tvanwho

My buddy has got 1/2 ounce from dredging in Indiana just this year ,mostly from a spot others have written off as barren, including me. He does use a Hookah air system and dredges mostly alone and goes in up to 6 feet with boulders threatening him, but he does so well. A lot to be said for perseverence...his goal is an ounce for 2017. Dredging thru the gravels to bedrock cracks under the gravel he says plus find bedrock areas with jumbled up,messy, broken bedrock is where the gold hides. I could post a Facebook photo of his vial but it would show his full name, not sure I wanna do that? I bought a GB2 off Steve H 2 years ago with 6 inch coil. It air tests my 1.6 grain nugget at 4 inches. Tesoro Lobo ST with similar coil gets it at 2.5 inch. Heck, the Goldbug 2 will sound off on my vial with 3 grams of loose Arizona gold in it.Bunch it up in a corner , 1/8 inch square flakes and pickers, GB2 beeps.So, it could sound off on a rich pocket in a pothole or in the bank I imagine,if its less than a few inches deep. Not much mineral to GB out in Indiana, some red /orange dirt and black sands is all. Loads of lead shot and nails in the gold areas too tho,will take lots of patience and pulling your hair out in frustration no doubt.

I have mined alongside Chuck Lassiter in Indiana. I don't know quite how he does so well at gold recovery despite the fact that he runs his 5 inch dredge pretty hard, has all custom made screens and short dredge riffles. His dredge box is barely 4 feet x 16 inch roughly and the slurry washes thru the box like a series of tsunami waves, yet he still catches most of the gold in the upper foot of his dredge and tons of lead shot and scrap metal and coins as well. Wonder what he is up to these days? His website has not been updated in years. Chuck showed me a gold nugget he metal detected on top of an old quarry in Indiana. It was as thick as a nickel and about the size of my thumbnail. I went with him one day and got numerous copper nuggets in limestone bedrock cracks using my MXT in Prospect mode. Anything that read 10-20% iron probability was copper. Anything much higher was dozer trash. I guess they scrape the glacial till off the limestone and shove it into the woods. But that stuff is loaded with glacial gold and copper. Too bad we can't buy truck loads of it from the quarries? -Tom..my biggest Indiana nugget was 1.6 grains and I have seen pennyweight pieces from a couple other prospectors over the years from 2 creeks in particular..we mostly use the garrett classifier with 1/2 inch holes Pss, Is GB Amateur a member of the southern GPAA chapter in Indiana? If not, they have monthly outings at Gatesville, Indiana, 3rd Sat of the month I believe. I've seen fines and 1/4 inch square pickers from North Fork of Salt Creek there on occasion...I am west of Chicago 40 miles, in Aurora,Illinois

Thanks guys, I am kinda weak on metric stuff....

what is a kilogram?

another cool Gem Video,too bad we can't metal detect gemstones....

Cool Australian commercial sapphire mining video...looks like they are using gold placer mining type of equipment plus eyeballing...does anybody know if sapphires glow under a UV blacklight for night time prospecting? I know some diamonds glow blue.

I just happen to have a PulseStar 2 with 3 coils I never used, might be interested in selling? Bought it slightly used for cache hunting and never pursued that endeavor. I am near Chicago. -Tom V.

I would guess Indian fishing net weights, but only a guess...

I sure have not forgotten the BAD start of the original AT Pro !!! Having to send them back to Garrett cause so many were BAD right from the start.Heck, it cost me almost $200 cause I didn't get mine back in time before the special offer had expired. Guess I should have screamed for the Garrett Service manager instead of taking it on the chin from the little old lady at Garrett customer service ? She did manage to knock 50 bucks off the needed work after I vented my wrath.. Hmm, it was BAD control box, bad coil, bad connectors....all courtesy of the Garrett factory...not my fault in the least.. It works perfect nowadays, thank goodness. Am still wondering if can use my old blue Infinium headphones on the AT Pro since they are waterproof?

sounds good to me.I'd say 10 posts vs 2 is better.

