Rocky Mountain Prospectors & Treasure Hunters Newsletter

The News
v. 17, n. 10 October, 2013 Going for the Gold Visit RMPTH On The Internet At http://rmpth.com

Contents
1 2 6 7 8 10 11 12 12 14 16 17 18 19 Placer Diamonds About The News Fabled Golden Statue Search Date Your Trash Shipwrecked In Yuma Calendar of Events Calendars Colorado Treasure Tales Disorder In The American Courts Understanding Gold Trading Post Whydah Treasure 2013 Schedule of Events Contact List

Placer Diamonds
by W. Dan Hausel INTRODUCTION yoming attracts thousands of prospectors and rock hounds who search the hills, valleys, and streams for gold, jasper, gemstones, and other attractive rocks and minerals. On any given weekend during the summer, hundreds of people search for gold with metal detectors, gold pans, and dredges. Several clubs, groups and associations have been formed to take advantage of these treasures in the Cowboy State, but many of these treasure hunters may be overlooking some extraordinary treasure. For instance, in 1977, one gold prospector searching for gold in the Medicine Bow Mountains in Cortez Creek recovered two gem-quality diamonds along with gold. How many more diamonds occur in Cortez Creek and in other streams in the Medicine Bow Mountains? Kimberlitic indicator minerals include a group of rare and unique minerals that often accompany diamond such as pyrope garnet (a rare purplish variety of garnet), chromian diopside (distinct emerald-green diopside), high-magnesian chromite, and picroilmenite (nonmagnetic, magnesian ilmenite). Such minerals have been found in hundreds of streams, valleys and mountains in Wyoming indicating that the possibility of finding diamonds while searching for gold is high. A few years ago, a prospector from Arizona recovered considerable placer gold on Douglas Creek: along with the gold, he also recovered pyrope garnet. During a public field trip sponsored by the Wyoming State Geological Survey (WSGS) a few years ago, attendees were taught how to pan for gold along the Middle Fork of the Little Laramie River. Instead of panning out gold, several would be prospectors panned out pyrope garnet. Another prospector from Colorado asked for information on where to pan for diamonds using only a gold pan, he shortly recovered a diamond in a stream south of Laramie. A research study by
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln

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. Donations for ad makeup from sketches, etc., are available on request. About RMPTH RMPTH is an independent nonprofit hobbyist social club, open to anyone interested in prospecting, detecting or treasure hunting. Its purpose is to provide an educational and social forum of mutual benefit for members. RMPTH holds a monthly meeting and conducts 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.

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 coordinators, 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 prospecting, detecting and treasure hunting topics are welcome and encouraged. All items submitted for publication are subject to editing. Submittals for publication may be made in writing or, preferably, in ASCII text format on IBM-compatible disk. If you have questions about a submission, please contact the editor 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 appears is sent at no cost to RMPTH at the above mailing address. Clubs wishing to exchange newsletters with RMPTH are invited to send a copy of their newsletter together with an exchange request.

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.
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the WSGS during the 1980s resulted in the identification of approximately 300 kimberlitic indicator mineral anomalies suggesting the presence of a major diamond province in southeastern Wyoming (Hausel and others, 1988, 2003). It is also interesting to note that some samples collected during this project in the vicinity of Sybille Canyon, also had some sapphire and ruby. In a later study by the WSGS, kimberlitic indicator minerals were found in anthills much farther north in the Big Horn basin, and numerous gold anomalies were also detected in along I-80 near Arlington, where no one had bothered to search for gold for a hundred years (Hausel and others, 1994). So how does one find diamonds or even recognize them? DIAMOND RECOGNITION In order to search for placer (stream-deposited) diamonds, a prospector needs to become familiar with natural diamond. Diamonds are isometric and have high symmetry. In their simplest form, they occur as a cube. One of the more common habits for diamond is an octahedron (8-sided diamond formed by two-pyramids attached at a common base). Many diamonds have crystal habits that are a modified octahedron and may include such varieties known to a mineralogist as hexoctohedral, rhombic dodecahedron, trisoctahedron, and others. Figure 1. Some crystal habits of diamond include: (a) the cube - a relatively uncommon habit that is often reported in some placers in Brazil. Cubic diamonds often have several pyramidal depressions on the crystal faces. (b). Octahedral diamonds (8-sided) and (c) various modifications are more common. Octahedra often have distinct triangularshaped growths or depressions on the crystal surfaces known as trigons- these are useful in the identification of diamond. Less common are (d) dodecahedral diamonds and (e) distorted dodecahedra. Numerous other crystal habits have been reported for diamond (f). When identifying a raw diamond, it is important to look at the luster as well as the individual crystal faces under a microscope. Crystal faces are frequently rounded and may have distinct tiny triangles known as trigons. These are triangular depressions (or growth platelets) found on the octahedral crystal faces. Cubic diamonds may show similar depressions with pyramidal morphology that appear as rotated squares or parallelograms. Twin diamond crystals often occur as a flatten triangular shaped diamond known as a macle.

