Tuesday, December 6, 2011

New Publications From WDGER

The Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources has announced the availability of the following publications:


Open File Report 2011-1. Geologic map of the Monroe 7.5-minute quadrangle, King and Snohomish Counties, Washington, by J. D. Dragovich, M. L. Anderson, S. A. Mahan, C. J. Koger, J. H. Saltonstall, J. H. MacDonald Jr., G. R. Wessel, B. A. Stoker, J. P. Bethel, J. E. Labadie, Recep Cakir, J. D. Bowman, and S. A. DuFrane. 2011. 42 x 36 in. color sheet, scale 1:24,000, with 24 p. text. (Available online only, at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_ofr2011-1_geol_map_monroe_24k.zip [15.6 MB])

Open File Report 2011-2. Analytical data from the Monroe 7.5-minute quadrangle, King and Snohomish Counties, Washington—Supplement to Open File Report 2011-1, by J. D. Dragovich, S. A. Mahan, M. L. Anderson, J. H. MacDonald Jr., G. R. Wessel, S. A. DuFrane, Recep Cakir, J. D. Bowman, and H. A. Littke. 2011. 61 p., 2 plates, and 2 Microsoft Excel files. (Available online only, at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_ofr2011-2_monroe_supplement.zip [34.6 MB])

Monday, December 5, 2011

Hearing on HPA Fee Bill Tomorrow!

Yes, that's right folks.  The House Committee on Ways & Means has scheduled a public hearing on HB 2135, the bill that would establish a $150 application fee for an HPA as reported earlier here.


The hearing is to take place in the John L. O'Brien Building, House Hearing Rm A, Olympia, WA tomorrow, December 6, at 10:00 AM...unless changed by the legislature before then.


It seems to this observer that, if these people really represented us, as they claim to do, they would actively seek our input instead of setting up so-called "public hearings" on such short notice that the public is effectively precluded from attending.  But, I digress.


More on this unfolding travesty as it occurs.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Are HPA Fees On The Way?

Here we go again!

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has, through the offices of Representatives Zack Hudgins and Ross Hunter, introduced HB 2135, a bill which, if passed and signed into law, would allow WDFW to "charge  a  one  hundred  fifty  dollar application  fee  for  all  applications  for  hydraulic  project  permits under  this  chapter  to  recover  the  costs  for  processing  permit applications."

Needless to say, since the recently approved beach mining requires an HPA, it would cost $150 just to apply to go gold panning at the ocean if this bill is enacted, making the activity prohibitively expensive.  Can you say, "Hard won, easily lost?"

Please feel free to use the links above to contact Representatives Hudgins and Hunter, if you are so inclined, and to read the text of the bill and follow its progress in the legislature.  At the moment, the bill is in the House Ways & Means Committee.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Who's Watching Us?

Ever since the South West Oregon Mining Association (SWOMA) published this article on their website detailing the variety of state and federal agencies that are monitoring their online activities, I've been wondering who's watching WSM?

I don't normally concern myself with the demographics of visitors to this site, although perhaps I should. Anyway, I decided to check on who's been dropping by lately.  Among our visitors in the last 2 weeks:

Washington State DNR - 1 visit

Click to enlarge.
















Headquarters United States Army Information Systems Command - 6 visits

Click to enlarge.















Federal Aviation Administration - 5 visits

Click to enlarge.
















BLM - 4 visits

Click to enlarge.
















Department Of Homeland Security - 1 visit

Click to enlarge.
















WDFW - 4 visits

Click to enlarge.
















State Of New Mexico - 1 visit

Click to enlarge.

















Visits by some of these agencies, like DNR, BLM, and WDFW, I can understand.  But the Army?  The FAA?  (Seen any airborne suction dredges lately?)  And the Department of Homeland Security?  (YIKES!  This is getting scary!)

Hopefully I haven't frightened away too many of my readers.  Because maybe these are just visits by folks interested in getting out into the great outdoors and panning a few flakes of our favorite yellow metal?  We can hope so, anyway.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Mining Districts: The Old Becomes New Again

Mining districts once constituted a bulwark for the organized protection of miners' rights.  After reading the ICMJ's Prospecting and Mining Journal article linked here, it appears they are poised to do so once again.  As the article above tells it, miners in southwestern Oregon have revived the late 19th-early 20th century institution of the mining district in order to more effectively organize their resistance to the increasing attacks coming from federal, state, environmentalist, and tribal sources.  Instrumental in this revival is the South West Oregon Mining Association (SWOMA).

According to the SWOMA website, the Jefferson Mining District was officially created on September 2, 2011 (see document and map here) following several meetings and a vote by the miners.  A couple of the assaults on miners' rights prompting the creation of the District include illegal road closures and the potential sealing of "inactive mines" (defined as "ANY mine without an approved Plan of Operations") as though they were abandoned mine lands.

Mining districts were common in Washington in the early 20th Century as shown in this 1912 map from Bulletin 507, The Mining Districts of the Western United States by James M. Hill:

Washington State Mining Districts in 1912 (Click to enlarge.)


As illustrated above, there were some 59 mining districts in Washington in those days.  Could they be revived?  And would doing so benefit local miners?  Given the recent activity in southwestern Oregon, the answers to both questions would seem to be, "yes!"  What can work in Oregon can work in Washington.  In particular, the SWOMA website linked above contains ample information for anyone wanting a "blueprint" of how to form a mining district.

