Welcome to the Tucson
Desert Gold Diggers

The Desert Gold Diggers is a club based in Tucson, Arizona and devoted to all aspects of recreational prospecting and mining, including panning, sluicing, drywashing, and metal detecting. In addition to promoting recreational prospecting, the club exchanges ideas and information on the various aspects of prospecting & mining. There are over 500 members as of April 2009.

Yearly dues for the Desert Gold Diggers depend on how you want to receive the monthly newsletter, the DGD Gazette. The cost is $30.00/yr/family* for those getting the Gazette via a web link through their e-mail. The dues of $35.00/year/family* are for those getting the Gazette via the US Postal Service. There is also a one time charge of $10.00 for a mandatory name badge, which will permit members to use DGD claims as well as participate in special nugget raffles. An online membership application is available via the membership information page. This page also contains important information as to the sequence of events after you submit your application to ensure that new members understand the process.

The club currently has more than 24 claims in southeastern Arizona. These are located in several gold producing areas including the Greaterville, Arivaca, Oro Blanco (Ruby), Las Guijas, Old Hat (Oracle) and Banner (Pinal County) mining districts. The club is constantly evaluating and adding additional claims. New members are entitled to one set of claim maps showing the claim locations with directions and road conditions. Warning - In order to enjoy our claims safely, please keep in mind that these are all old mining areas and could contain unmarked mining shafts. Our sun can be pretty brutal in the summer so make sure to take plenty of drinking water, wear a hat, use sunscreen and always let someone know where you are going and when you will return. Stay away from the wildlife and watch out for poisonous reptiles.

Every month, on the weekend following the monthly meeting, the club usually has a day (sometimes weekend) outing to one of the club's gold claims. All interested persons meet at a pre designated time and place (announced in the Gazette and on this web site) that is easily located and accessible by all vehicles. This allows anyone with a non off-road vehicle to obtain a ride with someone else or those unfamiliar with the claim location to simply follow the convoy. If enough people sign up at the monthly meeting, there is a common dig where interested members and guests participate in a common operation using equipment owned by the club and run by the outing director. The recovered gold (depending on the amount) is awarded to one or more of the participants, normally by a drawing.

In addition to the monthly outings there are occasional special outings. For instance in January 2002 there was a tour of the Silver Bell mine located just northwest of Tucson.

Another benefit of joining the club is the monthly newsletter, the Desert Gold Diggers Gazette, which is sent to all current members. This includes information on the most recent outings, monthly speakers, mining related articles, current road conditions and closures, announcements of upcoming events, raffle winners, finds of the month and more. Much of this information is only touched upon in this web site. It also contains articles that cannot be put on the web site due to copyright restrictions. Complimentary copies of the Gazette are available at the monthly meeting.

Monthly meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) building located at 345 E. Roger Road, unless otherwise designated by previous announcement. Average attendance for both members and guests is around 140 people. To learn more about our monthly membership meetings visit the meetings page. Print out and bring the following coupon to your first visit to the monthly meeting and get a free raffle ticket to our monthly nugget drawing. This is limited to one time only per person.

Announcements

This area will be used for important announcements, especially time critical items such as last minute changes in meetings or outings. These items will only remain here while timely. Dates indicate date of update.

EMERGENCY LEGISLATION UPDATE! A new bill may close The Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum. READ MORE

Updated Pages.

• Regular Updates:
  • Calendar of Upcoming Events updated on 7 August 2010
  • Photo Gallery updated with the July 2010 Monthly Outing
  • The DGD Market Place updated to the July 2010 Gazette.
• Recent Changes and Additions:
  • Various broken links fixed on 7 August 2010.
  • Website moved to new host on March 3, 2010.
  • All pages updated on 19 February 2010 with new webmaster email address

For more information about the club and gold prospecting please browse the remainder of our web site.

• Announcements is a section on the present page devoted to important and timely information as well as a brief overview of recent additions or changes to the web site.
• About Tucson DGD provides a more in-depth look at the club with historical background.
• Club Organization introduces club officers, board members, committees and meeting times and places.
• Monthly Membership Meetings includes a closer look at the monthly membership meetings and what takes place.
• Membership Information page contains new member info and an online application which can be printed and mailed.
• Calendar of Upcoming Events lists club meetings, outings and other events for the upcoming months.
• The DGD Market Place lists items for sale by club members.
• Legislation that has important consequences for our hobby.
• Gold Info such as facts, finding, identifying, photos, specific gravity test, and related info such as meteorites.
• Mining Related Articles give a bit of local history about areas where gold has been found as well as other mining articles of interest.
• Prospecting Equipment, showing the variety of equipment used by club members, equipment plans, tips and additional links.
• Club Claims with names and general locations.
• Photo Gallery of meetings, outings, parties and picnics.
• Links and Prospecting Resources both on the web and in written form.
• In Remembrance pays tribute to members and close associates who have passed away.

Please send any comments and suggestions on these pages to the DGD Webmaster. If any of the club's pages do not seem to display properly please indicate the problem as well as the name and version of the browser being used and the display resolution. These pages are meant to be viewed by any browser that can display tables.

This page was last updated on 7 August 2010.