EZMoney Bob

That's a thing of beauty. It also looks worn and must have traveled some distance from where it was formed. Wonder how big it was before it got worn down? I'm gonna go out on a small limb and predict that a newsworthy nugget will be found here in Nevada in the next 6 months. The geologists say that the California gold originated here, so some of the really big nuggets must have stuck around!

I have an older independent suspension Arctic Cat 500 and it's been a very good machine. I don't think you can go too far wrong with any of the name brand machines. I like that Arctic Cat's now making their own engines in the US and not using Suzuki engines any more. The Suzuki's were good engines, I just like the idea of a US engine. If I were looking for another quad, I'd consider looking at used machines. Seems like a lot of folks are selling their perfectly good low mileage light usage quads in order to get a new side by side. Side by sides are great but are usually wider and longer and can't go where an old school quad can go. Tires on new quads don't seem to be top of the line. If you get a used one, part of your savings could be spent on better tires. Also, make sure you can solidly mount a receiver hitch to the front and rear. Hauling a drywasher and buckets of concentrate around is a lot easier with an off road atv trailer. The steering on my quad is awkward and heavy when I have a heavy load strapped to the front rack. I don't see the need for more than 400 or 500cc. Gas mileage can be important and bigger engines almost always use more fuel. They also make for heavier quads. Traction off road is the limiting factor and extra HP doesn't do much good when you can't get all that power to the ground. I use mine mostly as a slow speed tractor. If I want to go fast I have motorcycles. The good part about getting a new or newer ATV is power steering! Wish I had it. - Bob

Never having either detected in Australia with or without a Garrett AT Pro I'm just clutching at straws but I'm wondering about the legendary ground mineralization you have. Is it possible that any VLF detector would act the same at your location? Before sending it all the way back to Garrett, could you try a friends AT Pro or another VLF detector to see how they work at the same location? - Bob

Hi Gene, Thanks for your response and I also got a similar PM from another Kellyco representative. I'd like to make a clarification in this tempest in a teapot. It was unfortunate that I was left on hold when I called Kellyco, but that kind of thing happens with any company. I'm sure it was a fluke and not a normal event and I can easily call Kellyco back and my call will be answered right away. I really don't have much of a problem with Kellyco at all. It's not Kellyco's fault at all that Nokta has decided to have only one USA dealer and I sure can't expect you to tell Nokta that you actually want competition in the form of other dealers. My real issue, that unfortunately got reinforced while I was waiting on hold, is that I strongly prefer to be able to make my own decisions and choose what dealer I purchase detectors from. I might look at my options and then decide to buy from Kellyco, but in the case of Nokta I don't have any options so I have decided for the present not to purchase a Nokta detector. So, it's really not completely a practical issue of not being able to place an order with Kellyco over the phone, it's really just a matter of principle that I don't have a choice of Nokta dealers. I believe that having a choice and some level of competition between dealers is always good for the purchaser and also good for everyone. Thanks again for your response, Bob

Good points, Steve. In my case I occasionally like to experiment and buy something a little bit new and different. I like the small innovations such as the vibrating feature. And, your review was pretty darn positive. Also, I worked in Turkey on a geothermal power plant project a few years ago and really enjoyed Turkey and the hospitality I was shown so I have some level of bond or affinity with Turkey. The immediate replies to my questions to the factory in Turkey helps a lot too. And then there is this. I don't like to buy fairly expensive items from a website by just pressing the "Add to Cart" button. I like to talk to a human being, partly to personally confirm the item is actually in stock and will ship promptly and also to try some unskilled price negotiating - you never know until you ask. Deciding yesterday to buy a FORS Gold, I called Kellyco. Got left on hold for an interminable amount of time, listening to the recording over and over and over of how important my call was to them and would be handled by the next available sales representative. I will admit to having less than extreme patience when put on hold for long periods, this well having long been poisoned by AT&T, the local power company and other unresponsive organizations. I just don't like not having a choice of a local dealer, or any other dealers at all and I got tired of the endlessly repeated recording and hung up the phone. As I recall, Minelab entered the US market with new products and even fairly new and different technology through a dealer network and I don't see why Nokta can't do the same. So, I'm reconsidering my purchase. Probably just shooting myself in my own foot and I'm sure Nokta will somehow survive without me. My apologies for adding a negative note to an otherwise very positive thread. - Bob

Even though I've been assured about good warranty service and no longer concerned about it, I was still concerned about customer service and what happens if we have trouble with a Nokta machine after the warranty has expired. One of my concerns was that since there is no USA service facility, what happens if a detector should fail after the warranty is expired? I sent some questions to Turkey and here is the response: If you have an issue after the warranty we can send you the replacement part at cost …you do not need to buy the whole machine… many parts are easily replaced… if anything goes wrong with the board, we will send a new system box…anything goes wrong with the shaft or coil we will send that part… all customers serviced so far are very happy. From what I've seen via Google, the Nokta customer service is indeed good and there is no reason for major concern.

