Maybe the claims are not the problem but the miner. We always find gold on our local claims. Try going with someone with local experience. There is work involved if you do not work at it you won't see it. Like anything else if you don't like it no one is forcing you to stay.

You may not find a lot of gold. But you look and you will find some.
Depends on your region where im from we have a lot of fine gold.
I don't expect pickers and nuggets in a pan full of gold.
Even with my home made setup I find gold on all the claims I been to.
Maybe you should look at your setup. Maybe you blowing it out of the box or overloading it in a hurry

Right on my hall nice name lol mike hall

my only complaint is the inaccessibility of many of the GPAA claims and LDMA claims.. You really do need a burro, or expensive ATV to get to undue areas. Many of the claims you have to be a mountain goat ... I am not that agile

Yikes, I have been to 30+ GPAA/LDMA claims in Arizona and found gold on every one of them. I guess I just figured out where to look. Hopefully you find someone to help or do some research on the areas you have access too. Cube it or lose it

Good Luck

We're newbies too. Been doing it for a couple of years when we have some time off. We've found a couple of pickers and some flakes here & there. I guess if it were that easy to find alot of gold all the time then everyone would be doing it. We enjoy the excercise so we'll just keep looking, lol!!

Considering there's no gold my wife and I just renewed our membership for another three years. I think it's well worth it. We get out of the house and exercise. We communicate about things that are interesting and relax. We find some gold or we don't. It's about doing something together for us. P.S. ( I'm not to hot about the liverwurst sandwiches we pack though)

I have a gpaa lifetime membership so do you get a ldma lifetime as well?

I kinda enjoyed reading these posts. I just joined. My thought was to learn as much as possible. Then go out on my own and hopefully not get skunked. I did purchase gold pans for my family and one sluice and 1 metal detector. Waiting from here to get some time with people who already have a clue because at this point I don't. I am wise enough to not get pissed and blame others for my failings. :) Maybe I will get lucky and run into some old timer who can teach me enough to really get me started.