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The success
of the 2007 Coolgardie Gold & Gem Festival far exceeded
expectations with over 50 Thanks to all the Gem Club members who worked so hard throughout the year in preparing the site, and for getting all the grants and sponsors which made it all possible. Special mention to all who turned up for the busy bees especially Don and Mary from Kambalda who had to travel a long distance but did not miss one busy bee. To Peter Jenner who with the help of Greg and Ivin built the amazing portable stage and did all the maintaining of site equipment and much of the organizing on the weekend. To Greg and Pam who worked so hard all weekend, to Kris for all her computer help and work in getting sponsors, to Jane and Shirley who sat at the gate for three days and helped organize the lapidary displays and competition and many other jobs. To Sue and Elaine and Ronnie who tended the bar, Ronnie Harris for building the barbeque and delivering the generator to the site and to all the many other helpers over the weekend including Ian Ramsdale and the cadets from Collie. I wish to
thank all the Coolgardie businesses who helped out especially
Bergmeiers Earthmoving for their gravel, sand and most
importantly the water truck which came in twice a day before and
during the event – thank you Dale! To Nowlan Grading who came
out twice to level the road and gravel – it was greatly
appreciated – thank you Pedro. Also special thanks to Glyn
Morgan who traveled all the way from Broad Arrow on two
occasions with his truck and bobcat. The club
would also like to thank the Coolgardie Shire for sponsoring the
large marquee tent and for Melissa and the Shire crew for the
prompt delivery and pick up of all the items we requested from
the shire for loan without which we could not have run the
event. To
all Coolgardie businesses who donated prizes – Morans Store,
Coolgardie Corner Post, Kents, There were
only a few minor hiccups on the weekend which were to be
expected with a first time event at a new venue
noticeably just not enough people to organize everything.
So we are calling on more people to volunteer to help out next
time. Our
next AGM will be on December 15 at 2 pm
followed by a barbeque and drinks.
PO Box 34,
Coolgardie, President: Ronnie Potter
ph. 90267194 |
Next
Metal Detecting Championship meeting and Busy Bee to
take place from 10 am, 17th
June ON FESTIVAL SITE—follow
signs up Jaurdie Hill Rd (turn-off just north of the abattoirs). Marking out
of ground.
Free sausage sizzle & drinks after.
Everyone welcome.
Bunnings barbeque fund raising 24th June - helpers always welcome - meet outside Bunnings 9 am.
Plans
for The Coolgardie Gold & Gem Festival are making good progress with
many sponsors taking the
opportunity to become part of the event. Sponsorship for the GWN TV advert
has now been confirmed!
It
has also now been confirmed that Keith Potger (Formerly of The Seekers) will
be appearing on the Saturday night.
For
all those interested in rocks and gemstones the club has decided to have a :
Amateur
Lapidary Competition at the Gold & Gem Festival 6
- 7 October
This
is an inaugural event with a first prize
of $500 cash for overall best item. The competition is open to all forms of
lapidary – jewellery, carving, ornament, freestyle rock art!
Another
prize of a Coolgardie blue/green tourmaline set in a gold pendant valued at
over $500 and donated by Coolgardie Rocks will be presented to the most
original and innovative item.
The
Gold , Gem & Treasure Magazine have donated a years subscription as a
prize and there will also be smaller prizes for runners up.
The
competition is open to all members of any Australian lapidary, gemstone or
mineral club.
Winners
and runners up to be published in the Gold, Gem & Treasure magazine.
The
only rule will be that the item must be partially or wholly made of WA rock
or gemstone. The rock/ gemstone
component must be hand fashioned by the club member and to have been made
within the 12 months prior to the closing of the entries by the 30th
September 2007.
Judging
will be by the ‘peoples choice’ – spectators will be able to vote on
the items displayed at the Festival with the makers name remaining anonymous
till the results are revealed at the close of the competition on Sunday
afternoon. Entrants will also have the choice of selling their items at the
close of the competition.
There
is no entry fee but if posting your item to us please include return postage
if you would like your item returned after the competition.
Please note—our club has now shifted to the old Firebrigade Shed opposite the Rec Cente and there will be disruption to our Wednesday night workshops while we set up the machines again.
Gem
News
Coolgardie
Gem and Mineral Club Inc
April/May 2007
Firstly
the club would like to thank the Shire of Coolgardie for their organizing of the
Varischetti celebrations (what a great display of Coolgardie’s Heritage!)
and for allowing our club the opportunity to do some fund raising on the
weekend which proved very successful. We had a strong team of volunteers
turn out to help—many thanks to Greg for manning the barbeque, Pam on the
cash till, Peter on the popcorn machine, Jane, Kris and Ronnie on the stalls
and displays and to Harry Boucher for putting on a display and talk about
his polished rocks.