Washington miners should take heed of this opportunity rather than remain complacent in the face of increasing threats to their occupation, for what government and environmentalists have done to miners in Oregon (and elsewhere) they can do to miners anywhere, including Washington.

The SWOMA website is linked both in this post and in the right-hand sidebar of this page under "Clubs and Organizations" for those interested in researching the formation of a mining district.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

PLSS And USGS Quadrangle Data In Google Earth

PLSS (Public Land Survey System) and USGS Quadrangle locations are now available in Google Earth with free plug-ins courtesy of Metzger+Willard, Inc.

If you've ever needed to know the section, township, and range in which a certain geographical feature is located, you can now see this information as an overlay in Google Earth thanks to the PLSGE plug-in described on this page which also contains the download link.

Likewise, if you need to know which USGS Quadrangle map covers your area of interest, download and install the QUADS plug-in described on this page where you will also find the download link.

Metzger+Willard also have other free Google Earth plug-ins listed on their Earth Survey page.  But the two mentioned above appeared to me to be the most useful for prospectors and miners.  Links for both plug-ins are also available in the MAPPING APPLICATIONS & ONLINE SPATIAL DATA section of the Resources for Prospectors portion of the right-hand sidebar on this page.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Ocean Beach Mining Opens Sunday

As reported here, ocean beach mining opens Sunday, October 9, for small-scale placer operations.  Remember, you need an individual HPA in hand before you can placer mine on the beaches as the Gold and Fish Pamphlet does NOT fulfill this requirement.  (Why miners need an HPA to dig holes in the sand but clam harvesters and sand castle architects do not is beyond me.)

The areas open to mining are in the Seashore Conservation Area which is defined in RCW 79A.05.605 as

...all lands now or hereafter under state ownership or control lying between Cape Disappointment and Leadbetter Point; between Toke Point and the South jetty on Point Chehalis; and between Damon Point and the Makah Indian Reservation and occupying the area between the line of ordinary high tide and the line of extreme low tide, as these lines now are or may hereafter be located, and, where applicable, between the Seashore Conservation Line, as established by survey of the Washington state parks and recreation commission and the line of extreme low tide, as these lines now are or may hereafter be located; and shall also include all state-owned nontrust accreted lands along the ocean: PROVIDED, That no such conservation area shall include any lands within the established boundaries of any Indian reservation.

Precisely where these "lands now or hereafter under state ownership or control" which are open to mining lie is unknown to this writer and may take some research in the property records of Clallam, Grey's Harbor, Jefferson, and Pacific counties to determine.  I have heard that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has a map or maps showing which areas are open to mining but this writer has yet to locate a copy.  In any event, here is a map taken from Handbook For Gold Prospectors In Washington by Wayne S. Moen and Marshall T. Huntting, Information Circular 57, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resources, 1975, page 36, showing where gold was found in beach deposits in the past.  (NOTE:  The locations shown below are for historical information only and are NOT necessarily open for prospecting under the new rules.  Check the appropriate land ownership or WDFW map records - if they exist - before mining.)

Historical Beach Placer Locations (Click to enlarge.)


The following placers numbered on the map above are described in Information Circular 57:

1 - Shi Shi Beach:  Beach between Portage Head and Point of Arches in Sections 18, 19, and 30 Township 32N Range 15W.  Beach deposit in which a thin layer of fine heavy sand rests on a wave-cut terrace in sandstone overlain by 1 to 3 feet of gravel and sand.  Gold and platinum are found in the thin layer and in cracks in the bedrock.

2 - Ozette Beach:  Section 12 Township 31N Range 16W.  Beach deposit of gold and platinum concentrated along surface of a wave-cut terrace in sandstone.

3 - Little Wink:  Center S½SW¼ Section 1 Township 30N Range 16W.  Reworked Pleistocene gravels in a beach placer.

4 - Morgan:  NW¼NW¼NE¼ Section 12 Township 30N Range 16W.  Reworked Pleistocene gravels at high-tide level.

5 - Morrow:  SW¼SW¼ Section 18 Township 30N Range 15W.  Beach deposit in which there is a 2-foot layer of gravel reworked by wave action from Pleistocene gravel.  Spotty fine gold content averaged $4.00 per cubic yard at $20 gold.

6 - Yellow Banks:  2 miles south of Sand Point in SW¼ Section 18 Township 30N Range 15W.  Beach deposit of gold and platinum concentrated on surface of a wave-cut terrace in Pleistocene drift.

7 - Main and Bartnes:  NW¼NW¼ Section 19 Township 30N Range 15W.  Sand and gravel cemented by clay and iron oxide.

8 - Johnson Point:  NW¼ Section 5 Township 28N Range 15W.  Beach placers and gold in Pleistocene deposits of the bench adjacent.  Some pans of sand ran as high as 60 cents Au and some panners recovered $2 to $10 per day at $20 gold.

9 - Cedar Creek:  Near mouth of Cedar Creek in E½ Section 18 Township 29N Range 15W.  Gold and platinum occur in a beach placer in a 2- to 15-inch sand layer on the surface of a wave-cut beach in clay.  The sand layer is said to be 400 feet long and 100 feet wide at low tide.  Said to yield from 2 to 5 pennyweights of gold and platinum per cubic yard.  Ratio of Pt to Au ranges from 1:5 to 1:15.

10 - Sunset Creek:  Section 19 Township 29N Range 15W.

