Captain's Log

Friday, March 28, 2008

The high price of gold and other precious metals has kept us busy. 

Advertising and readership are both up substantially. 

You will notice when your April issue arrives that is it a big thicker. We had to add eight pages to our monthly issue to accommodate all the advertising and maintain plenty of room for articles. And we set a new monthly record, adding 292 subscribers in the last 30 days.

We've added two staff members so far this year. Associate Editor Chris Ralph joined us in January. Chris has a background in mining engineering (Mackey School of Mines) and he loves to hunt for gold in his spare time. Chris is handling five tradeshows for us this year and he will continue to contribute one or two articles every month. His next two shows will be the GPAA Gold & Treasure Shows in Salem, Oregon, and Primm, Nevada. (See Miner's Calendar for show dates.)

Jill Dunning is our latest addition to the office staff. She has prior experience as a circulation manager at the local paper. She has been with us about four weeks now and is a fast learner. She has already taken over the newsstand accounts and subscriptions, and she handles all incoming and outgoing mail.

All this activity means you may have to wait on hold for a minute or two when you call the office, and there is a possibility you may get our voicemail because all of the lines are tied up. If so, please leave a message or just wait a few minutes and call us back. 

Our goal is to continue providing the level of service our readers and advertisers have been accustomed to for years. Our office hours remain 8am-5pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday thru Friday, excluding major holidays. 

A couple of new prospecting stores have opened their doors recently.

Travis Brown (Pro Gold Prospecting, Trinity Pan) has opened up his shop at 11118 W Youngtown Ave, Youngtown, Arizona, and started stocking ICMJ's Prospecting and Mining Journal in March.

And Mike Dunn opened Gold Pan California at 1021 Detroit Avenue, Concord, California. He already has his first instructional clinic scheduled for April 3, 2008. Dunn reserved a portion of the local movie theatre for a presentation by Dave McCracken, so the seating should be quite comfortable. More details are available in the Miner's Calendar. Mike is also stocking our publication, and those who attend the clinic will receive a complimentary back issue of ICMJ's Prospecting and Mining Journal.

Until next week...

Scott Harn

Editor/Publisher