Just to let anyone interested know, the Annual Mt Hood Rock Club Rock
and Gem Show is this Saturday and Sunday, the 14th and 15th, at Mt
Hood Community College Gymnasium, Gresham, Oregon. A good time is
guaranteed! (Thunder) Egg hunt for kids is at 2:00 on Saturday and the
Oral Auction for choice materials is at 2:00 on Sunday. Additionally,
there is an ongoing silent auction with many fine offerings. Over 25
dealers!
Mt Hood Rock Club

Down All the Days   By Jay Bates

The mist hung on the hills, wafting in a cold wind blowing down the Diablo Range. We four huddled around our screens and kept moving to hold the in-creeping cold at abeyance. We were screening for that mythical gemstone benitoite. We were washing the dirt off tailings at the Gem Mine in hopes of a facetable stone.

Some weeks before we had been there on a warm and sunny day, basking in the warmth and the aroma of the surrounding incense cedars. It seemed much easier then to find those little electric blue crystals. Now it seemed they had all disappeared. Still, we soldiered on, for we knew not when we may be able to return to this remote location or whether we could even return to the land of Happy Meals over the sodden dozed tracks laughingly called roads on the maps.

The wash water ran out, so Dave and I put his hitch on the back of my Jeep and trailed the water tank trailer down to the creek bottom to pump it full from an underground tank placed there to collect water during to oncoming threatening winter rains. Now in four wheel, I crept back up the pit tracks to the top pulling a ton and half of wash water. All for a tiny blue speck that resembled a bit of blue glass, you would not think twice about picking up on the street.

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Conejo Gem & Mineral Show information:
May 19-20; Newbury Park, CA
Conejo Vally Gem & Mineral Club
Borchard Park
190 Reino Rd. Newbury Park, CA
Hours: Sat 9-5; Sun 10-4:30, Free admission & parking.
There will be:  Exhibits of minerals and fossils, Plant sales,
Youth room, Silent Auction, Hourly drawings,
Vendors, selling minerals, fossils, and jewelry,
Demonstrators of Bead/Jewelry, Faceting,
Silversmithing, Lapidary.
Robert Sankovich
Show Chairman
E-mail: rmsorca@yahoo.com

May Field Trip:
Jade Cove May 5th 2007, Sat.10am

General information:
Come for the day or camp overnight
(Robert and Debra Sankovich will be there Thursday 3rd-6th Sunday)
Day use free by side of road, camping $20.00, no Elec hookups

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Bruce from www.goldminershq.com wrote an article for me to post on the actual worth of raw gold.  Very interesting Bruce, thanks for submitting!

Modern Day Gold Mining
The 2007 “Gold Rush”

The price of gold is 2 times what it was when I was out mining full
time in the early 1980′s. It has been $800.00 plus in the recent
months and has contributed to another small scale gold rush back into
the known “Gold Country” around the world.

This can make for a great vacation outing for the whole family here in the USA.
One has to understand the actual worth of any gold found
though.  In most cases, the public view is simply what the market
value says it is. This is not quite true. For the miner, the value of
gold is quite different and in most cases quite a bit more in value
than what the daily spot/quote price says.
Weight of gold is measured by troy.  24 k (used by jewelry
makers) is equal to 1,000 fine (bullion) which is equal to 100% gold.
In gold mining we use the bullion measurement or “troy”. California &
Alaska is about 950 fine or better. Arizona is next being easily 900
fine and better, Nevada & Colorado about 850 fine or better.
The difference in quality or “purity” of gold has to do with
the amount of other minerals that it contains.  If a nugget is found
to be 870 fine, then the remaining 130 fine would consist of elements
such as silver, nickel, zinc, etc. in it.  This is an important
factor for jewelers. The purity of the raw gold nuggets will also pay
more. The darker yellow being the purest and pays the best. Though
other nuggets less in purity is still worth a good value.
As far as raw gold, I have always used jewelers near where I
was mining.  They always give you the best price, since they are the
ones interested in the jewelry aspects of gold.  All other business
only care about the daily market “spot price” quote and only care
about gold weight. Jewelers on the other hand pay more for certain
sizes and shapes; generally flat nuggets and also quartz gold; quartz
rock containing raw old.
This also depends on how “clean” your gold is. Jewelers are
picky about this. You should not have any other materials; rock,

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