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You can also use this (my absolute favorite) USGS Circular #1178: 1998 Assessment of Undiscovered Deposits of Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, and Zinc in the United States Download the 180MB FULL REPORT It explains most of what you want to know about the different geologies in the United States that hosts the five biggest paying minerals (Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, and Zinc). It has maps and goes into as much detail as you could want. Mike

Well, I am now an official member the the SDC owners club . Should be arriving in a few days . Can't wait to give it a swing. I have my eye on some higher (read COOLER) areas for some summer swinging. Already getting warm...was 80 yesterday here in central AZ. -5000ft elevation. Hopefully, we will get some rain soon or we are going to burn up this summer. Dean

Normal is always my default ground setting unless forced to do otherwise. From http://forums.nuggethunting.com/index.php?/topic/11331-nugget-1-of-5-gpz7000-03192015-4-gram-8-inches/ "Always at least try to run in Normal ground setting. If you can't get it to settle down in Normal, no big deal, just go back to Difficult. Normal is certainly not just for coins and relics, it is the hottest setting for gold if the ground allows it. It adds considerable punch on small nuggets in milder ground. Probably not going to work many places in Arizona but I have had good success with it in Nevada and California." and at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/827-minelab-video-gpz-7000-ground-type/?p=8258 "Obviously the Gold Modes are causing far more questions for people than the Ground Type setting. My only note here is to say I have been finding the Normal/High Yield combination quite possible at various locations in California and Nevada, typically where there are lighter colored soils. Some areas it is a total no-go but in the U.S. at least be sure and do not fall into the habit of always using the Difficult setting. Give Normal a try, and go back to Difficult if need be. The sensitivity to small items gives the SDC 2300 a serious run for the money, even with the larger coil, while delivering more depth on larger nuggets.' I always run Smoothing off. Sensitivity normally never higher than 12 and possibly as low as 6.

The weather in northern Nevada has been perfect and the Zed has been popping nuggets every day on the old patches. The highlight of the past few days was a solid quarter-ouncer at a foot deep in a spot I thoroughly gridded in the past with the GPX 5000; the signal was strong and clear from the start. Pictured is 18 grams of golden goodies and a 3 grammer found at a measured 12 inches...enjoy. Gold Mode: High Yield Ground Type: Normal Sensitivity: 8-10

First aid of snakebite The aim of first aid is to retard the systemic absorption of venom and prevent life-threatening complications by prompt transport to a medical facility. First aid can be performed by victim himself/herself or by any person who happens to be nearby. Traditionally, first aid included making local incisions or "tattooing" at the site of the bite, attempts at suctioning venom out of the wound, use of tight bands (tourniquets) around the limb, and/or local application of ice packs. None of the traditional remedies have any proven medical benefit. They should be discouraged as they do more harm than good and delay transport to a medical facility. Incision, suction, electric shocks, cryotherapy, or washing the wound are contraindicated as any interference with the wound introduces infection, increases bleeding from the site, and hastens absorption of the venom. The current guidelines for first aid include the following: Reassure the victim (70% of all snakebites are by nonvenomous snakes and 50% of bites by venomous species are dry bites[19] ) Immobilize the affected limb (by bandage or clothes to hold splint, but tight arterial compression is not recommended) Promptly transfer of victim to hospital I have first hand knowledge as i was bitten when i was a freshman in high school---i was walking down a country road and nearly stepped on the copperhead that bit me.... I got to the hospital with in 45 minutes, but sad news for me was that after i got the antivenom shots i became very sick because i was allergic to it.... It probably hurt me worse than the snake did!!! I hear there are newer anti-venoms on the scene now... so dont screw around,, immobilize and transport--that's it... ----- dont be super medic and make things worse..best thing you can do with a snakebite kit is to throw it at the snake!...lol paul PS---The bite scares you worse than anything---you'll probably live thru it...... if you dont have a heart attack first!!!

Me. They both represent a lot of work and have teeth.

There has been a very neat story floating around about a little mine found in The Superstition Wilderness Area. This is a story that got no publicity until a writer and Lost Dutchman Mine Hunter named Jack San Felice wrote about it in a book a few years ago. Jack has always said he believes this mine was The Lost Dutchman. Very few details have ever been made public about the dig. The story goes, that the area was located in the 1950s but for whatever reason was not exploited for many years (as so many other incredible lost mine stories go). It was a pit mine that ran about 90 feet deep. It was smack dab in the middle of an area that had a bunch of working silver mines in the late 1800s. Because it was in the SWA (Superstition Wilderness Area), and closed to claim location since 1984, any exploitation had to be VERY secret. This mine was supposedly secretly worked during the Summer months of 1997-1999. They dug the mine from its original 90 foot depth to 300 feet deep. Most people thought it was just a silver mine like all the others in the area (Roger's Spring). Over the years, little tidbits have leaked out. Things like some of the people THOUGHT to be involved claiming they had found the Lost Dutchman. If true, that COMPLETELY discounts the silver mine idea (except we all know gold is often found in pockets in silver veins/mines). All a very interesting story, UNTIL a few days ago, when a picture started making the rounds: This cabbage ball sized chunk of rock that dreams are made of is claimed to be from this Pit Mine. Jacob Waltz claimed that his mine contained two veins of material: 1. 18 inch thick vein of white and rose quartz shot through with about 30% gold content. 2. 8 inch thick vein of gray volcanic tuff with visible gold that was very soft and could be scraped out with bare hands. You miners imagine how much money is involved if they dug 210 feet of ore like this in an 18 inch thick vein! Just a little something to get everybody's mouth watering! Enjoy - Mike

