Tomah Wisconsin GPAA Chapter – October/November, 2015

Welcome to the 2015 GOLD FEVER Newsletter. Another year, another gold prospecting opportunity.

Do not forget the Newsletter and pictures can always be found at:

www.huntforgems.com/gpaatomahwi/

Meetings: October 17 and November 7

Hi every one October is election month I hope some of you volunteer to be officers in the club. I won't mind if I get voted out, I have been president more years than I can remember

We decided to move the November meeting to the first weekend in November the third weekend is deer hunting and the Wausau chapter had to meet on the second weekend because their new meeting hall was booked on the first weekend so that was the weekend we decided to meet on.

If any of you renew your GPAA information to them you will have to call them within 14 days to confirm this. I was informed be email this is Aley Aragon's last week with the GPAA. She was the clubs contact person. Ginger Wimmer is the new club interim chapter assistant now that Aley Aragon is leaving. Her # is (951)699-4749 ext. 153

In October besides the elections I will talk about running a sluice box unless someone else comes up with a new speaker. November is undecided.

I went to the Wausau chapters Snyder Lake outing in Sept. and found about twenty specks of gold in the Culvert Creek that we like to play Wedges Creek and help some new members collect some concentrates to take home and pan, the mosquitos were too bad to finish panning there. A huge flood moved all the gravels since I was there in July we got 5'' of rain in one day and it washed out culverts and ATV trails and bridges.

See you in the creeks Mike

October 9-11, 2015 - fall Parrish outing & Memorial for Dennis – Election of Officers, camping, metal detector hunt, prospecting in the creeks

October 17, 2015 - Tomah Club Meeting at Town of LaGrange Town Hall – at 1:00 pm.

November 7, 2015 - Tomah Club Meeting at Town of LaGrange Town Hall – at 1:00 pm.

November 14. 2015 - Wausau Prospector Meeting – Town Hall in Wittenberg. – At 11:00 am

December 5, 2015 – Wausau Prospector Meeting – Town Hall in Wittenberg – Christmas Party – At 11:00 am

December 19, 2015 – Tomah Club Meeting at Town of LaGrange Town Hall – Christmas Party – at 1:00 am

President – Michael Fait (mgfait@charter.net) 715-384-9265

Vice-President – Gary Morrison 715-316-2160

Secretary – Jeanne Morrison 715-316-2160

Newsletter Editor - Diane North (dbnorth@centurytel.net) 608-635-7031

Treasure – Gayle Fait (mgfait@charter.net) 715-384-9265

Outing Chairman – Richard Niemyjski (richnski@frontiernet.net) 608-637-3295

Claims Director – Richard Niemyjski (richnski@frontiernet.net) 608-637-3295

State Director – Open

Visiting the Gold Mine in Rudolph Wisconsin (north of Wis Rapids) was discussed. It was decided that it would be best to go early next spring (April) when there will be less mosquitoes and better weather.

Speaker for September were Diane and Bill North. They discussed their trip to Canada to Amethyst Mine Panorama. Amethyst Mine Panorama is the largest deposit in Canada. It was discovered in 1955 as a result of a road being built to the forest fire lookout tower (McTavish

Tower) visible from the mine sight. Amethyst production started in 1960 and the mine has produced continuously since then.

The mine produces 40% usable amethyst by volume. A large digging area, open to the public and is the main source of "pick your own" amethysts. Bill & Diane picked up many specimens including one crystal that weighs 7 ½ lb. with 8 crystal points. Other amethyst pieces were brought back to show the club members and are for sale.

October’s meeting will be on the 3rd Saturday of October at 1:00 pm at the Town Hall at the Town of Lagrange, 22731 Flint Ave. on Route #21 west of Tomah Wisconsin.

Club elections will be held, also Mike will demonstrate how best to use a sluice box.

Donations to the raffle were from: Dave Bender, Gary Morrison, Bill & Diane North, Jeff Hastings, Larry Bender, John Schwingle, Rick Powell, & Robert Wysocky

50/50 raffle winner – Barb Bublitz

Gold Raffle: Jeff Hastings, & Roland Hanson

Respectfully submitted by Diane North – Newsletter Editor

Wedderburn heart of gold find leaves owner anxious

Leo Mathews has been searching for gold for the last 15 years. After a 'drought' of 15 months he finally struck gold in the form of a 25 ounce gold nugget he found while fossicking in the bushland north of Bendigo.

Describing it as very solid with no pipe clay or much detritus and shaped in the form of a heart, Leo has called it - The Heart of Gold. "They're rare, a bit like snowflakes; no two are the same," he said.

Leo had had only been out in the field for about four hours that afternoon, with only two hours of detecting time when he came across an area in the bush that had been previously 'worked over'. Noticing the middle part had been left untouched, he decided to explore further, having been spurred on by the small speck of gold he had found nearby.

That was when his high tech pulse induction detection started to make 'some serious noise.' "I had to bring the coil right up way up off the ground about three feet to get it to settle down and I knew then you could hear the long signal at the end and I thought ,'I reckon I've got something here', not thinking it would be this big," Leo said.

So he began to dig to the bottom of the one foot hole until he felt something hard. "I could feel the weight against my fingers and the coldness of the gold and I thought, 'Beauty I've finally got one'."

Until the find, Leo had been feeling despondent about gold detecting but persevered. "I'm not a quitter, I set my self to do something and I keep doing it," he said.

When asked about what characteristics make for a good gold prospector, he said - determination, patience, and having low expectations.

Then there's the metal detector. "Machines have become a lot better over the years," Leo said. "Every two or three years now there is a game changer, something new comes out or the coils get better and it just gives you more depth."

Along with the machine is the technique. Leo said he likes to go 'low and slow'. "Keep a flat swing all the way through and just don't be in a hurry, just take your time, that's basically it," Leo said.

Leo took up gold detecting as a form of exercise after knee replacement surgery. He said it gave him a reason to go out and walk through the bush. He has been known to spend up to seven hours under the blazing sun of summer searching for gold.

"It's hot and uncomfortable and you spend all day picking up a heap of rubbish, anything from bullets to little bits of wire, nails, you name it," he said.

Aside from his recent find his largest nugget to date has been six-and-a-half grams.

But it's not just the exercise and lure of riches that motivate him, it's his love of the bush and the contemplative mood it inspires. "It's great getting out in the bush, it gives you a lot of time to think about things, things you've done in your life and things you would still like to do and that sort of thing," Leo said.

But the quiet serenity inspired by the bush has been disrupted by the fear of theft. "It changes your life," he said. "Something that valuable you have to be very careful, it's over $40,000."

In the meantime Leo is keeping it in a safe place until he finds a buyer.

When he finally sells it, he said he plans on paying off a few debts, finishing off the renovations on the house and taking his wife Eileen, who works as a nurse, on a ten day cruise.

Wisconsin Northwoods Adventures GPAA Chapter – holds their meetings on the 2 nd Saturday of every month at 11:00 am, at the Cameron Community Center, 512 W. Main Street, Cameron, WI. Contact Dave "Wire" Heinsohn (715) 353-2261