1515Art

Mitchel, looks like copper to me too, I got one exactly like it one time sans the green oxide from a bag of lynch paydirt. Cool find anyway will be a mystery as to it’s origins.

Those are pretty cool, looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Off of gold lake highway at the turn off to the salmon lakes Past Bassett Station well above Sierra City, the road splits and the fork to the right takes you to a little group of cabins in the area called Lusk meadows. The first old log cabin you come to was owned by my grandparents and some other members of the family. they owned it from back in the 1930’s until the late 1960’s When heavy snow caved in the roof and one of the cousins bought everyone else out, the cousins still own the cabin and use it regularly I stopped in a few years ago when I saw some cars in the driveway and had a chat. Had a big old wood stove in the kitchen and a water tank  we’d pump water into for dishes and no electricity at the time just oil lamps. I used to go up with them every summer for a month or so fishing and hiking in the woods, some of the best memories of my life. The feeling is special there like no place on earth.

This was posted over on the Jeep forum about some strange occurrences in the Australian bush and the mystery of the Button man, any of our gold hunters down under hear anything of the mystery of the Button man?

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/do-we-have-a-serial-killer-on-the-loose.35913/

3 hours ago, mn90403 said:

I know a club that has a dredging claim in Nevada!  Comstock Gold Prospectors has a claim that is east of Rye Patch.  The shore is claimed but their claim is in the water holding area.  I think it is shallow but I don't know the specific details.

https://cgpgold.org/

 

I’ve been out to that claim a few years ago it’s a leased claim if I’m remembering it right, just as you reach the foothills there’s a nice flat area the year round stream runs through you can park next to the water the stream was 6 to 10 feet across and follows the dirt road up into the hills the research I found said the source for gold in the stream likely is a few miles up the road but supposedly hasn’t been found.

When you are first learning your detector everything you dig is a lesson the more you dig the better you’ll understand the things it is telling you. Are you looking in and area known for finding gold nuggets? I’m guessing you covered a fairly large area where you were detecting too if you got all that big stuff from a small Spot it would be challenging but not impossible. Cleaning out the trash in a known gold location allows you to hear the faint signals and properly setting your detector for the ground conditions you need to really slow down and carefully listening for the  faint tones most gold you’ll find is going to be small.  You will find a wealth of information on these topics on YouTube by a host of really experienced prospectors, look for Jeff Williams, Chris Ralph, two toes, USMinor they take the time to share their knowledge you can answer a lot of your questions Watching the videos they produce. 

If you haven’t, join a prospecting club that holds claims in an area you want to hunt being in the right location is key, but expect the areas you hunt have been hunted before you are looking for gold missed by others. The photo attached is the typical junk I’m finding looking for gold nuggets, not to say you should not dig what you did as any one of those could have been a nugget just a matter of odds most of the gold is smaller.

I think if you provided better pictures you will have more luck getting an attempt at an answer, the third picture without what look like vesicles looks similar to a microcrystalline quartz but the pictures are low resolution it could be anything. 

If you have a GIA report it should indicate fluorescence.

1. What is diamond fluorescence?

Fluorescence is the glow you sometimes see when an object emits visible light. Some diamonds fluoresce when they are exposed to ultraviolet (UV) rays from sources like the sun and fluorescent lamps. This can cause them to emit a bluish light or more rarely, a yellow or orangy light. Once the UV light source is removed, the diamond stops fluorescing.

2. Do all diamonds fluoresce? 

No. Only about 25% to 35% of diamonds exhibit some degree of fluorescence.

3. Is there a diamond fluorescence grade?

GIA considers diamond fluorescence an identifying characteristic. It is not a grading factor like the GIA 4Cs (color, clarity, cut, and carat weight). GIA Diamond Grading Reports and Diamond Dossiers describe a diamond’s fluorescence by its intensity (None, Faint, Medium, Strong and Very Strong) when compared to masterstones used in the lab. If the fluorescence is Medium, Strong, or Very Strong, the color of the fluorescence will be noted.

