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Do Aussies And Kiwis Know What A Club Claim Is?


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Several of us on this forum belong to clubs.  Some of us hunt those claims in addition to others.  The thought has occurred to me recently that when we talking about hunting on club claims here that someone in Australia and even New Zealand might not know what we are talking about.

When I was in Australia I had a map of the public forests and some were open for detecting and some were not.  You could get State information about likely gold spots in addition to previously mined spots.  There are thousands and thousands of open acres.  If you could hook up with a tour or trainer they could give you the pointy finger about where to go.  I was mostly on my own and it showed!  haha  Just because you don't find gold it is not because it has been over hunted.  I'd have to say that most of my time in Victoria I was detecting in spots where there was no dig holes.  Bendigo was an exception.  My point is that someone can go to open land without being a 'club' member.  That can be good and bad in reality.

I'm not going to attempt to name all clubs (there are dozens now down from hundreds I think) and how long they have been in existence (Some since the 60s) but it would 'level the playing ground' when we talk about missed nuggets on a club claim vs open land.  The largest club in the United States is the Gold Prospectors Association of America.  Members pay an annual fee and they are given a directory of club claims.

https://www.goldprospectors.org/testpage/GPAAClaimDirectory

This is the history:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Prospectors_Association_of_America

There is still gold on the GPAA claims.  Some claims are not as old as others and some just have missed gold still on them.  Some are severely depleted from dry washing and detecting for all of these years.  Some of us use the claims as a jumping off spot to look for other gold.

My point in bringing it up is to show how much real pressure and detecting there can be on certain spots that once had gold.  There are three different clubs claiming land in Gold Basin.  Sometimes these club claims bring detectorists together for just a weekend and other times it can be for most of a winter season.  Day trippers are frequent.  It would be very difficult to estimate the number of detectorists over the years that have swung on any particular patch of club claim.  Let's say hundreds on a conservative estimate and thousands on the high end.

Fortunately for Gold Basin there has been a lot of gold and also a lot of land to look for it.  Each time a new detector comes out then the patch has become a bit more lively again as what has happened with the Z.  I've found more nuggets with my Z in Gold Basin than I did with my GPX but many people before me dry washed, sluiced and detected big nuggets with beginning detectors.  Club members have been generally good over the years about sharing information.  Membership enforcement is spotty so there are 'jumpers' added to the numbers even tho dues are generally under $50 per year.

There are many other groups and clubs other than GPAA.  Perhaps we should have a thread or a forum that gives some sort of description of different clubs.  Maybe one already exists.

The clubs exist for the most part on public land.  They stake a claim based upon a member knowing and wanting to share that location with others.  Otherwise it would be a private claim or private land (like Jason's) just as they have in most of the US, Australia and New Zealand I imagine.  There is some discussion now if a 'club claim' is legal under the mining laws.  Generally claims are limited in size and number of people or entities.  Many club locations are a lease to make access legal.  All of this is designed to get as many people as possible to join.  Many are non-profit groups.

Many club members have abused the land with open dig holes, destroyed access roads and being generally trashy.  Some clean up.  Each of the clubs have key people who have recently gotten very old and clubs are getting smaller.  Oldtimer knowledge is leaving as the numbers dwindle.  Many of them have never posted a letter on an internet forum like this one.  They were private people.  They would never show their gold here.

That brings up another idea.  Someone should or may go to some of these miners and write a story about each of them.  It is kinda like doing stories about the veterans of the wars.

Well, this is the beginning ramble.  I hope that many of you who have a hankering to ramble about clubs and people tell those stories in this thread to keep their memories alive.  This will help us to know who the miners and detectorists were that came before us.

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Nah, I think I`d be like a fish out of water and vice versa, the last time I run across another user swinging a detector in what I call my "backyard" was back a few years. The law here in Queensland OZ requires one to have a fossicking license (paid for) signed by property owners, individuals or clubs have "Buckleys" chance of being given access to most properties, although there are a few Property Owners that allow and cater for individuals or groups at a fee. Thus the "political" environment is not inducive to club formation.

What land that is not privately owned and is government land is out of bounds completely except for very few areas declared fossicking areas, probably the biggest such areas are in JPs "backyard" in Queensland maybe JP will chime in here and elaborate as I believe he has been instrumental in getting access to some of his "backyard". My understanding for a club or individual to get a "claim" approved is near impossible.

Queensland has much different laws & conditions to Victoria where MN you no doubt enjoyed their State Forests where fossickers are welcome and catered for by local governments like they are in WA OZ. Here in Queensland over the years I have found governments are "frowning" more and more on fossickers, unfortunately mostly we have ourselves as a "collective" to blame for that.