Partial resorption the octahedron can result in a rounded dodecahedron (12-sided crystal) with rhombic faces. Many dodecahedrons develop ridges on the rhombic faces producing a 24-sided crystal known as a trishexahedron. Four-sided tetrahedral diamonds are sometimes encountered that are distorted octahedrons. A tetrahedron by definition is a four-faced polyhedron, in which each face forms a triangle. Diamonds have conchoidal fracture, are brittle, and will break from a mild strike with a hammer. Even so, they are the hardest of all natural minerals and are assigned a hardness of 10 on Mohs hardness scale. Diamond exhibits a slightly different hardness in different crystallographic directions, which allows for it to be polished with less difficulty in specific directions. For example, it is less difficult to grind the octahedral corners off the diamond, whereas grinding parallel to the octahedral face is nearly impossible. Diamond has perfect cleavage in four directions parallel to the octahedral faces: thus an octahedron can be fashioned from an irregular diamond crystal by cleaving. Diamond has greasy to adamantine luster they often appear as if a thin film of Vaseline coats them. Diamonds are found in a variety of colors including white to colorless and less commonly shades of yellow, red, pink, orange, green, blue, brown and black. Those that are strongly colored are termed fancies, such as the distinctly blue Hope diamond. The most common color is brown. Prior to the development of the Argyle mine in Australia in 1986, all brown diamonds were considered to be industrial. But due to Australian marketing strategies, these are now highly sought as gems. The lighter brown stones are labeled champagne diamonds and the darker brown referred to as cognac diamonds. Yellow is the second most common color and these are referred to as Cape diamonds, after the Cape Province of South Africa. When the color is intense, the stone is referred to as canary. Pink, red and purple diamonds are rare and bring high values: according to Harlow (1998), orange is the rarest color in diamond. Even though there are many green diamonds, faceted green stones are rare, due to the fact that the color occurs as a thin layer of green on the surface of a white diamond. Diamonds may also occur as grey, black and white crystals. Black diamonds are thought to be the result of numerous in(Continued on page 4)

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clusions of graphite, which also make the diamond an electrical conductor. Such diamonds are difficult to polish due to abundant soft graphite. Black gem diamonds are uncommon. The distinct fire seen in faceted diamonds is the result of the high coefficient of dispersion (0.044). Diamond also has a high index of refraction (IR=2.4195), due to its density. The high density diminishes the velocity of light passing through the mineral to only 77,000 miles per second, whereas the speed of light in a vacuum is 186,000 miles per second (Harlow, 1998). Approximately 1/3rd of all gem diamonds will luminescent blue when placed under ultraviolet light. In most cases, luminescence will stop when the ultraviolet light is turned off, which is known as fluorescence. Many diamonds fluoresce in both long- and short-wavelength ultraviolet light. However, fluorescence is generally weak, and may not always be readily apparent to the naked eye. In some cases, the light emission from the diamond will still be visible for a brief second after the ultraviolet light is removed, which is known as phosphorescence. Diamonds have tremendous thermal conductivity, such that they will feel cold to the lips when touched, since the gem conducts heat away from the lips. This is why diamonds are sometimes referred to as ice (Harlow, 1998). There are pockets size detectors (GEM tester) that are available for a minimal price that measure the surface thermal conductivity of diamond. These distinguish diamond from other gems and imitations. Diamonds are hydrophobic (nonwettable) and repel water. Because they are hydrophobic, diamonds attract grease (grease will adhere to the surface of a diamond), providing an efficient method for extracting diamond from waste material. When heated in oxygen, diamond will burn to CO2. However, without the presence of oxygen, diamond will transform to graphite at 1900C. Diamonds are also unaffected by acids. PROSPECTING FOR PLACER DIAMONDS Diamonds have moderate specific gravity (3.5) and tend to concentrate with black sands in creek and riverbeds. A prospector should be able to pan for diamonds as one would pan for gold, and Wyoming and Colorado provide excellent hunting grounds for placer diamonds. When found in streams, diamonds may have been liberated from nearby kimberlite, lamproite, or related lamprophyric pipe or dike, or may have come from diamond pipes hundreds of miles away. Because of the extreme hardness of diamond, some diamonds are thought to be able to resist stream abrasion over great distances. The greatest diamond placers in the world occur within the Orange River basin of southern Africa as well as in
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North Carolina became the home of the first gold rush in 1799, when a 17 pound nugget was found by 12 year old Conrad Reed, in Little Meadow Creek. The Reed farm yielded 153 pounds of gold including a 28 pound nugget!