11 - Ruby Beach:  E½NE¼ Section 31 Township 26N Range 13W.  On tombolo (a sand bar connecting an island to the mainland or to another island) between Abbey Island and Ruby Beach.  Very fine grained gold in beach sand.

12 - Moclips River:  Section 8 Township 20N Range 12W.

13 - Oyhut:  On ocean beach at Oyhut.  Beach placer. Assays 72 cents gold per ton at $20 gold.

14 - Point Brown:  Sections 15 and 23 Township17N Range 12W.

15 - Ocean Park:  Ocean beach at Ocean Park.  87 cents gold per ton at $20 gold.

16 - Fort Canby:  Mouth of Columbia River near Fort Canby.  Sand.  81 cents gold per ton at $20 gold.

17 - Sand Island:  Island at mouth of Columbia River just south of Ilwaco.  Sand.  $1.51 gold per ton at $20 gold.

See Information Circular 57 at the link above for more details.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Beach Mining Rules Effective October 9 -- HPA REQUIRED!

The new beach mining rules adopted by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission on August 11 will take effect on Sunday, October 9, 2011, according to the Southwest Region Office.

Remember: WDFW still requires you to obtain a separate HPA for beach mining activities conducted under the new WAC rules as the Gold and Fish Pamphlet does not apply to the ocean beaches. From the relevant WDFW webpage:

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has adopted rules that allow prospecting on ocean beaches. Because that agency adopted their own rules about beach prospecting, I don't need a permit from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, do I? Yes. The rules adopted by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission allowing certain beach prospecting activities are in addition to WDFW's permitting requirements. Because prospecting in marine waters is not covered by the Gold and Fish pamphlet, you must apply for, and be issued, an individual HPA to legally prospect on ocean beaches.

If you are planning on doing any beach prospecting this fall, you should apply for your HPA as soon as possible as some time is involved in WDFW issuing these permits.  The necessary application and instructions are available online at http://www.epermitting.org/.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Make Your Own Black Sand Magnet

You can make your own black sand magnet for aiding in gold recovery using a plastic 35mm film cassette can, a piece of wire, and a magnet that will fit inside the film can.

To make mine, I used a small but powerful magnet I had in my junk box. Although it has a convenient loop at one end for attaching the wire, you may need to get a bit creative if your magnet has a different design. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the film can just large enough for the wire to pass through. The parts ready for assembly are shown below:
















(Note: I recommend drilling the hole in the cap instead of in the bottom of the film can as with the latter arrangement very fine particles of black sand work their way under the cap and onto the magnet itself.)

With the wire pushed through the drilled hole in the film can, form a loop in it as shown below so that the magnet can be raised and lowered inside the can:
















Attach the cap to the can to complete the assembly as shown below:
















To use your new magnet, spread your black-sand-containing concentrate more-or-less evenly over the bottom of a gold pan under an inch or so of water. Keep the magnet above the concentrate while moving it in a circular motion. If you get the magnet too low or into the sand, the magnetic particles will clump and can entrap pieces of gold. As you work, you will notice the concentrate becoming lighter in color in the areas where the magnetic black sand particles have been removed.
















Every few moments, withdraw the magnet from the concentrate pan. You will notice an accumulation of black sand on the bottom of the film container.
















Next, position the magnet in the water in a second gold pan which will serve to collect the magnetic sand removed from the concentrate pan. Release the black sand into the pan by pulling up on the wire to raise the magnet inside the film can.
















Each time you drop a load of black sand into the second gold pan, you should check it to be sure no gold particles were trapped within it. When you are satisfied that you have only black sand in the pan, you can dispose of that material as you normally do with your tailings. The second pan should now be empty (except for the water) and ready to receive the next load of black sand.

When you are no longer getting black sand on the magnet assembly from your concentrate pan, you are finished with this stage of the separation process. You will probably notice a considerable reduction in the amount of concentrate remaining in your pan, depending on how much magnetic black sand it contained, and may even see some gold pieces amid the remaining material, as on the right and bottom of the image below:
















As always, happy prospecting!

Friday, September 2, 2011

New Publications From WDGER

The Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources has announced the following publications:

Information Circular 112.  Inactive and abandoned mine lands--Ruby Hill Mining District, Okanogan County, Washington, by F. E. Wolff, D. T. McKay, and D. K. Norman. 2011. 35 p. (Available online only, at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_ic112_iaml_ruby_hill.pdf [59.8 MB])

Also, please be aware of corrections to the following publication:


Open File Report 2010-3 [revised 2011].  Geologic map of the Skokomish Valley and Union 7.5-minute quadrangles, Mason County, Washington, by Michael Polenz, J. L. Czajkowski, Gabriel Legorreta Paulin, T. A. Contreras, B. A. Miller, M. E. Martin, T. J. Walsh, R. L. Logan, R. J. Carson, C. N. Johnson, R. H. Skov, S. A. Mahan, and C. R. Cohan. 2010 [revised 2011]. 42 x 36 in. color sheet, scale 1:24,000, with 21 p. text. (Available online only, at
http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_ofr2010-3_geol_map_skokomish_valley_union_24k.zip [38.2 MB])

Errata for Open File Report 2010-3:  The name of Holocene ‘alluvium’ (units Qa(m) and Qo(am)) was changed to ‘marine deltaic alluvium’ to distinguish it from unit Qa. The unit labels and colors of units Qoa (Holocene to latest Pleistocene alluvium) and Qao (uppermost Olympic-source recessional outwash) were inadvertently switched on the map legend. This has been corrected. Kasper van Wijk has been added as fourth author to Lamb (2009). Corrections were made to the online file on August 8, 2011.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Beach Mining Rules Available

As reported here, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission approved small-scale prospecting and placer mining in the Seashore Conservation Area on Washington's ocean beaches at their meeting in Wenatchee on August 11.

