Out With Shasta Gold Hunter Again ...

[TRINITYAU]

Hello all, I met up with Matt today for a hunt and to get him set up on his new detector. He got himself a pretty clean and used 3000 with stock coil. After going over some stuff and setting the detector up we were on our way. Today's hunt was a bit slower than the last time we were together. I tried some different areas and did not get my first piece till early in the afternoon. Matt got a nice two gram plus an hour or so into the hunt. The smaller piece I got is kind of an odd piece as you can see in the pictures. I thought at first I had found part of a piece of gold jewelry but after cleaning it off I could tell that it was native gold. It came in at a half a gram. My second nugget came about an hour later and is 9.71 grams. It was about eighteen inches deep. I was using the 3000 with the Sadie coil. All in all it was a good day and Matt is getting a handle on his 3000. He will have to post a picture of his nugget, it was a pretty one too. Thanks all, TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

[Steve Herschbach]

The larger of the two is a perfect pendant nugget. And the other one really interesting. Good going Ray!

[El Dorado]

Ray, I know you have a hot rodded Minelab, but isn't that Sadie coil amazing for the depth is can snoop out nuggets?

[Rick Watkins]

How do you hotrod a 3000? All I know is hotroding ford v8s

[klunker]

 Ray; What can you tell me about the country E.NE. of Red Bluff.  I have been offered a spot for my camper and access to some Private ground. It only takes a few ounces a day to keep me happy.

[TRINITYAU]

    Steve, yes my 3000 was modded by Ishmael many years back and it gets grainer's at a few inches as well as pennyweight nuggets at 16 to 18 inches, sometimes more. I don't know what I will do if it ever decides to up and quit on me. I really believe in the 3000 series. I don't care what anyone says, I like my analog opposed to digital. I also think the 3000 was and is the best Minelab gold detector by far. To me it is still the easiest to operate. Minelab has come full circle in my way of thinking with a simple turn on and go gold detector (3000) compared to the 5000 with all its myriad of settings, and I still do with my 3000 what they say the 5000 will do, sometimes better. They started out with a simple machine that worked and advanced to a machine that still works but with one hell of a learning curve and it cost a few more cents. To me it is kind of funny.

 

    Klunker, E, NE of Red Bluff is the Lassen country, heavily volcanic. There are areas beyond Mt Lassen, north and south that have good gold districts. The closest area you will be near is Shasta County, the Redding area where I am located. I have a few places that I go to that are up past Lassen but you are talking 3 to 4 hours of driving. If you look on a map and locate Butts Resevoir just below Lake Almanor there are many locations to prospect. This is a large area that offers  hardrocking,drywashing, detecting, panning, sluicing and sniping. Most of the area drains into the Feather River. As I stated earlier it is not as close as I would like it to be. Shoot me a PM when you get a bit closer and maybe we can get together. TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

[klunker]

 G'mornin Ray and thanks; You had better be careful with what you post or the Minelab militia will be burning crosses in your front yard. There is a lot to be said about keeping your focus on the detecting and not the detector.  I have been doing some exploration work for a mining group S.E. of Butt Lake (Dutch Hill) and between my past work in the timber industry and prospecting, the area is about as familiar as my living room. Even more so if the wife rearranges the furniture. Plan a trip up next spring.

 I goofed when I asked about East of Red Bluff. I meant N.W.

[TRINITYAU]

Hey Klunker, then that puts you a bit closer to me. From Cottonwood Creek north there is no problem finding gold. The general area has lots of old workings but the pay is smaller gold. This is a good panning and sluicing area. However, there are always the isolated spots that throw nuggets. The closer you get to Igo and Ono, past the Bald Hills, then you are starting to see ancient channel from the North Fork of Cottonwood Creek and Clear Creek. This channel is deep and shallow at different locations. There are some barren hillsides that just have a few washed and round cobble lying around and others that have old stream gravels all over. Some have detectable nuggets while others do not. Further north into the Clear Creek country you will start to find more diggings, large and small scattered here and there. From Clear Creek to the big dam on Shasta you will find coarse detectable gold, The gold shows up on the east side of the Sacramento but more heavily on the west all the way to Trinity County. In this area you will find hard rock deposits that generally carry finer gold down in the valley. As you start to hit the hills you could encounter some nice rough and sizable gold with a detector.This gold is not to be confused with the gold from the ancient Sacramento flows, of which can be small to very large and usually beat smooth. You also have ironstone lines that throw very coarse gold all over the same areas. Most of the gold I get is from these lines. They can be found all over and can run from a few feet to several hundred yards. This is different country than most folks expect to see gold being detected in. The brush is very thick and low. We have more than our share of rattlesnakes during the heat. It is not uncommon for me to come across fifty or so in a season and this is usually almost face to face. There are some open areas and I concentrate on those during the hotter months. This should help you a bit. As I said earlier shoot me a PM when you get closer. If you will give me a location of where you will actually be I can give you more than general information. TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS