We Elected New Officers at Tonight's Meeting
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2014 Officers: -President: PENNY ESPLIN -Vice-President: KEN ORNDORFF ******************* ***2015-2016 Officers*** *PRESIDENT: Karen Darnell* Prez Sez……We elected new officers at tonight’s meeting; which marks the end of my illustrious presidential administration*VICE PRESIDENT: (not to Billmention Moore* the prestige, notoriety and authority). Why? Because I had*TREASURER: previously Alicestated Phillips that* I did not want to continue as president for 2015. I knew that within our membership, we had the true president just awaiting nomination and then served******************* up on a golden platter! So, for 2015-2016, I want to congratulate KAREN DARNELL as our newly elected President of the Millennium Diggers Association. YAY!! (Now I do realize these are some pretty big shoes to fill, they were always way too big for me!) On behalf of all our members, we now feel pretty smug having Karen as our president and BILL MOORE as our Vice President! Who could ask for better? (Applause, cheering, fanfare, balloons, confetti, cameras flashing, music playing “Hail to the Chief”; as they wave and proceed through the elated members, shaking hands and receiving many pats on the back…..) Call to Order: Penny called the meeting to order with a bang! of the gavel, and welcomed new members and guests. In Attendance: There were 16 in attendance, including new member Micheal Zabrosky, and guests, Kevin Preuse (of Scorpion Mining) and his fiancée, Jessica. He owns several claims down by Azalea, and Jessica has been mining for better than a year and a half. -Karen took tonight’s minutes/notes Meeting Minutes: There were no minutes to read from last meeting, since we combined Nov and Dec meetings into one for our Christmas potluck; which was, by the way, a great success; with plenty of good food, prizes and fellowship. 1 Treasurer’s Report: Alice read us the report. Claudia made motion to accept, and Delmon seconded. All in favor? Unanimous “Aye”. Upcoming Event: The GPAA Gold and Treasure show will be held on March 28th and 29th at the Expo Center in Portland. We have discount admission tickets for sale for $5.00 (that’s 1/2 off the going price!) -Bonus!: Four team members from BERING SEA GOLD will be at the gold show, as well as Melody Tallis (Dakota Fred’s daughter from past Gold Rush episodes) -The Roseburg GPAA Gold Show is on March 21 and 22 **************************************************************************************** Tonight’s Program: ELECTIONS FOR NEW OFFICERS: OUR NEW OFFICERS FOR 2015-2016 ARE: -President: Karen Darnell -Vice President: Bill Moore -Treasurer: Alice Phillips (she agreed to stay on as our trusted treasurer) **************************************************************************************** It was decided unanimously that we would wait until our next meeting (Feb 26th) to nominate a new secretary and an events/outings coordinator. (Penny said she might give it a go again as president after a couple years…) News at Hand: Penny read the Rinehart decision letter, and it was discussed among members. Also discussed was the most recent news about the “de-publication” of the decision, but there is still some confusion about the outcome. To help clear the confusion, please read this recent update on the court cases: By BRAD JONES GPAA Managing Editor After years of legal wrangling, California Superior Court Judge Gilbert Ochoa has ruled the state cannot undermine federal law by banning the use of gold suction dredges. Public Lands for the People have applauded the federal preemption ruling which was handed down Monday, Jan. 12. The court ruling states: “On its motions for summary adjudication, the court finds there is no triable issue of material on the issue of federal preemption and that as a matter of law and in actual fact, that the State’s extraordinary scheme of requiring permits and then refusing to issue them whether and/or being unable to issue permits for years stands ‘as an obstacle to the accomplishment of the full purposes and objectives of Congress’ under “Granite Rock and a de facto ban.” 2 Besides citing the 1872 Mining Act in his ruling, Ochoa cited the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states that federal law supercedes state law as “the supreme law of the land.” Referencing other cases in which states have in the past unsuccessfully attempted to skirt federal mining law, Ochoa writes: “The general rule is the ‘where state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment the full purposes and objectives of Congress,’ it is preempted.” Rinehart Case Moves to Supreme Court Meanwhile, the state of California petitioned the Supreme Court of California to review the People v. Rinehart case. Brandon Rinehart is a gold miner who was convicted of dredging without a permit on his own mining claim and was sentenced to a pay a $600 fine and three years probation. Later, that conviction was overturned by the