1515Art

I like those curves…

I think most everyone interested in gold has seen this but fitting here in this conversation. speculation was if there ever is another gold standard would it be world wide? If we did go back wasn’t the estimated value of gold based on the printed currency and debt (?) to gold ratio something like $43k an ounce for gold…? Would you sell or stash?

I took a chance and sunk all my available cash into gold and silver starting a few years ago buying from an online dealer. My silver was upside down up until a few months ago I bought a bunch of ounces at $30 including premiums but thankfullyin the last few months it’s finally waking up. Silver has the most potential with the low unit price but it is hard to know when and if I did this knowing I’d need to sell some gold here and there and it hurts me to sell at all knowing I’d regret those sales every time it went up and it has so it does hurt just a little but better off financially than had I kept it all in cash. When another driver ran into my wife’s car and totaled it the insurance payoff was just under 30k so I sold one kilo and the profit along with the payoff on her car was enough to put my Wife into a new BMW and give my daughter the remaining money to start her business. If I could have waited I’d have made 20k more… ouch, but the remaining metals are still worth more than my initial investment in pre inflation dollars so it was still a good move and you can’t really look back you have to remind yourself it was still the best option at the time. i think it was on the Kitco forum B of A was predicting 4400 gold by early 2026 and the way things are going now that number feels conservative, but there will be temporary dips you just need to ride those out and US gold buyers are positioned well for this run and future increases our market is suppressed compared to other markets around the world. Unfortunately it has become more difficult to take gold out of the country and sell it in let’s say China do to regulatory and reporting requirements that I only know little about, but looking into this it became clear it wasn’t an option. I guess if you’ve got the cahonies you could try ways to not declare the gold but at very high risk. There are really only a few ways to sell gold here I’ve found, private sales, online bullion dealers and predatory gold buyers all have their advantages and disadvantages, private sales come with risks getting ripped off if you don’t know who you are dealing with, the online dealers pay the best kitco bid is only maybe 20 below spot, but you have to mail the gold which I can tell you is stressful, an AirTag secreted in the shipment helps a little. even with insurance shipping it is nail biting and ups is usually the carrier because they offer the most insurance but UPS has some history of theft issues and the insurance only covers the shipment until you sign for the package after that you are on your own. if your dealer sends you pure .9999 and the package you sign for has gold covered tungsten you could be scrambling to get things right and have made a continuous video from delivery to inspecting the contents but even that might not be enough. Then there’s the local buyers, these have the lowest risk and you walk out the door with your cash but the bid price is anywhere from $150 to $300 below spot and forget about what was paid in premiums on any of the options most buyers don’t cover that unless it is some special high demand bar or coin and even then at a reduced amount lower than market prices. These rapid increases also tend to increase the amount below spot as the local buyers become more cautious. The best I’ve found with the local gold buyers is $150 below spot nothing for the premiums, but not all metals are equal it is easier to sell US, Canadian Mint, Perth Mint and the other big names the more obscure bars and coins are harder to sell. then there’s the tax man which seems just wrong identifying metal as a collectible when the gains are really only just keeping pace with inflation on a commodity that is actually money. Hope that changes someday. I’ve never sold nuggets since on average it’s cost me 2 to 3 times that of its value… guess I suck at finding gold, lol but getting rich is secondary to the adventure with friends, the latter priceless! All of this is based on my limited experience and I could be a little off in some things so feel free to call me out and offer corrections where needed.

There is a website I’ve used a little, not enough to tell you how well it works but it is based on the section township range format and has tools that iWork converting GIS and has map tools, also some limited free access. Even paying a subscription it wasn’t expensive but you’d have to check it out to see if it’s useful to you, it wasn’t expensive called “Randy Majors.” https://www.randymajors.org

Bill, the Lure resort is a wonderful place to stay and the river is beautiful and it was for sale at the same time I made my move to southern Nevada and I considered buying it instead. I think it was listed a 1.2 million. If not for the risk of loosing everything in a devastating fire I would have, but the resort does not have mineral rights in the river and last time I stayed there any detecting wasn’t encouraged on their land and there are private claims in the hill sides. The new owners may have different policies and maybe they held mineral rights prior to pushing or subsequently acquired some? Bassets Station was for sale too at around the same price but at risk just he same from fire.

