mn90403

Thank you Jason for your time when I met you and this description now. It reminds me of our Barstow area patch that had a slightly sloping surface but in some areas there was 'rotting granite' with very little quartz. I learned to like these areas. A couple of areas I found had a much lighter colored rock and had many nuggets around it perhaps because some people didn't target it as opposed to other color choices for gridding. They produced for me. I'll keep in mind the above description when exploring in the future. Mitchel

Maybe that is what my delivery slip is all about!

The rumor is that Minelab is a company that makes metal detectors and they have more 'in the works!' They are not finished is the confirmed rumor. What they are making next and when it will be released is their business so far. Put on your hiking boots and your thinking cap because it is not making gold come back to the flogged patches. Beaches aren't what they once were either but I still like that game. The market is still in Equinox shock but look they came out with a Vanquish that is capable for some folks. Rumor on ... Mitchel

Some of you may be wondering if I made it back from Arizona. I did and I'll tell you a bit about it. I left here last Tuesday night at 11 PM (midnight in Arizona) for the 300 mile 5 plus hour trip. As it turned out I was heading to a place where Chet had been the week before. I have a friend who is staying there for the season. It is also near the area where I've found my two largest nuggets so why not go exploring with the 15x10 X-Coil. So that's what I did. I got there after a couple of stops for a total trip time of about 7 hours because the last 10 miles is on a road I can only go 15 miles an hour. We didn't head to the club claims but a couple of other washes away. The bullets, wire and trash were similar to what Chet found but Chet documented his finds much better than I did. I was using Chet's settings part of the time, Lunk's settings part of the time and some others. Many of them seem to work. I was very keen this trip to get that smooth threshold on some occasions and listen to the noises jump around it. I'm a bit out of super prospecting shape but I didn't want to hit the tops only or the bottoms of the washes so I went for benches and sides. The 15x10 let me do this more easily than the other two coils I have. While I use a bungee and hipstick many times I was holding the detector freely as I did for a month or so with my 3030. I have no complaints with its ergodynamics of letting me nose point and get under bushes. The two of us hunted hard for 2/3rds the day trying to take advantage of some pointy fingers and research but came up short. I suggested that we go find something in the meteorite patch before it got dark and that is what we did. We went on the north side of the railroad tracks and hunted for irons. This is the first place I went to hunt for meteorites with the Zed 14 when it was new. I spent a day there on my way back to LA but I only had about 1.5 hours now so we had to get out there quickly. My friend is new to the Zed and hadn't ever found a meteorite so we walked to some well pounded patinas a little less than a mile from the parking area. The strewn field for the irons is 4-5 square miles but we were at the nearest edge. It wasn't long before I had my first. I think it is the .13 gram meteorite. These are never very deep and some are really sunbakers but you just can't see them. But, they really sing when you swing over them. My friend could hear it with his 14 when I laid it down for him so he knew what to listen for now. It was not long before he bent down and using his scoops and magnet he had his first Franconia Iron. This was also his first meteorite. That's a good memory. He went on his way and I went my way for the next hour. I didn't find any big ones as they can get over 1-2 g but I know I had gone over the same areas with the 14 because I could see my previous scrapes from years before. I was now getting good results with the coil but I had limited time. We ended about dark. I had 8 irons and my friend had 3. After this experience we decided to go to Gold Basin where there is gold and meteorites! I spent the night near the noisy 40 Freeway and we were off the next morning to Gold Basin. This was the first time for my friend so we did a bit of a 'sightseeing' tour around to the club claims and then went to a patch where I've found about 30 nuggets in the past. As a matter of fact it was the place where I found my only 19" gold. This place has been gone over with everything out there and we were not successful with this trip. (I had sworn I'd never go back there the last time ... haha) We went by a club claim and talked to a couple of dry washers and they were doing ok. They were also detecting as they went and said they had found some pretty nice nuggets totaling several grams so we decided to go swing down away from them. Once again the X-Coil was a pleasure to walk around at cruising speed. I got down in the bottom of one wash and got a really good sound that I knew wasn't surface trash and down about 4 inches was this little 7g meteorite. This was not ideal meteorite territory but I thought I might find others but that was not the case either. When I walked up out of the wash I looked over a mile or so and saw Jason's place and there was a truck there. I had shared some PMs with him about his theft and I had just missed him on a previous trip with Chet so I wanted to go introduce myself. I'll have to tell you he doesn't know me or know what I drive so when we went up to his trailer we were on video! haha When I told him who I was he was relieved and we had a good chat about the basin, X-Coils and the scavengers that live out there. The next day we tried to follow up on some of Jason's geological suggestions and it ended up being a lot of interesting driving but no gold. Once again at the end of the day I targeted an area where I've found a lot of meteorites in the past but it was not to be. I left for Santa Monica about dark. My way home is through Las Vegas. Once on the other side I go opposite the normal Friday rush to Vegas but I'll tell you it was much less this past Friday. I think it is the virus. My trip ended about 1 AM. I've been back recovering and reflecting. There is a lot of gold still left in Gold Basin but you need friends and geologic knowledge to find it now. It is very difficult to get lucky but that can happen if you have enough time and you just set out to go areas where you have not been before. It really is an area where good gold is found with the first detector as much as the best detector.

Details, details, details ... https://www.thethings.com/discovery-channel-gold-rush-tiny-details-that-arent-what-they-seem/

JW, Of course. I was writing my post when you posted. I can't post what I haven't done. I'll be out there in about 8 hours. This is a 6 hour drive or so. Mitchel

I'm going out for a couple of days to turn iffys and non iffys into nuggets!