Next
came the APLA weekend field day out at Kanowna where we witnessed a huge
turnout of recreational gold fossickers (just goes to show the interest!)
with over 60 vehicles counted at one time and about 150 people with cars
coming and going all day. There was a big sharing of information on all
aspects of metal detecting and gold prospecting.The day was a huge success
and congratulations to APLA! Their
next lecture will be on Sunday 6th May 2—5 pm
at the Old Boulder Police Station
on mining law and regulations, geological survey information, on-line
data bases etc and on the 3rd June (2—5 pm) Technology for use in
prospecting.
On
the 2nd April we had the second of our meetings for the Coolgardie Gold and
Gem Festival (Metal Detecting Championships) with an excellent turnout, lots
of ideas and most importantly volunteers willing to take on the various
awesome tasks. Three delegates came over from APLA to represent the Panning
Championship side of the event. The sponsorship drive is now well under way
with items already coming in from sponsors including a $500 donation from
Harmony Mining! More details of the event, nominations forms, sponsorship
details etc will soon be posted on the Gem Clubs new website :
http://myweb.westnet.com.au/ausgold1/
To
increase the interest in the gemstone side of the event we are proposing a
competition for the best amateur lapidary item (jewellery, ornament or
object) made from WA rock or gemstone in the last 12 months—with a large
cash first prize. We are hoping to attract state-wide interest in this
competition (all we need is a sponsor to put up the first prize and their
name to the competition! :o).
Please note—major sponsors of $500 or more will also have their logo
displayed on the GWN TV advert!
The
Shire of Coolgardie have generously offered to sponsor the very large Browns
Party Hire tent to house the stalls and displays. It is looking like we may
be able to attract interstate prospecting businesses to come along and
display at this event.
The
next meeting of the Coolgardie Gold and Gem Festival will be on the 7th May
, 7 pm Gem Club.
Please
note—our club has now shifted to the old Firebrigade Shed opposite the Rec
Cente and there will be disruption to our Wednesday night workshops while we
set up the machines again.
GEM NEWS MARCH 2007
*APLA
will be holding a series of ten hands on tuition, workshops and activities this
coming year on methods of modern prospecting including metal detecting skills.
The first is on Sunday 4th March (2-5pm) at their Club room at the Old
Boulder Police Station cnr Lane & Piesse St. Boulder. It may be possible to
do a special car pool over to Boulder from Coolgardie for those interested in
this course. (phone 90220217)
The second one is on Sunday 1st April (2-5 pm)-
It is free for members or you can join when you turn up. ($60). For
anyone interested in prospecting for gold this course will be invaluable.
For course details contact Bob Fagan on 90911820.
The
Gem Club had its first meeting for the Metal Detecting Championships on the 7th
February.
There was a good turn out including two representatives from APLA to discuss the
Panning Championships. Many ideas were debated for the competitions,
entertainment and fund raising and we now have a
dedicated team of volunteers. The date is now set for the weekend of the 6-7th
October which is the
middle of the school holidays. There will be fun and games for all the family.
The weekend will also include stalls, displays and workshops and other
activities to do with gold and gemstones and on the Saturday evening there will
be a live band and meal. It has been decided to start early with the advertising
and sponsorship appeals. Local businesses (minor sponsors) are invited to
secure a special ‘sign post’ at the venue with their logo for a
donation or in kind gift of $100 (only 10 will be available) - so get in early!
Next meeting will be on April 2nd, 7 pm at the Old Firebrigade Shed.
Thanks to Redemption J/V the Club now has its own lease in the name of the Gem
Club but an
enormous amount of work will be necessary to get this venue prepared and we will
be calling on a
couple of busy bees in the coming months (followed in evening by barbeque and
drinks) for clearing rubbish, building barbeques etc.
Thanks to Dave Bergmeier for your letter of support and offer of help, it will
be greatly appreciated.
For
the Varischetti weekend (24th and 25th March) the Gem Club will be putting on
displays and sales of gold and gemstone jewellery at the Old Gaol and holding
food stalls. Please, if you can come along, even for one hour, to lend a hand,
you may even get a free serve of popcorn! :o) If you are a member and you have
something to display or sell there will be plenty of table space set up ready.
Last Sunday some of the Club members had a coil testing day at AREA 1.Different sized nuggets were buried at different depths and a range of detectors were tested with different coils. The results were quite surprising and next time we will do a similar test in more mineralized ground.