Well Daniel it sounds like you know what your looking for and it will be a grand adventure. As far as I know roaring camp is nothing like pay dirt online, I just wanted to add this so Roaring Camp isn’t unfairly judged by reading it compared to something it’s not. now, whatever adventure you seek it will be lifetime memory.

It’s probably obvious, but if you did Roaring camp and when you are done you can always try on your own, there are a few spots I don’t remember the exact location but one off highway 49 where the river is public access I went through there when I first started what I found was a moderate in difficulty drive in on the dirt roads and other prospectors sleeping up there and working the locations that produced gold and no friendly faces to be honest. I went off by myself and found a lace to pan but realistically the river has been sampled countless times so the odds of hitting a good spot are slim. There are other places not as remote that feel safer but if there was good gold it would be crowded. when exactly are you thinking of doing this? We have an outing planned sometime in September at our claim in the high sierra, an area where big multi ounce gold has been recovered, a group hunt last year every one found gold metal detecting the largest nugget was 5 grams we are going to show locations where the patches are and other gold locations we will be up there for a week or so.

https://roaringcampgold.com you want a fun and productive gold hunting experience why not consider a place like Roaring Camp in the southern Motherload in California. It is a very large property and huge past mining site, they will show you the history, mining and Chinese mining sites and the flumes that supplied water used to route water for mining and share the history and show you the hanging tree for the unlucky forced to take their last walk down the flume to the tree. They have/had I have not been there since before Covid a few mining programs, but this is not pay dirt in a bag it’s real. One thing they offer is buying a yard of high grade dirt from the mining operation, a wash plant to process your dirt and cabin rentals so you can spend as much time you want… of course they do charge for this but guaranteed you will find gold and it’s a beautiful property with a river running thru the middle. They offered other mining packages too. Anyway, finding good ground is difficult most club claims are pounded and anyone with good gold producing area generally is not inviting the public in for a hunt.

I use Imagr Size also and have been for a while, I liked it enough I paid to get rid of the adds and the upgrade is worth it really speeds things up.

My wife got a bag of jewelry for customers stolen from her at the airport by probably this group near as anyone could tell. One second she had it the next second it was gone not a trace, this was 30 some odd years ago and what ever surveillance there was didn’t pick up anything. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Panthers

Eric, Doc’s lift system is a big help you have practically no weight on your arm, I took mine and integrated it into my backpack using an old soldering iron to poke holes to pass the rods thru and some big heavy zip ties holding everything in place. Last thing I swapped out the waist strap out for a Velcro back brace off Amazon. It is comfortable and quick and easy to take on and off. With everything in one piece. anyway do get better soon but don’t rush things as was said.

Injuries and getting old suck hopefully your recovery goes well which it most likely will and you are back out swinging soon. Surgery is pretty darn good nowadays I know I just got into a car accident the end of April where I broke all my thoracic vertebra, I’ve got an incision that runs from my shoulders to below my rib cage down my back that took 22 staples to close up along with a bunch of rib fractures. They hooked everything back together with titanium rods and screws along with opening up my lumbar spine too. It’s been about a month and a half since the accident and I’m feeling pretty good, the pain level is now manageable and every day is better. Before you know it this will all be a distant memory. This is the car…

