klunker

You've got the most important part figured out. That is the desire to do it. My only advise would be to not only "think outside the box" but don't even think about boxes. Best of luck to you Sir.

You obviously don't buy "prospectors bacon". It has 300 pounds of salt per 400 pounds. That's fine with me if Sourdough Scott doesn't forget the beer. Again.

If you take the "adventure" out of prospecting it just becomes work.

Sorry, but Rooster is the only responsible adult in the whole outfit. I know he can take care of himself.

I'm not shy about it. Yup. I have big clumsy feet. The good news is it gives me stabilizing ballast should sobriety forsake me. The bad news is it's hell on GPZ 7000 lower shafts. I have broken several. To make matters worse, the lines of communication between my big feet and my small command and control center often get disrupted somewhere between my gullet and my gizzard which allows my big feet to proceed on a different heading than the rest of me. Oops, there goes another GPZ 7000 lower shaft. But I don't take full responsibility for all of these broken lower shafts. I don't recall ever breaking the good ol' GPX lower shaft and they fit at least 10 different detectors and cost less than half of a GPZ lower shaft. So I lay most of the blame at the feet of Minelab and not because of the feet of Klunker. The shaft is just plain flimsy. Being a "tight wad" by nature I have tried numerous times to repair a broken lower shaft using glues, epoxies, tape, splints and every flavor of bubble gum you can imagine. Nothing worked. I finally came up with the idea of totally replacing the lower end of the shaft and it work splendidly. This was made from an inch and a quarter by 1 inch pvc plastic pipe tee, a fine toothed saw, a drill, a round file, a sander, a heat gun and a bit of good epoxy. This repair has held up for a couple of dozen trips and survived the icy conditions of early spring detecting, which is when my big feet are at their worst. If anyone is interested I will post instructions

Sir you have just lost your position as camp cook. It's back to the pick and shovel with you.

The plan of operation volumes 1.2.3.&4. The archeology report The biologists report the hydrology report the wild life report hazardous spill containment kit air resources permit road use permit Dept. of hazardous substances permit waste oil recycling plan certification illness and injury prevention program documentation motor carrier permit D.O.T certified vehicle inspection report approved fire prevention plan MSHA permit to operate OSHA permit to operate tooth paste

Beer.

One of these days the perfect prospecting dog will follow me home like my last one.

The artist whined a little bit about the quarts being the toughest he has ever delt with so I believe it took him a couple of weeks.

He is set up to safely use and experienced with hydrofluoric acid (seemingly benign but very dangerous stuff). He has also developed a way to remove the chalkyness from the quartz after the acid treatment. It takes many days of careful observation and an artistic eye to get the most out of a specimen. I don't have the patience or he talent. Don't try this at home without adult supervision.

I was given several options by the artist who did the HF and photography work. Sell outright, have it returned and pay for his beautiful work or sell on commission. I was in no hurry for a sale and a commission would produce the best net return. However it sold almost immediately. The proceeds will pay for this years mining ventures.

4.79 ozt. gold content. The artist knows what he is doing and lost a very minute amount of Au from the original S.G. calcs.

I sent it home with a fellow so he play with it. Quite talented this fellow.

I was getting bored with digging stove lids, shovel heads and kerosene tins so I figured I would dig one more target and proceed to a different location. So I did.