Washington State Miner has just received from Parks and Recreation a copy of the rules as passed by the Commission at that meeting.  The text of the rules may be accessed as a .pdf file at the link here.

According to the source at Parks and Recreation, they do not yet have an exact date when the rules will go into effect but state it should be in mid- to late-September.

More information as it becomes available.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Beach Mining Approved by Parks and Recreation Commission

On August 11 in Wenatchee the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission voted to approve small-scale prospecting and placer mining on ocean beaches in the Seashore Conservation Area.

The rules, which are yet to be posted on the Chapter 352-37 WAC site, are reported to go into effect about the middle of September.  When published, the new mining rules will be designated WAC 352-37-340 and may be located at the link above.

Washington State Miner will continue to monitor the WAC site and report when the rules are posted.



Saturday, June 25, 2011

Important MineCache Update

An important update regarding the MineCache plug-in for Google Earth (see the previous post here) is that selecting "BLM Mine Claim Records" for either active or closed claims now retrieves data directly from the BLM's LR2000 system instead of from the GeoCommunicator system as previously. This means that MineCache now has access to nearly 3.4 million claim records instead of the 1.6 million available through GeoCommunicator. The names of the claims appear in yellow boxes outlining the sections or fractions thereof in which the claims are located. As before, clicking on a claim's name opens an information window from which you may access the complete LR2000 report.

Beach Mining Rules Being Developed

The latest word on soon-to-be-allowed small scale beach mining (mentioned previously here, here, here, here, and here) is that State Parks is working on a draft of the rules and will hold a rule-making hearing on this subject at the Parks Commission meeting in Wenatchee on August 11th.

In the meantime, a draft of the proposed rules can be downloaded as a .pdf file from the link here.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Sneak Attack Continues RE: HPA Fee Bill

As posted here on Monday, a public hearing on SSB 5862, the substitute HPA fee bill, was held on Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Ways & Means.

We now learn, via the Resources Coalition and Bruce Beatty, that a second substitute bill (P2SSB 5862) has been proposed as the result of a meeting between the Governor's Office and some "HPA program Stakeholders" and from which meeting the Small Scale Mineral Prospecting and Mining Community was excluded.

It is important to read the text of this new legislation which may be downloaded as a PDF file here. (Note: This file will open in a pdf reader although it does not have a .pdf extension. You may have to manually select your pdf reader in order to view this file.) But, in summary, the bill is poorly written and, if enacted, would severely restrict, if not eliminate, one's ability to prospect or mine in this state.

Accordingly, here is a link to a somewhat lengthy list of talking points to use when contacting the government departments listed below: P2SSB 5862Talking Points PDF

Senate Committee on Ways & Means - to request that this bill not be allowed to go forward and cite your concerns.

Governor's Office - to ask why was the Small Scale Mineral Prospecting and Mining community was not a part of her meetings regarding this legislation and cite your concerns.

Your Senator and Representative - to inform them of this legislation and of your concerns. Request that they take whatever steps that they can to stop this legislation.

Your Local County, City, and Dike Districts - to inform them of this legislation. They need to know your position as a taxpayer who will ultimately end up paying for this legislation. Just because they may not obtain an HPA or FPA, they will be on the hook for prosecuting violators.

Furthermore, if you wish to call or write the Governor's Office, the contact information is listed below:

Phone: 360-902-4111

Fax: 360-753-4110

Mailing Address:

Governor Chris Gregoire
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002

Monday, April 18, 2011

Sneak Attack Hearing On HPA Fee Bill Tomorrow In Olympia - UPDATED!

UPDATE 4/19/11 -- If you need them, here are some talking points in opposition to SSB 5862 from Bruce Beatty:

1. The bill was poorly haphazardly created containing obvious errors;
a) 2 definitions for "sandbar"
b) Section 103 states that the department "shall charge a one hundred fifty dollar submittal fee and a processing fee.." but the next paragraph states that "The department shall charge a seventy-five dollar submittal fee for single site low complexity hydraulic project permits"
c) Bill summaries and Fiscal notes state that the Gold and Fish Pamplet HPA's are exempt from fee's, but there is no language in the bill to support these statements.
d) Establishes a fee structure, then provides DFW the authority to reduce fee's based upon circumstances and at "it's discretion." There is no specific provision for reimbursement, (fee's must be paid in advance) and there is no check or balance as to whom gets the reduced fee allowing favoritism or Fraud.


2. This legislation will expand WDFW's regulatory authority. In addition to being required below the Ordinary High Water Line, HPA's will be required for certain activities (A dike, levee, bridge, shoreline or streambank protection project (new definition), or mineral prospecting and mining) in the channel migration zone (new definition), one hundred year floodplain (new definition), or within two hundred feet landward of the ordinary high water line.

3. Projects that expend enormous amounts of time, resources and $money$, such as fish passage barrier and fish habitat enhancement projects are exempted from all fees. The organizations who fall under this category already receive a Streamlined Permit process under RCW 77.55.181, and in most cases receive funding through grants. Permits issued under this statute are already exempted from permits and fee's by local governments.


