Papa Bear showing off the results of several hours of work in his “secret spot.” He shows off his gold mining adventures and friends on a YouTube channel up on the Internet.
Because of the COVID situation and predictable economic downturn, we were expecting a rather slow mining season this year. But we have a surprising number of members arriving along the Klamath River and tributaries, and there is quite a lot of excitement around Happy Camp about the gold that some members are recovering.
We even considered putting a commercial toilet out at K-15A last week because of the number of members camping up there. But when we took a closer look, we realized that nearly all of them already had closed black water systems and had arranged for the local service provider to stop once a week to pump them out.
There is a lot of gold, and some really nice nuggets being recovered from K-15A!
You know; we have some really cool members!
I think everyone is feeling really lucky to be out in some of America’s greatest outdoors, and being free to search for gold and other adventure with no hassles or bad news.
Quite a few members are bringing the gold they are finding into the office to show off. I am impressed! Some members are sniping shallow cracks in the river, and in the creeks and prying nice gold nuggets out of the cracks. There are two members up on Indian Creek that really struck it rich. We agreed to not publish images of their gold so as to not start a stampede up there. I’m not kidding!
Our property holdings are so extensive, we have been walking or boating right past these gold rich areas for the past 35 years and never even took a look!
Longtime member, Adam Myers and his dad, fabricated a rather ingenious sluice box on stilts that they set up right out in the middle of the Klamath River at Savage rapids. They are recovering some nice gold. Their history with us extends way back to the 1990’s. I remember they were working a commercial dredge on the Klamath just below Seattle Creek. That was after myself and half dozen other commercial miners recovered nearly a thousand ounces of gold. They still did well! And the truth is that most of that upper stretch of K-17 has yet to be mined. But I believe we will need suction dredges to get at it.
Dickey Melton showed me an image of a bunch of chunky gold nuggets that were recovered at the mouth of Indian Creek just in a single day. He said those were recovered by digging up out of the water.
Here is a pennyweight of beautiful nuggets that Scott Bagley recovered during just part of a single day!
Other members are actually swimming across to the far side of the Klamath River and recovering gold right out of the shallow water with masks, snorkels, fins and a gold pan. Others are using small boats and kayaks.
We have signed up a fair number of new members this season already.
It’s possible that the 3+ months of COVID lockdown is motivating people to get out in the great outdoors and experience some adventure. The near-record high value of gold may also have something to do with the increased interest. I added it up the other day, and a pennyweight of gold (20th of an ounce) at today’s price is worth $75 even when discounted to 75% of the spot price value. You can always get at least 75% of spot, or more, for the gold you find in the river.
I know one member who has recovered nearly an ounce of gold just prospecting part time during the month of July. Others are doing just as well. All of this without the use of any mechanized assistance!
Office Doors Now Open Between 9 AM and 4 PM, Mondays Through Fridays
To make life easier on everyone concerned, we will immediately begin opening the front door of our office and store between 9 AM and 4 PM, Mondays through Fridays.
There is a free Internet connection around our building for members. The girls in our office can provide details.
Our phone number is 530 493-2012. There is a voice mail system. We will return your calls.
In the case of an emergency, Our Director of Internal Affairs, Rich Krimm, can be reached at (510) 681-8066.
Annual Dues Are More Important These Days
We bill all Full Members $50 for annual dues in August. September through the end of the year is when we must shoulder the load of substantial property tax and filing fees to the County and Bureau of Land Management. These are legal requirements which allow us to continue making a very substantial number of federal mining claims (60+ miles of gold-rich river and creek properties) available to our members.
In real terms, the true value of the gold along these extensive properties is probably more valuable than the net assets of any financial institution on the planet. Especially these days when the government is printing trillions upon trillions of Dollars out of thin air (as necessary as that might be under the circumstances). We should be calling our properties the “Klamath First National Bank.” Ours is the only bank in the world where you can go out and make a draw anytime you wish. There are no interest or bank fees to pay. And you never have to pay the gold back!
This is as close as it comes to an opportunity to maintain some degree of personal freedom during these ever-more difficult and troubling times. As far as I know, we are the only organization in the world that makes a very large bank of pure wealth freely available to our members.
Having said that, in case you have not heard, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined for a second time to review our legal complaints that leftist State governments (California, Oregon, Washington and others) are imposing very unreasonable regulations upon our industry. As long as you guys continue to stand with us, we will continue the fight for our basic freedoms.
There remains hope that America will wake up and realize that we need to produce value and wealth in excess of what we consume. Mr. Trump and his team appear to be leading the charge on this, though he is not getting as much support from congress and the mainstream press that he deserves. We all know that these are very troubled times for America. The whole world hangs in this balance. We are all going to have a better idea the way things are going to go once the November elections are settled.
I believe personal integrity and pursuit of the truth are the only road towards enlightenment. The guidance I receive on that level is that we should bite the bullet and stay the course for a while longer and see how these larger forces play out. I am willing to invest my personal resources to keep the program going as long as you guys, our members, are also willing to hang in there until we overcome what is destroying America, or it becomes clear that there is no longer any hope. My assessment of your support will be in what percentage of Full Members are willing to invest $50 a year to help keep our dream alive. The freedom for Americans to go out on the federal lands and invest their personal resources to keep all the gold you find is what settled the west!
This is not the first time I have made this commitment to you guys in August. We are still here thanks to you guys!
Kitco’s one year chart confirms that gold was in the mid $1,400’s just a year ago. Now it is trading just under $2,000. This is quite a jump considering the existing state of the economy! One day, our leaders may realize that it would be a good idea to allow us modern methods to recover it?
I am eternally grateful to those of you who stick it out alongside me and our loyal staff.
New 49’er Gold Prospecting Association
27 Davis Road P.O. Box 47, Happy Camp, California 96039 (530) 493-2012
www.goldgold.com