Gold Glossary
Flumes - Flumes are like sluice boxes, they do not have riffles though and are used solely to transport water in areas where a ditch would be impossible (cliff sides, rocky hillsides).

TREASURE HUNTERS 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.

The News, October 2013

Forest Service Gold Panning

In 1858 and 1859, discoveries of gold in creeks near Denver, Idaho Springs and Black Hawk kicked off the Colorado Gold Rush. Hundreds of thousands of goldseekers came to Colorado to strike it rich. Due to the influx of those seeking their fortune, most areas suitable for gold panning became patented mining claims a century ago and are now private property. This is especially true for property on or near creeks and rivers. Even if the area you wish to pan is on Forest Service property and is free of existing claims, this activity could have an environmental impact. KNOW WHERE YOU ARE: Have a map that shows property boundaries. Keep in mind that maps are not always 100% accurate. Due to the historical manner in which mining claims were surveyed and the fact that they are only 150 feet wide, a small error on the map can result in a large miscalculation. CHECK WITH THE BLM: Once you have located an area that suits your gold panning needs and you are certain it is public property, you are ready to check with the Bureau of Land Management to ensure there are no current claims on that area. The BLM will need the legal description (Section, Range, and Township) of the area to verify ownership with their records. DON"T BE A CLAIM JUMPER: If you remove any gold from someone else's claim, even if that claim is unmarked, you are committing a crime. LET US KNOW BEFORE YOU DIG: If the area is available to pan, you will need to file a "Notice of Intent" to conduct mining operations with the Forest Service district office that governs the chosen area. This is used to determine any potential impacts to historical, cultural, or natural resources and whether or not any additional paperwork is required. http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/arp/recreation/rocksminerals/recarea/?recid=28178&actid=59

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

Property Wanted For Detector Hunt

Refreshment Volunteers
October Dick & Sharon French November Ted & Faye Croswell

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.

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Fabled Golden Statue Search

Treasure hunter seeks fabled golden statue offshore of Florida By Robert Nolin, Sun Sentinel July 21, 2013 eiled in myth, it's said to be forged of Incan gold by Peru's Spanish overlords nearly 400 years ago: a life-size statue of the Madonna and Christ child. And the fabled Golden Madonna lies just off the Palm Beach County coast, at the site of a Spanish shipwreck from 1659. That's what Robert Bouchlas, treasure hunter and leader of a West Palm Beach church, believes. But experts strongly doubt the solid gold statue is real. And Bouchlas' federal claim for salvage rights to the wreck has drawn attention from Florida and Spanish officials. "Does the Golden Madonna exist? It's a story which has circulated for some period of time," said Terry Armstrong, a treasure hunter from Merritt Island who publishes books on shipwrecks. "I don't put any credence into it whatsoever." Bouchlas, 82, declined to discuss the statue upon the advice of lawyers. But he authorized longtime associate Anne Mary Vesey to speak about his "quest for the impossible dream." "He's not really after money, he's really after this religious relic," Vesey said. "His plans are to place it in the Vatican." Treasure hunters familiar with the legend can't pinpoint its origin. But according to Bouchlas, the Golden Madonna was created in 1655 when Spain's King Phillip IV ordered an unknown Peruvian artist to cast a life-size gold statue of the Madonna and child, each with double crowns encrusted with gems. The king ordered it shipped home via a Spanish treasure armada. It was supposedly secured in an 8foot locked iron box, crown jewels wrapped in lambswool. "No one is to know of the gold casting or the cargo but those appointed by my hand," Bouchlas quoted from a "secret order" of Phillip IV. "Let the imbeciles who cast the statue be destroyed forever." In 1656, a treasure fleet of eight galleons, including Nuestra Seora de la Maravillas, or Our Lady of Wonders, sailed from South America to Spain. Aboard the Maravillas were 650 wealthy colonists, 5 million pePage 6