An infected thumb nail, also known as Goldenrot, is an inflammation of the nail. It can be caused by digging faint target sounds in heavily mineralized soil. Causes Purchasing sensitive electronic equipment Frequenting remote desert and forested locations with persistent uncontrollable urge to defy rules of nature doing the same thing the same way expecting different results. Wet hands or nails for prolonged periods Prolonged or frequent exposure to soil, rock and black sands. Symptoms Delirium Yellowish and thickened mass around the nail and Detachment of the nail from the nail bed. Treatment Home care: Keep the nail clean with CLR Soak the finger in warm acid several times a day. Heat any detached nail to 2000* F to remove impurities from the infection. Medical treatment: Your doctor may prescribe counseling. In severe cases, surgery may be necessary to remove the infected nail. Prevention None undetermined When to See a Doctor See a doctor if: The infection worsens or does not improve with home care. You have a fever or chills. The infection spreads to other parts of your hand or arm. Note: This information is for general knowledge and informational purposes only, and does not constitute medical advice. It is essential to consult with a qualified healthcare professional for any health concerns or before making any decisions related to your health or treatment.

I know there is a thread on this but a search did not take me to it so if this needs to be moved sorry for the inconvenience. I recently contacted Garrett about the Axiom update a got this reply from Garrett. “Thank you for contacting us. The Axiom is updateable, but to this point we have not released an update for it. Watch Garrett.com and Garrett Direct. If/when we release an update, we will announce it there.” We hope you have been very successful with your Axiom!

I had one break too, I used an epoxy by JB Weld specifically made for plastics because i didn’t have time to send it in, it’s still holding.

The last thing you don’t want to see is nothing there… pretty surprising no drivers let you know usually everybody wants to let you know. Every once in a while I forget to latch my spare tire and it hinges open sometimes swinging around but it gets noticed right away by someone and they are flagging me down.

Another advantage to mid drive, you can still easily remove the front and rear wheels stash them and the frame where ever it fits. I don’t know if the hub drive wheels are more involved to remove? Be sure to insert a disk brake caliper spacer in after removing the wheel.

I realize this is an old thread and may not get very many responses to my question but tell me boys how you all outfitting your prospecting E-bikes for the inevitable trail repairs? I carry the cool tool and back then it had enough options you could fix most anything trail related, spare tube, patch kit, a tire lever, small section of chain and a shop rag wrapped around my cool tool all this jammed into a skinny under seat bag. Oh and a couple bucks for the coffee shop… not many of those open for business at the claims these days I guess? I have carried regular frame mounted pumps and those CO2 inflators and t have found the pumps most reliable, even a bad pump will get you enough air to ride slow. guess carrying the detector I think Dutchman mentioned strapping it to a backpack that seems like it should work and I bought one of doc’s swingy things and permanently attached it to my back pack so I think I can just tie the detector to the arm attached to the back pack, the pick is another concern. I mountain biked a lot and there are two types of riders, those that have fallen and those that are gonna fall, and I guess one more being riders new to clip less pedals stopping in front of a crowd, lol. Anyway the pointy end of the pick concerns me a little even just navigating difficult terrain on foot sometimes but on a mountain bike when you go down most of the time you are at the mercy of momentum and gravity with only time to hang on and pray. ill share a riding tip that makes down hill descents more controllable, we usually lowered the seat a little so it was easier to get behind it a little going into corners almost with the rear tire rubbing on your butt sometimes depending on how steep and get behind the seat a lot on steep descents and the bike is more controllable eliminating going over the handle bars and if you do get out of whack you can usually step off the back of the bike but worst case if do go down you are already close to the ground.

