Desert Gold Diggers

Monthly meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) building located at 345 E. Roger Road, unless otherwise designated by previous announcement. MapQuest Map of meeting location (north side of street). There is plenty of parking in the rear (north side) of the building and the meeting entrance is also on the north side. There are always people that come early and congregate around the door, so you won't have to wonder if you are in the right place, especially since the club logo will be seen in abundance. Members will be happy to answer your questions. Print out and bring the following coupon to your first visit to the monthly meeting and get a free raffle ticket to our monthly nugget drawing. This is limited to one time only per person.

Average attendance for both members and guests is around 80. There are sign-in sheets just inside the door for both members and guests which are usually manned by a club member who can also help to answer questions. Extra copies of the Gazette, the club monthly newsletter, are usually available for guests as well as any members who didn't receive a copy.

Monthly meetings are a good place to kibitz with others. Members show off their finds (and some are pretty nice), exchange information and do a bit of socializing. It is fun to see what others are finding, especially since much of this does not appear in the Gazette or on the web site. Reading about the finds of the month in the Gazette is not nearly as exciting as seeing them in person.

There is usually a speaker at each monthly meeting and the topics are varied and interesting. Recent topics have included GPS, ASARCO's Mineral Discovery Center, valuable minerals other than gold that can be found on our claims, and the Ironwood Forest National Monument (more details below).

In addition to the speaker, the meetings consist of an outing report for the previous and upcoming outings, announcements, upcoming events, finds of the month in various categories and raffles for Lucky Hat, Lucky Badge, Monthly nuggets and DGD equipment. A free nugget raffle ticket is given to members presenting a club hat (Lucky Hat drawing) and another for members presenting a club badge (Lucky Badge drawing). There is a break halfway through the meeting for everyone to stretch, get coffee and cake, obtain raffle tickets, sign up for the common dig (see main page) at the next outing, converse, relax or take care of other business.

Some Past Topics:

Arizona tokens, Global Positioning System (GPS), ASARCO's Mineral Discovery Center, Arivaca area minerals, Ironwood Forest National Monument, Electrolytic Derusting and Electroplating, Detecting for Meteorites and Railroad Date Nails as well as more recent ones listed below.

Recent Topics and Speakers at the Monthly Membership Meeting:

February 2004 - Club member Mr. Bert Elliott related his experience with treasure hunting in England with a metal detector. Using the internet, he found a package deal with a Treasure Hunting Club based in England. Bert found lots of junk but also some coins and interesting historical artifacts. He also hunted in Germany and did quite well in a short period of time.
January 2004 - The speaker was Long time club member Mr. John Blennert. His topic was on his experiences prospecting for gold and meteorites with a metal detector. He has found nuggets in Greaterville, Arivaca, Dos Cabezas, Gold Basin, Dripping Springs, Australia and other places. He has found meteorites in Dos Cabezas, Gold Basin and Australia. John is a real pro and his experiences are worth listening to.
November 2003 - Club member Mr. George Volker spoke about the environmental movement and specific proposals that would restrict our access to the public lands.
October 2003 - Speaking at the October meeting was Beverly Everson, a geologist with the U.S. Forest Service. Her program was a snapshot overview of the minerals and geological history in Arizona. She gave everyone a better understanding of Arizona's diverse geologic history.
September 2003 - Long time club member Lucy Borowski spoke about her recent prospecting trip to a gold mining camp in the Alaskan interior. This patented mining claim has been owned by the Clark-Weltz mining company for some 7 years. This was only the second year that the claim has been opened to the public and it was booked solid both years. More info about this claim at Ganes Creek Gold.
August 2003 - Mr. Art Elek and Ms. Beverly Everson of the U.S. Forest Service, Coronado National Forest Division, spoke on forest fires and wild lands fire prevention. The club was complemented for taking good care of their claims and keeping them clean. Even though the BLM has control of the minerals, the Forest Service controls the surface.
July 2003 - Dr. Stan Levin spoke about 19th century tin cans. Very interesting history of tin cans which adds a story behind any tin cans found while metal detecting.
June 2003 - Mr. Richard Batory from the Desert Trails Gun Club discussed gun safety. This covered both handling and transportation of firearms. A worthwhile reminder to those members who own firearms.
May 2003 - Mr. Mark Marikos is the Water Systems Coordinator from the University of Arizona and a geologist by training. His topic for the evening was gold deposition, obviously a pertinent subject for the club. This was a great teaching and learning evening.
March 2003 - Ms. Alene Jones from the Arizona State Mine Inspectors Office acquainted everyone with the dangers of old abandoned mines. These are common in mining areas and some shafts are almost invisible until you get to the edge. Always be aware of where you are walking. All abandoned mines can be dangerous and should not be entered.
Feb 2003 - Long time club member and DGD Gazette editor Mr. Bob Boor gave an interesting discourse on old time mining lamps.
Jan 2003 - Mr. Richard Behmetuik spoke before the club. He discussed good places to metal detect in Nevada, placer gold in Colorado and passed around a vial of gold which he and his partner found on the club's "Achy Breaky" claim.

**General Membership Meeting**
Photos courtesy of Bob Boor.
	Monthly meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) building located at 345 E. Roger Road, unless otherwise designated by previous announcement. Average attendance for both members and guests is around 80.
	There is usually a guest speaker on topics about gold prospecting and mining, as well as related topics on the region, local history and environment. In this case, Sherry Taylor is speaking about the Opal mine, of which she is part owner, as well as interesting gems and minerals that can be found on some of our claims.
	Nugget raffles are held at the close of the meeting. The tickets in the foreground are given free to members who present a DGD hat (Lucky Hat) and a DGD name badge (Lucky Badge), one ticket for each. These are then drawn for small nuggets. In the background, one can also purchase tickets for a similar nugget drawing (Monthly nugget drawing). Prospecting equipment and larger nuggets are also occassionally raffled. All proceeds help to run the club.
	Sandy and Don Thomas serving Cake and Coffee during a break. There is usually complimentary cake and coffee at each meeting.
	Treasurer Fred Murphy with club items for sale. These include License Plates ($5.00 - Down from $7 as of April 03), Hats ($8 or two for $14) and patches ($2.50). All proceeds help to run the club.

Would like to thank our volunteers, some of whom are pictured above, who are responsible for the smooth running of the club meetings, outings and other functions.

Please send any comments and suggestions on these pages to the DGD Webmaster

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This page was last updated on 11 June 2004.