I want one of each😀

Good they got what they deserved I’d imagine the level of nefarious behavior they partook runs deeper than we can imagine, sorry about most all your stuff being stolen twice, by other prospectors wtf. 
 

Few weeks ago I was driving on hideout road just off pierce ferry stopped to air Down and an older couple stopped to tell me the sheriff was looking for a blue stolen ford truck with a black tool box, probably work by the same group. After I‘M done walking around for the day it’s always nice to see the Jeep still where I parked it.

5 minutes ago, paradiceau said:

Wow Clark,

Between the Cholla, Yucca, Sneaky Snakes, Alien Jerky and now tiny Scorpions you are living a charmed life.....

Please continue to exercise vigilance and caution, and if I may, I also suggest carrying a bottle of Habanero Mango Salsa with you at all times....  It is the perfect compliment to scorpion burgers.

Jeff

 

That’s what it was missing, the Habanero Mango Salsa, lol 👍.

15 minutes ago, mn90403 said:

No more Alien Jerky for you!  haha

Alien and Las Vegas brand my two favorites. Guess I’ll have to switch to an alternate protein source, lol.

1 hour ago, jasong said:

Do shots make you nauseous and pass out? They do for me if I look at them. Cholla spikes used to do the same if they got in real deep, about 5 minutes after I'd pull them out. Doctor told me it's a vagus nerve response and is subconscious for some people when they see a puncture or wound in their own body.

Oddly, same thing happened when I watched my vet pull porcupine quills out of my dogs snout, even though it didn't affect me when I tried to pull them out myself earlier. Had it happen when I broke my collar bone, then when I broke my hand, then when I broke my foot, I can't help it and it's really frustrating because its times like those I need to be conscious and helping myself, not passing out.

You might have looked at your hand as you drove after adrenaline (hence no pain at first) or low grade shock wore off and then had a vagus nerve response? No idea, just sounds like what happens to me when I look at a wound, I'm like a fainting goat. 

Other than my hand hurting all day and the next and fear of some infection it didn’t really bother me, pulling it out took a deep breath but didn’t hurt Much, 30 years ago Kind of the same injury using a framing nailer hit a knot the nailer bounced and shot a second nail through one of my fingers nailing me to a ceiling joist nail went right through the fat part of the finger Just missing the bone, surprisingly didn’t hurt at all and wasn’t really sore the next day. I’m not bothered by shots and I’ve seen and had hands on the worst of the worst accidents you can imagine, things you can’t imagine or forget so I really don’t think it was anything like that. Was fairly early in the day when I took the spike, even though it hurt I didn’t do anything different used that hand to swing the detector and pick digging holes. Hard to imagine dehydration would wait until I’d been in the air conditioned Jeep and drinking water for 1/2 an hour to come on, to me it felt like a bad reaction to the jerky.

Mitchel,

Following Lunk’s and Jasong’s setting as my base with adjustments as necessary running on the edge of quiet has made the biggest difference the 7000 is an amazing detector and I have confidence if it’s in the ground I‘ll hear it. Most places I’m focusing on I’m digging trash that shouldn’t still be there so if there’s signs of activity I just assume some gold must have been missed? Most all the gold I’ve hit has been tiny or fluffy spongy stuff other detectors have a little more trouble with The pieces are few and far between but the GPZ will find it if I put the coil on it.
 

When you have time we’ll get out for a hunt we can try an get into some harder to reach spots put the Jeep and my sat phone to a test.

That’s easy early gold put that skunk out of his misery ASAP little stinkers always hiding in the bushes...waiting, watching, lol follows me everywhere🤨. The days of multiple nuggets have been few and far between, I’m still waiting for that virgin patch and my one ounce or plus nugget like to check that one off the list first thing next time out😃.
 

not all club claims are worked out, some nice gold to find on occasion but mostly crumbs the stuff you find regularly over there makes headlines here. Luckily keeping it interesting every once in a while (as in years) someone finds a lump gets us all excited again.

