tvanwho

Yes, thanks. TomAshworth.com used to be my gold home, then it was AMDS gold forum, now its Detector Prospector.com -Tom

Sounds like a good place to be in October. I was told it was in the high 90's already in Phoenix right now, a bit much for me. Where can I find details on this rendezvous? I could sure use an experienced prospector buddy to go exploring with around that area. Is it better to fly into the airport in Apache Junction or Sky Harbor? Inexpensive SUV rental and not too expensive hotel would help this man on a budget if you have any suggestions? Last 2 times I was out there, I was unable to get a rental 4wd without having to sign a waiver stating I would NOT go offroad with it, so got stuck with 2wd suv's. One was a Ford Explorer.I had a scare over by Gillette,north of Phoenix. The Explorer could not get up the gravel road to Tipton, west of the Agua Fria river over there. I put my foot on the brakes to ponder what to do. Hmm, why does it feel like the truck is moving anyways? And BACKWARDS?? Yipes, I suddenly realized that I was sliding backwards on gravel apparently, almost into the ravine on the side of the road, in fact, just barely missed rolling over into it. Of course the Enterprise rental guy had assured me it was a 4x4,......NOT.... I'd sure like to meet these Dutch hunters and swap stories and go exploring ,perhaps you can send me a PM ..thanks Ps, I just found your treasure entries on Desert.com forum, good reading, never knew about the Jesuit treasure in the Supers.. -Tom

Whats an Eperb? Do you mean an Epipen like doctors give for people who are allergic to bees and nuts? Will taking an Ativan tablet or Benadryl help calm me down, panic is probably your worst enemy after a snake bite I would think, especially if alone in the boonies. -Tom

I never knew about any silver mines there Mike, don't see any on my topo maps, only copper mines down by Superior/Globe, gold mines at Goldfields ghost town, and some old silver mines by Richmond basin ,wayy east of the Supers.And all the books I read say the Superstitions have the wrong geology for gold or metals mines. But when I was a kid and lived in Arizona in the late 1960's, we took a hike up in the west side of the Superstitions I think it was, with a church group of boys and I still remember all the men on horseback riding along that trail and they had bandoleers of rifle bullets around them, heavily armed to say the least. When you are a 12 year old kid, you don't quite know what to think about such things. I didn't know anything about mining back then. Are Bob Corbin and Tom Kollenborn still living? That sure is a pretty rock..I got an acorn size piece like that at Ganes creek gold mine in Alaska with my Tesoro Lobo metal detector back in 2005. I got re-interested and redowsed the Supers for gold and actually got 3 hits this time for 6, 7, 25 K ounce deposits but miles away from Weavers Needle. Kinda doubt a metal detector would do any good at 2-50 feet depth. Just not sure if they are inside or outside the Wilderness boundary? I did find Rogers Spring and Old Mill site. Will need to get to Apache Junction again sometime soon before I get too decrepit and get me some samples to have assayed.

Hmm, sounds interesting. I map dowsed a large silver deposit in that area years ago but ground too difficult to hike in to check it out and metal detecting/digging is a no no in a wilderness area. Not to mention the number of people who get killed/murdered/ lost/ otherwise deceased while looking for the supposed mine over the years. The Goldfields ghost town just north of the Superstitions actually had several working gold lode mines at one time. And the Apaches have their Thundergod legend of that area if you believe in such things...I was in contact with Bob Corbin some years ago, former Arizona state officer ,can't remember exactly what title he held now. He told me he had searched them mountains for years with no luck and even been hassled by forest rangers for just having a detector strapped to his horses saddle. I inquired about a helicopter ride over the Superstitiions? Cost? A measly $800 an hour and was told they cannot descend any closer than 2000 feet from the ground due to the Wilderness restrictions, so ferget about landing in there. -Tom

So does anybody wear snake gators or chaps or boots for protection? Just wondering what the insurance options are besides sheer luck? Thanks for the input Vanurse. Speaking of killing the snakes, do you shoot them with pistol shot loads, throw a big rock, or I spose a shovel would be best if available...we have 2-3 foot water snakes here in the Midwest that will bite and draw blood cause they don't let go. But most who are bitten either stepped on one or tried to grab it as it swam by them in the creek while gold digging. I did have an odd looking orange one swim down to a log we had our sluices resting on in the creek He saw us 2 miners and slithered down the big log to inspect our operation I guess? We stepped back real quick !! -Tom

I will have to try some dirt from Chicken, Alaska then. I don't spose you could tell us how the town got its name, just curious?

