tvanwho

We have this little book put out by the Indiana Geological Survey.It is called Gold and Diamonds in Indiana. Mostly written in early 1900's by old timers. I've read it numerous times, but this last time reading it , some things really caught my eye. Some of these old guys ,using no more than large steel gold pans, no sluices or dredges, got 10-14 ounces of gold in a few months of work in Indiana creeks and also recovered a few diamonds. I just realized how big the stones they got were, between 2-5 carats and gem quality, would be similar to the better ones they find at Crater of Diamonds state park in Arkansas. But I have yet to hear of anybody in modern Indiana , using motorized equipment, finding any gemstones at all, besides the sapphire I got by accident. I wonder why ? I hope to get back to the creek where I got that sapphire this summer, see if can find another where my map dowsing likes, at a sharp bend in that creek with what looks like red glacial till dirt there too. Red dirt is good in Indiana too,can be loaded with iron,gold, copper. It really helps to use Google Earth/ToolBar/ Views/Historical Imagery. Sometimes you can find older aerials taken in late winter/early spring, and be able to see the streams vs heavy tree cover in more recent images where you cannot see the stream at all. I was browsing another creek and came across a tall blue/ gray clay creek bank like 150 feet long x 30 feet high and at the waterline, there are heavy reddish layers-IDEAL for glacial gold. Unfortunately, that spot is owned by a local university and they don't like prospectors. ( And the worst part is, I was actually in that creek 5 years ago , sluicing, when a group of us did get permission BUT I did not know at the time about Google Earth and the Historical Image Views ,otherwise I would have headed directly to this spot and dug like crazy!! ) -Tom

I have a Homelite 2 stroke that puts out 28 gpm and only weighs a measly 9 pounds, almost half as much as the WX10, but it screams like an angry hornet. I can't ship it tho. Ran into problems already .FedEx and UPS will not ship used engines. It works good for a 1.5 inch dredge. -Tom

cool dredge....and lots of water....

How did these dredging operations work exactly? I thought Nevada was all desert pretty much and no water for bucket line dredges?

What do chains sound like anyway-solid beep or a chatter? Is gold or silver easier to hear? Did any of you ever use that Periscope Pinpointer years ago? Too bad it was so darn expensive,like $500 as I recall. Supposedly you could poke it into the ground and twist it around and it would tell you what direction the target was. Hmm, I used to have an electronic pinpointer years ago with a thin metal shaft that was made by AH Electronics.You could poke it in the ground but the depth range was only like 1/2 inch. It would beep when you touched the object underground. -Tom

Hard Rock University http://www.hardrocku.com/videos

Thanks Lunk. The Field Museum in Chicago is closest and they will accept specimens for ID, BUT...they want 6-12 months to do so... I printed out their accceptance form but doubt I will send it in now.It does say on the form to NOT bring the specimen in person as they may not have a qualified person who can look at it right then. I 'll take the rock to the Lapidary museum in Elmhurst in 3 weeks, see what I can learn...heck, I spent 140 bucks there last visit on Rock ID/fossil books with color plates and a Museum membership. I just couldn't help myself, being in their bookshop was like a candy store for adults...

Sorry, had some camera memory card and adapter issues. And I just got a newsletter from Lizzadro Lapidary Mineral Museum near me in Elmhurst,Illinois. They are having a meteorite ID class on April 22. I will be sure to attend and take this rock. Heck, I tried to grind off a flat spot on the rock to etch with acid. But cannot get a mirror finish and have no nitric acid so it will have to wait.

I've detected small green copper nuggets in Indiana and friends have got baseball size ones in Wisconsin. Copper Harbor in upper Michigan you can detect them I heard. My prospecting buddy found a 9 ounce copper nugget dredging in Indiana last year.It is all jagged, not water worn. -Tom

Thanks for all the tips guys. I am currently recuperating from big toe nail removal surgery, right foot this time, was tired of getting repeated painful ingrown nails on the big toes. Not much open country where I live near Chicago, almost all private. But if I ever get to Arizona again, getting lost in the desert can be a concern. I can't do much until the toe heals up which could take months. will stick to Indiana gold creeks for this year unless I hear from a buddy in Tucson. A spot I want to check out, I am hoping he knows the rancher and can get me in on this private land to prospect. I stumbled across a land listing for this property and could hardly believe the cost for almost a thousand acres of desert, 3 small mountains, and a ranch house was under $250,000 , but is not currently on the market. Heck, where I live ,$250,000 will barely get you 3 acres of bare land, if that.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. We depend on our electronic toys too much these days in my opinion. Need some built in backup smarts too.

I eyeballed/ picked up a rock that looks sorta like an Apollo space capsule from a farm field.It has a paper thin black crust and grey interior where a farmers plow broke it, but my magnet won't stick to it. How do I tell if it is or isn't a meteorite? There is a parking lot there now. There are sparkles inside the rock. I hear there are stony meteorites that are not magnetic? I'll find the rock and post a photo later. -Tom

I can never figger out my GPS or else the battery is always dead or I left it at home...hmm, what about boyscout navigating..the sun rises in the east and sets in the west and moss grows on the north side of a tree stuff?

Tortuga, Is there a placer gold mine a few miles north of Greaterville,Az ? If you look on Google Earth you will see a large reddish/brown area with heavy equipment parked close by and what looks like scraped areas in the desert. Can't tell what they are doing there? GPS 31 deg 50 min 04.69 sec N, 110 deg 45 min 19.68 sec W, elevation 5200 feet

I am mostly out there alone. IF you do get lost or disoriented and can't find your way back to your truck, do you panic , use a GPS, or do what to get back to camp? -Tom

IE locks up constantly at work on this forum but if I enter from Google Chrome,all is well. Seems to be ok at home with Win 10 and IE tho. Maybe its the firewall at work? -Tom V.

I was detecting in a local privately owned military park where my friend had permission some years back. I was in shock when I came across numerous gopher holes he had dug and absolutely refused to backfill in the grass lawns. I filled them in myself and he cussed me out .Needless to say we were no longer friends after that. Out in Arizona in Lynx/Rose creek, on private property, were numerous large holes. I filled in a couple but it was next to useless. I later heard it was gold clubs doing the digging. You would think they would be the more responsible ones?

Just was wondering if you nugget hunters find fine gold/flakes in the same dirt you find gold nuggets in? Do you go back and drywash/highbank those areas? Just curious. -Tom

So, are Arizona and Nevada getting clobbered too? Wonder if Lake Mead is coming back up behind Hoover Dam? I'd like to move to Arizona or Nevada when I retire in a few years, tired of winters, but don't want to get flooded either? Any suggestions appreciated. -Tom

Is that dam really 700 feet tall? Would make a heck of a wave...and I thought Ca was still having a drought? Scary stuff.

how're you gonna mount that on your drone? Might need jet thrusters...are you still dredging or has Oregon outlawed dredging now? Ps, whats your recommendation on a drone under $700 ballpark with camera and monitor included and a good range ? Is it better to get a under $100 drone for starters before a more expensive one? -Tom V., Ps, I own a Canon SX50 myself..

I didn't see this one but have seen 3 white ones and a green tailed one over Interstate 55 near the city of Streator 10 years ago while coming home from a gold prospecting trip.

https://weather.com/science/space/video/meteor-blazes-in-illinois-sky

LIEN ......Chris....you need spellchecker....