About Us

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The Gold Prospectors Association of America (GPAA) was founded in 1968 to preserve and promote the great heritage of the North American Prospector. The GPAA was also dedicated to providing a platform for the exchange of information, presenting an organized voice for small scale miners and professional prospectors and helping it's members find more gold.

Western Washington Chapter of GPAA usually meets the 2nd Saturday of the month at the Elim Lutheran Church in Port Orchard, WA at 1:00 pm. We are a non-Profit organization started in September 2007 to promote small scale prospecting, to enhance our mining skills, raise the level of public awareness and knowledge about gold prospecting and mineral resources. At our meetings, we conduct club business, have speakers relating to gold prospecting and other outdoor activities, demonstrations of prospecting equipment and techniques.

• I will respect other prospectors' claims and will not work those claims without their owners' permission.
• I will fill all prospecting holes.
• I will appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources, wildlife, fisheries, and private property and respect all laws or ordinances governing prospecting and mining.
• I will be thoughtful, considerate, and courteous to those around me at all times.
• I will only build fires in designated or safe places and in accordance with current federal, state, and local guidelines
• I will be careful with fuels and motor oils and be cognizant of their potential destructive effect on the environment.
• I will remove and properly dispose of trash and debris that I find; I will not litter.
• I will have on site all necessary permits and licences.
• I will not remove stream bank material, destroy natural vegetation or woody debris dams, nor discharge excess silt into the waterways.
• I will not refuel motorized equipment in the stream.
• I will not allow oil from motorized equipment to drip onto the ground or into the water.
• I will not prospect in areas closed to prospecting and mining.

• I will respect private property and do no treasure hunting without the owner's permission.
• I will fill my hunting excavations.
• I will appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources, wildlife, and private property.
• I will use thoughtfulness, consideration, and courtesy at all times.
• I will build fires only in designated or safe places.
• I will remove and properly dispose of trash that I find; I will not litter.
• I will leave gates as found.
• I will not destroy property, buildings, or what remains of ghost towns or deserted structures. will not tamper with signs, structural facilities, or equipment.