4. The legislation makes no provisions that would allow an individual to obtain a permit for less than a five year term at a reduced fee.

5. The department has told the stakeholders that these permits will be given for 5 years. This legislation does not modify the length that a permit will be issued. It states that permits will be issued for up to 5 years, which leaves the length of a permit up to the discretion of the department.


6. The title of this statute will change to the "Hydraulic Code" from "Construction projects in state waters" which will forever change what the original intent of this legislation was when established in 1943.

7. Establishes a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation. This is up from $100 per day and is in addition the the Gross Misdemeanor Charge, punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a $5,000 fine. The lowest penalty proposed is $2,500.


8. There will not be an increase to revenue as the largest users of the program are State Agencies(WDNR, WDOT, & WDFW).

9. There will be an INCREASE of expenditures by the State, the Agencies, and by Counties. Take a look at the fiscal notes and notice the amount that will be required for capital expenditures and the number of additional employee's that must be hired. This is not a reduction of government or streamlining.

Please pass this information on to all who use or may use the HPA program. This includes those with Bulkheads, Marina's or Landscape management plans that select fish for coverage under such a plan and to those who fall under the Forest Practices Permit.

If you are able to attend the public hearings, please do so, and do not forget to sign in and mark your position (CON).


-------------------------------

The HPA Fee bill (SB 5862 and HB 2008) has arrived in a new incarnation called SSB 5862 and -- SURPRISE! -- is scheduled for a public hearing TOMORROW before the Senate Committee on Ways & Means.

As of this writing, the time and place are 2:30 P.M. in the J. A. Cherberg Building, Senate Hearing Room 4 in Olympia.

The text of the bill may be downloaded from the link: SSB 5862, titled AN ACT Relating to the administration of natural resources programs.

The link for the Legislative Bill Information Website page for this bill is here.

If you cannot attend the hearing, you may send comments via phone or email to the committee members using the information at the link here. Click on each committee member's name to be taken to their homepage where an email link is available.

More news as it develops.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Presentation on Beach Mining Pilot Program Cancelled

Word just in from Olympia is that the presentation on the Ocean Beach Mining Pilot Program scheduled for 8:00 A.M. tomorrow before the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee by WDFW and the State Parks and Recreation Commission has been canceled. No word yet on when it might be rescheduled but WSM will keep you posted.

For background information on this subject, see my earlier post here.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Upcoming Legislation Would Restore Wilderness Study, Roadless Areas to Multiple Use Status

Congressman Kevin McCarthy of California's 22nd District plans to introduce the "Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act¹” in the near future. The purpose of this legislation is to "release all Wilderness Study Areas and Inventoried Roadless Areas, which have been recommended as not suitable for wilderness by the Bureau of Land Management or the United State(s) Forest Service, and direct that they be managed for multiple use.²" The effect, if this bill becomes law, would be to open more land for prospecting and mining as well as for other public uses.

At present, advocates of this bill are requesting that organizations (not individuals) send an email to Ben McFarland at Congressman McCarthy's office (benjamin.mcfarland@mail.house.gov) asking him to add the organization's name to the list of supporters and to also ask their Congressperson to co-sponsor this legislation. After contacting their Congressperson's office, they can download and send them this "Dear Colleague" letter.

More documentation in .pdf format regarding this bill:

Overview of the bill
Text of the bill

More information as it becomes available.

¹ Forwarded email from Chris Horgan at "Save the Trails"
² Ibid.

House Committee to Hear Presentation on Beach Mining Pilot Program

The latest development in the long-in-coming opportunity to mine gold at Washington's ocean beaches will be on April 8 before the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee. According to the current agenda, this work session will include a "(j)oint presentation by the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Parks and Recreation Commission on the findings of the Small Scale Mining and Prospecting on Ocean Beaches Pilot Program." As this meeting is not open for public testimony, I mention it here for information only.

For some background on the "Beach Mining Pilot Program," see my earlier posts here, here, and here.

Washington State Miner will continue to follow and report on this story.

Monday, March 21, 2011

MineCache: A Google Earth Plug-in For Gold Prospectors

MineCache is a free plug-in for Google Earth that displays a wealth of information regarding locations where gold has been found in the past. That is to say, those locations where gold is most likely to be found in the present. MineCache displays gold deposit information for the entire United States, including Alaska.

The first step in getting MineCache running on your computer is to download and install Google Earth, which may be done by visiting the link in the first paragraph above and following the on-screen directions.

The next step is to download the MineCache.kml plug-in from the MineCache website linked at the start of this post. With Google Earth running on your computer, visit the download link at MineCache.com and, after registering, follow the instructions there. The MineCache folder will appear in the "Temporary Places" folder in the "Places" section of the left-hand sidebar. (When you exit Google Earth, you will be told you have unsaved items in the "Temporary Places" folder. If you want to keep the MineCache plug-in, click "Save.")

Here is a picture of my "Places" sidebar after installing MineCache (and saving it):



As you may notice, MineCache opens with the options "Auto Refresh," "All Gold Claims - MRDS," and "Zoom in closer" checked.

"Auto Refresh" means that as you move the view-port in Google Earth to a new location, after a second or two the display of gold claims will refresh. If you don't want that to happen by itself, select "Manual Refresh" lower in the list.

