CENTRAL VIRGINIA GOLD PROSPECTORS UPCOMING MEETING; April 15, 2006 – 10:00 AM at Small Country Campground, Louisa, VA. (We are sorry this meeting was scheduled for Easter weekend—this was an oversight on our part. When it was realized, it was too late to change the date.) Directions: From Richmond Area: Interstate 64 to exit 143 (Rt.208-North)...go 2.5 miles and turn LEFT at small sign onto 640 and go 150 yards and turn RIGHT at small sign on 649. Go 2 miles (bearing left on 649) into Small Country Campground. Campground entrance will be on the right. As you drive up the dirt road, pavillion is on right. From Harrisonburg Area: Route 33 East- go through Ruckersville, Barboursville and Gordonsville to Trevillians-at intersection of Routes 33 and 22 turn left onto Route 22 then take immediate RIGHT onto Rote 613 - go to Route 649 and turn LEFT - go 2 miles (bearing left on 649) into Small Country Campground. From Manassas Area: South on Route 29 to Route 15 South. Take 15 South through Orange to Gordonsville - turn LEFT onto Route 33 - take 33 to Trevillians - turn LEFT onto Route 22 and immediately turn RIGHT onto Route 613 - go to Route 649 and turn LEFT. Go 2 miles (bearing left on 649) into Small Country Campground. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` The opening season meeting was held on March 18, 2006 at Small Country Campground in Louisa. There were approximately 120 members, visitors and prospective new members present. Everyone was welcomed. The meeting started with the introduction of the officers for the season. Their names and contact information were given in last month’s newsletter. There was a discussion of old business and then new business was called for: To begin, our President, Ben Vaughan, announced that he and others have been working on securing stream access and right-of- ways to 8 or 10 more Kyanite properties (including dredging priviledges and a clubhouse). This would mean access to not only the 255 acres we now lease but thousands more acres. At this point the Land Use Fee (which had been $25) was discussed. To secure additional properties, of course, requires us to pay more land rent so additional money is needed. The club made motions and approved by vote to increase the Land Fee to $100 per year, payable in installments. If no additional properties are secured, the additional $75 would either be refunded or applied to fees in upcoming years. The rule that YOU MUST ATTEND A MEETING TO MAKE YOUR INITIAL PAYMENT still applies. This is a requirement because you must sign a form releasing Kyanite from liability for you. Some other rules for using the leased property were also reviewed, mainly NO OPEN FIRES and IF YOU DIG A HOLE, FILL IT BACK BEFORE LEAVING. Camping is allowed at any time and your membership fee also covers immediate family members. As for dredging, the club has applied for a dredging permit and is awaiting approval. Applications for individuals to complete for specific pieces of land where they want to dredge were given out and instructions were given for completion. Forms will again be available at the April 15 meeting. The dredging situation is basically: VMRC is still struggling with how to handle the dredging issue. Ben Vaughan had several meetings with them and the latest information they gave him was that 2 forms are needed to apply for a permit (as discussed above). If the area you want to dredge has less than 5 square miles of drainage or less than 5 cubic gallons per second, they want you to fill out the form which basically has your name and address and the location where you want to dredge. They want a color topo map where you can draw a spot showing where you want to dredge. Then they want a signed permission slip from the land owner. We are told that when they have this information they will check to make sure there are no endangered species where you want to dredge. If the area is larger than the above requirements, then the VMRC wants the forty page form completed. Although the application isn’t a Virginia state form, if approved you will get a permit which will be an official Commonwealth of Virginia permit. We realize this sounds like we are still going in circles but we have to comply with what VMRC tells us if we want to dredge. Of course, there is another possibility… A CVGP member wrote a letter to his state representatives basically stating that he can buy a hunting or fishing license (recreational hobbies) but he can’t buy a gold prospecting license (another recreational hobby) and wanted to know why as a taxpayer he is being denied the right to pursue his hobby in the public waterways. He cited the lengthy permit process that VMRC is trying to apply towards us and also noted that the form and approval process is really designed for commercial mining operations and shouldn’t be applied to us. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``````````````````````` Next, the 1 ounce gold nugget raffle for this season was explained. There is also a ¼ ounce nugget to be awarded to the person selling the most tickets. The tickets will be available at each meeting through September. The drawing will be in October. Also, a metal detector has been donated to our club by . The club voted to offer this as a raffle prize. Tickets for this will be sold beginning at the April meeting and the drawing will be during the September meeting. The tickets will be $1 each or 6 for $5. ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````` An announcement was made about the gold show to be held October 14 and 15, 2006 in Lynchburg, Virginia. This will be the only GPAA gold show on the east coast and we will have a booth. If you can volunteer to help run the booth, please let us know.