to supply approximately 72% of Colorado's electricity needs. Gold - is used in dentistry and medicine; in jewelry and arts; in medallions and coins; in ingots as a store of value; for scientific and electronic instruments; for computers; as an electrolyte in the electroplating in-dustry. Leading producers are South Africa, U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, China and CIS. The major gold producer in Colorado is the Cripple Creek & Vic-tor Gold Mining Company's (CC & V) Cresson Mine approximately 1 hour west of Colorado Springs in the historic Cripple Creek Mining District. Gypsum - is processed and used in a prefabricated wallboard or an industrial or building plaster. It is also used in cement manufacture, agriculture and other uses. American Gypsum Company's Eagle Gyp-sum Mine in Gypsum, Colorado, produced approxi-mately 620,000 tons of gypsum ore in 2004. Limestone & Marble - Limestone is a rock consisting mainly of calcium carbonate, often composed of the organic remains of sea animals, such as mollusks, corals, etc., and is used as building stone, a source of lime, etc. When crystallized by heat and pressure it becomes marble. Colorado marble was used in the construction of our national monuments, including the Tomb of the Unknowns and the Lincoln Memo-rial.


Family Treasure Hunters Orlando Fla. (Reuters)

A Florida family scavenging for sunken treasure on a shipwreck has found the missing piece of a 300-year-old gold fili-

gree necklace sacred to Spanish priests, officials said on Tuesday. Eric Schmitt, a professional salvager, was scav-enging with his parents when he found the crum-pled, square-shaped ornament on a leisure trip to hunt for artifacts in the wreckage of a convoy of 11 ships that sank in 1715 during a hurricane off central Florida's east coast. After the discovery last month, a team of Spanish historians realized the piece fit together with an-other artifact recovered 25 years ago. It formed an ac-cessory called a pyx, worn on a chain around a high priest’s neck to carry the communion host. The dollar value is uncertain.

"It's priceless, unique, one of a kind," said Brent Brisben, operations manager for 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels, which owns rights to the wreck-age, located in 15-foot (4.5-meter) deep Atlantic Ocean waters. Schmitt, who lives near Orlando, last year discov-ered about $300,000 worth of gold coins and chains from the same wreckage, Brisben said. Schmitt's parents have hunted for sunken treas-ure as a hobby for a decade. By law, the treasure will be placed into the cus-tody of the U.S. District Court in South Florida, Brisben said. The state of Florida may take possession of up to 20 percent of the find. The rest will be split evenly between Brisben's company and the Schmitt fam-ily. (Editing by Letitia Stein and Sandra Maler)

A gold Pyx from the late 1600s is seen in an undated handout photo.


Gold Glossary Hydraulic Mining- Hydraulic mining used water that was diverted into ditches and wooden flumes at high elevations, and gravity did the rest. Channeled through heavy iron pipes, the water exploded from a nozzle far below with a force of 5000 pounds. When that awesome stream of water was focused and directed, the moun-tains were literally blasted away.

Symbol: AU Atomic Number: 79

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

Specific Gravity: 19.2 MOH’s 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]

GOLD RUSH SOURDOUGH STARTER & BISCUITS SOURDOUGH STARTER 3 cups warm potato water 3 cups flour 1 package yeast 1 1/2 T sugar 1/2 tsp salt Boil 2-3 large potatoes which have been diced and washed. Drain 3 cups of water into a bowl. Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Blend in flour sifted with sugar and salt. Cover and let stand in a warm area for several days. When the starter is smelly and bubbly, store in refrigerator, covered. Before using, remove from the refrigerator and put back into a warm place to "work". It may help to get dough working again by adding a cup each of flour and warm water. This starter should be used once a week or the yeast may die. Always add an equal amount of flour and warm water after using. NOTE: Never use a metal container for the starter. SOURDOUGH BISCUITS 1/2 cup sourdough starter 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup milk extra flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbsp melted butter Remove starter from refrigerator several hours ahead of time and mix with flour and water as indicated in starter recipe above. Just before baking, mix salt, baking soda, butter and enough flour to form a firm dough. Lightly knead and spread out to 1/2" thickness. Cut out biscuits with a biscuit cutter. Put on baking sheet and brush with melted butter. Bake at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes. Serve. Makes 10-12 biscuits. Ghostseekers http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/vikkigray/recipe.htm


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.