1 hour ago, Northeast said:

When you gents talk about gold basin I wonder how big it is...and therefore I suppose how thrashed it is.  10,000 acres?   150,000 acres?  All claimed?  Some public?   Some private freehold? 
 

A lot of these club claims - what is an average size?  
 

NE   

 

 

The Gold Basin mining district is around 30 square miles A mix of public and private land most of the public land I’d imagine claimed at one time or another, I’m not sure how much of that is off limits now due to being inside lake Meade recreation area. The minimum Claim size I believe is 20 acres, some club claims are multiples of that however I’m newbie out here in the southwest desert so hopefully someone with more knowledge of the area chimes in. There is also the gold basin meteorite strew field that’s around 150 square KM and about half of that falls off limits inside the lake Meade national recreation area. Most of the public land has been under claim at one time or another its now a patchwork of active and inactive mining claims.

7 hours ago, mn90403 said:

It seems you are detecting the more challenged locations to find what a coil was not over.  The steepness and loose rocks can be too much.

All but 1 have been in washes and most of those with the exception of 1 other under shrubbery But the hunting has Been tough 14 hour nonstop days, I just have been going slow listing for those faint sounds I hope others have missed I still don’t know my way around enough to find my own spots hope to do that a little soon like to find us a virgin patch out there someplace. I also joined gpaa and mpa next week I’m going to try out one of the gold basin MPA claims has some nice washes visible on google earth and it’s located more on the western edge, if its any good I’ll let you know where. It is nice being only a couple hours away be even better if I can find a little off road camping trailer I can tow behind the Jeep so I can spend a couple days at a time and hit some completely new spots.

38 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Could you have had a reaction to the puncture wound?  I realize from your description it was a few hours after that incident that you passed out.

Good to know you survived and are on the mend.  It doesn't take much imagination to realize it could have been a lot worse.

 

I poked my hand in the early morning I was concerned there could be some allergic reaction thing, don’t know. Medics thought it was dehydration I drank at least a half gallon of water and a thermos of coffee, wore a big ol ladies sun hat from Target I cut the band off and had a evaporation scarf to keep me cool, I was comfortable all day? The jerky was on the moist side and sat in the Jeep in 100 temps for a week and sure came on like food poisoning? Vision changes were similar to one time a while back I accidentally ate some leftovers that had gone bad along with everything going grey the last time that hit my vision want fuzzy low definition amber too along with my blood pressure dropping, guess I’ll be more careful with my snacks...sure was tasty sweet spicy jerky. 
 

this is a really comfortable hat!

34 minutes ago, mn90403 said:

Ouch on that one!  

How is the hand?

OK now just a tiny bit sore I really don’t notice it much, the next morning I was a bit concerned I could feel it almost up to my shoulder and it was swollen No unusual colors so that was good thought about going to the doc and by the next day it was a little better, another lesson stay clear of the big spines😩,lol.

12 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

Nice nice digs and thanks for sharing.

thanks Gerry, went back out again Tuesday and found one more tiny piece, managed to slip And fall against one of the Agave Spines Next to me when I looked down about 1/8” long stub of the spear was sticking out from the back of my left hand about 3/8” in diameter. I grabbed on to it and gave a tug it was stuck so I tugged again harder and it began to move a little so I kept pulling and the damn thing was about 1 1/2” long at least and went between the bones in the back of my hand And into my wrist. It didn’t hurt pulling it out about 15 seconds later it began to burn and pretty soon it began to swell up, made it tough to swing the 7000 I’m left handed, I thought this is gonna hurt tomorrow...it did.

