2009 Montana Mining - Montana Mining Association
2009 Montana Mining - Montana Mining Association
2009 Montana Mining - Montana Mining Association
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Ravalli GPAA Chapter<br />
proud to merge with the<br />
<strong>Montana</strong> <strong>Mining</strong> <strong>Association</strong><br />
The Ravalli chapter of the Gold Prospectors <strong>Association</strong> of America<br />
(GPAA) began in the spring of 1994 when five or six recreational<br />
miners and dredgers decided to form a chapter. Thus began the first<br />
organized GPAA chapter in <strong>Montana</strong>. The original president, Cliff<br />
Simonsen, has never left his post – he still presides in <strong>2009</strong>. One other<br />
original founder is still an active member; he’s held every office except<br />
president and camp cook.<br />
The club – with membership swelling to 50 or more – meets once<br />
a month in the Bitterroot, inviting guest speakers (such as Rob<br />
McCulloch) and hosting various activities including raffles, panning<br />
demonstrations, detector courses, and practicing on ball mills, spiral<br />
wheel separators, etc., to process gold. Usually four to five club outings<br />
were (and still are) held each summer. The Ravalli chapter’s first outing<br />
was held in a private claim in Princeton Gulch, Deer Lodge district.<br />
Club outings eventually expanded to the areas of Helena, Superior,<br />
and parts of Idaho.<br />
12 <strong>Montana</strong> <strong>Mining</strong> <strong>2009</strong><br />
Club members have helped with school and public mining demonstrations,<br />
gathered signatures for <strong>Montana</strong> state initiatives, and sent
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