Digger Bob

Yep, I volunteered to do a short talk Friday evening, I believe around 5:30 at this "Rotundra" place. The plan is to talk about the Immigrant Trail that we will be standing on and hunting. Also, if I can get the OK from Whites, I will introduce and exciting new product exclusively for GMT owners ;-)

Grrrr... Wish I could comment on this. Suffice to say your hints (and mine) have been listened to.

Oh yeah. I'll send you some pics of the "new" coil that has been developed. I've been meaning to do that for awhile now. Just had to work out some bugs.

Scott, Digger Bob here. I attended last year and will again this year. I got Whites to donate a GMT and TRX pinpointer last year and will try again this year. Maybe Tom and I can get together and pull something together. BTW, I will try again this year to take people out to the gold fields and show them how to nugget hunt after the official hunt. If anyone is interested, contact me there at the hunt. I'll put a sign out or something. I think Miner John and I will camp at the same place again, near the dam. If necessary, send me some info that I can forward to the factory.

We all know it, but how many of us actually do it? I'm talking about asking your friends and total strangers about places to hunt. Many old timers know about places that no one else does. And they know other people who know places, and they know people, and so on. Once you gain their trust and are honest and straightforward with them, all kinds of doors can be opened to you. Here is a perfect example; It's actually a long story how this came about but suffice to say, this little piece came from an "estate" that her late husband had acquired many years before. This, along with several antique tools, were bought for less than $50. She had no use for them anymore and had no family members that were interested. I've looked online for similar items but haven't found anything this big or impressive out there. There is a small label on the back that says "Anaconda mine". No idea which one as there are at least three of them in the west. In the direct sunlight the display of color is breathtaking!

About a year ago, I received a similar call. A little different concept, but essentially a "reality show" about treasure hunting. I even contacted Chris about it to see if he was interested. He wasn't. We thought, what the hell, what do we have to lose? So we did the online interview with one of the producers and everything looked good. Even though I thought the whole concept was weak, it sounded fun, and we got paid! Well, long story short, after the interview, we heard nothing more. Zip. So, a lot of concepts get thrown out there, but if they can't line up sponsers, "advertising", then the whole thing gets dropped. They are looking for "interesting people", someone who will create a buzz, a conflict, a villain, that will make people want to tune in to see what happens next. Real prospectors don't qualify, although I'm sure there are some on here who could fit the bill :-) Digger Bob

Yeah, I too doubted the 1931 date. Some of the cars date from '36 or so. Still, it's pretty cool, in color to see what things looked like then. The height of the depression, before the war, and people in rural areas were still able to get by. Gold mining and timber were king!

Looks like you have to scroll down a bit to watch it.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/270817552932590/ Ok, I'm going to try something here. I'm not sure it will transfer over to the forum or not. This is a VERY cool movie that was shot sometime in the early 1930's. It shows the road from Yreka (essentially) to Happy Camp, Calif. Note the narrow, one lane, rock slides, old cars and buildings, and especially, about half way through, a bucket dredge working the Klamath River. Note also the multiple tailing piles all along the river. There is no sound so don't try that. This was posted on a Yreka facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Yreka.News/videos?ref=page_internal I've no idea how someone found it but it shows how much has changed, and yet how little. Digger Bob

I think we're getting close to the source vein. All down about 18 inches in the clay layer. Yes, Northern Calif. and whispers of target sounds.

Here's a close up of one of the better pieces.

Just returned from a few days WAY up north near Happy Camp, CA. We weren't detecting but looking for something valuable never the less. I've heard about what's referred to as "Happy Camp jade" since high school but never went looking for it. Finally got a local guide who took me and Miner John up into the mountains near Indian Creek to find some. And find some we did! Actually found a lot more than the pictures here but some of the pieces were literally boulders and too heavy to pack out. A little research shows this is officially called Californite, not a "true" jade, but a variation because of it's unique colorations. We were told on the other side of the creek from where we were is a huge boulder with spider webs of gold incased in it, but the water was too high right now to reach it. So, a fall trip is planned. Anyway, if interested, do a quick Google search for it. Very cool stuff. Going to cut and polish a bit of it later to show it off. Digger Bob

Outstanding Tom! I wish I'd sucked in my belly a bit more :-) And if you'd just stayed a bit longer, you could have filmed an actual nugget being dug up!

I just got back from 5 days out hunting at Rye Patch with a group of friends. One of our group snagged 18 little dinks with his 2300. A couple other guys also got one or two. Luckily, I managed to score the best but they are not your usual Rye Patch nuggets. The large one has quartz attached. Out of the hundreds of nuggets I've found out there over the years, I've only seen two others with quartz. It's very rare. The other is not heavy, but paper thin. Again, not your usual pieces from there. Both were about 10 inches deep and gave faint signals. No chevrons or any other marks that would distinguish them as unique to Rye Patch.

Maybe you just need some vegemite to go with that tea! That's sure to get some sort of juices flowing!

Nope, not mine. The ones I found were various sizes and buried in an ammo box and several plastic boxes. The ones I found were only about a foot and a half deep and a total wt of about 1000 oz. Digger Bob

I tried to catch your eye but you were busy holding court outside the building. Did manage to talk to Chris for a bit and made plans to hook up this summer.

Well, now. How about that? http://www.geologyin.com/2016/03/researchers-discover-bacteria-that.html

No, I won't have a booth there. I haven't done shows in many years. BUT, things are a changing at Whites of the West, so there is no telling what or who will be there. I will attend, but only as a spectator. Not sure yet which day, but I'll be roaming around. I pick up many tips just listening and eavesdropping :-) I'm sure (I hope!) there will be someone there with the new MXS. Probably Jim McCuloch will be there. There are many shows upcoming put on by various entities. There is a major gun show in Quincy coming up in June where I may have a booth. We'll see...

Yep, my yard reads 73 and I'll get some falsing on hot rocks. Two sweeps and they're gone but it does make you stop and check which is time consuming.

Yes, the 6x10 elliptical coils are available now. At least I hope what I was told is accurate. They can be ordered separately without the "sport pack". Price is $179.95 As a side note, here is a video just sent to me comparing the MXS with some other models on depth. Worth a look if one was curious as to what it sounds like.

I've already sold out my allotment of MXS and have more on order.

If anyone is interested, I have them in stock now. Email me or call for details. Digger Bob

I have no further information on an actual release date. Like someone said, they are ramping up production right now to fill all the orders. Probably doing some last minute testing and tweaking. I would guess early March too, realistically. Personally, I would wait for the second "batch" or production run, in case there are any unforeseen issues. Seems like there are always "bugs" that pop up in a new machine that no one noticed in testing. As far as the MXT vs. MXS goes, I've heard that there were some "holes" in the MXT circuitry that affected performance, as good as it is. Those have been corrected now and real time performance should be better over all. Reports back from the field will tell in a few months. And it's a pure digital platform now, so those of us used to analog sounds will have to re-train ourselves to interpret signals. Old dogs, new tricks.

Well, I almost got skunked on this trip. One guy I was with got 10 little ones and the other guy got 4. I didn't find mine until late in the day and only after I had switched machines.