Lunk

Perhaps it was the GRG scoop?

The nugget shooting world lost a legend today: Smokey Baird of Lovelock, Nevada passed away after a battle with cancer. Rest in peace my friend. http://www.billandlindaprospecting.com/smokey.html

Not to be a negative nellie here, but... there are three things in the description of your stone that tell you it most likely is not a meteorite: 1. "It has a paper thin black crust and grey interior..." While most stony meteorites do have a dark fusion crust and lighter colored interior, the fact that your stone's exterior is black raises a red flag. Only a freshly fallen meteorite has a black fusion crust. Once the stone is exposed to the elements for any length of time, its exterior quickly oxidizes to a dark reddish brown color. A freshly fallen meteorite would have been immediately preceded by a fireball, sonic booms, etc. The chances of finding a fresh meteorite without eyewitness accounts and/or doppler radar data to guide you to it are next to zero. The black crust on your stone is most likely a manganese oxide coating. 2. "...my magnet won't stick to it." While there are stony meteorites that aren't attracted to a magnet, they are exceedingly rare. This alone tells you that it most likely is not a meteorite. 3. "There are sparkles inside the rock." Stony meteorites don't have crystalline components large enough to see without magnification and therefore never sparkle. Sparkly stones are definite meteorwrongs.

Happy birthday and congrats on a golden day!

Typically it makes sense to assign the user button to the function you find yourself changing the most during a detecting session. For me it's the Ground Balance Mode.

If I'm interpreting that quote right, it sounds like AKA is saying that they have found a way to detect targets that fall within the ground balance "hole". I know that Minelab already did something like this with the SD-2100 pulse induction where essentially there were two detectors in one, each with its own ground balance control, thereby each one detecting targets that fell within the others ground balance hole. Perhaps AKA is doing something similar with VLF?

I don't think I could sit there pondering before finding out how big that monster is...? Welcome to the forum, Will!

My goal is to be the first person to detect on Mars, but if I only make it as far as the land downunder I'll be happy. ?

Never kept track, Hawkeye. But I'm out there 6 or 7 hours a day every day though. The days go by fast, especially when I'm in the gold.

Neat! If it wasn't so small, I would say it wasn't natural.

Great looking gold, wtg!

G'day Bloodgold 2, The bulk of the finds were made with the GPZ 14; it's still my go-to coil, as most of the gold in the areas I detect is small and relatively shallow. For example, the largest nugget pictured is 11 grams and was only 100 to 125 mil (that's 4 or 5 inches for us yanks). I've only used the GPZ 19 in spots where I've found nuggets at depth with the GPZ 14.

It's been a while since I posted any gold finds, so I thought I better let you all have a look at some of what the GPZ 7000 has found in the beat-up old placers of southwestern Arizona before making my way northward. The mighty Zed: Pictured is 3 ounces of the good stuff. It was unseasonably cool and wet this winter, and is just now warming up to the temperature that it should have been a month ago. Not complaining...just saying. ? Also saw a few critters. The weather has been so perfect lately that I really don't want to leave. Even mom got into the action this winter after a 4 year hiatus; her story here: http://www.minelab.com/usa/go-minelabbing/success-stories/she-s-a-gold-digger Well, until next winter, so long sunny AZ!?

Let's not forget about Peru, Chile and Guyana...?

Good puzzle, Ashley; if it wasn't for the slight color variation, there would be no way to tell that nugget apart from the poo. ?

That was too easy?

Gerry McMullen will be demonstrating the new GM1000 at his 3-day intensive gold nugget detecting training class Friday, March 17 through Sunday, March 19th at Rye Patch, Nevada for his paid training class students. There are only 2 class openings left, so if you are interested please give Gerry a call. Training class details here: http://gerrysdetectors.com/training/

I'm thinking Minelab may have done just that; according to the brochure: An 18 kHz detector will normally have a depth advantage on nuggets ≥ 1.0g over a basic mid-frequency detector, and a 71 kHz detector will have a depth advantage on nuggets ≤ 0.1g. The advanced GOLD MONSTER 1000 uses an intermediate 45 kHz frequency AND a high speed 24-bit signal processor. This primary combination greatly boosts sensitivity to gold beyond that of other single frequency VLF detectors over a wide range of nugget sizes, without introducing excess noise and false signals.

Another way to say it is that instead of the conventinal narrow sensitivity range of a 45 kHz VLF machine, the GM1000's ultra-wide dynamic range VLF technology expands its sensitivity range, thereby enabling it to be just as sensitive to larger, deeper nuggets as an 18 kHz detector and at the same time just as sensitive to the tiniest flakes of gold as a 71 kHz detector. That represents a real breakthrough in VLF technology.

Iron, stony-iron and most chondrite meteorites are ferrous, so when using the Gold Monster 1000 to search for them, you'll want to use the all-metal mode.

Since the new Gold Monster 1000 is aimed at increasing the chance of finding gold for entry-level detectorists, it's not surprising that it might incorporate silent search modes; one of the biggest hurdles for newbie gold detectorists is putting in the time it takes learning to recognize the slight alterations in an audible threshold that can signal a small or deeply buried nugget. As far as incorporating new technology to give a depth advantage in mineralized ground over current single frequency VLF gold machines, Minelab had this to say in the new introduction video: "the Gold Monster 1000 has already proven itself to out-perform all other high frequency competitors in mineralized ground conditions." They are calling it ultra-wide dynamic range VLF technology, which the above diagram from the brochure clearly illustrates, and they list it as the key technology in the product specifications, so it's definitely not going to be just another VLF. I personally can't wait to take the Monster crumbing in some old nugget patches, and it should be killer on meteorites, too.

I spend my time in all of the above scenarios you listed; though I must say scenario #2 is my favorite.

In the video, there seems to be no threshold when the two search modes are being demonstrated. Also, there is no threshold feature listed in the specifications. We'll know for sure when the Monster is released.

A lightweight, rain-proof, automatic detector featuring a discriminating, deep all-metal mode and new ultra-wide dynamic range VLF technology that, quote, "has proven itself to out-perform all other high frequency competitors in mineralized ground conditions." With all that and two coils as standard for US $799...folks, this will definitely be my new go-to VLF gold nugget detector. And Steve, looks like you were spot-on about the placement of the headphone jack - a brilliant bit of deduction!

At this point Glenn, if your specimen is a meteorite, it would be an achondrite; they have no metal or chondrules and are much more rare and valuable than ordinary chondrites. But the odds are stacked against you. Best of luck!