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gollum

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  1. Thanks everyone for the advice. I used to be a Minelab Fanboy LOL, but have since gotten less label conscious. I've had eight or nine ML in the last twenty or so years, and only went to other brands for things ML didn't have (Fisher Gemini 3 Two-Box, Fisher Magnetometer, etc). I've also owned a couple of White's (GM4B, and V/SAT). The reason I am budgeting myself on this is because I REALLY want to see what's going to happen with the Fisher Impulse Terra (or whatever they wind up calling it). Carl says maybe this year or early next. I have the greatest respect for Eric Foster, and have tried to find a decent old Goldmaster 5B for years, but since this new Impulse is based on that same detector, I want to see what happens with it. Although...............this has happened before. I didn't want to drop a load on a GPX because the all new, hotter than hot, super silky, ultra detector ...........THE PULSE DEVIL was just around the corner! No really! Just around the corner. Here it comes......ooooops, sorry, manufacturing problems. OOoopps, ROHS issues. HMMMM shipping issues. Two years later......NEVER MIND! HAHAHA I trust Carl though, so we'll see. Thanks - Mike
  2. Okay. I see that Ismael is the Perth Dealer for QED. Do you know if he is associated with the company? I like Ismael a lot, and he knew about everything there was to know about the Minelab SD Series machines. If he was part of the design team, I KNOW the QED is a gold beast! Mike
  3. I'm just looking at all my choices in the $1k-$1.5K area for prospecting. My old SD2000 regularly outperformed much more modern detectors, but after so many years of using it, I knew most of its tricks. My Gold Bug II is a master of everything small and shallow. The only issues I ever had with the SD was that I almost needed a caravan to drag everything out necessary for use. If the Nox8 or Monster will do EVERYTHING a GPExtreme will, my question is answered, as I like to pack in my detectors to remote areas, and not have to carry them along with me.
  4. With most detectors, the choice is simple: A modern vlf detector is typically superior to an older vlf detector. With the advent of multiple frequencies, better software filtering, more exact displays, better technology. That's not my question. I had a Minelab SD2000 I bought new. I had done every one of Ismael's Mods. It found lots of gold over the years. It was stolen about four years ago. I miss it and all its "Idiosyncrasies". LOL Since then, I have gotten a few other detectors. Gold Bug II, a Schiebel MIMID PI Detector, GM4B, GM V/Sat. I have been looking at getting either an Equinox 800 or a Gold Monster (I almost exclusively prospect). While being bored and scrolling through random Ebay Ads, I began to wonder whether I should go with the Equinox, Monster...............or...............maybe a GPExtreme. For a few hundred more, I can get a powerful PI Gold Machine with modern batteries and multiple coils. There are also a crapload of available coils specific to different terrains. THOUGHTS? Best - Mike
  5. I would also recommend a book by Erle Stanley Gardner (yes, the Perry Mason Erle Stanley Gardner) called "Hunting Lost Mines by Helicopter". A lot of adventures in Baja with Choral Pepper, her husband, and Gardner. Great read. Mike
  6. I have a small horn spoon I carry with me all the time when I am out prospecting. The one I have used for years is about half the size of the one in the second pic. Since I can carry it in my pocket, I don't have to dig it out of my pack. It can dig things out of tight places. Because the size is small, washing out fines is easy and very quick. Basically, all you have to do is sweep away everything down close to bedrock. Then scrape out gaps with the spoon. You can wash it with less than half a cup of water. When I find a little color, I get out a bigger pan. It's not rocket science. HAHAHA Mike
  7. HHHMMMMMMMMMM? "Not really a drinker" yet has an avatar with two Bud Cans and a pair of panties. Sounds like a drinker to meeeeeee! But I'm no expert. HAHAHA Mike
  8. Is the Minelab Ferrite Ring any different from the myriad of Ferrite Rings/Toroid Coils on ebay for $2 - $5? Mike
  9. Aside from the Lost Peg Leg, those cliffs you see are a couple of hundred feet deep alluvial runoff from a combination of the Fish Creek and Santa Rosa Mountains. In the bottoms of all those chasms are tons and tons of rocks. They are all rounded river rocks. Tells me that SOMEWHERE down there is a LOT of gold that flowed down towards The Salton Sink. Someone had the bright idea at some point to work this gravel. They only dug down about 2 feet on top of one hill, but they made a BIIIIIIIIG pile of rocks (and I am 6'4")! Mike
  10. I have a couple of pics of some. When I get home, I will post a couple. Don't let that dampen your wick! Just because that part of the story is bogus, the main part is not. A lot of documented verification of much of the story. Mike
