sjmpainter

Cotapaxi, Awesome name sounds otherworldly. And my hats off to you for donating it for all to enjoy. Any pictures? I will look up Richard Norton's book at the library. It would be good to at least be able to identify one in the unlikely event that I happen on one. Problem with large areas of tundra. They are frozen during the winter months but in the summer they are what is called muskeg and basically that is a marsh. Good luck finding anything in that. Maybe the best plan is to look for impact craters and go from there? Not many know about the artic desert in Alaska it`s called The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes. It is in the Kobuk National Park. Here is a link. http://www.nps.gov/kova/index.htm Thanks for the info guys.

When ever you have something unique start high, don't get desperate, and the perspective buyers will give you the final price. And by the way that is unique. Some are most valuable in the personal collection. Sell the ordinary nuggets.

Steve thanks. This topic has peaked my interest and I plan to spend some time researching this. If you can find more, post it I would be interested. I would imagine that a find would be not only rare but inherently valuable, defiantly worth a looksee. This bring a thought to mind. Something that I have pondered from time to time is with all the water bodies in Alaska do you know of any prospecting in any lakes. I have read that in Canada they have found diamonds under lakes in the northern parts. Seems to be an area that is overlooked.

Great pictures Jim. Not at all what I thought they would look like. I`m thinking I have to have some in the specimen collection. So how do you set about finding a meteorite? Gold is very predictable with weight density and concentration, it is easy to get started but a meteor I assume just falls randomly. What indicators get your hunt started? I am not aware of any being found in Alaska but I would think its possible. I can imagine our terrain is not conducive to meteor finds. Anyway would love to here more on the subject. Thanks.

Paleomanjim, Thanks for the meteorite post. Two nights ago I saw several come down and have been thinking it would be great fun to put those on the bucket list. Don`t have a clue how to go about it.. Sounds similar to how I hunt gold with the GB2. Can you post a picture? Has anyone tried to hunt meteorites in Alaska?

64 was a bit before my time, but mom was 19 and worked for FNBA on 4th AVE. in a office on the second floor. Shure did change a lot of real estate in a hurry!

Well no motor yet and that will delay finishing the dredge ( Shipping ) I did put the hose on to get an idea of the set up. I had it in my mind that I would be able to build a mount that would allow me to position the engine front, back. or middle. With fixed length hose I see that it will stay as it is mounted. So looks like I too will be adding rock ballast. Here is a picture with the hose on. Steve reading your reply I understand the importance of running a clean sluice. Did you modify your riffle area any? Kind of interesting that the sluice on a Subbie is drop down riffle style. Never dealt with that before. Have a thought that maybe some grizzly bars would be good.

Steve, Here is a link of historical gold prices http://www.nma.org/pdf/gold/his_gold_prices.pdf. And here is a link for the US inflation calculator. http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ It is very interesting to see what impact inflation has been on gold and other commodities over time.

Metaldetector.com has them for 15.16 plus shipping.

Hello Bob, I mounted the tube with all thread so I can adjust it. Basically I need to see the dredge in operation to understand the dynamics of the subsurface part and will adjust it as I go. Here is a picture of what I have so far. As for the motor/pump. I agree with you. I figure I stacked an extra 10 LBS on and not really Shure that the Kohler will be as good as a Honda 4 Hp but in the end it was half the price and I figure I can run at a lower rpm. Worst case scenario I have a back up motor for my larger dredge. Shure would like feed back on the Kohler good or bad.

Thanks Steve, Just was not clear to me on weather if it had to be submerged or not. But makes sense that a sluice is a sluice weather it is submerged or not. Started to assemble the frame today. Ended using 3/4 aluminum as it slipped rite in the stock mounts. Took about 30 minutes to do. Then I stared at it for a hour figuring the next move. Had all kinds of ideas but came to the conclusion that I want it as simple. Planning on attaching the tube with all thread and wing nuts. Should allow for some adjustment. Will see if/how that goes tomorrow.

