Jim Hemmingway
-
Posts
251 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Detector Prospector Home
Detector Database
Downloads
Posts posted by Jim Hemmingway
-
-
Good report Chris, thankyou for sharing your most recent experience in that area. I like that you describe what you encountered and what you plan to do to enhance your success in future visits. Congratulations on some very nice gold, we always enjoy your instructive reports from the field.
Jim.
-
Thankyou Steve, most kind… that firmly settles things in my mind, although it will be awhile. I don't even want to look at a metal detector until the autumn prospecting season begins. Nope, some camping and fly fishing up on the Shield, long forest walks with my binoculars and camera, an invitation to do some sailing off the east coast, and some windsurfing at the cottage is what I’m looking forward to this summer.Incidentally, I received a brief message from a mutual friend, ol’ Tailgate Jim. I stayed up late the other night writing him a lengthy letter in reply. He seems well, and in his usual positive frame of mind. Were it possible Steve, I’d immediately wish myself down to the Randsburg General Store to have coffee with Jim and his good friends tomorrow morning. I have several of his books and other notes lining my desktop bookshelf, and contentedly view these volumes with the warmth of genuine friendship. It seems to me that there is a long, long time of waiting for the elusive but real friendships we value most in life, but they invariably prove worthy of our hopes, patience, and understanding.Good luck and good hunting when you’re out and about, and all the very best with that fancy new Minelab gold detector. Have a great summer, my thoughts will certainly be with you.
Jim.
-
Steve… thankyou for posting a link to the revised TDI Pro article. I’ve mentioned to you in the past that I was dissatisfied with the original, but finally there was time available to update it along with my other reports. These are stored on the TNET Canada sub-forum for reference. I’m content now that everything reads as they should have initially.A good portion of the forum discussion recently has centered around a collective interest in the latest Minelab offerings with considerable emphasis on field experience to date. There is little or nothing I can contribute to those discussions, but I’m not about to unnecessarily ‘muddy’ the water with irrelevant chatter about silver hunting. The fact is that the recent ‘Abandoned Trails’ article was an incidental distraction resulting from discussions with hobbyists and friends last autumn. I had very little interest in posting that article anywhere. Usually such run-of-the-mill material gets filed in my prospecting journal and never does see the light of day. The TDI revision was a necessary PITA to finally set the record straight.Possibly down the road there will be a more suitable time for introducing a silver-related essay here. Meanwhile permit me to compliment your stewardship of this forum, you’re doing a tremendous job and the forum has attracted some of the foremost people in the hobby to its active membership. It generates some very interesting discussions at a knowledge level that cannot be matched elsewhere.Jim.
-
Sorry Tom, it won't be possible to be in New Hampshire at that time of year. I hope to be at the family cottage across from the Sandbanks on Prince Edward Island, and may take a break to head north to silver country in northeastern Ontario over the long Victoria Day May 24th weekend for a week or three... just depends on circumstances. Have a safe trip, please take some scenery shots, and otherwise good luck with everything!!!
Jim.
-
Tom... congratulations on your copper nuggets, you had to work for them. Nuggets and especially copper / rock specimens I've seen from Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula have an inherently unique beauty. These command extraordinary prices at an upper peninsula rockshop. If any native silver is attached to a primarily copper / rock sample, the price escalates sharply.
Glad to see you regularly posting here on the forum Tom. You've had some well-deserved success with your Indiana glacial gold... doggone it... a first-rate picker. Well done!!!
Jim.
-
A unique, attractive item for your daughter's birthday Fred, her 40th only comes once. I think you've given her a gift she'll always treasure, best regards...
Jim.
-
I’m really pleased to see this type of highly informative write-up Steve. Despite all the forum discussion about PI units, the vast majority of hunters encountered prospecting silver in northeastern Ontario are using VLF units. And irrespective of whether they actively participate, there’s no doubt that most do monitor this and other forums. So hopefully everyone will find your discussion related to VLF operating modes, target ID and monitoring ground mineralizations to be especially interesting and instructive.On that note allow me to say that your resourceful efforts to keep this forum diversified and interactive are certainly appreciated. Excellent work as exemplified by this latest thread … thankyou and hope to see more along these lines from time to time.Jim.PS: I think most experienced electronic prospectors would agree that one can never have too much visual information about ground mineralizations with respect to phase measurement and magnetic susceptibilities, and target ID in conjunction with audio signal nuances... particularly for those who search almost exclusively in motion all-metal modes. Better to have it and not need it than otherwise.
-
Yep... a very handsome 'character' piece, congratulations LipCa.
Jim.
-
Yep... agree with the guys above, many thanks azblackbird. Mankind's works are as nothing, we see plenty of similar evidence up here in the silver areas. Continual changes, the forests encroaching until some of the places I hunted 30 years ago are now unrecognizable / or access is much more difficult.
Jim.