  11. Tortuga, Unfortunately, the whole story about the "Peg Leg" being found in Desert Mag was all made up. Magazine sales had been slow and they needed something to perk things up. It worked. The only reason I know is because a friend interviewed someone that worked at the mag, who spilled all the beans. Look carefully, and you can see the black spray paint on the guy's wrist in the picture! HAHAHA On the other hand, the story about Thomas L. "Peg Leg" Smith is about 95% likely true. He originally thought the nuggets were copper when he first started picking them up on that butte. He didn't find out till after he got to L.A. that they were gold. He spent the next twenty or so years looking for that middle of three buttes somewhere South West of The Salton Sea. I know where some have been found in that area (a few different places). I have seen a couple that people had in their collections. Authentic PegLeg Black Gold Nuggets are not coated with Desert Varnish (windblown Manganese, Iron, and Clay). They are black due to the oxidation of the approximately 10%-15% copper content of the gold. I have looked on and off for those nuggets for over twenty years. I have scoured the desert and mountains areas from Calexico to In-Ko-Pah Gorge in the South, and from The Chocolate Mountains, over to the Coyote Mts, and up to the Southern Santa Rosa Mountains to the North. Even so far as to go through both the Chocolate Mountain Bombing Range and The Carrizo Impact Area. The main reason the source of PegLeg Smith's Black Gold Nuggets has yet to be found IMO because all the areas around it are very rugged, and much of the land around there is Government Administered (Anza Borrego Desert State Park, etc, etc, etc), and off limits to the public (Bombing and Impact Areas). One of the areas I spend a lot of time are The Borrego Badlands. Here are some pics. From the top at Font's Point: From below, look carefully, and you can see me. I am 6'4" and 285lbs. See how tiny I am? Not a nice place. Not much lives there. Just occasional brush, jackrabbits, and rattlesnakes. ..............and don't forget The Bombing Ranges! Mike
  12. Its my understanding that the Sovereign GT is basically an Excalibur that is not waterproof, that makes the SGT one of the best Dry Beach Machines. A slower recovery speed just means your sweeps should be slower. Never had a Sovereign, but have had every Generation of Excalibur. Mike
  13. You would have probably got more gold if you had remembered to swirl the water in the pan counter-clockwise, in true South of the Equator Style! Mike
  14. Wernso, Shelton was saying that compared to the GoFind, the ATX construction was brilliant. I would have to agree, but you ARE comparing apples to strip clubs. I would safely say that a detector in the "Above $2000 Range" SHOULD be much better constructed than one that costs $199. Mike
  15. Like Steve said. What magnetic surveys do is look for differences in Earth's Natural Magnetic fields. Such fields can be altered by large underground ore bodies, large buried caches of metal, etc. Even if the ore body or buried metal is non-magnetic. The manner in which the metal affects the Earth's Magnetic Field which surrounds it many times can determine the type of metal. Another type of determining survey is called "Ground Resistivity". Don't get fooled by 99% of the ground resistivity detectors you see for sale. Anything operated by a nine volt battery can only get good resistivity figures for about ten square feet. There are also micro-gravity meters that can see tiny changes in the Earth's Gravity caused by things underground. Lots of ways to look underground if you have the money! Mike
  16. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a very good GPS. Garmin Foretrex 401 I have used one for many years. I used the ancestor of these things thirty years ago in the military (too big to wrist mount). Mike
  17. After riding horses and ATVs through deserts and mountains, I invested in Snake Proof Chaps. I have gaiters for hiking/detecting, but if you plan on riding through brush, trust me; you won't regret getting them. The first time you drive/ride through a couple of Ocotillo or Cholla, and your knees and shins don't look like ten miles of unpaved road, you will be very happy. If all you plan on doing is hiking or detecting in the brush, just get gaiters. Make sure you specify "SNAKE GAITERS" when you are shopping for them. They have "Gaiters" for hikers that are only designed to keep your socks from getting wet. They won't stop snake fangs or cholla/ocotillo spines. Mike
  18. While not exactly a "Turn On And Go" detector, there is not a huge learning curve for the 705. I had a 70 gold pac, and I absolutely loved it. Had it for about six years. After I moved on, I regretted selling it. I will in all likelihood get a new 705 next. I'm going to have to borrow one, and do a side-by-side against my Scheibel MIMID (mine detector). Mike
  19. I think anybody that reads your post will see the same thing I did. If that isn't how you intended it, then that's fine. That is the way it came across. Lets just say its quashed now. I know a little about hard work: That is a hand made trail through to a friends site in the Coronado Natl Forest. Combination of Pinch/Pry Bars, hand moving boulders, and for solid rock, we rode Polaris Ranger 6x6 and carried in a 5k generator and a Bosch Jackhammer. Part of your previous post is kind of correct though. Waltz was a very experienced prospector. He started in North Carolina, then Georgia, found his way to the Mother Lode in Northern California, in 1861 we found him mining along the San Gabriel River (about 20 miles from my house) near L.A. He left there, and was one of the very first miner/prospectors in Arizona Territory with the Weaver/Peeple's Party. They were the ones that discovered the "Potato Patch" (nuggets the size of potatoes) on Rich Hill (Stanton) and after, discovered gold in The Bradshaws, where he owned three good paying claims (The Gross, Big Rebel, and General Grant Claims). He was in the Bradshaws for four years before moving to Phoenix in 1868. Your offer sounds good to me. I haven't been in the Bradshaws yet. You name a mountain range from Northern Mexico to the Mojave Desert, and I have likely been there at some point in time. In Arizona, the Supers and The Tumacacoris. The only type of prospecting I REALLY don't like is drywashing. I had a Keene Puffer, and took it out a few times, and came to the realization that dry washing wasn't for me. A lot like sanding drywall. I helped a friend rehab a house in the early 1990s. Cement Boogers for days after. HAHAHA. I don't mind a pick, but I prefer Kinepaks. :-) Mike