Thanks Ken, What exactly is in a snake bite kit anyway,besides a sucker thing? I've heard its not wise to cut into the bite with a razor blade for fear of slicing open an artery? Sure would like to hear from our medic friend Vanurse on this subject? I have a pair of hip high chaps which sure do help at keeping the cactus and thorns from poking me, dunno about snake proof tho? Where do you buy them at and price? Sounds like cheap insurance i need to get....

No nuggets for me but I had bought some gold panning dirt from an Ebay seller from Arizona for $40 + $8 shipping for 4 pounds . I got me a nice blue plastic washtub from Wally World ,holds about 7 gallons of water. I used a small gold pan to pan out the dirt finally, in the washtub , with nice warm bath water. This seller uses a contraption that looks like a cement mixer but with a cylindrical screen mounted in the center with a spraybar that he shovels dirt into .He has a claim near Rich Hill, Arizona he says. He has videos on Youtube. His outfit is Johnny Gold Dust and he will take people out to his claim for $50 a day per person, up to 14 days.His email is noyesboy@yahoo.com I think I'd rather pay $50 a day to dig near Rich Hill vs $300 a day from others which would break me in a hurry I am afraid... Anyway, see photo and scale readings. I panned out 10.5 grains of gold flakes from my 46 dollars of dirt, so I guess thats around $25 dollars worth. Does anybody else sell richer dirt? I tried Felix paydirt but it wasn't so good.I wonder how Chicken Miners dirt is? -Tom

I always wondered about you guys in poison snake country? Besides wearing them snake gator things, how do you behave in snake country? Are you always watching for the ground to move when its not sposed to? Them rattlers don't always rattle, do they? Having a metal detector coil in front of you must provide a little protection? How far can they strike you from? Can their fangs penetrate canvas waders or cowboy boots? If you do get bit and you are miles away from town in the desert, whats your plan of action? I am hearing the electric battery to the bite is no longer considered a good treatment? Are them sucker things any good? I have enough troubles with stinging nettles and them little water skater bugs and poison ivy. 2 of them bugs went up my pants leg a few years back and I had puncture wounds in my shin with blood coming out and then my rear end felt like it was on fire and I got all light headed for 1/2 hour. I will hit them with bug spray and use waders for sure next time. Never underestimate mother nature......

That would make my day,nice one Ray

And how much trash did you have to dig vs the goodies? At least you got away from winter for a few days. I take it they don't have sharks close to the beach like in Florida? We had tornadoes/floods in the Chicago area this week and back to 35 degrees tonite. Lucky Steve...

A 9 volt battery could burn you good if in your pocket along with coins, tape over the terminals. I always use Duracells, dunno about the other brands, 9 volts can be a bit expensive if non rechargeable is all I know. How do you like the F19? Do you use it for coins, relics, or prospecting? -Tom

Women in Alaska mining placer and hardrock gold AND using dowsing rods to find where to dig? Sure wish I could find a girlfriend like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C2DHMsdLCE

I am learning a ton of stuff from a book I bought called: Introductory Prospecting and Mining by Leo and Michael- Mark Anthony, 9th revised edition, 2005. The print is small but readable, tons of info on sampling, various techniques to use including geochemical testing, use of Dip Needles and proton magnetometers to locate placer and magnetic ore bodies, water sample testing to locate ore bodies, resistivity and electrical methods of tracking potential ore bodies. It is targeted to Alaska gold prospectors specifically but lessons learned could apply anywhere. It explains various rock types, just wish it had color photos which it has none of any kind. I am hi-liting things as I read for future reference. -Tom

