Prospecting Information by State Washington Oregon(under construction) Alaska Idaho(under construction) California(under construction) Utah(under construction) Arizona Federal Government Agencies(under construction)

   The Washington Prospectors Mining Association(WPMA) is the largest non-profit small scale mining association in the State of Washington.

    We have an urgent need for a volunteer to run the South Sound  Meeting.   Our current leader has moved out of town. He is nearly 3 hours away just can not do it anymore.  We will put on hold this meeting until a new leader can be found to help run and provide help to new members. 
    

    New Legal action Group has been setup.   WASHINGTON SMALL-SCALE MINER'S ACTION GROUP current contact is Dennis E Petersen,  2908 4th Street Pl SE, Puyallup, WA 98374.  No Website found for the group yet.  But working on legally fixing the Fish and Gold Book and correct the problems within that book.    Lots of changes took place during COVID to change and make it harder to Mine for Gold.   This is one action Group our Club is supporting to restore our rights as Miners.   Will update when more information  becomes available. 

    Have updated the current Claims webpages with new hardrock Claims which are the Ellensburg Blue Claims we just purchased.  See video links below.   Weather is not  good at this time of year to do some hunting.  But should be considered next April or May once snow has melted off.  This is a great move for the Club.  There are several claims here I have only been to one and it has great camping area nice and flat plus room for a number of vehicles to park.  Remember this is hard rock.   Tools needed Rack, Picks, Hammers,  Rock Hammer ect anything you think you may need to remove material from the rock formation.   A rack comes in handy to check the debris left behind.  You never know if you may find small pieces of Ellensburg Blue in the dump areas.    Bring Plenty of water to drink It can be hard work at times.  Remember to keep hydrated. 
  

    Support will be needed in the future to help fight some of the new rulings done with no public input from the Mining Community. IF you like to mine or want to continue the activity it is important to get informed and involved.   Silence means we lose our rights we had before.   So join a club and get active if not ours join one of the other mining clubs in the state to be informed of the issues the Mining community is facing these days.   If we want to keep mining rights open we need people to keep an eye on the State and local officials.  IF you have time to attend meetings and give reports of what is said.  That would be helpful.   If mining rights are removed.  Guess what Rock Hunting and maybe even fishing could be removed.  We just do not know the direction the state is going.  The current climate is not supporting any attempt to protect the rights of Miners and who knows what other groups they will go after and remove the rights for them.  

  Our Facebook Page is an extension of this website for our members where one can quickly connect with other members.  Post where you are going and when maybe others seeing it will want to go with you.  Have fun and meet new people.

 Small Scale Mineral Prospecting and Mining below the Ordinary High Water Line(OHWL) is regulated by Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife. Those regulations are published in the Gold and Fish(G&F) Pamphlet, which is available free of charge by calling (360)902-2534 or by download. Although the use of Pans, sluices, and other non-motorized equipment does not require a HPA, there are regulations and YOU are responsible for knowing them.

    Here is a video you may be interested in.  Ellensburg Blue Agates    Lecture On Ellensburg Blue    Tips on Identify Ellensburg Blue Agates   So three discussions on Ellensburg blue agates.   We have Recently Purchased the Claim where Ellensburg is Found.  Yes it is a claim Site.  Still have no sheet for going there.   The road is rough at times.  I was there several places to go looking for the agates.   Learning how to identify there is common Gray ellensburg blue agate.  Not as valuable as real blue agates. Tips on Identifying gives some details  about things to look for.    Also interesting to note.  The deep blue Ellensburg Blue is more valuable than Gold.   Finding the good ones is just as hard as it is to get  gold.   The fun is the hunt.   This claim is available for all Club members.  And restricted to Club Members.   IF you are not a member you are a claim Jumper.   People jump claims all the time thinking they can get away with it.   Ellensburg Blue is the third rarest  Agate in the World. 

    Beach Prospecting is also available in specific locations on the Pacific Coast.  The G&F Pamphlet gives the rules and regulations that need to be followed.  See Page 16 in the Pamphlet.   This is available year round.   Please carry your G&F Pamphlet when doing any mining is required to be available. 
     We are discovering that People are violating the rules for Collecting Concentrate  from the Beaches.   Most of the violators are selling sand from Washington State on Ebay.  Please contact local rangers office if you see someone taking more than two 5 gal buckets of sand from the beach.  Or not filling in the holes they are digging.   We do not want to lose our rights to prospect on the beaches of Washington.   It appears people from Oregon have been taking Buckets of Sand off the beach and selling them on Ebay.   If you beach Prospecting Please keep your eyes open it is unfair that people from other states may get this Type of Prospecting removed from the Mining Community.

The G&F Pamphlet serves as an Hydraulic Project Approval(HPA) Permit when using motorized equipment under specific conditions. For those individuals who determine that they are unable to prospect or mine under the G&F Pamphelet due to the regulations that affect location, timing or equipment, they may request an "Individual HPA". Applications for individual mineral prospecting and mining HPA's can be completed on-line via WDFW's Aquatic Protection Permitting System (APPS) or by filling out and submitting the Simplified application for all other Locations, Timings and equipment modifications.
Information regarding the HPA program and other issues that effect the small scale mineral prospecting and mining community is best found on the Resources Coalition Website.

Washington State has a small publication on Gold Panning.   It is good to join a club to access gold bearing areas but they give you an idea on how to pan for gold and locations of gold in Washington State.   You can see there are a lot of places to visit.  Some of these areas we have claims.

LEGISLATURE UPDATE:

Awaiting updated information on Legislature.  But make your voices heard on any subject you are interested in. 

Find Legislative District  Place in your address and the listing of your House and Senate members are listed for you. Click on the name and you will get a new page that gives you their contact information and what committees they are on.  Remember to always treat them with respect and give examples or express your strong support for these bills and any other bills you feel strongly about.  Let your voice be heard. 

   Check out other links for various sources of information. If you need something added please contact the Webmaster 

Volunteers:

 There is always a need for Volunteers at every event.  The Annual Gold show we put on is one place were we need a lot of help.  Setting up or tearing down.  Or helping while the show is going on.  You may be surprised at how much fun you can have even if all you do is a few hours. 

Volunteering allows you to meet and make new friends at any of the events that we are involved with.  Get to know people and maybe find someone to help teach you how to mine. Or maybe learn about a claim you have not been to.  It is good to share ideas and have some fun at the same time.  The more people helping with an event the better chance everyone can have to see what is there and have a few minutes off to have some fun.   Come on out meet new people and maybe get a few more people to join. And it is always fund to teach kids how to pan for golds or adults who want to learn.    Contact Secretary if interested.  We are always looking for new help.

  Club Rules and Regulations

Future events: 

The WPMA attends numerous events and trade shows to promote the Association and Small Scale Mineral Prospecting and Mining. We will be at the following locations to provide you with information about our Association and Small Scale Mineral Prospecting and Mining.