is the GPAA worth joining in 2016?

[ffmurray]

long time lurker, first time poster

I have seen a couple of these posts before, but all of them are several years old and things change. I know that there will be several different opinions on the matter but a general overview / pros and cons would be great.

A little about my situation:
I live in Albuquerque NM and it would be nice if there were places in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico that I could go, preferably with creeks because I am new to this and only have a couple of pans and would rather stay wet. I tried contacting them though email about if this was a reality but did not get much information back, they just wanted me to pay up and find out for myself it seems, that turned me off to the idea a little bit. Hopefully someone with some experience in the matter can chime in and help me out.

Id also like to thank you guys, Ive been reading the forum for a while now and its jam packed with information, its been a real help.

 

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[johnedoe]

I tried contacting them though email about if this was a reality but did not get much information back, they just wanted me to pay up and find out for myself it seems, that turned me off to the idea a little bit.

Seems that should pretty well answer your question right there.....................

 

[jeff of pa]

Welcome to TreasureNet ff__

If you lived on the eastern half of the U.S. I'd say absolutely Not.
They seem to have decided to ignore 90% of us.

But I would think the west still gets their attention.

 

[Terry Soloman]

long time lurker, first time poster

I have seen a couple of these posts before, but all of them are several years old and things change. I know that there will be several different opinions on the matter but a general overview / pros and cons would be great.

A little about my situation:
I live in Albuquerque NM and it would be nice if there were places in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico that I could go, preferably with creeks because I am new to this and only have a couple of pans and would rather stay wet. I tried contacting them though email about if this was a reality but did not get much information back, they just wanted me to pay up and find out for myself it seems, that turned me off to the idea a little bit. Hopefully someone with some experience in the matter can chime in and help me out.

Id also like to thank you guys, Ive been reading the forum for a while now and its jam packed with information, its been a real help.

Welcome to the forum from White Plains, New York!

As a long time gold prospector in Southern, Central, and Northwest Arizona, I want to be as fair with my opinion as I can. If you can AFFORD a membership, join. If you are looking to find enough gold to PAY for the membership, do not join. If you want access to hundreds of claims filled with working- and middle- class 38-68 year old white men, running everything from shovels and pans to the most expensive recovery equipment money can buy, join. If you enjoy sitting around the campfire drinking beer with a bunch of people with nothing better to do but look for specks of gold and hang out together, join.

Let us know how it works out for you.

 

[ffmurray]

Welcome to the forum from White Plains, New York!

As a long time gold prospector in Southern, Central, and Northwest Arizona, I want to be as fair with my opinion as I can. If you can AFFORD a membership, join. If you are looking to find enough gold to PAY for the membership, do not join. If you want access to hundreds of claims filled with working- and middle- class 38-68 year old white men, running everything from shovels and pans to the most expensive recovery equipment money can buy, join. If you enjoy sitting around the campfire drinking beer with a bunch of people with nothing better to do but look for specks of gold and hang out together, join.

Let us know how it works out for you.

Thanks for the input Terry, I do have a soft spot for looking at expensive equipment.

 

[KevinInColorado]

The GPAA doesn't have much in the way of claims in Colorado so it's not a popular club from what I've seen around here.

 

[Goldwasher]

I would look into the closest chapter first the numbers are listed in the back of their magazine and on line. Gives the name of the local chapter head. If you email them during the gold show season by email it may take a bit for a response.
I'm an authorized gpaa distributer. I call when I have questions and get quick answers.
My claims guide is down at the store I'll message you about claims near you on Wednesday I'm closed today and tomorrow.
There are pocket knives and sunglasses that will set you back more than a GPAA membership

 

[brianc053]

ffmurray, Goldwasher's suggestion to check out a local chapter is a great one.
What KevinInColorado said is true: I checked my GPAA guide and there's only one GPAA claim in southern Colorado, near the town of Silverton. There are also about 4 or 5 GPAA claims in central Colorado, but there are also plenty of public access areas that don't require GPAA membership (check out Kevin's various posts and his personal blog; he hits the public access locations all the time. Great guy by the way, in case you get a chance to connect with him).
According to the 2014 GPAA guide over in your home state of New Mexico there is a claim in Rio Arriba County, plus four or five south of Albuquerque.

I have a similar decision to make as you, ffmurray - my membership runs out soon. I'm one of those "38-68 year old...men" who has "nothing better to do but look for specks of gold", as Terry puts it. I prefer to say that I'm a recreational prospector, meaning that for me the adventure its just as important as the actual gold at the end of the day. For this reason I think the GPAA membership - and the claims that come with it - are helpful, because when I travel for work and I can spare a day the claims give me a destination to shoot for.

However, I will say that in 2015 and the early part of 2016 I've been fortunate to get to couple prospecting with work trips maybe 10 times, and only twice have I visited GPAA claims. Once I visited the Arkansas River in central Colorado and did OK for using simple equipment (small sluice). The other time I had an extra day in Las Vegas (I posted something like that on this forum) and I drove over into Arizona; I didn't find any gold that day, but the scenery was beautiful and I would have never seen it without a GPAA claim as a destination.
That said, on the other 8 or so prospecting trips I found other locations to prospect (many of which were out East, where there are no GPAA claims. But one time I had a day in the Sacramento area and I went to a public access location, and had a great day - adventure-wise and gold-wise).