FOR SALE: Whites MXT. Lightly used. Price includes fab-ric carrying case. Asking $400.00. Call 303 747 2305 or e-mail [email protected] 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 Collector’s Item, Please keep it. I’m 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.


Griffin, and the one we came up with, I over-layed on top of the photo [I took of the Griffin carving on the front of the ship] and it was really impressive … So it’s either a 100-to-1 odds that the front of the ship looks exactly like a griffin, and I don’t know how that can happen by coincidence, and to know that the wood carvers that built the Griffin carved the likeness of a Griffin in the front of the ship, it kind of lends itself towards that.” For Dykstra and Monroe, finding this ship wasn’t in their plans. In fact, both will tell you that this sunken vessel got in the way of what they were really search-ing for that day. Le Griffon shipwreck may have been found, they stumbled upon it as they were looking for $2 million dollars in gold bullion that is somewhere at the bottom of Lake Michigan. In the late 1800s, there were box cars crossing the Great Lakes, and some of those box cars were pushed off from car fer-ries that were hauling them to save the ferries in bad storms. Dykstra and Monroe say $2 million of Confederate gold coins were being smuggled in one of those box cars that was shoved off the side of the ferry. During other dives in the area, Dykstra and Monroe have seen broken box cars laying at the bottom of Lake Michigan. They both feel they’re getting closer to solving a bigger mystery than the Griffin. Dykstra and Monroe say that they waited three years to go public with their discovery of the Griffin because they wanted to contact as many experts as possible to review their pictures and video, and do enough re-search to make sure. As the Le Griffon shipwreck may have been found, it comes with a prize. Le Griffon was constructed and launched near Cayuga Creek on the Niagara River as a seven-cannon, 45-ton barque. La Salle and Father Louis Hennepin set out on the Le Griffon’s maiden voyage on August 7, 1679 with a crew of 32, sailing across Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan through uncharted waters that only canoes had previ-ously explored, notes USA Today. La Salle disem-barked, and on September 18 sent the ship back to-ward Niagara. However, on its return trip from Green Bay, Wisconsin, it vanished with all six crew members and a load of furs.

(Continued from page 9) WEEKEND & SMALL-SCALE

MINER’S CODE OF ETHICS

I WILL respect other prospector’s claims and not work those claims without the owner’s 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 Battery Facts

By Batteries Plus No Trip/Activity Scheduled

February Found Explosives Safety By Rick Mattingly No Trip/Activity Scheduled

March Gold Wheel Recovery

By Darrel Koleber Colorado School of Mines Museum Tour Internet Research Clinic - Rick Mattingly

April Crack, Crevasse Prospecting

By Bryon Morgan

Prospecting & Detecting Clinic at Lions Park - Advertised and Open to the Public Phoenix Mine Tour Idaho Springs

May Geophysics and Excavation of Alonzo

Allen Cabin Site Near Allenspark By Heidi Short

Clear Creek Gold Outing ‘Let’s Go Gold Panning On The Arkansas’ Event – GPOC

June Metal Detecting

By Rick Mattingly & Paul Mayhak

Clear Creek Gold Outing Diamond Hunt Outing

State Annual Gold Panning Championships

July Wyoming Prospecting

By Wayne Sutherland—WSGS Eldora Ski Resort Detector Outing - Robert Crain

Clear Creek Gold Outing - Darrel Koleber

August The Great Diamond Hoax

By Rick Mattingly Off-Road Detector Outing Vic’s Gold Panning Outing

September Bottle Hunting

By Rick Mattingly

Annual Coin & Prize Hunt Fort Laramie Wyoming Tour

Denver Colorado Gem & Mineral Show

October Emergency Planning

By Light House Ready Grassland Detector Outing

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

Schedule

Pending


Let’s 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 Volunteer Needed ———————– ———————–

Meeting Setup Jim Friedricks 1-970-590-9183 ———————–

Door Prize Paul Mayhak Johnny Berndsen

1-970-482-7846 1-970-667-1006

[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]

JANUARY, 2015 ISSUE

The News Rocky Mountain Prospectors & Treasure Hunters Club

278 Sierra Vista Drive

Fort Collins, CO. 80524

rmpth january 2015 newsletter

Documents