Starting in March, Our New Meeting Place!

Cathy Hopper Clairmont Friendship Center

Beginning in MARCH, the SPMA will meet at the Cathy Hopper Clairemont Friendship Center. The address is 4425 Bannock Avenue, San Diego, CA 92117. There are more pictures in the Assay. Click this link to make your own Google Map with directions.

Lyn Pardee's Memorial Service

SPMA member and long-time membership volunteer Lyn Pardee past away last week after a long bout with cancer. A heartfelt thank you to those of you who visited her in the hospital. Information about Lyn's life and about her funeral services on March 19th can be found at the link below. Just click on it for more information. We will all miss Lyn very much. Francine "Lyn" Pardee details.

EQUIPMENT SALE AT THE MARCH MEETING - TUESDAY 7 PM

Merle Williams' family donated his prospecting equipment to the SPMA and we will be auctioning items off to the highest bidder at Tuesday's meeting. Photos and instructions are in this For Sale Booklet.
All proceeds will go into the SPMA general fund. Happy bidding!

MARCH ASSAY NEWSLETTER - Now Available On-Line!

Click the link to view and read your latest ASSAY, with full color pictures. Assay Newsletter-March 2019 . Previous issues of the Assay can be found at the bottom of the Library web page. 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 Outing, March 22nd-23rd at 29 Palms

Our next major group outing will be March 22nd-23rd to our claim near Twenty-nine Palms. This will be a members only outing, so if you're not yet a member now is the time to sign up. Please see the March Assay for more details when it is posted.

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 March 24th near the Oceanside Pier. We'll meet just south of the pier at 10:00 AM to compare finds. Should you have any questions call Frank Trutta at Columbia Metal Detectors,
1-760-743-8516 or call his cell phone 1-760 291-7900. You'll find a summary of the last hunt and more info in the Assay. Happy hunting!

General Meetings, 3rd Tuesday of the month

Our next general meeting will be held at 7:00 PM at the Cathy Hopper Clairmont Friendship Center, 4425 Bannock Avenue, San Diego, CA 92117. This will be our first meeting at this new location so come check it out. Click this link to make your own Google Map with directions. Hope to see you there.

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.