Starting in March, Our New Meeting Place!

Cathy Hopper Clairmont Friendship Center

Beginning in MARCH, the SPMA will meet at the Cathy Hopper Clairmont Friendship Center. The address is 4425 Bannock Avenue, San Diego, CA 92117. There are more pictures in the Assay. The board voted to change meeting places to reduce expenses. We will discuss this in greater detail at the February meeting at the VFW Hall in Lemon Grove. Please attend if you can.

FEBRUARY ASSAY NEWSLETTER - Now Available On-Line!

Click the link to view and read your latest ASSAY, with full color pictures.
Assay Newsletter-February 2019 . Adobe Reader is required to view the file. If you don't have Adobe Reader you can download and install it using this link. Adobe Reader

New Email System - Sign up to have The Assay sent to you!

To better communicate with our members, the SPMA has decided to create a comprehensive email list. Our new email management system will allow us to email the monthly Assay at a great cost savings. To sign up, just go to the Contact web page and fill out the 3-line form. This is a good thing so please sign up. If you wish to, you can always discontinue SPMA emails by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of each email. The Assay will still be posted on the SPMA web site each month. A few printed copies will be available at the monthly meetings but we will no longer be sending printed Assays out by regular mail. We are on a tight budget.

Upcoming Outings for February and March

February 15th-16th: An open outing will be held at the Potholes claim. No membership is required to attend so please tell your friends who might be interesting in trying prospecting. March 22nd-23rd: Members Only outing to the Twenty-nine Palms Claim. Please see the Assay for more details.

Directions for the February Outings at the Potholes Claim

For people that have not been there before, take I-8 to 16th Street in Yuma ( aka Hwy 95) , follow Hwy 95 North for 18 miles, turn left at the cannons on Yuma proving grounds, you will start seeing signs for the SPMA GROUP outing. Follow the signs to the camping area. FEBRUARY FREE OUTING FLYER! - If you get lost, call Jim Perkey at 928-503-7402.

Share Your Photos With Your SPMA Friends

SPMA members are encouraged to add photos to our photo page slide shows. Albums (or folders) have been set up in our Photobucket account for each month of 2018. In many cases the web manager has already created a slide show link to our Photobucket account. For example, you can share the photos you took at the Christmas party by uploading them to the Christmas Party slide show. To learn how please click here: PhotoBucket Instructions. If you have questions please contact Tom Heffernan via email.

Metal Detecting at Local Beaches

Our next hunt will be on February 24th at Pacific Beach first thing in the morning. The group will gather around a picnic table at 10:00 to compare finds. It’s a big beach so there will be a lot area to check out. You'll find a summary of the last hunt and more info in the Assay!

General Meetings, 3rd Tuesday of the month

Our next general meeting will be held at 6:30 PM at the VFW Post Hall in Lemon Grove.

Imperial Valley Meetings

The Imperial Valley Chapter meets on the 2nd Saturday of each month at 9:00 AM, at the Potholes Claim, except during the summer. For more info please contact Jim Perkey via email.

SPMA Board Meetings, 2nd Monday of each month

Our monthly SPMA Board of Directors meetings are held on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 PM in the Gem & Mineral Building, Spanish Village, Balboa Park. All members are welcome to attend.

Our NEW Email Claim Use Form is now available

We now have two types of claim forms, a Mail-in Claim Form. and an Email Claim Form. Just click the links for each to check them out. We hope that by making the forms quick and easy to use, more people will send them in. Collecting these Claim Use Forms is important because it shows the BLM that we are actually using our claims. It also shows that we are being responsible stewards of the land. Hauling away old trash and filling in dangerous holes also shows that we're pretty good people to have around. When we apply for new claims, the BLM takes all of this into account.

Gold fever still alive with local prospecting groups

Check out this recent Union-Tribune article by Gary Warth. He tagged along with trip leader Lee Darling on an SPMA outing to our Potholes claim in early April. Just click the links and enjoy!  Article and photos.  If the link should break, here's a PDF copy.

PEW Environment Group

It's time you knew what the PEW Environment Group is up to and how they are lobbying to change the laws that regulate prospecting and mining. Download their 38-page booklet and read their own literature. PEW Environment Booklet.

Dinner is Served!

If you're attending your first SPMA meeting you should know that pizza, snacks, and beverages are available at all our meetings at very reasonable prices. Profits support the association.