California Third Court of Appeals and sent back to the lower court. The appellate court judges claimed the lower court had not allowed evidence on the issue of federal preemption and federal mining laws. In mid-January, the Supreme Court accepted the Rinehart case for review, which automatically “de-publishes” the Third Court of Appeals opinion, according to James Buchal, who represents the New ’49ers and Rinehart in the case. This means the appellate court’s opinion in the Rinehart case can no longer be cited in the lower courts unless or until the Supreme Court decides to allow publishing, Buchal said. While “anything is possible,” Buchal doesn’t expect the Supreme Court to allow the appellate court’s opinion to be published. Though he cites the Rinehart case in his Superior Court decision, Ochoa ruled before the appellate court opinion was de-published and before the Supreme Court of California had granted a review of the Rinehart case. Buchal said he doesn’t expect the Rinehart case to sway Ochoa’s ruling on federal preemption. Stream Savers: Karen reported, “We have a new strategic plan, and prepared by a professional strategic consultant— who is a doctoral candidate, and also happens to be a member of the board. We’re moving forward, we’ve got an exciting future!” ‘B’ Rocks shared: Ken had some beauties of blue Benitoite (barium titanium silicate), which is quite rare and found only at the Gem Mine in San Benito, CA. and Neptunite (complex titanosilicate of sodium, potassium, iron and manganese). Neptunite and 3 Benitoite are often found associated together. He also brought some highly prized specimens of Aquamarine (Beryl), each worth hundreds of $$. Penny brought from her collection Barite (barium sufate), Bismuth “Hopper Crystals” (man-made), Aquamarine and Emerald (both are Beryl: beryllium aluminum silicate), green Brochantite (basic copper sulfate), and Bornite “Peacock Ore” (copper iron sulfide). Photo credit www.mindat.org Photo credit Penny Esplin Benitoite w/ Neptunite Brochantite Next Month’s Letter is “C” Break Time: Thank you Alice for bringing donuts and thanks to Terrie for making coffee. Discount Admission Tickets for the Gold Show: will still be available at our next meeting. Remember, they are only $5.00 (instead of $10.00) Membership Dues for 2015 are $20.00 If you haven’t renewed your membership, please remember to do so at our next meeting. A reminder will be sent out. We need an Events/Outings Coordinator: Look for nominations next meeting ************************************************************************************** We Have a Guest Speaker Scheduled for February’s meeting! Karen has arranged to have William Powell as our guest speaker! William Powell, veteran miner, mine owner, mining equipment designer and inventor and accomplished innovator, will come and give us a presentation on “base metals and recovery”, which is an important factor in learning about the recovery of the noble metals from their associated ores. So, let's all plan to attend and welcome him, it will be a special event just having him there! ***************************************************************************************** 4 Outing Proposal: Jeeter Creek claim needs some major trail renovating done; maybe another route down that is less dangerous (and less strenuous), or seriously stabilizing existing trail. Need to discuss getting an able and willing crew together and setting a date. Will include in February’s meeting agenda. Snacks for next meeting: Penny, Claudia and Mike Karen made a motion to maybe think about checking ID’s of new members to verify their identity. There really are “spies” out there that would love to get “the digs” on our association. Seriously! We are so fortunate to have certain members with notable distinction and renown; and knowing the devious ways of our “opponents”, we really wouldn’t put it past them to “infiltrate” us to gather “intel” to use in their power play against us. Anyway, Claudia seconded the motion, and it passed. Millennium Diggers Raffle: The raffle went well, except we had way more ticket sales than there were prizes. So what does that indicate? We need to bring more prizes for the raffle table! Think about it, we all have stuff we can donate! We all do! Let’s try to make our raffle a better one next month. Next Meeting is Thursday February 26th @ 7:00 BE THERE! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit our website at http://www.millenniumdiggers.com/ The Millennium Diggers Club is a group based in Keizer, Oregon, which is near Salem, Oregon. The club is for people that share an interest in searching for things of value. The club's charter is to provide members with a club that will help promote the hobbies of metal detecting, prospecting, rock hounding, and treasure hunting. Part of our yearly dues pay for mining claims that are available for all club members to use. We use club meetings to share information about locating gold, silver, coins, jewelry, gemstones, fossils and metal detecting.