Good stuff Lunk!

Great gold Lunk, but the weather sure turned nasty this morning!

Good shooting, heading your way in the morning! Rick

OK, here is a Gold Bug vs Gold Bug 2 story for you. It was 1991 and I had my brand new Gold Bug 2 hot from the factory. I had already proven to myself it could run rings around the old Gold Bug for finding small gold. My family made a trip to some old prospecting haunts in Alaska to go detecting for a few days. My sister was along with her old model Gold Bug. I was of course bragging my new Gold Bug 2 up to her and her "old" model. All is going well and I am finding gold, but there is one patch of hot bedrock that the Gold Bug 2 just hates. I can't get any ground balance at all on it or even get the detector close without an overload without turning the sensitivity way down. Lots of gold on easier stuff to hunt though so I just leave it be. My sister wanders onto the bedrock with the original Gold Bug, and it easily ground balanced on that hot bedrock and ran just fine. Pretty soon my sister is digging a pit. And out pops a 7 pennyweight nugget, the biggest of that trip! I learned a very important lesson very early on about the Gold Bug 2. It may be hot as a pistol, but a lower frequency VLF wins the day on larger gold in really hot ground. The main reason I still think about the old Gold Bug now and then is it would handle really bad ground better than most modern VLF detectors and in fact was the only VLF detector I ever tried that would ground balance out arsenopyrite. If I ever trip over one in good condition really, really cheap I would probably buy it out of nostalgia. The compact removable box, S rod, and elliptical coils were ground breaking design moves at that time. A true nugget detecting classic but passed by with newer technology. My sister in 1991 with her Gold Bug and the 7 dwt nugget she just found with it:

very pretty and impressive! fred

Tom, I will tell you that there is NOPLACE too difficult to hike into or detect. There are difficult places, but everywhere is accessible. Dowsing silver in the East end of the Supers is not hard to do, since EVERY Silver Mine near the Supers is on the East end of the Mountains (Silver King, Silver Chief, etc etc etc), I could take my finger and point to any spot East of Miner's Needle and probably find silver. Yes, since the 1800s, a couple of hundred (known) people have died there (even recently), but guess what? THOUSANDS of people hike all through the Supers every year with no problems except maybe snakes, bark scorpions, heat, lack of water, I know Bob Corbin. He was the longest serving Attorney General ever for the State of Arizona. He was a long time Dutch Hunter. His best stories are about Celeste Marie Jones that had a feud with a guy named Ed Piper both of whose camps were at the base of Weaver's Needle. That eventually led up to the only known REAL western style gunfight in modern times. One of Jones' men named Robert Ste. Marie ambushed Ed Piper on a trail. They both drew, but Piper (who was waaaay older than Ste Marie) got the drop on him and killed Ste Marie. After that, when Corbin and his aide were visiting Jones at her camp, she asked him to find a hit man to kill Piper. Being a State Prosecuting Atty, Bob never had anything more to do with her after that. Mike

The view from my side porch a couple mornings ago.

I wear my boots and snake gators. I would rather be safe than sorry.

this story is completely worthless with out directions to said mine.

Like Spicoli would say "Gnarly!!"

Oops heres pic.

Steve different freguencies by a lot...I think the gb was around 30 and the gb2 is around 70...more or less. I found my first gold with a Gold Bug...but, I found a lot more with the GB2...however it took around 500 nugglets to make my first oz...what fun! I found the GB2 to be much easier for me to use... I hope you and Mrs. D are doing well... fred

Tom, I sell a limited amount of paydirt only because my customers keep asking me to. I don't make money on it and frankly it's a pain in the butt to do so. How's that for a sales pitch!

The 8" mono is effortless in the water and for where I was hunting fit better in the bottom of coral pockets and other depressions. Easier pinpointing also which is important underwater. I will probably use the stock coil in fresh water lakes however.

It classifies as a rust a relic to me.....a Keeper . Nice find......

Very cool,great find in my book. I bring my wife home the big rusty yard art too!