WesD

Impressive

Only thing I would add in defense of the 7, he did say they were in Difficult ground setting, which is a filter and does not run the detector at full depth seeking powers, unless of course soils dont allow for Normal setting

Klunker, What about the rumored Plumas gold trees where nuggets can  be picked like fruit high up in the canopy?  This is truly the promised land up there!

Gerry, Finding gold and selling it is one thing, but for an investment purpose of increasing future wealth, its just been a poor performer.  It can sit in the bank for years and little is gained. Otherwise I totally  agree with all you said! There are few things as enjoyable as being out there chasing it.

Jason, My experience with some of the new generation is they are more paranoid of liability issues, whereas the old timer nearing the end of the road, dont care no more, and says have at it.  Of course there are cranky ol codgers too. Had a few go frothing mad just for asking permission.  Its a funny wold.

 Preservation of wealth, Yes, but no interest made and painfully slow gains in value.  Love to look for the stuff, but what a waste of an investment. Maybe the price will be allowed to pop one day and we are looking at 5000 oz gold, but I imagine everything else will be at inflated costs

I feel your pain.  I sent in my small miners waiver and annual assessment last August, and still waiting for the update.   At least they did note on one line that monies were received.  Hopefully as long as your county filing is recorded, whats showing on  BLM's screen doesnt really matter.

Ive been deep in a buried "ancient" river mine where you can pick the drift wood out of the  ceiling.   Its still good wood, though a bit mushy.   I also have my own theories...

Jason's method is solid, but I admit  generally I dont dig at the county unless I need specifics on a claim. BLM is good for showing the established claims.  So hopefully when boots hit the ground, if there was a recent filing, there should be an obvious display of corner markers, monument, or something showing the recent filing as required by law.

That said, be really cautious with BLM data this year. At least in CA they are way behind on annual updates.

Yep saving my money for that one!  Iron disc, top gunner deep seeker, come awn!

This was a fascinating read on early California trade days: Two Years Before The Mast, by Dana

Minelab is business savvy.   The sdc, the 7 and even 5, will still have there place in the prospectors bag of tools.  By not including a small creek/gully coil for the 6000 or 7000, I cant imagine guys just ditching their 2300s  for this new release.

Im with Klunker, some days are rough when I forget that lunch.  Then its Manzanita berries  and Blackberries. 

Hey the Bears love em and they sure scamper up those hills pretty darn quick, so there's something to say about that organic diet.

Not silver, but 1 oz gold eagles etc are selling for over $2000 now. So dont sell yourself short when its time to sell those shiny nuggets.  There is a definite price divergence of heavy gold in the hand, vs digital/ paper traded

Ya Gerry I met him in 2005 and was sleeping in my jeep right next to the big hole he dug it out.  I remember thinking... dang right there in the middle of the road, why didnt I think of that! 😀

1 hour ago, afreakofnature said:

Not surprising.  If you can only have an 11 inch and a 17 inch coil then that makes the SDC with the 8 inch still relevant for sale. And it gives the GPZ, which I know is different technology, a 13 inch and a 19 inch. Pretty sure ML is saying that if you want different coil sizes you have to buy different detectors 🤦‍♂️

Exactly! They want us switching detectors and not just coils.

Yep the gray lines are a common problem for the gpz screens. If you're in warranty, send it in to Minelab USA.

If not, I wouldn't stress too bad, as it wont affect your detector in any way other than being an annoyance.

Not a book, but this will help you research and pull mining claim data fairly easily.

http://www.mylandmatters.org/Maps/ClaimsCa/GetMap

Thanks Jason!  That would make sense running HY/Normal is a bit more sensitive. The sdc probably runs comparable to the Difficult ground setting on the 7. I've found sdc signals can be extremely subtle on small or deep gold, but when you understand its language, its a really fun detector. 

Jason, Do you have a sdc2300?  It would be nice to compare signals on some of the undug targets.  At least in my areas, the sdc cleans up on smalls behind the 7000, so I'm curious how the detectors compare when running similar sized coils.

This is a good one to reference on historic placer deposits in Nevada :

Placer Gold Deposits of Nevada by Maureen G. Johnson

Those are neat! I remember finding the dog tag, but not knowing what it was I tossed it.  Guess the key to identifying these is the small triangular spikes.

The black abs plastic ones are definitely worth it. It will also help to add more rigidity to the coil so you wont develop false signaling from flex and end up with a noisy bump sensitive  coil.

5 hours ago, Gold Catcher said:

I still wonder if an 8 inch coil would be a possibility for the current GPZ configuration. In my view, coils below 10 inch start to be really practical in difficult terrain, like small washes or dried out creek beds. I exclusively use the SDC in these grounds, but it would be great to have a ZVT detector at work as well 🙂 

I doubt the idea that Minelab would ever release a factory 8" . They would be putting the hurt on their SDC market.  More money to be made in selling detectors.

Its also a real pity Nugget finder is not making a small coil option.  A 12 inch coil just seems redundant, too close to factory size. Unless its got some trick wingdings and sensitivity, I dont see much point in that. 

Sounds like that will be a great detector for guys just getting into nugget prospecting. But it does not sound like it will be something productive for going over old patches, if they are just using similar tech as the current issues. Wait and see I guess...

Clean up all the surfaces, and try using the Gorilla brand epoxy to fill in all the voids. Not the glue, but the 2 part epoxy they sell. It doesn't get as brittle as some epoxys and bonds well. I use it on all the picks I make with good success.