sos worth of silver, gold and gems, and the hidden Golden Madonna. At midnight on Jan. 4, the ship hit a sand bar off Grand Bahama Island. An accompaning ship then struck the Maravillas, staving in its hull. Within 30 minutes it sank. Only 45 survived; the rest were swept to sea or eaten by sharks. Rescuers marked the site, just off Memory Rock on Little Bahama Bank, with buoys. Within months Spanish officials sent several frigates to salvage its treasure. They recovered about 480,000 pesos worth, said Robert Marx, who discovered the Maravillas wreck in 1972. But the salvage vessels also fell victim to Caribbean weather. "Storms hit all of them, every single one of them," Vesey said. One, the San Miguel de Arcangel, which Bouchlas believes bore the Golden Madonna, was blown to Florida and sank just off Jupiter Inlet. Bouchlas said he traced the Golden Madonna to the Maravillas when he found the chest in which it allegedly was secured on that vessel's wreck site in 1978. "That gave him credence that he was on to something," Vesey said. Bouchlas claims the statue weighs 1,800 pounds. At today's gold prices, that makes the Golden Madonna worth about $37 million. "He said it's worth more in value than all of King Tut's treasure put together," Vesey said. Divers have long known of the San Miguel wreck off Jupiter, but experts say it was a messenger ship that sank in 1659 and bore no salvaged treasure from the Maravillas. "It had nothing to do with salvaging the Maravillas," stated Armstrong. Bouchlas further asserts that a Soviet satellite, fallen on the site of the San Miguel wreck, shields the holy statue with radioactivity. "It crashed into the ocean to protect the Madonna, in case a retrieval was ever tried before God Almighty intended for it to be retrieved," he wrote in a 52-page treatise. "I really didn't see a whole lot of substance in what he was saying," said Daniel Sedwick, a Winter Park coin dealer and treasure expert. "He didn't seem to fall within the parameters of historical perspective." Treasure hunters also doubt whether the Golden Madonna is anything more than a gilded sea tale. "Nobody knows if it really existed," Sedwick said. "It's really kind of legendary and mythical." Armstrong said the lore of sunken treasure includes similar stories. There is a reputed golden condor on
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the sea bottom somewhere, he said, along with a golden table weighing 1,440 pounds, and forts on lost islands whose walls are crammed with gold. James Goold, a Washington, D.C., attorney representing Spain, wrote that Bouchlas' quest resulted solely from "divine guidance" and there's no evidence to support his theory. "We're not really convinced that there's anything there, either," said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Glogau, representing Florida. "I've talked to some of the historical experts that don't believe such a statue ever existed." Said Vesey of the doubters: "They better think twice, they better reconsider." Armstrong acknowledged anything's possible. "He might prove me to be a complete boob," he said of Bouchlas. "He may find the Golden Madonna." rnolin@tribune.com or 954-356-4525. South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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Date Your Trash

enver and its suburbs has many parks with lots of trash. You can learn much about the park from the trash you dig.

Here is something to make it more interesting. NAILS Handmade/forged nails were used from the 1700's to the 1800's Cut nails, or more commonly called "square nails" were used from the 1800's to the early 1900's. Round nails were used from the early 1900's to date BOTTLE CAPS 1856-1915 Bottle SCREW caps were invented in 1856 and used wire to hold them on until the 1915 when the crimped cap was invented. 1891 Painter invented the world's first bottle cap in 1891. It was constructed with a corrugated metal cap, a thin disk of cork, and a paper backing. This was an economical design that made the cap leak proof. This cap was meant to be used only once and required a bottle The early crimp caps crown shaped coke had 24 teeth and now 21. 1960 In the 1960's the twist cap was invented and also the crimped caps height was reduced and the lining went from cork to plastic. PULL TABS The first cans prior to 1959 were made of steel and had to be opened with a can opener. The pull tab was invented in 1959 and became widely used around 1962. Pull Rings were used from around 1965 to 1975 when the "StaTab" was invented. CANS There were once cans in the United States called c o n e t o p s a n d crowntainers which had tops that were conical, rather than flat. Cone top cans were sealed by the same caps that were put on bottles. There were three types of conetops, high profile, low profile, and j-spout. The low profile and j-spout were the earliest, dating from about 1935. http://gono.com/v-tours/sodacone/scone33pepsi.htm Thanks to the Eureka Soundoff Newsletter January 2010

Lincoln Even Knew Better

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves. - Abraham Lincoln
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Shipwrecked In Yuma
KERRY LEONARD - SPECIAL TO YUMA SUN 2013-05-10
he possibility a centuries-old ship could be buried somewhere in the southwestern desert not far from Yuma is a legend treasure hunters have been pondering for many years. Could a Spanish galleon, perhaps carrying a cache of pearls, have sailed up into the Imperial Valley during flood waters, only to get stuck, forcing captain and crew to abandon ship and cargo? And could the remains of such a ship actually be buried in the desert or under the waters of the Salton Sea? Today, discussions of this legend in prospecting magazines and blogs by treasure hunting enthusiasts continue to keep this story alive. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, reports the pearl ship and lost galleon may be one and the same, but the tales always put it somewhere near the sand hills west of El Centro, Calif. One version of the legend claims Spanish explorer Juan de Iturbe and his crew, sailing up from the Gulf of California, left behind a small ship containing a cargo of black pearls after it became stuck in shallow waters. Apparently, one of the first written accounts of such a lost ship was written by journalist Albert S. Evans, who, in 1863, discovered what he thought was a gallant ship. The story appears in Chapter 9 of his book A la California, Sketches of Life in the Golden State. In the book, Evans writes that after his horse died from eating a poisonous weed, he had to make his way across the desert, alone and on foot. All was silent but for the ticking of his watch. It was two a.m. when I wearily climbed the summit of the divide between Dos Palmas and the Palma Seca, and looked down into the great plain below, he wrote of his location. Across this vast white plain, as across the waters of a placid lake, the moon threw a track of shimmering light so bright as to almost dazzle the eyes of the beholder. Right in this glowing pathway of light, far out in the centre of this ghostly sea, where foot of man hath never trod, lay what appeared in the dim distance the wreck of a gallant ship, which may have gone down there centuPage 8