"All Gold Claims - MRDS" means that the data displayed is from the USGS Mineral Resource Data System; the same data source discussed in my previous articles on "Armchair Prospecting." In the case of MineCache, the data is pre-selected to show gold deposits only.

"Zoom in closer" means that you are too far out to display any gold locations. Use the zoom-in controls in Google Earth to get closer to the surface. Once you are within 100 miles of the ground, you will see a gold dot moving back and forth under the gold claims folder that is selected. This feature indicates that MineCache is checking for records of gold occurrences in the area of the view-port. When the dot stops moving and turns green, it means that the data search is complete. The "Zoom in closer" legend will be replaced with the number of mines, if any, found. Or, in the case of an area with lots of records, it may tell you to zoom in closer still for more results.

Let's take a look at a typical gold producing area near Blewett Pass in Washington:



Activating MineCache in its default mode (described above) results in the display of 58 locations in which gold was found either as the primary or as a secondary mineral:



More information is available about each of these locations by clicking on an icon in the Google Earth image. For example, if we click on the icon for the Bloom Placer (just above and to the right of the image center), a pop-up box appears with information about the deposit:



If we click on the "View more mine details" link inside the information box, a web page opens in the default browser (in this case, Google Chrome) displaying additional data:



Another feature of MineCache is its ability to display BLM mine claim records for both active and closed mines. These data come from the BLM's GeoCommunicator application and are therefore, as BLM warns, not as complete or accurate as the information provided by the BLM LR2000 site. However, as LR2000 data is not accessible via software while GeoCommunicator data is, it is best to use the MineCache BLM information for initial research on an area and, if the results are promising, go to LR2000 directly for the more up-to-date records.

Selecting "BLM Mine Claim Records - Closed" causes the icons previously displayed to clear and new information to show on the screen:



By way of example, clicking on the "Homestead" icon in the center of the screen opens a pop-up box with links to LR2000 information regarding the closed mining claims in this area:



More information about each claim is available by clicking on the "LR2000 MC Report" link for the claim of interest. That is if the link is not broken (as indicated by the red "crosses" at the left end of each data row in the picture) which can happen if LR2000 is down for maintenance or is having some other problem.

Information on active claims is accessed in a similar manner by selecting "BLM Mine Claim Records - Active."

The best procedure is to just install MineCache into your copy of Google Earth and play around with its features. You can also read the tutorial on the MineCache website which gives additional tips and details about the application. The link to the MineCache website is permanently available in the right-hand sidebar of this blog in the section headed "Resources for Prospectors."

Armchair gold prospecting just got a whole lot easier. Have fun!

Friday, March 11, 2011

House Schedules Hearing On HPA Fee Bill (HB 2008)

The companion bill in the House (HB 2008) to the Senate's SB 5862, which was given a public hearing on March 9, is scheduled to be heard before the House General Government Appropriations & Oversight Committee on March 15 at 8:00 A.M. in House Hearing Room C of the John L. O'Brien Building in Olympia.

For background on this set of bills, which would impose some rather stiff fees for Hydraulic Project Approvals outside of the Gold & Fish pamphlet, please refer to my previous post at the link here.

Updates will follow as needed.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

WDFW Amends HPA Fee Bill; Hearing Scheduled

UPDATE!

March 4, 2011 at 6:36 P.M.

The hearing on SB 5862 has been rescheduled for March 9 at 8:00 A.M. in Senate Hearing Room 2 of the J. A. Cherberg Building in Olympia. Note that the room number is different from that given for the original hearing.

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UPDATE!

March 3, 2011 at 3:09 P.M.

The hearing on SB 5862 scheduled for March 4 has been canceled. As far as I am aware, no reason has yet been given. Nevertheless, it would be a good idea to continue contacting legislators with messages in opposition to this bill as otherwise we might be caught napping by events in Olympia.

More information as it becomes available.

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On February 3 I published a post regarding HB 1588 and its companion bill in the Senate, SB 5529, which together represent WDFW's latest attempt to implement prohibitive fees for mineral prospecting and mining under the Hydraulic Project Approval (HPA) process.

I have now received word that WDFW has "amended" SB 5529 from its original 20 pages to a new 38 page version dubbed SB 5862. (The companion bill in the House is HB 2008.) As I understand it, and I haven't had time to read the entire text of the substitute bill, the additional 18 pages do nothing to improve this proposal from the point of the small-scale mining community.

The reason I haven't, and won't, have time to read this bill before publishing this post is that SB 5862 is scheduled for a public hearing at 8:30 A.M. on Friday, March 4, before the Senate Natural Resources & Marine Waters Committee in Senate Hearing Room 3 of the J. A. Cherberg Building. Therefore, time is of the essence in getting word out about this bill and the coming public hearing.

If you can make it to Olympia on Friday to testify, here are some "talking points*" in favor of abolishing the entire HPA process:

The HPA program:

*Is antiquated, 62 years old

*Prior to 1949, was for the administration of irrigation/water rights.

*Financially burdens the taxpayers of the state through duplication of resources and permits as reported by the HPA Task Force in 2002.

*Financially burdens the taxpayers of the state through continual Legislation and Rule Making.

*Is cumbersome, subjective and unequally applied.

*Has been a subject of legislation for over 11 years.

* In 2008, HB2530, Studying the effectiveness of the existing hydraulic project approval process was introduced but not enacted because of budgetary constraints. This would have directed WDFW to study the effectiveness of the HPA program.

