Jim McCulloch

Mitchell, thanks for sharing such nice pictures. It looks like you found the "pointy finger" nugget. Also, for the uninitiated, the short, stumpy, whitish cactus is known as the Jumping Cholla (choy yah), so-named because some people believe that it jumps at you when you walk by, embedding spine tufts into you. Actually, this is a misconception, the cholla actually flings the spine tufts at you, sometimes firing several in rapid succession. It is an endangered species, due to the fact that it fires more spine tufts than it replaces, and, also due to the fact that it is the favorite food of the Mojave Desert Greater Sidehill Gouger, whose numbers have skyrocketed due to the moratorium on hunting them. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. 😊

Very cool haul, Simon!

Good 'ol Fred's not grumpy, Simon, just envious. But so are the rest of us. Me included. Sniff... Thanks for this whole thread, especially the pics. HH Jim

On one of the "Gold Trails" episodes, in an auriferous floodplain, Kevin Hoagland used a GMT in the black sand mode to locate and flag several small spots. These spots, totalling several gallons, produced early 2 DWT of fine gold. Similarly, a buddy of mine, doing the same in a Big Bear area wash (Jacoby Canyon) in 45 minutes accumulated 2.5 gallons of 1/8th inch screened dirt, from which over 2 DWT was recovered. It works. But it only works well where surface flooding produces clearly defined paystreaks in auriferous washes. I use a dry wallers trowel to scrape up the thin paystreaks. Hope this helps; HH Jim

Simon, how many silver coins have you recovered from this site?. Way cool, bud. HH Jim

Mada, I've never commented on the Orx. Detailed pm sent. HH Jim.

Ger, LOW and SLOW has always worked for me. Good gold for both you and Lunk, well done guys! HH Jim

Mada, scroll up 5 posts to the bottom of Steve's last post, and click on the link "You could ask this Aussie," which will take you to the topic started by Aureous. He offers his opinion on his detector choices. Edit - here it is

Simon, ASAP sell some of your less-used machines, and when your missus goes to Oz have her get you one

Simon, I am using my phone right now, with a reduced size screen, but I believe my larger-screen ID reveals that I'm a metal detector dealer. Primarily for White's, but I am also a sub- dealer for Minelabs and Garrett Distributor. Too bad NZ doesn't have a White's dealer, I know that you would LOVE the 24k if you had one.

Yes, old friend, I will fully acknowledge that I am as competitive as most others regarding total number count at the end of the day. To me, the FIRST nugget of the day is the most important, simply because Little Jimmy ain't going home smelling like skunk!

Mada, you asked some very good questions for a beginner. Let me offer a few thoughts regarding IN-GROUND performance. First off, there is NOT as much performance difference between frequencies as some advertising would imply. A properly tuned GBII (71khz) in MILD ground can find flakes of gold as small as 1/20 grain. But in MODERATE ground you will rarely find anything smaller than 1/10th grain, and then only at seriously reduced depth. My Goldmaster 24k (48 khz) can find 1/15th grainers in moderate ground, and it SCREAMS over 1/10th grainers. When it comes to actually finding gold, to be honest about it, there really is NOT much differance between 1/20th or 1/15th grainers or 1/10th grainers. Furthermore, the White's MXT (14 khz) with the 950 coil can find 1/4 grainers in moderate soil. To recap: 71 khz: 1/20 grain; 48 khz: 1/15th grain; 14 khz: 1/4 grain. It really would be splitting hairs at this point. But, there are other factors which far overshadow operating frequency, and these include the size and type of searchcoil, decibel output of headphones, operator expertise, sweep speed, etc. MY two-machine line-up: Goldmaster 24k and TDI-SL. Hope this helps; HH Jim

Walt, good to hear from you again. Thanks for the purchase, I shipped it via Priority Mail this morning. HH Jim

Steve, really excellent and timely information. About three years ago a local guy telephoned me asking for my best price on a new GMT. When I gave him the price, he got angry. After all, he had been quoted a price which was LESS than HALF of dealer's cost. The only problem was that he had to wait 3 weeks for it to be shipped to him from CHINA. I wonder how that worked out for him...

Mitchell, Jeanie had given me the ok to go with you to Reno, while she flew to the Alabama house, but my mother went into the hospital, so I didn't call you. Considering the ordeals you bravely faced, I admit I am kinda glad I didn't go. HH Jim