ries ago ... Weary and thirsty, Evans walked on and eventually made his way back to civilization. Neither Evans, nor presumably anyone else, was able to find the ship again. Dan Rasp, a Foothills resident who has spent many years looking into stories of lost treasure (he once found the buried plunder from a stagecoach robbery), said the desert ship story is likely an offshoot of mystery ship fables. Though some local legends are viable, this one is totally impossible, he said. Earlier sailing ships required 12 to 15 feet of draft to keep from getting stuck, said Rasp, a retired civil engineer. While researching Melchor Diaz's trip to this area in 1540, Rasp found the crew used skiffs to explore further inland and still got bogged down in sand. Even in flood conditions, the river is just too shallow, he said. Waters may have been high enough 3,500 to 5,000 years ago, before sea levels receded, yet that was long before explorers ever set sail. Talk of Spanish sailing archives could lend some credit to the story, but Rasp said he knows of no official record citing a lost ship anywhere near the desert. Decades ago, while near Borrego Springs, Calif., Rasp found the rotting wood from a ship, but he believes it was the remnants of a beached Civil War-era ferry, not a mighty galleon. Though likely more fable than fact, the desert ship tale has inspired treasure hunters to keep adding more color to an already vibrant story. For example, several years ago a man reportedly was metal detecting in the San Felipe area when he found a 15th century Spanish sword hilt. Also, there is the claim a petroglyph of a Spanish galleon exists in a canyon between the Imperial Valley and Laguna Mountains. The idea of uncovering a lost ship in the desert sands is an appealing one, and it may mean we have something in common with the explorers who boarded those galleons centuries ago. I think we have a certain amount of hard wire in our brains that gives us a desire to find something, to make a great discovery, Rasp said. Yuma Sun YumaSun.com

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Senior Health Care Solution

So you're a senior citizen and the government says no health care for you, what do you do? Our plan gives anyone 65 years or older a gun and 4 bullets. Your are allowed to shoot 2 senators and 2 representatives. Of course, this means you will be sent to prison where you will get 3 meals a day, a roof over your head, and all the health care you need! New teeth, no problem. Need glasses, great. New hip, knees, kidney, lungs, heart? All covered. And who will be paying for all of this? The same government that just told you that you are too old for health care. Plus, because you are a prisoner, you don't have to pay any income taxes anymore. What a country!

beach sands along the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean of western Africa. Although not of the same scale as Africa, there is little doubt that thousands of diamonds occur in some streams in Colorado and Wyoming. In the ColoradoWyoming State Line district south of Laramie, a minimum of 40 diamondiferous kimberlites has been eroded over a period of 300 to 600 million years. Hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of diamonds must have escaped these pipes during erosion. According to some early work by McCallum and Mabarak (1976), the state line diamond pipes may have lost 2,500 feet of vertical column of diamond-bearing rock (the Iron Mountain district to the north could have lost even more, possibly 4000 to 5000 feet) yet where did all of these diamonds go? Many should still be found in nearby creek and riverbeds, waiting for someone to pick them up. A prospector has a much greater chance of getting rich by finding a valuable diamond panning in these streams than by winning the Colorado lottery. For example, the largest diamond recovered from the Kelsey Lake mine along the Colorado-Wyoming border, weighed 28.3 carats, and a fragment from a broken diamond was projected to have come from an 80 carat stone (Howard Coopersmith, personal communication, 2002). So one should be able to find some large diamonds downstream. Only a few placer diamonds have ever been reported in this region. During some of the early testing of the Kelsey Lake kimberlites, a 6.2-carat diamond was found in Fish Creek (Howard Coopersmith, personal communication (1998). Earlier, some diamonds had been recovered on Rabbit Creek adjacent to the Sloan 1 and 2 kimberlites by a prospector searching for gold (Frank Yaussai, personal communication, 1977). Using only a gold pan, another prospector recently panned a diamond from the Poudre River (Vic Norris, personal communication, 2002). Essentially, every kimberlite in the State Line district south of Laramie is diamondiferous. Some of the more significant kimberlites include the Kelsey Lake group, George Creek and the Sloan kimberlites. The George Creek kimberlites have yielded the greatest number of diamonds to date, and during testing, produced more than 89,000 diamonds from bulk sample tests in the 1980s. These diamond-rich dikes undoubtedly supplied tens of thousands of diamonds into George Creek and the adjacent tributaries during the geological past. Another good source for placer diamonds should be the Sloan kimberlites adjacent to Rabbit Creek. These yielded about 40,000 diamonds during bulk sampling tests in the early 1980s, including stones as large as 5.51 carats.
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Calendar of Events
October Meeting Wednesday, October 2. We will meet at the Pulliam Building in downtown Loveland at 7:00PM. Refer to the adjoining map for directions. Meeting Agenda 6:00 - 7:00 Planning & Social Hour 7:00 - 7:30 Business, Announcements & Find of the Month Program 7:30 - 7:45 Break 7:45 - 9:00 "Gold and Silver Refining" by David Emslie.