  20. No worries Steve, I don't personally know AZBLACKBIRD. Never met the person. I haven't ever (to my knowledge) said anything that could be considered impolite or rude to him (unless maybe he posts under other names and maybe we had a go round that way, which is entirely possible). His post took me a little by surprise. That is one of the things I despise about the internet. It is far too easy to be a jerk without any consequences. Being a jerk face to face can have consequences (which is the way it should be). BD, One more thing, since I like to think of myself as being an honest person (with me, what you see is what you get), I have to admit the possibility that the pictured ore is from someplace else, and that the Pit Mine Story is just that. I'm not saying that because I made it up (or Jack San Felice). I am saying that because since I was not personally there to see anything that happened, I cannot say with 100% certainty that any of it happened (except what I have pictures of), and when you are talking about an illegal dig in the Superstition Wilderness Area, you should be careful about throwing around names and information as facts when they are hearsay and theory. Now, if you ask me what do I believe, I will say that I have known about the Pit Mine for several years. Until recently, I have always thought that is the stories were true, then they found one of several of the Peralta/Gonzalez Mines that are in the area of the Supers. A few of them have been found already. Look at the Mike
  21. AZBB, First, I have known Scott Wood for about 15 years. He just retired about a month ago after almost 40 years in and around Tonto. While you may have just been joshing with BD, I detect a different situation towards me. PLEASE come to the Rendezvous this year. I would dearly love for you to be insult me to my face. BD, Yes, I have been in the Supers many times. I'm only 8-9 hours away in Los Angeles. You raise many good points, and I will try and answer them all. First, yes I have hauled literally tons of very heavy equipment up and down mountains, through deserts and swamps. I jumped out of airplanes in first the US Navy and after the US Army. In a Ranger Bn, the Commo Man's ruck is (or at least was in the 1980s) about 150 pounds (the only heavier was the mortarman's baseplate). That 150lbs doesn't include weapons (which in my case was usually an M-60 and a .45). I had to do a lot of heavy lifting being 6'4" and 285lbs helps a lot. HAHAHA On the East end of the Supers (especially in the Summer months) not a lot of people in that area. The road into the area is very long and anyone can see anyone coming many miles before you get there. There are also no trails in or around the area. Maybe these pics of The H.E.A.T. Dig no more than five miles from the Pit Mine will give you an idea of how it was done: (The following pictures are from www.dutchhunter.com ) You were saying something about a muck bucket? This one was over 100 pounds. You're going to need lumber for the headframe! .....and don't forget the cable reel! ...and voila, what were you saying about something to bring up all the ore? You will also need boards for shoring! This old Spanish Mine was the first ever treasure trove permit issued for the area. It was done by hand and horse. REALLY? Waltz said his mine had two sources of gold. One was an 18" thick seam of white AND rose quartz a bunch of visible gold. There was also a vein about 8" wide of volcanic tuff that had a lot of gold when panned. Look carefully at that pic of the gold/quartz specimen. I see lots of red staining. You are also only seeing one piece of an awful lot. What they used to break out the ore? No idea. I wasn't involved. The HEAT Dig was absolutely legal, and everybody involved had a lot of hardrock mining experience. Go on over to Goldfield and ask Bob Schoose about the HEAT Dig, and how they hauled everything in by hand and horse. Maybe you will call Bob an armchair prospector? HAHAHA Yeah, armchair. The story was IN a book by Jack San Felice, but it didn't originate with him. It will also be included in his newest book (whenever that comes out). I used the words/terms supposedly, maybe, and such for several reasons. One of them is because since I was not involved in the dig, I am not comfortable using absolute terms about something I did not see with own eyes (no matter how much I believe it is true). I will post some more in a while. Mike
  22. I have been using the SPOT for many years. It does have a very rudimentary kind of transmit. If you set it up with your home computer, you can transmit signals that will leave a waypoint on your home computer, so concerned loved ones can see where you are in real time. Mike
  23. I have every generation of Fisher Gemini (I, II, and III). The reason they use a car for reference is because that is a best case scenario (for depth). If a car was buried at ten feet, a GPZ7000 wouldn't see it. Only a Two-Box or a Fluxgate Magnetometer (the mag will see ferrous metals VERY deep, but only ferrous metals hence the name MAGNET-ometer). The reason to use a magnetometer is because even though it won't see gold or silver, it will see the hinges, straps, lock, hasp of the box its in very deeply. Mike
  24. Heading North on Apache Trail, Goldfield is on the left and the SMHS Museum is on the Right. The SMHS Museum has a little white Chapel on the property. The Stone Maps are the originals that used to be on display at the Arizona Mining and Minerals Museum/Flagg Foundation. They are on permanent loan. I believe the copies are at ASU. Mike
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