I knocked off around 5pm the pain in my wrist was throbbing up my arm, driving on hideout rd I munched some beef jerky I had in the Jeep from last week drank some water then just about a mile before hitting the 93 I began to feel a little sick looking fo a place to pull over so I could get rid of the Jerky I’d just eaten things went grey, pulling over quickly I had time to get out walk to the back of the Jeep and a few seconds later everything went black. I felt my head hit the ground hard, then sunshine was in my eyes it felt comfortable for a split second until I remembered where I was. Couple ladies living across the street called the medics for me, they said I was out for about a minute the grey came and went but by the time the medics got there I was feeling better don’t know if it was the jerky or if I got my self dehydrated? Drove home without any more issue but I felt kind of beat up the next day.

on this one I don’t think you need to beat yourself up over it, when you factor in the fun you had hunting it, the experience selling and the $60, like Mitchel says “find another” it’s history now and sometimes it boils down to the price of an education. Heck, $60 bucks is $60 bucks you are money ahead, better than I can say on a lot of my deals, only thing is... why no picture 😀?

58 minutes ago, strick said:

Love that nugget Clark! once again its nice to see you are finding your way around down there...I guess you got to watch out for snakes wherever you go this time of year so be careful...I dont remember if I told you that Buddy got smacked by a rattler last year..messed him up for a couple days but he pulled through just fine...hope he learned his lesson...we were working couple days ago and I usually tie him to the truck...big 5 foot gopher snake comes strolling along and he did not see it till I moved it off into a gully (the women were freaking out) ...after seeing that he put himself as far away as he could from where the snake was...lol 

strick

Thanks Chuck, the way things started thought the day was going to be epic, almost was except for the snake not the gold. I was clueless in front of that pissed off little bugger for way to long And looking back I have no idea how I escaped getting hit by him. Luckily it turned out just a good lesson I won’t let it happen again. I remember buddy getting bit amazing luck he pulled through...I’ll bet he’s cautious now. Chuck I’m starting to learn my way around a little, hopefully by the time you and Lisa make the pilgrimage to the Basin I’ll know what direction to point you in👍.

1 hour ago, Jim in Idaho said:

Hey Clark. Send me a pic of the underside of that broom, when you get a chance. A closeup, too.

Thanks,

Jim

Jim, this is the rubber broom attachment for the power head, the bristle broom is the exact same thing just different brushes I think are interchangeable I’m just not sure they sell them separately.

2 hours ago, Northeast said:

The wheel kit?   I’m sorry but, what the hell is it?   🤷‍♂️

I ordered a brush broom they sent me this by mistake and I decided long as I had one to see what it would do prospecting? The wheel set is indestructible, broom runs on a 56v battery jury’s still out if the broom will last or explode from the abuse? 

6 hours ago, Jim in Idaho said:

Clark, if you tell anybody I made that, I'll have to kill you...LOL I wanted it light, so made it all of aluminum, besides the wheels and axle. I ain't that great a steel welder, and I'm worse with aluminum, so the welds look like something Heidi left behind...Ha! But, it should work OK. I drilled an extra axle hole about 1 1/4" above the other. The upper hole is to use in the event you decide you'd like larger diameter wheels. Larger diameter is easier to roll over rough terrain. An 8" wheel, in the upper axle hole, keeps all the geometry the same. I think you'll like it, once you get used to the ugly welds...LOL

Jim

• OK Jim, promise mums the word but those welds look clean to me very nice piece of metal art it is indeed. I think this is gonna be a whole new ball game for the sweeper😀, 40% more sweep from the ZSE7000 (Zero Sweep Effort) just the name not the price, lol, actual price may be higher.

5 hours ago, Jim in Idaho said:

Ya know, Clark, they're probably all a little skinny this time of year, after getting through the winter with no feeding. But they're probably also crabby.....LOL. I sure would be.

PS...hope to finish the wheel kit today, or soon enough tomorrow to get it in the mail

Jim

Jim, very cool I’ve got a couple places to try it out on and am excited to get a chance to show off your work.