RMPTH DUES
RMPTH is an unincorporated Social Club with no income generated. All expenses are covered by $25 annual dues. Members are requested to consider minor donations at each monthly meeting to cover refreshments.

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

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!).
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October 2013
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 6 13 20 27 7 14 21 28 8 15 22 29

2
RMPTH Planning Session 6:00P RMPTH Meeting 7:00P

3 10 17 24 31
Halloween

4 11 18 25

5 12 19 26

9 16 23 30

November 2013
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 3
Daylight Savings Time Ends

2 9 16 23 30
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4 11
Veterans Day

5
Election Day

6
RMPTH Planning Session 6:00P RMPTH Meeting 7:00P

7 14 21 28
Thanksgiving

8 15 22 29

10 17 24

12 19 26

13 20 27

18 25

The News, October 2013

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 particular 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 ongoing 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, vehicles breaking down, wrong meeting sites, etc. Please be understanding of extenuating circumstances and contact 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.

Disorder In The American Courts

hese quotes are from a book called 'Disorder in the American Courts' and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place. ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory? WITNESS: I forget. ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot? ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning? WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam? ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: The youngest s on, the twenty-year-old, how old is he? WITNESS: He's twenty, much like your IQ. ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken? WITNESS: Are you kiddin me? _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th? WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time? WITNESS: Getting laid __________________________________________ ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
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Colorado Treasure Tales

The Ten-Cent Treasure any years ago, a wagon train from the Denver mint, loaded with new dimes destined for Phoenix, Arizona disappeared somewhere between a Crawford ranch and Montrose. Four to six wooden kegs of new dimes were loaded on four separate wagons traveling as a group. Several years later, treasure hunters found the remains of four wagons at the rim of a canyon where a side wash fell off into the river ravine. Though they were able to gather several gallons of dimes along the Gunnison River near the north rim of Black Canyon, more treasure awaits the finding.

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The News, October 2013

(Continued from page 12)

WITNESS: Yes. ATTORNEY: How many were boys? WITNESS: None. ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?

WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample? WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question? ______________________________________ And the best for last:

WITNESS : Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney? ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated? WITNESS: By death. ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated? WITNESS: Take a guess. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual? WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard. ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing? WITNESS: No.. ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? WITNESS: No. ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?

WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male. ____________________________________ ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney? WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work. ______________________________________ ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people? WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight. _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to? WITNESS: Oral. _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body? WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 pm. ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
The News, October 2013

WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar. ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless? WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

THINK ABOUT IT! MOST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE LAWYERS. GOD HELP US!

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(Continued from page 9)

Historical placer diamond discoveries in Colorado and Wyoming have been rare. This may be due to the fact that most prospectors are not trained to recognize diamond, and that very historical little gold prospecting occurred in the vicinity of the State Line diamond district. Diamonds were never reported in any of the drainages downstream from the State Line district during the historical past, yet the district contains 40 diamondiferous kimberlites and some geophysical and mineral anomalies suggesting there are several more undiscovered diamondiferous kimberlites in this district. Thus the total diamond budget in the streams should be significant. So why didnt gold prospectors of the past find gold and diamonds in this region? The answer is simple the diamondiferous kimberlites occur in a region that is essentially barren of any significant gold veins and there are few indications of gold, so the old timers never spent much time looking in this region. However, if gold had been found in this district in the past, the prospectors would probably have found some diamonds whether or not they would have recognized these rare minerals, is unknown. Thanks to good friend and RMPTH life-member: Dan Hausel Email: danhausel@yahoo.com