My final thoughts are that along with the membership come the magazine and newspaper thing, and while 75% of them are advertisements or articles that are really advertisements for something, once in a while there's a nugget - pun intended - of wisdom or a story of interest to make them worth reading. As Terry said, if you can afford it, join. And as Goldwasher suggested, there are more expensive things in life.

Good luck, whatever you choose.

- Brian

 

[russau]

Terry (as useual) has some good advice! BUT to add to his comment , Id say you only get out of it what YOU put into it! Don't expect to be handed you anything! Most all gpaa and ldma people are good people BUT theres always 1 that will rub you the wrong way! be prepaired for it and just move along (life is just to short!)

 

[G.I.B.]

Join.

You can try for the year, and then decide for yourself.

If any GPAA folks are reading this.... how about keeping a current up to date mining guide online?

 

[Hoser John]

Whenever possible go for a local yokel outfit in your area. Be it Gem/Mineral, detecting or gold small clubs are always the best with dedicated folks ready to help you out in any way they can AND not beholden to any master for $$$ vacuum-John

 

[Goldwasher]

Join.

You can try for the year, and then decide for yourself.

If any GPAA folks are reading this.... how about keeping a current up to date mining guide online?

Even though everyone's claim info is available on line or at the county. Gpaa happens to have one of the few sources of claim info with accurate maps. I would bet money that if they put the claims guide on line there would be an increase in high grading.
There are reasons not worth getting into as to why there may be a certain demographic of people who are members. What is not discussed is how most of them are beginners or people who don't have easy close access to claims. Many people want to talk to people about what where how etc. You will find a certain number of them who do have claims and like to travel to other areas just for the sake of it. That is why I suggest getting involved in a local chapter as there are chapter members who maintain their membership yet don't "Rely" on GPAA claims to find good gold.They have their own claims and know the local areas and what kind of gold there is and where.
That itself has nothing to do with GPAA claims and the amount of gold they can and do hold. Just because a claim gets hit a few times a week by hand methods. Has been visited for years does not mean it has been "pounded to death" or stripped of it's gold. Looking over this years claims guide I was noticing how many claims they have in areas that I know there is potential for great gold.I have personally spoke with several members who have done well on their claims and adjacent areas. For the cost of membership the sort of supplemental info provided alone is worth it.
The gold is in the ground regardless of who is looking for it or who owns the rights, the type or cost of the gear. It's the individual and how they combine their initiative and gained knowledge using those tools on that ground that will create success at small scale prospecting and mining and get that gold out of the ground.
Placer deposits are spotty as it is you can be inches or feet away from a decades worth of GPAA memberships and walk away. It happens everyday the imaginary line drawn around it has nothing to do with why it hasn't been taken out of the ground.
If people join just to try and enjoy looking at specks it's their right. Be the guy that is up first and comes back to camp later than all the rest and I promise that everyone will be asking you questions and specks won't mean all that much to them anymore.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Well said Goldwasher and soo true! I love and live that last paragraph!

 

[ffmurray]

Well I guess I am going to go for it. Thank you all for the solid advice and thoughts, this forum is great! I am amazed at how many people responded with well thought out answers so quickly. Keep up the good work, you have convinced me to stick around here for good.

 

[Goldwasher]

GPAA has 10 claims in N.M. Totaling 900 acres in Lincoln, Rio Arriba,Sierra and Socorro counties.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Whenever possible go for a local yokel outfit in your area. Be it Gem/Mineral,
detecting or gold small clubs are always the best with dedicated folks ready to help you out in any way they
can AND not beholden to any master for $$$ vacuum-John

Having read GW's comment..well, that's hard to argue with.

Still, I'm not a big club kinda guy, so, having been a GPAA member in the past I would
suggest going with John's idea first, and if no luck then go GPAA.

In a local club, not only do you have access to their claims (which will be reasonably close
to you), you'll have the chance to meet and work with other local prospectors from whom you
can gain a ton of knowledge. Unless you go to one of their big events ($$) that's something I
doubt you'll get at a GPAA claim.

 

[jog]

AMRA, money well spent.

 

[Hard Prospector]

AMRA, money well spent.

Agreed, AMRA is really growing, great people and their claims holdings have just exploded in the last year (with no end in sight). Plus their focus is standing up for the rights of the small miner.

Kind of what the GPAA was 20 or more years ago.

 

[ffmurray]

Agreed, AMRA is really growing, great people and their claims holdings have just exploded in the last year (with no end in sight). Plus their focus is standing up for the rights of the small miner.

Kind of what the GPAA was 20 or more years ago.

I just spent a while researching them, they look like a great group, unfortunately for me they have no claims in New Mexico or Colorado according to their map

 

[Hard Prospector]

I just spent a while researching them, they look like a great group, unfortunately for me they have no claims in New Mexico or Colorado according to their map

AMRA had no holdings in Arizona either til recently and now they have a bunch in Az(good ones too). I know their goal is claims in all western states so it couldn't hurt to check in with their doings often