Ken, for what it might be worth, here's an excerpt from Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 70 "Geology and Mineral Deposits of Washoe and Storey Counties, Nevada" The report quoted in the Bulletin is dated 1959 and a lot of work was done at the mine since then so I don't know how valid it is now. "...Grab samples taken from the dump at the mine were found to contain gold values ranging from .83 to 1.14 ounces per ton and silver values of 13.02 ounces to 69 ounces per ton. Presumably these samples came from the underground workings, but it is not known how representative these samples are of the deposit." The above doesn't sound like placer gold, but if any of the old dumps survived through the years it sure sounds like it would be worthwhile to detect them. Bob

Paul, those are some very good finds, you must be having fun! Any idea what that device/mechanism in the upper left of your photo is? From here it looks like it might be the remnants of a gold scale. Thanks, Bob

Rick, I asked the factory in Turkey this question awhile back and here is their answer: " The difference is actually in the search modes. Gold includes a mode more ideal for gold fields and prospecting (BOOST) and CoRe includes a mode ideal for beach hunting as well (COG – conductive ground)."

Nice finds. Thanks for posting them. Just a thought, maybe the slight target ID advantage of the Deus might be equalized by the FORS CoRe model. Someone needs to buy both the CoRe and the Gold so we can have a head to head comparison. Ha!

Hi Steve, Thanks for the link and yes, we can buy or kluge together impact mills from old lawnmowers pretty cheap and easy. For some reason new and used jaw crushers seem to demand exorbitant prices. I would like to have a jaw crusher because the output size is to some extent adjustable and controllable. You can sort of control the results from an impact crusher by limiting the time it's working, but it still hammers material into oblivion and completely destroys any nuggets that may be in the rock. Of course I'm being optimistic about the size of the nuggets that may in my material. Plus, some people just like to build things. http://www.factoryfat.com/roadog.html - Bob

Now ,that we have one of the world's premier make-it-yourself mining equipment fabricators onboard in the person of AZViper, what say any interested parties collaborate on a DIY Jaw Crusher? Just checking to see if there's any interest. I got started but didn't get very far. Biggest obstacle I've run into is finding suitable flywheels. I think they're necessary to maintain enough momentum to keep the crusher going smoothly. The jaw crushers I've seen sort of chug along but I've also heard of some high speed jaw crusher designs that reportedly work very efficiently. Might be something to investigate. What do you think? - Bob

Steve, a good review from you means that it belongs on my new detector short list. About detectors, I think you've said that knowing your machine, no matter what it is, is the most important part of successful detecting. The most successful detectorist I know is a fellow here in Reno who recently found his 100th gold coin. Not a cache of many coins, but one by one over a period of years. His detector is a 1980's Teknetics. Thanks for yours and AZViper's comments on the AA batteries, I can cross that concern off my list. - Bob

Thanks Steve and Ray and everyone who commented on the Nokta FORS Gold. I can think of a completely unlimited number of reasons why I should buy one today, but before I let loose of the money I'll play the devil's advocate and ask myself why I shouldn't buy one. No particular order or priority. 1. It's likely that 30 days after I get my detector, Nokta will come out with a new and improved version, incorporating the suggestions in this thread and other improvements. 2. It looks like KellyCo is the only place in the US to get one and I just don't like buying things from a sole source vendor. KellyCo seems to be a reputable company and they've been around longer than I can remember. But I believe in some level of competition and I have a knee jerk reaction against buying something when I have no choice where to get it from. 3. I'm a little bit suspicious of a high performance detector that's only powered by 4 AA cells. Granted, the Pro version comes with NiMH AA batteries but still...it seems to me that detector performance is to some extent dependent on the power of the power supply. That may be more true of PI detectors though. 4. I was gearing up to order a Minelab SDC-2030 and the FORS Gold has got me wavering. Of course, the only real solution is to get both of them. 5. As a courtesy, I'll have to explain to my wife why we need another detector. This is a slam dunk because I made some extra money this month and a new detector purchase won't come out of household money or deplete any reserves. Well, the SDC-2030 will. I'd sure appreciate any thoughts anyone may have. Thanks, Bob

AZViper, I've followed your build threads and they're excellent. Hope you post them here. Your trommel is the best one I've seen. - Bob

Very interesting site - thanks!

Yeah, I'm sure it is. I've seen short upward holes for blasting but never seen 100+ft long vertical upwards drilling like the Ruby Mine report describes. Very interesting. - Bob

This is really exciting news. Hope the best for them. Interesting about drilling vertically upwards for such a distance, never seen that before and it must take some special techniques.