Understanding Gold
n the United States the purity of gold is designated by karat. Pure gold is 24k, but, because of its softness, it is not suitable for making jewelry. Other metals such as copper, silver, nickel, and zinc are added to gold to strengthen it. What is added and how much is added determine the color and karat of the gold. To make this easier to understand let's take an imaginary ring and examine it. The color of the metal is immediately apparent. Gold comes in several colors, but let's pretend that this ring is pink gold. Inside the ring is stamped 10k. What do these things tell us? First, that the gold was mixed with copper, silver and zinc to make yellow gold. The pink look was achieved by using a larger quantity of copper. The 10k mark assures that 41.67% of the metal is pure gold, and the other 58.33% is copper, silver and zinc. It also indicates that the piece was made in the United States. (other countries do not use 10k). A 14k stamping would mean that the ring contained 58.33% gold and 41.67% other metals. If the ring was marked 18k, it would contain 75% pure gold and 25% other metals. In Europe gold is stamped according to its fineness. Pure gold is 1000 fine; 18k gold is 75% or 750 fine. Consequently, an 18k ring made in europe would be stamped 750. Below is chart of the most common karat markings: US/Karats - % Of Gold Fineness: 24 - 100% 22 - 90% 18 - 75% 15 - 62.5% 14 - 58.33% 10 - 41.67% 93 - 7.50%

Rocky Mountain National Bank CheckCentral City , Colorado1869 From collection of Rick Mattingly
Page 14 The News, October 2013

Did you know:

That the words race car spelled backward says race car. That eat is the only word that if you take the 1st letter and move it to the last, it spells it's past tense ate. And have you noticed that if you rearrange the letters in "illegal immigrants, and add just a few more letters, it spells out: "Go home you free-loading, benefit grabbing, kid-producing, violent, non-English speaking a**holes and take those other hairy-faced, sandal wearing, bomb making, goat loving, raggedy ass ba*tards with you." How weird is that? - thanks to Paul Mayhak

Gold Glossary
Hard Rock Mine - A hard rock mine is a tunnel that is dug into solid rock for the sole purpose of finding valuable or precious rocks, minerals, or metals. Gold originates deep within the earth in places called Pockets. The pockets are filled with gold, heavy ore, and quartz..

Gold Facts
Symbol: AU Atomic Number: 79 Atomic Weight: 196.967 Melting Point: 1063 (1945 F) Specific Gravity: 19.2 MOHs 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

Dandy collection of items detected from a Union Civil War camp.

The News, October 2013

YOUR ADVERTISEMENT COULD BE HERE! Call Rick Mattingly at 970-613-8968 or rickmatt@q.com

Page 15

Trading Post
FOR SALE: Keene high banker/ 3 in. suction dredge. Near new 10 HP motor [less than 10 hours] with 330 GPM pump. All hoses included with extras. Retails for over $2,000. Sell for $900 firm. Contact Darrell 970 669 2599. FOR SALE: Jewelers propane/oxygen torch, many cabochons, beads and tools. Contact Ann at (970) 6667-3705. FOR SALE: Tekonsha Prodigy Trailer Brake Controller - 1 to 4 Axles - Proportional, Model 90185. High quality, popular brake controller at a great price. Proportional brake controller. Includes digital display, 3 boost levels, battery protection and continuous diagnostics. Easily transfer between different automobiles and using this brake controller it is simple and easy. Comes with mounting bracket, vinyl cover, and instructions. Requires separate purchase of proportional wiring adapter for your make and model tow vehicle that is available off the Internet. $45 includes shipping within the U.S. E-mail Nick Kerpchar at mtview4us@msn.com 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, instruction booklet & video, carry case. Ready to go for the gold: $1900. Contact Paul at (970) 482-7846. FOR SALE: 5HP pump motor, Gold King 3" Hi-banker with dredge attachment w/adjustable stand, Gold Grabber Hibanker, 125 feet hose, Rock net and steel cable, misc. fittings and valves & large metal bucket. Prefer to sell all together for $1,350 but negotiable. Call Eric Stickland at (303) 833-6848 or estick@live.com. WANTED: Used lapidary equipment. Call Kathie 970-2211623 WANTED: Federal or state duck stamps; mint or used. Contact John Hart at (307) 778-3993. YELLOWSTONE FAREWELL Wyoming adventure novel. Diamonds, Gold, Volcanic activity, Prospecting. Factual geology; Fictional story. $18.00 + $4.00 S&H. Spur Ridge Enterprises, POB 1719, Laramie, WY 82073. Internet: http://yellowstonefarewell.com/

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: rickmatt@q.com Commercial Advertising Specifications (Monthly Donation Rate) Full Page (8 1/2" X 7") Half Page (3 1/4" X 7") One Third Page (3" X 4") Business Card (2 3/4" X 1 1/2") $30 $20 $15 $ 5

Ads must be received by the 15th of the preceding month. Contact Rick Mattingly for information on this service at (970) 613-6968 evenings or e-mail at: rickmatt@q.com.

All mistakes and misspellings were intentionally made so that you could have the pleasure of finding them.

NOTE: Purchase arrangements are between the buyer and seller only and involves no financial benefit to RMPTH.

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The News, October 2013

WEEKEND & SMALL-SCALE MINERS CODE OF ETHICS

I WILL respect other prospectors claims and not work those claims without the owners 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 cognizant of their potential destructive effect on the environment 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

Whydah Treasure
Dive signals more treasure at US pirate ship wreck Published September 07, 2013 Associated Press BOSTON

recent dive at the site of the only authenticated pirate ship wreck in U.S. waters has signaled the possible location of even greater treasures.

Already 200,000 artifacts, from gold to guns, have been documented from the site of the Whydah, which sank during a ferocious storm off Cape Cod in 1717. Undersea explorer Barry Clifford located the wreck site in 1984. But he only recently learned that 400,000 coins were stolen from two boats the Whydah raided in the weeks before it sank. The final dive Sept. 1 at the end of a three-day trip found an area heavy with metal, including what appears to be coins, some stacked. Now, Clifford plans to return to the site as soon as weather permits Fox News

Offer Your Assistance To Any Of Our Program Coordinators

The News, October 2013 Page 17

Rocky Mountain Prospectors and Treasure Hunters Club 2013 Schedule of Events
Month
January

Meeting Program
Bottle Hunting By Rick Mattingly
Relic Hunting By Tom Warne

Trip/Activity
No Trip/Activity Scheduled

February

No Trip/Activity Scheduled

March

South Pass, Wyoming History By Rick Mattingly

Colorado School of Mines Museum Tour Detecting Clinic at Lions Park Advertised and Open to the Public Wyoming Geologic Survey Tour & Diamond Prospecting Clinic Phoenix Mine & Argo Mill Tours Lets Go Gold Panning On The Arkansas Event Prospecting Clinic at Lions Park Advertised and Open to the Public Clear Creek Gold Outing GPS, Compass & Map Clinic Clear Creek Gold Outing Diamond Hunt Outing State Annual Gold Panning Championships

April

RMPTH Prospecting DVD Overview & Patent Searching By Rick Mattingly

May

Ghost Towns of the Rockies By Preethe Burkholder

June

Detecting England By Ed & Mia Edwards Burrows Cave By Russell Burrows GPAA Presentation By Rick Messina - President Casper Chapter GPAA and State Director

July

Butcher Knife Draw WY Gem Outing South Pass, Wyoming Gold & Detector Outing Eldora Ski Resort Detector Outing

August

Meteorite Hunting

Ames Monument Tour and Vedauwoo Detector Outing Vics Gold Panning Outing Annual Coin & Prize Hunt Denver Colorado Gem & Mineral Show Fort Laramie Wyoming Tour

September

Battery Facts By Batteries Plus

October

Gold & Silver Refining Presentation By David Emslie Annual Show & Tell & Silent Auction Annual Find of the Year Awards & Christmas Party

Off-Road Detector Outing

November

Local Detector Outing

December

Flatirons Mineral Club & Model Train Show

Good Hunting in 2013!

Page 18 The News, October 2013

Rocky Mountain Prospectors & Treasure Hunters Contact List

RMPTH Coordinators President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Bud Yoder Tom Warne Dick & Sharon French Heidi Short Home 1-970-635-0773 1-970-482-2110 1-970-532-1167 E-Mail bydu812@yahoo.com goldigger48@msn.com dickyf99@centurylink.net heishort@gmail.com

The News Staff Editor-in-Chief Rick Mattingly 1-970-613-8968

rickmatt@q.com

Internet Web Site Web Master Volunteers/Coordinators Find of the Year Joe Johnston Betsy Emond Paul Mayhak Rick Mattingly Barbara Schuldt Barbara Schuldt Joe Johnston Bryan Morgan Darrell Koleber Bob Smith Shane Menenti Paul Mayhak Johnny Berndsen 1-303-696-6950 1-970-218-0290 1-970-482-7846 1-970-613-8968 1-970-407-1336 1-970-407-1336 1-303-696-6950 1-970-416-0608 1-970-669-2599 1-303-530-4375 1-970-590-9183 1-970-482-7846 1-970-667-1006 cjoej1@peoplepc.com pjmcolo@q.com Rick Mattingly 1-970-613-8968

rickmatt@q.com

Presentations Club Historian Club Meeting Greeter Club Librarian Panning Demos

rickmatt@q.com
cjoej1@peoplepc.com brymorg@frii.com gutshot1016@yahoo.com bob15smith@hotmail.com menentiwe2@msn.com pjmcolo@q.com

Meeting Setup

Door Prize

General Information Contact: Rick Mattingly at 1-970-613-8968

Visit RMPTH on the Internet at: http://rmpth.com

Lets Go For The Gold !

The News, October 2013 Page 19

The News
Rocky Mountain Prospectors & Treasure Hunters Club 278 Sierra Vista Drive Fort Collins, CO. 80524

OCTOBER, 2013 ISSUE