*Is a leading CAUSE of property loss experienced during river high flow or flood events.

*By elimination, will save $9 million dollars. This is a new concept to Legislators and agencies who are looking to increase revenue through the implementation of fee's.

*Has been through "Streamlining" for over 5 years without success. It is time to stop wasting the taxpayers money.

* "Talking points" courtesy of Bill Thomas, President of the Resources Coalition, via email from Bruce Beatty.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

HB 1307 (Now SHB 1307) Referred To Ways & Means

HB 1307, which would require independent peer review for all science that is used in support of any proposed regulations affecting any activity government agencies, such as WDFW, claim is detrimental to the environment (see previous post here), passed the House Committee on Environment on February 10 in the form of a 1st substitute bill and was referred to the House Ways & Means Committee on February 15 with a "do pass" recommendation.

As passage of this bill by the Ways & Means Committee will be another step beneficial to the small-scale mining community, interested persons may want to contact the committee members at the link above and request that SHB 1307 be heard and given a "DO PASS" recommendation.

SB 5644, the companion bill in the Senate to SHB 1307, is currently languishing in the Environment, Water & Energy Committee and may benefit from polite requests for a hearing and a "DO PASS" recommendation as well.

WDFW Halts Rule-Making That Would Criminalize Prospecting

As reported in this blog here and here, WDFW has been seeking to amend WAC 232-12-251 to criminalize such activities as the removal of minerals from the department's lands. The latest move in this direction was the promised filing of a supplemental CR-102 on January 19th.

It now appears this will not happen as WDFW has withdrawn the original CR-102 filed last October 20. With the governor's moratorium on rule-making, WDFW anticipates filing a new CR-102 no earlier than 2012.

Those wishing to keep abreast of this seemingly ever-changing process may contact:

Lori Preuss, Rules Coordinator
600 Capitol Way N.
Olympia WA 98501-1091
Lori.Preuss@dfw.wa.gov
fax (360) 902-2155

Ask to be informed of any rule making associated with WAC 232-12-251 and remember to provide your contact information.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

WDFW's Requested HPA Bill Due For Hearing

HB 1588, WDFW's requested Hydraulic Project Approval bill, is up for public hearing at 10:00 A.M. on February 8, 2011 in House Hearing Rm D, John L. O'Brien Building in Olympia.

A quick reading of the bill's text reveals some less-than-desirable characteristics of the WDFW proposed "streamlining" process:

1. There are to be three classes of hydraulic projects: Class I covers activities permitted in the Gold & Fish pamphlet; Class II covers activities which are currently undefined and which will not be defined until completion of a rule making process by January 1, 2012. (Determination as to whether the aforementioned rules work would be by means of a "pilot project" conducted by WDFW and completed sometime in 2014); Class III covers any project which is neither Class I nor Class II which, for the remainder of this year, would be anything not permitted by the Gold & Fish pamphlet.

2. Then there is the matter of fees. Class I projects would be exempt from fees -- at least for the time being. For a Class II permit (once it's defined) the application fee is $150. The fee for a Class III permit is set at $1000 ($150 for notification/application plus $850 for processing). Also, a general Class II or Class III permit would require a fee of $5000. In some cases, partial or full refunds would be available and the fees will be indexed annually to inflation. See the bill text for details, if you want them.

3. Penalties. Each violation of the rules for HPAs would be treated as a "gross misdemeanor" with an accompanying fine of $10,000. WDFW would, however, initially seek "voluntary" compliance with the rules before resorting to the penalty provisions.

The above are what jumped out at me while quickly scanning the bill. Actually, the convoluted 20-page text of HB 1588 seems itself like Exhibit-A type evidence for passage of HB 1233 removing the hydraulic project approval process altogether. (See my earlier post on HB 1233 at the link here.)

Stay tuned for future developments.

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Update at 8:19 P.M. 2/3/11

A couple of notes due to revised schedules:

1. HB 1233 will be heard immediately after HB 1588 at the hearing on February 8th described above. The link to the House Agriculture & Natural Resources committee agenda is here.

2. SB 5529, the companion bill to HB 1588, will be heard in the Senate Natural Resources & Marine Waters committee at 8:00 A.M. on February 9, 2011 in Senate Hearing Rm 2, J.A. Cherberg Building, Olympia. The link to the agenda is here.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

How Science Informs Policy - HB 1307

HB 1307 - concerning standards for the use of science to support public policy - will be the subject of a work session of the House Environment Committee at 1:30 P.M. on February 4, 2011 in House Hearing Room C, John L. O'Brien Building, Olympia, Washington. Immediately following the work session, the committee will hold a public hearing on the bill.

HB 1307 is important for miners because, if passed into law, it will require government agencies, such as WDFW, to obtain fully independent peer review for all science that is used in support of any public policy, such as "work windows" for suction dredging, etc. Peer review by qualified experts would verify the integrity of any science used to regulate the activities of citizens. This type of review would go a long way towards preventing regulations and/or statutes based on special-interest-agenda-driven pseudo-science.

It is therefore important that as many members of the mining community as possible provide testimony at the hearing in support of HB 1307. Written testimony may be presented to the committee and its members prior to the public hearing -- and the sooner the better. Oral testimony may be presented at the public hearing. Whether written or oral, testimony should adhere to the following general outline provided via Bruce Beatty:

- Tell the committee members who you are, where you live, and what you do that is impacted by science-driven public policies.

