Done Lurking, Decided To Join

[GeoBill]

Been lurking here off and on for quite a while and decided that it was time to join in and introduce myself. Not currently a detector/prospector, but hope to change that.

A bit of my background: 21 years as a geologist with the USGS, about 2/3 summers looking at mines in Alaska, 1/2 in CA, NV, AZ, and WY. When I left the survey in the big purge in ’95 I was working on a project looking at lode mines east of the Mother Lode proper. My work in Alaska was almost exclusively looking at lode gold mines and prospects, and spent quite a bit of time late ‘70s early 80’s south of Anchorage: Girdwood/Crow Pass (my favorite, staying at the Alyska and eating at the Double Musky), Hope/Sunrise, Moose Pass, Port Wells, Port Valdez, down the Kenai, and around PWS and SE Alaska (good story about an almost helicopter crash into the AJ pit, but maybe later). I think part of my lurking here was many of these areas are home for Steve’s exploits, and kicking myself for always staying up on the hillsides and not looking in the creek bottoms. I sure missed out on the gold (the Bureau of Mines guys were dredging the creeks as their part of the assessments, and I know a lot of gold went home in their pockets).

I always thought about taking a metal detector with me, not to look for gold, but to check around all the old cabins and workings, and  in ‘88 I bought my first metal detector, a Gold Mountain King Cobra because it was small and light and I could sneak it into my backpack. Never got to use it up there. My final AK field season was in ’89 sampling and mapping the exposed bedrock from active mining at Valdez Creek. The cheerful 18 yo security guard was more than happy every evening to let us know over beers that he had his scope on us all day just in case we decided to pick up a nugget. Don’t think swinging a detector would have gone over well.

That King Cobra also indirectly contributed to my getting off my butt and joining here. When Reggie posted the pictures of his dad’s collection I thought I saw a Gold Mountain detector among the lot. It was also somewhat ironic that I had earlier this summer been reading a lot of what Reg had written about PI detectors on various blogs and forums over the years. Back in June I did a small consulting job in the Mother Lode at a winery where the grapes are planted in the weathered volcanic cover and the owner was wondering if the volcanics capped any Tertiary channel gravels. Turned out there was a lot of gravels that don’t show on any geologic map I could find, and they had been extensively mined though I couldn’t find any record in Cal State pubs. Since lurking here I decided to take along my two detectors, a MXT (I’m deadly at parks and old houses) and a mid '90s V-Sat that has not seen a lot of use. The ground there was unbelievable. Just setting my magnetic cultivator on the ground would pick up several pounds of hot rocks and coat with black sand. A full screened pan once the weathered volcanic soil and clay was removed would end up almost half full of black sand (and quite a bit of flour gold). Never seen anything like it. Anyway, got me curious whether a PI detector would work better and got me reading a lot of Reg’s posts and discussions here and on other sites. I was very sorry to see the news of his passing here. The detecting community truly lost a hero.

Anyway, recently retired from 12 years sitting on my butt doing research/data analysis in radiation oncology (once a scientist, always a scientist), getting a knee replacement in a few weeks (Steve, I think the first time I blew it out was hiking down from the Nearhouse mine on Palmer Creek with a backpack full of about 80 lbs of samples), and I hope that part of my recovery therapy is walking and swinging. I’ve spent a good deal of time on the other side of interstate 80 from Rye Patch but never visited the Majuba Mtns and reading some of the geology papers reminds me of some areas I worked in the Klamaths. I hope to get out there at some point - soon.

Looking to pick up a PI machine (was tempted by the GPX 5000 listed here, but a bit out of my price range) and pick your brains on how to best use it (just missed on a TDI Pro on Craigslist - damn).

A bit of a more rambling intro than I had planned.

Cheers

Bill

[Valens Legacy]

Welcome aboard and thanks for the information about yourself, as it may come to be useful to others.

Some of the older detectors are some of the best for gold and such, so when you find something interesting please show some pictures for all of to see.

 

[Joe D.]

Welcome Bill,

    That was one heck of an intro! Sounds like you will have many stories to share, and much to teach us from your extensive employment experience! Glad you finally stepped into the forum! 👍👍

[Steve Herschbach]

Welcome to the forum Bill. Sounds like we tread a lot of the same ground! 

[GeoBill]

Thanks VL, Joe, and Steve.

Guess the intro may have been a bit over the top. I've had many careers over the years and hoping that the next one is as a Detector/Prospector. The MXT and V-SAT are great machines and have served me well. For the V-SAT I guess I should have put that it 'hasn't seen enough use'. Been hard to get out to detect gold for the last 20 years (work, kids), but when I've made it to the Sierra's with the family it has found me a few nuggets but above 4000' where there is only light to moderate background mineralization. Looking forward to giving it a good workout! Never thought about the MXT as a prospecting tool until reading some of the exploits here. Have a few good finds from the past for my local area I plan to post, but unfortunately areas to detect nearby are growing slim.

Cheers, and glad to be here.

Bill

[Joe D.]

Hey Bill,

I bought a new MXT Pro a month or so ago! I haven't got around to using it yet, because I've been using a new G2+ i got at the same time! I was wondering about your thoughts on it!👍👍

[Gold Catcher]

Welcome to the forum, Bill. SF East Bay here.

[GeoBill]

Joe,

I really can't comment on the MXT Pro. I have the original MXT with the open Eclipse 950 coil and for me it's been a great machine. I have the 4x6 DD, but honestly don't use it much. Previously I was using a Minelab XS-2 Pro which I think is a great detector but now only use at the beach. I think the XS-2 had better depth, but I've just gotten very used to the MXT. It's pretty accurate in identification and depth and I guess having the screen to look at (even though I think I pretty much rely on tone) makes me more inclined to use it.

Maybe here in my retirement I as I hopefully detect more I'll look to upgrade to a more modern detector but right now I'm very happy with what I have. But, Yes, I do drool at the pictures and stories everyone has with their new detectors and will probably be getting one.

[GeoBill]

Thanks Gold Catcher,

I'm down on the Peninsula. Years ago I used to detect with the Santa Clara club we would have outings to where Niles Canyon intersects Mission Blvd, I guess where is now a historical park. Also further up Niles, on the east side of the canyon just south of where the railroad crosses the road at Palomares. I was told that had been in the 1880's the trail from from Livermore Valley, a dump, a campground, and a Boy Scout Camp. Back then it was a very popular site for bottle diggers. I only found more recent coins (>1940's) but one in our group found several military buttons (why they were there who knows). Any idea if those areas are still open for detecting?

Thanks