So, if I am poring over aerial map views of Arizona gold country for instance and I come across a rock formation that looks like the Great Wall of China , say 20-50 feet wide, and can be traced in a fairly straight line across the countryside for hundreds of feet or even a mile or more, sometimes quartz, sometimes unknown rock, is this what is referred to as a dike ? Is this a good gold sign? Where does one find fault line maps? I've never seen one. Other times I see areas of color, gray and red/orange especially. I know the red /orange are iron gossans. Sometimes the gray splotches are irregular and sometimes can be traced as a band for a half mile or more. I am assuming they are a mineral but don't really know? -Tom

A live 22 long bullet in the front yard of a local grade school

How will the Gold Racer be different than this one and when will it be out? Thanks, -Tom

Whatever happened to Biomass diesel fuels made from cornstalks, grass, leaves, and trees , etc? Sure would like to get my local county forest preserve to stop burning down brushy areas and polluting the air for miles around , not to mention giving some of us asthma attacks and they have to get an EPA waver to violate the Clean Air Act? Is there some way of fighting back ? I could hunt for gold better if could just breathe clean air year around. Gold from poop sounds good but ......

Thanks Barry. I don't spose you could tell us why GPS numbers on Google based maps are now shown as xx.yyyyy, ex 32.11154, instead of the old way of degrees ,minutes, and seconds? My handheld GPS does degrees/minutes/seconds also. How do I convert deg/min/sec to the decimal equivalent and vice versa? Thanks. FYI,I normally use AcmeMapper 2.0 which shows GPS with 5 decimals. Then, I use Google Earth to zoom in and get a view of the spot from different angles, perspectives, and elevations. Determining land ownership is the next challenge. I sometimes can find this out by checking to see if a county has a free Online GIS Mapping system which will show property owners, boundaries, even property taxes paid. Sometimes they charge a fee for this service. Beats having to go to county courthouses or buying lots of Plat books especially if out of state... -Tom

Is my Win XP too old to use this,loads kinda slow , closeup Arizona aerials aren't as good as Google Earth,no detailed images, icons look identical to my new Footprints of Quartzite,Az dvd so easy to use. At least I can see land status and claims now in Tonto NF,Az,but hard to navigate to a particular map destination? Maybe am doing it wrong? Can I put in GPS coordinates? Thanks for all the hard work.

I was actually on the club website but couldn't find much in contact info, no phone number anyway, sent the webmaster an email just now, see what happens... Steve,where did you get that neckstrap for your homebrew GB2 chest mount? Umm, never mind, I searched on Ebay for a wide camera strap and got a slightly used 2 inch Minolta camera strap with the 2 hooks and free ship for 13 bucks. Found out the Quartzite Metal detecting club HQ is at a place called Miners Depot in Quartzite,Arizona. They have 9 claims, total around 600 acres, cost is a measly 20 bucks a year to join. -Tom

My GB2 hip/chest pouch arrived today,kudos to metaldetector.com for actually having these things still in stock !! Also, got some computer software from Rob Allison called Footprints- for Quartzite,Arizona. Cost $71,kinda expensive, but does show land ownership around Quartzite,BLM land and whether you can camp or not, private claims with some contact info,Indian and military off limits areas, topo or aerial views. Useful to compare this to Google Earth detailed aerials for possible prospecting sites and get gps numbers too BEFORE an actual trip to the area. Now,if somebody can just tell me how to get a membership with the Quartzite,Arizona Metal Detecting club? Sposed to cost a measly $20 and they have at least 6 gold claims around the area there. -Tom

Maybe try MetalDetector.com in Massachusettts, USA. They have 9 gold detector brands /models for reasonable prices. -Tom

how do we find the fault lines? I've never seen them on topo maps? -Tom