Should have melted it all and sold it for scrap! Would have saved the troubles. Rite guys.......... guys, guys, ........Was is something I said?

Shure would like to see one of those bucket line dredges in operation! It would be an impressive feat in this day and age to set up a dredge in the middle of nowhere let alone 1912. Amazing what the old timers accomplished. You know the history of mining is more interesting than finding gold. Well almost.

So I have this idea to build a 4 inch sub surface dredge. I have all the parts and pieces with the exception of the pump and moter (in route). Well spring fever is kicking in and I plan to assemble this dredge. I am currently engineering the frame work. My question here is all the pictures I have seen show the dredge tube dead center in between the floats and looks to be level with the floats. Should the tube be suspended lower in the water or submerged completely? Just for reference the setup consists of. 1. Keene 4 inch tube. 2. 15 foot of 4 inch suction hose. 3. 4 inch nozzle. 5. 20 foot 2 inch pressure line. Hard line not lay flat. 6. Keene 3 inch mini floats. 7. Keene P180 Pump and a Kohler Command Pro 7 hp motor. 8. No air on this one. 9. 1 inch box aluminum frame work. Also I found a great deal on a Hydro Force nozzle. Anyone have any thoughts on these?

Agreed, You know, when I started I got really frustrated and was ready to toss in the towel. Ended up reading the article you wrote " First Gold With A Metal Detector" and that kept me at it. Thanks. I will run him through Hatcher`s get him to pan some and then try and detect some. Might be a good learning experience.

Steve, sounds like Eric and I will get together and do some detecting. Do you have any suggestions on a area in south central that would be good for a person starting out?

Emoss I sent my contact info so you can get with me. Also pay close attention to the links Steve posted and here is one more for you to study - http://maps.dggs.alaska.gov/mapindex/. I really like my GB2 but it can be a bit tricky for a first detector, have you considered a Gold Bug Pro? Might want to ask Steve about that. As far as the " Hot Rocks" and small gold in the area well we will see how that goes. One thing to consider is on my claim there is old Placer workings and I have found lots of relics left behind. I feel that using the GPX might be fruitless on gold but I would expect to find any relics in the ground and I feel that is worth the go and should make a good adventure. With that said maybe a GB Pro might be a better all around detector to consider as gold is not the only treasure. One thing I really appreciate with Steve is he is not stuck on gold and he has great stories on other detecting adventures. Just something to consider before you buy a dedicated gold detector.

Gus, you should name this fine piece. I suggest the Bunny Nugget. Look at the fifth pic at the bottom. Hah.

Soooo you are encouraging me to take my elephant gun on a mouse hunting expedition. Reminded me of that 80`s Life commercial " I`M NOT GONNA TRY IT- YOU TRY IT" I understand what you are saying but got a good laugh at that. Late fall early winter keep your eyes peeled for a post Mouse Hunting In Hatchers Pass.

Hello EMoss#83, I have claims above Grubtake as well as below I have been working the last few years. It is my experience that Steve is pretty much spot on with all his info. I have found small nuggets with my Gold bug 2 but it is really frustrating. Most of what I find is by dredge methods. I have a GPX 5000 but have not tried it in the area as all the gold is small and I agree that it would just be lost. This next summer I will give it a go just to see what the result is. If you would like we can team up. I don`t have a detecting buddy so I would love the company. That reminds me. Steve you had posted that you were going to use the 8 inch coil on the 5000 to find small gold in Alaska. What come of that? As I mentioned I have been prospecting my claims and I have some spots that I feel are dredge worthy. I plan to dredge the claims this next summer and really expecting a good season. Been building a 4 inch subsurface dredge just for this adventure and when I get all the parts together I will post a pic. Should be interesting. Here is a few pics of the area............. . And the finds............

Busy boy Steve!........... Defiantly excited about the new forum. Thanks buddy.