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I want to visit New Zealand someday............ Victoria and WA sound like an awesome experience too for fossiking.

I'm watching Hawthorn v Brisbane  Round 1 AFL in front of an empty stadium. Are these people nuts or what! I know it's on a huge cricket ground but still ???????? COVID 19.

 

Jeff

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The total amount of club claims on public land is very small.  It is significant tho for the hobby.  It has encouraged detecting.

It should be understood that any claim here is just for the mineral rights.  There can be no restrictions put on the surface rights if it is an individual or club claim.  Anyone can camp on a club or private claim.

What happened in the United States in many areas was that every other mile according to the public land survey system the odd numbered parcels were 'given' to the railroads and the even numbers remained public.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboarding_(land)

This exists in Gold Basin as an example.  The government (BLM) manages one square mile and next to it will be a private square mile that was sold by the railroad to pay for layings its tracks.  Jason has land that was on one of those square miles.  I belong to a club that one of the members owns 160 acres of private land near the GPAA claims.  Some prospectors have acted like his land and Jason's land was public property and detected it without permission.  We are told as detectorists that we should know we are on 'open' land before we swing and especially before we take any nuggets.  Not all do this and not all property owners enforce their rights.

The same situation exists with the checkerboarding in Rye Patch.  Some public (even numbers) and some private (odd numbers) by law but exchanges have been made for better management purposes.

This is another subject that could occupy a law library.  I hope Clay chimes in.  One example that I know of was that the southern and western part of what is now the Southern Highlands in Las Vegas was once on public land.  It was traded for other land so that Las Vegas/Clark County could expand the area.

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Dave,

I wondered about that fossicking word when I was there.  I didn't come to an adequate definition.

If I came to WA with the Miner's Right (good for 10 years) that I got before I went to Victoria is it good where you are or does each state have a Right?

There is State Land in Arizona that people must get a yearly permit to be legally camped.  You don't get a right to mine with that permit but it has not been rigorously enforced in the past and large mining operations can get a permit.  You are given a ticket now for camping on State Land if you do not display your $20 per year permit.

Most mining claims are in the western United States.  They are allowed because of the General Mining Act of 1872.  This act has been altered over the years and there are many court battles over it and many more in this age of environmentalism and activism.  Here is a quick link to the law from Wikipedia.  (Take Wikipedia with a grain of salt.  Some people find it highly inaccurate based upon their own experience!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mining_Act_of_1872

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3 hours ago, mn90403 said:

If I came to WA with the Miner's Right (good for 10 years) that I got before I went to Victoria is it good where you are or does each state have a Right?

Each state has their own licences, own rules around type of land public can access, differing names for everything, different rules around claims, etc. 

Re: club claims.  I didn’t know exactly what they were but always just assumed club members fees paid for a/some parcel of land that then only members could prospect on. 
Nothing like that here in Victoria that I know of but then I am not a club member. 
Thankfully there is (currently) plenty of State Forest and some State/National Parks that provide many options for us.  
 

Stay safe Mitchel  👍

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Aye, a bit off thread, but an example of different State rules & regulations, a single train cannot travel all the rail lines of OZ, some of our states have different gauges, get to the border unload one train reload the other one to continue trip. Helps unemployment duh...………..

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This is a 'rambling thread' which is a way of saying I don't know what is off topic!  I just thought a general discussion thread about some of our mining terms like a club claim deserved a bit of discussion.

When I was in Victoria it was obvious on the areas I went to the lengths the old timers went to to dig down to the gold and pay streaks.  The detectorists obviously followed these holes and went to the edges and the reefs to find other gold.

In the western United States a similar type of detecting took place.  A man that I met (he passed away last year) who often times spoke at clubs was a man by the name of Jim Straight.  He was the author of several book but one of them had the title of 'Follow The Drywashers' which suggested to the modern miner and detectorist that there was still gold where the drywashers had been.  Of course he was right.

 

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That leaves all the gold for you fellas that are on it!

How do they stop you at the state lines?  Have the freeways been closed?

I was giving some thought for a day trip to our desert one day this week.  Are businesses are closed except for those that are essential.  I know I could get gas at my truck stop and not have to stop anywhere that people would be.

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Spot on Dave!

WA border closed as of tomorrow and I think SA border closed today. Any travellers across borders have to self isolate for 14 days.

Reading on a few forums people are planning on self isolating for a few months in WA. But travel restrictions are starting to come into effect across indigenous lands and it looks like soon there will be no non essential travel to the goldfields or Kimberly regions and more areas will surely follow. Anywhere where there is a majority indigenous population.

Most communities are rife with diabetes, chronic heart conditions and other health conditions that put them in the most vulnerable bracket. If this did get into the communities it could decimate them.

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