-
Hi LipCa… this subject was on my mind while in the northland hunting silver this past autumn. Steve provides a very good description of the conditions that produce this common occurrence. With innumerable small silver samples dug each season, we experience this phenomenon repeatedly.It is nothing unusual to read about hobbyists claiming that nuggets in the ground react with a stronger signal to their PI units than those same nuggets produce once disturbed, brought to the surface, or occasionally even waved across the coil. Sometimes it is claimed that no air test signal can be had on a piece that obviously responded with a signal when in the ground. From my experience with PI units I have no doubt these variable accounts are factual.A commonplace scenario here is that a decent size piece is anticipated based on the signal strength, only to dig it and find that a perfectly good signal was produced by a high character, spongy, or small silver ore whose surface signal has lost considerable strength or nearly vanished. Occasionally the signal is lost altogether… requiring my Propointer to locate such targets.Jim.
-
Love your videos Ron, and your recoveries. Nothing like old silver from depth, thanks for an interesting presentation!!
Jim.
-
Enjoyed these tales... the wit and lively sense of humor ... thankyou.
Barry Crump... I've read one of his books, but don't recollect the title.
It was an interesting read about a young woman travelling the South Island and meeting her future husband by way of experiencing several successful "adventures" related to prospecting New Zealand greenstone (jade or pounamu) and mining... with a happy ending. The book has since been donated to our local library.
Jim.
-
Glenn… I think for many of us immersed in this hobby, who live at a great distance from the goldfields, on viewing your remarkable gold nuggets, have to pause in appreciative reflection that such areas actually do exist where one can find valuable raw gold. Congratulations on an outstanding piece…Jim.
-
Glenn... enjoy your posts, continued success...
Jim.
-
Great tale Trev (NZ)... laughed out loud while reading along, an ingenious bit of craftsmanship mon ami... welcome to the forum.
Jim.
-
Congratulations on the gold Steve. I understand the satisfaction you have experienced especially finding the larger piece. It's not so easy to move into a new area and independently establish your own promising search locations... particularly sites where there has been an absence of other prospectors.
Do you mind my asking... do you recollect if you were able to run the ATX sensitivity at maximum at all? Thanks for sharing your latest adventure.
Jim.
-
A real pleasure to go back and have another look at this thread… a remarkable adventure considering what these guys did to make it happen. Thanks again Steve for remaining in contact with the forum, and particularly for the effort behind documenting your reports with those superb wildlife and scenery photos.Jim.
-
Steve… this is a very good report. It addresses the salient points for anyone considering the purchase of an SDC 2300. Love the vivid outdoor photos, and of course your gleaming rugged gold has a special allure. Thanks for putting it together, I think you've made a good conscientious effort to communicate your thoughts and ideas regarding the unit. Good luck with your hiking trip into the outback.Jim.PS: Chris... most impressive, you richly deserve all the credit in the world.
-
Chris… that’s approaching a half-oz of handsome character gold over the past week’s few outings for you… I would be pleased with those results. I should think that size and character gold would be suitable for what is generally described as micro-collections… these are becoming increasingly popular with the mineral collecting fraternity here.Newcomers to the hobby should pay attention to what you've been doing. Adapting equipment to search conditions is always the key to consistent successful results. This is a fine example of that simple concept producing in spades… kudos to you and Steve.Jim.
-
Kudos to you Chris. Results like these make a very compelling case for the SDC 2300. But I think the real credit is due to your systematic approach to gold prospecting, the research and legwork involved with locating productive areas, and adapting your equipment and methods to the conditions at hand. Congratulations on these ruggedly handsome nuggets… beautiful stuff.Jim.
-
Chris... I have a wide variety of silver specimens that illustrate structure exerts a very real impact on PI GB scale positioning. Despite the elevated gold weight, I think it is the structure that positions the 12 gram specimen on low conductive side of the GB tonal break.... hence a high-low tone response.
One apparent result compared to my GBPI units is a dramatic shift in the GB tonal breakpoint to a very low conductive placement on the GB scale… a foil to low nickel GB position seems indicated from the forum examples reported to date.
Based on those reports, forum readers should realize that it is not possible to differentiate any ferrous from non-ferrous based specifically on signal tones, but thanks to the information above from you and Steve, readers can understand why that is the case.
Jim. -
Chris… your rough character gold impresses… regardless of size. These are attractive samples as are many others you’ve posted recently. I would be a bit surprised if you sell your quality gold finds, but should think this size range would be much easier to market at a good price if one was so inclined.I’m surprised at the 0.8 gram piece producing a lo-high tone too. It seems to indicate a very low conductive GB position compared to my PI units over my ground. It would be interesting to know where that nugget target IDs on a VLF unit. No need to reply to this… just thinking about your “down-up” signal comment… congratulations on some very fine looking samples.Jim.
-
Congratulations Jeffery on some handsome gold, welcome to the forum.
Jim.
-
Very handsome nuggets Dave… beautiful stuff… congratulations.
Jim.
Found An Awesome Piece With My Fors Gold Today...
in Nokta / Makro Metal Detectors
Posted
WTG Nugget 65... I think a lot of us have been in that situation and certainly can appreciate your heartfelt experience. And you deserve that success.
Let's hope that it will quickly be followed by another even better piece, thanks for sharing your outing with everyone and good luck.
Jim.