There was mention of CYC,s torque sensing motor and I highly recommend it, the power transition is smooth and natural. I also went with a half twist throttle, meaning it is narrow but it twists like any other and controllable just like a motorcycle throttle and more comfortable on long rides. The power level is controlled by the thumb selector mine is mounted near the throttle offering different power levels and ride modes city is limited to 750 watts and off road is 1500 but runs a little more from what I read and I think if you want to you can hack them to 3000 watts? the advantages of hub drive is ease of instillation, the down side is weight distribution a little and that damage occurs usually at the wheel with broken spokes and possibly wheel failure, but with a spoke wrench some failures can be fixed mountain biking but I doubt the wheel repair would be strong enough on an Ebike. Mid drive conversion will take a few hours, you also need a few special tools… Amazon has them all. You get better gear selection with mid drive by maintaining the rear cluster and a big one is the main trail repair with mid drive systems is breaking a chain, you can fix a chain in minutes but a taco’ed wheel will take a lot longer assuming it’s fixable. You do however need to be mindful to let off the power shifting with mid drive or you will break chains. This is the tool I always carry I bought it at the second running of the Sea Otter Classic a bunch of us went down to ride the course and the inventor was sitting in a booth, he had a few made in Titanium (we were gram shavers) so I bought one he charged $100 for the titanium version because the were hard to make and they never made it into production. This picture is my oldest son following me down an easy ride above town we did on off day, I think he was in 7th grade… one day going up hill just around that corner is where I came face to face with a mountain lion.

Interesting thread that I have not completely read yet so I’ll keep this post short. I used to mountain bike 6 days a week but travel spending a lot of time traveling and a couple bad crashes I don’t ride much any more but figured converting my MTB to and Ebike would get my back into riding. after looking at all the options I went with the CYC Stealth gen3 mid drive, this is a 1500 watt (or more) output motor that will keep up with traffic around town. The host bike is my old Merlin titanium frame with XTR and other after market components that was a 20# bike that now weighs in at a little over 40#’s with battery. I really enjoy the option of getting what ever level of workout I’m up for, the range is probably 1/3 to 1/2 of the advertised range cause I like the throttle a little too much and pacing traffic seems safer with less time exposed to traffic. I did this with the plan to one day try it out in the gold fields some day but I’m not sure just how far it will take me that the Jeep can’t? That and a good solution to keep air in the tires with all the sharp stuff in the desert trying to poke holes in tires have kept me from taking it out prospection. There are tubes available that do a somewhat decent job self sealing punctures but at a significant weight expense. in the old days I’ve hit speeds up to 60mph coming down rough rocky duel track off the ridges in the Santa Cruz mountains back into the town of Los Gatos, after an hour solid going 2 or 3 mph up hillI can’t do that any more. Anyway some day I’ll pack the detector onto the bike and try it out, this thread may be just the motivation I need?

They start out looking like this, thousands of years underground surrounded by intense pressures and scorching hydrothermal fluids they slowly transform into what you found, nice finds!

A few members in our club (Western States Prospecting Assoc.) planned a road trip up to one of our claims in the high Sierra Nevada a stunningly beautiful place. This was directly after the John B memorial out at Gold Basin, a very long drive from Arizona, the claim was recently staked and for most of the group it was their first time there everyone was excited just being in this pristine Forrest. Well, shock is the word I think best describes how they felt for a few obvious reasons, as described to me what they saw getting there was one of two things either someone or someone’s got absolutely zero regard for “detector prospecting” or my friends solved the mystery of the moon landing discovering remnants of the area it was staged and my moneys on the former. Whom ever should have their Minelab detectors ceremoniously broken in shame in front of them as they are escorted in front of a large crowd down a dusty road out a large wooden gate in shame to take the long walk to another town forever an outcast, (trivia, who remembers what tv show started kind of like that in the 60’s) my rant but I though maybe it needs to be said again. I hope this utter disregard is an outrage for every one of us this threat to Our industry, are we to the point of hiding trail cams in hope of posting a detecting wall of shame on the internet to make these offenders question walking from the hole they just dug, I hope not. Despite the outrage from how the ground was left for them to find, gold was found something that always sweetens a sour mood…

Doc, I am so very very sorry for your tragic loss, there are no words great enough to express the shock and sadness of this moment or to the extent my heart goes out to you as a father. God bless you and your son and family in this incredibly difficult time.

Hi Frank, you talking about back at camp, I’m not sure I was busy stressing over the Tri tips I was trying to get going in the smoker but I think Jeff got a few but I’m not really sure. Hopefully some more wind up here.

I’ll piggy back some pictures on your thread… might as well keep’em all in one place, thanks for starting this post.