- Thank them for placing Washington in the forefront of ensuring that the science we use is fully verified before it is used to support public policy.

- Tell them your experience with how science has been used in policies that affect you personally. (Use your own story.)

-Tell them why you believe HB 1307 helps make things better.

- Please stick to the science issue . . . there are other bills where you can advocate for or against legislation covering specific issues that concern you.

- Thank them for their time and consideration of your testimony.

Even if you are giving oral testimony, it would be a good idea to bring a written copy as well to hand in. It would also be a good idea to send a copy of your testimony to Representative Jim McCune ( jim.mccune@leg.wa.gov ) as he is a co-sponsor of HB 1307 but is not on the committee.

Remember, as always, to maintain a positive tone in your remarks and an attitude of seeking to help the agencies in question do a better job of serving the public.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Proposed Changes To HPAs: The Bad And The Good

First the bad news: Governor Gregoire wants to reduce the state's budget deficit by making the Hydraulic Project Approval (HPA) program fee-based. It seems WDFW has been working on legislation to make this happen and may be submitting their bill to the legislature within a week.

According to our information, if passed, the law would assess fees for a five-year Class 2 permit of $150 and for a five-year Class 3 permit of $1000 to $5000. There would be no fee for working within the constraints of the Gold & Fish pamphlet.

In order to prevent the foregoing fees from becoming an uncomfortable fact of life, members of the mining community should contact Governor Gregoire, the Senate Ways & Means Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee and voice their opposition to fee-based HPAs.

If you need "Talking Points" for your communications when you call, write, or fax the Governor and the committees, feel free to choose from those listed below:

*There will not be an increase in revenue as the largest users of the program are State Agencies;
*There will be an increase in cost to the agencies for accounting, and therefore to the taxpayers;
*The cost of the program will be borne by already financially strapped Counties;
*Federal agencies have ruled that Small Scale Mineral Prospecting and Mining is a less than significant activity and as such does not rise to the level of coming under the statute that regulates “construction projects in state waters;”
*Most Small Scale Mineral Prospectors and Miners are on fixed incomes and could never recover the cost of a permit;
*An unreasonable fee would create criminals as some people would not obtain a permit that they could not afford;
* A fee could eliminate the Small Scale Mineral Prospecting and Mining community which is a significant part of Washington State's Heritage;
*Any fee imposed must be reasonably based on the scope of the activity and as the scope of the activity is essentially non-existent, so should be any fee;
*If a fee is to be imposed to our less than significant activity, it should be imposed upon ALL activities that utilize the HPA program.

And do remember to include your name, address, and phone number in any correspondence in case someone wishes to contact you for more information.

And now for the good news: On January 17, HB 1233 ("Streamlining state environmental permitting through the elimination of the hydraulics project approval process") was introduced. The next step is for it to be heard by the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee.

As it appears this bill is the best shot the mining community is likely to get this year for the elimination of the HPA requirement, miners are advised to 1) contact their district Senator and request that he/she look at HB 1233 and sponsor a companion bill in the Senate and 2) contact the Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee asking that HB 1233 be heard and passed out with a “Do Pass” recommendation and give your “PRO” vote.

Some examples of "Talking Points" to include with your communication are:

*At 62 years of age the HPA process is antiquated;
*Prior to 1949, this process was for the administration of irrigation/water rights;
*The HPA program financially burdens the citizens of the state through duplication of resources;
*The HPA program is cumbersome, subjective and unequally applied;
*The HPA program has been a subject of legislation for over 11 years;
*The HPA Task Force reported in 2002 that the program duplicates other permits;
* In 2008, HB 2530, "Studying the effectiveness of the existing hydraulic project approval process," was introduced. This study would have considered the effectiveness of legislative enactments, implementation by WDFW, and the impact that historic funding levels have had on the program's effectiveness, with focus on both the level of compliance as well as the actual fish protection offered in instances of full compliance. This legislation was not enacted;
*HPA’s are being required for projects that do not “use, divert, obstruct, or change the natural flow or bed of any of the salt or fresh waters of the state,” such as bridge painting or guard rail replacement;
*The HPA process is a leading CAUSE of property loss experienced during high river flow or flood events.

Again, remember to include your contact information with your correspondence.

More Government By Stealth?

As reported in this post last November, WDFW is proposing to criminalize the removal of such things as "dead standing timber, live trees, wood, soil, petrified wood, minerals, fossils, (and) plants" from "WDFW lands."

Information just received indicates that at the meeting on December 4, 2010 the Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to postpone the adoption of WDFW's proposed amendment to WAC 232-12-251 until their March 4-5, 2011 meeting. During the interim period, WDFW is supposed to work with stakeholders to refine the proposed rule changes. According to WDFW's Rules Information Website, a "supplemental CR-102 will be filed by January 19, 2011" and "(p)rior to that time, the department will work with stakeholders to refine the proposed rule changes."

In addition, the website further states:

A new public comment period will begin on January 19, 2011. Written comments will be due by February 25, 2011. Written comment may be e-mailed to lori.preuss@dfw.wa.gov.

Interestingly enough, our information is that, contrary to the above, "there have been no meetings with stakeholders and a supplemental (CR-102) has not been filed."

For these reasons, it would seem prudent for miners to "contact Lori Preuss at (360) 902-2930 or lori.preuss@dfw.wa.gov and request to be informed of any rule making activity associated with WAC 232-12-251"as well as checking WDFW’s Rules information Website often.