IDdesertman

Some is definitely the keyword, and I'd say the vast majority will not improve much with HF treatment and actually look better as-is or with a less harsh treatment. Those big crystalline specimens you see at the major gem shows are HF treated, but it exposes those nice gold crystals, where as the average specimen will often turn out crumbly or porous instead. But it all depends on the piece of course.

Looks like a winner to me!

Very nice write-up Jim, and always nice to see pics of those amazing silver specimens!

We'd be interested to know what that other detector was Don. No need to be shy about sharing info about your finding with comparing different detectors.

Great story and some beautiful desert gold!

^^Correct.

That doesn't sound so unfortunate...

That big one is as pretty as the come. Nice job man!

Nevada1616 , Neat find! That is a leg band for a homing pigeon. They are used to identify the individual birds for races. My dad use to race them for many years in southern Idaho. They would take thousands of pigeons out and release them anywhere from 100 to 600 miles away. I recall some of the farther release points were in Winnemucca, Lovelock, etc and they would return to Boise. Looks like #535 didn't make it home!

Fantastic!

Boy isn't that the truth. Good luck on your fact finding mission Jason!

Yes, it is John, although it's just a boring ol' website, not a forum. Note that the pic used in my article is used with permission, and also credits their website www.swiftcreekmine.com which you should check out... especially this page): :nugget: http://www.swiftcreekmine.com/

It's the Alaska Centennial Nugget found back in 1998. A nice chunk, no doubt! http://www.goldrushnuggets.com/alcenu.html

A slightly more flattering picture of a Sage Grouse.

I hope none of you guys are walking over those "beer cans" that you hear... :nugget: :nugget: What an awesome find!

Hi OwenT, You are right, Washington isn't much for nuggets. There are places to find gold all through the Cascades but most is fine. Liberty, WA is definitely the best-known nugget producing area in the state. I haven't researched land status myself, but I would expect most of this area is heavily claimed since the big nuggets are well-known and the mining district is relatively small. Maybe worth researching though. The pics below are from the visitor sign as you enter Liberty,, pretty nice stuff!

Jeez, everytime I read a thread on one of the Aussie forums they turn into a pissing match! Best of luck with your new venture JP.

I like that treasure box Lucky!

My goal is to find enough gold to make a boat like pic #28.

Great looking nuggs Californiagold! I hope to be down your way later this week to try mine out.

I was happy to have a new toy arrive today, the Fors Gold+! Hopefully I will have some time next week and give it a whirl. Here's a few pics just to get folks excited who have been waiting. I'll post a few updates once I've had some hours behind it.

Interesting articles. Its surprising how much gold there is around the world in places that most would say have none. Here's some more info on UK gold: http://raregoldnuggets.com/blog/?p=862

Yep, its Advanced Fee Fraud.. also called a "419 scam". I get those emails almost daily. Most of them claim to be out of Ghana, Cote d Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, or Tanzania and will say something along the lines of having "500kg gold and diamonds available for export". I've read stories of folks flying over there and getting kidnapped.. most of the time though i think it is a standard AFF fraud, where they will ask you to wire upfront payment to cover shipping, taxes, payment etc. Hard to believe folks fall for it but sadly they do. Scumbags.

Any issues using one with the GPX series? I haven't ever used a pinpointer but I could certainly see how they could speed things up, especially using large coils.

My first thought was to fashion a little spandex loop on the side of your hat that you could tuck it into. Kind of like a pencil behind your ear. You might look silly but that would get it 5-6 feet away from the coil.