So,just wondering how did the poor skunk get such a bad reputation among us gold seekers?

I was unable to find the Otterbox at Dicks Sporting Goods or Walmart. They did have other brand boxes but even the small one was like a 4 x 6 x 4 cube ,too bulky. I settled on a clear heavy vinyl pouch that will hold my keys, wallet, asthma inhaler and came with a neck strap. It says Waterproof BUT after I removed the Velcro flap at the top, underneath it says NOT for SUBMERSION. Duh what ??? Isn't waterproof the same thing as saying no leaks underwater proof? Hmmm, I will just keep my valuables in the pouch , around my neck ,and under a T shirt, and make sure the neck strap is NOT too flimsy, and leave spare change/cell phone in the car to keep the weight down. I think I will keep an emergency whistle in the pouch too or maybe even this tiny air horn I got for an emergency alarm.

Whats the secret to hunting volleyball courts? I never seem to find anything more than dimes and pennies and matchbox cars in the sand there. I learnt on soccer fields to hunt the sidelines as that's where they take off shoes, put rings in shoes and ferget its there, etc...

I usually point to my headphones and try to make them think I cannot hear anything they say. Altho once, a large teen boy trying to impress his girlfriend, about did me in at one swim area. Some local adults saw what was about to happen and chased the kid off. I've never had a stranger come to my rescue before. I guess there are some good people still out there.

While we are on this beach hunting topic, what do you guys do for keeping your keys, wallet, cell phone safe while you are beach hunting? Do you leave this stuff in your car under the seat, or wear a waterproof plastic bag around your neck with your valuables in it? Where can I get a waterproof neck pouch? Zip Lock bags are NOT watertight. I found this out the hard way with my cell phone. I will be out in a waist deep river with a black bottom next week using my sucker stick to get the placer gold in between the river bottom cemented cobbles. What to do with my keys, wallet, etc? If I accidentally drop them in the river, I will never see them again for sure. -Tom

what did them chains sound like, broken signals, solid hits ,or something else? How much Disc are you using and coil size,etc? -Tom

I wonder why stainless vs aluminum?

I never thought Steve would finally admit to aging and its various issues? I like the folding chair idea tho, just add a bucket underneath and disposable toilet bags from the Sportsmen Guide store. I hear the Forest Service doesn't like human waste on their/our land? But if the bears can do it, why can't we? Oh, and the squat over the hole routine can be quite embarrassing when you do stand up and a passerby just happens to be right close.....oops....

I wish they would show the scoops backside too? I need an angled backside to push against without my toenails turning black and blue. Plus plastic wrapped magnets inside to catch ferrous junk. -Tom

AMRA claims in Arizona where you can dredge. It costs 200 bucks to join them. They have YouTube videos to watch, dredging in Arizona creeks.

That's great news Chris.I always enjoyed watching your Adventures in Prospecting DVDs even tho I had to pay to watch and have watched them repeatedly.

Wear some elevator shoes

Hmm, I just got word from UPS that a package was ripped apart, that I had refused delivery, and the package contents were missing, all from viewing my tracking number history, except that I never received the package or declined it? I called the place I ordered from and they had not heard a word from UPS but sent me out another package right away. My regular UPS driver confessed to being the party who told UPS I had refused the 1st delivery due to package destroyed. I still cannot figure out how a 3 inch diameter heavy cardboard tube with plastic inserts and tons of paper wadded up inside, could have been damaged so badly? At least my 2nd shipment arrived safely. Incidentally, I now search the Internet for Promo coupon codes for stuff I order online and have successfully got Free Shipping twice now, saved me over 30 bucks. Some codes are worthless, some get free shipping, some get a % discount on your order you would not otherwise get. Definitely something to be aware of to stretch our prospecting equipment dollars !!!! -Tom