JP, I'm posting real hunts here. I'm not trying to sugarcoat anything just because it is new technology to me. I found something under a bush that had been missed by all previous detectorists and detectors. Was it missed or otherwise unseen? I don't think we will ever know but this new combination let ME find it. I didn't have to let everyone else know my disappointment but I did. I think it was a teaching moment. And now that you are on to the subject, what were the significant innovations in your mind that took each of the early detectors and made it necessary for the 'professional' detectorist to 'have to have' the best to go back to old patches to get more? I recently renewed my friendship with a detectorist I hadn't seen for a year or so. He showed me some really nice gold. Several pieces were over an ounce. He uses a modded 3000! Did he need my 7000 and X-Coil to see that gold? Obviously not. He goes to areas where a quad is still king and certain basic detecting equipment is all you need to get those big nuggets. Would he find more or deeper gold with a 7000 X-Coil? Would he be searching in the same areas with a 7000 X-Coil? Who knows. So, my question to you would be this. What coil and detector combination have you used that would find more gold than any other? What I mean is, if you went over completely virgin ground where all of the nuggets and trash were still in place, is the 7000/14 the best that has ever been? What are the next ones behind it?

On Thursday I went out on my 3rd trip with my 15x10 X-Coil to well pounded patches in Southern California. All of these places have been completely trashed. I've only found gold in one of the areas but others have. I did some thinking and testing at my first stop of the morning about dawn and decided to settle down the sensitivity. Thursday I switched to difficult and something close to Lunk and Coiltek's settings but the sensitivity at 15. This helped me maintain a smooth threshold even with our hotrocks and mineralizations. I've been poking it under bushes I could never get under before and going very slow and finding tiny bits of wire and bullets missed by Monsters, 2300s and 14s but I can't show any gold for my efforts yet. It was more fun on Thursday than the previous two trips where I felt anxious and frustrated. About the middle of the day I noticed a tire on my 4Runner was low. I couldn't trust going up higher into the mountains so I switched to a spot where a friend had Monstered and found some tiny surface nuggets so I thought I'd give it a try. I was finding trash so that was a good sign. Most of the bbs were long gone. I just kept poking around. I heard a deep signal (iffy) under a bush and was scrapping and digging and the signal brightened up a bit. I was near a little road but I was going down into compressed rock and the signal is getting better. After I'm down past the normal trash I decided to video this hole. As you could tell I was hopeful. I don't know how that cartridge got down that deep but it is only the 3 time I remember something like that happening. One time was in Australia and the other time was in Gold Basin. Better luck next time.

Thanks Clay. Contrary to present popular belief, history has many gems of wisdom and should be studied rather than destroyed. Mitchel

1012 KG! https://coinweek.com/world-coins/2012-australian-one-ton-gold-kangaroo-named-largest-most-valuable-coin-in-the-world/

When you don't hear or see someone for a while you know they're working on something! haha I wonder what 'they' found that day? Well done. Mitchel

I went on Sunday afternoon with the family. We panned some and waited for the raffle draw. Mitchel

Yes, there are some ranges out there that make it impossible to detect from both a live fire standpoint and trash. I don't like going out there on a weekend but this was an exception.

There have been a lot of nuggets found there with metal detectors on club claims. Some meteorites have been found there also.

That is something I should have done but I was trying to make it work in HY, Normal on my first two trips. I didn't experiment enough with my settings. I've got about 15 solid hours of detecting with it now. Pointers are appreciated.

Here is a note about making the X-Coil splice. I tried several contacts before I found a guy who was willing to do the splicing. Several X-Coil owners have spliced their own connectors and I think that is perfectly fine too. I'm just not 'set up' for it. Jeff at Torrance Electronics was the guy who spliced my coil wire for my X-Coil. He is willing to do the splice in either the Chet way or the original X-Coil way. He reviewed the 30 page PDF and the online videos before he completed both sides of my splice. I've shown and use the adapter and it is working perfectly. He now knows how to do them. He tested the 19" side but I have not used it yet and don't have any plans to do so. Jeff is willing to do more. He would like you to call him at 310-328-2501. He is a busy guy and he told me the turn around would be in the two week range. I'd say if you drop it off to him it would be in the $100 range. I don't know what it would be if you drop shipped it to him and had a pickup when done. You could save yourself a lot of money if you cut your wire and just send it to him to make the adapter but ask him about that first. I hope this helps someone feel comfortable about making the X-Coil work without relying totally on your own soldering skills. The directions are quite clear and I think you may be able to find a local techie if you don't use Jeff. Mitchel

Let me just say that I had a long day of detecting to the first spot I found gold in 2011. It was tough to find gold there then and I didn't find any on this trip. That is the sad part and the reason I didn't come back and post right away. The weather was perfect with very little wind. I couldn't ask for anything better. I arrived just after dawn after leaving at 2 AM. Many people are familiar with the Dale and I've been to various parts of it over the years. A couple of clubs I belong to have claims there and in years past many nuggets have been found ... most before I started hunting there I'll add. Over the years I've found less than 1/2 of an ounce there but I keep going back. Several members of this forum have done much better there than I have. Anyway, I tried 5 very hammered patches and patch fringes. I gridded some and cruised flat stretches some. I tried hot and standard settings. Missed trash was found and once again as I did on my first X-Coil trip I found missed trash under bushes because of the shape of the X-Coil. What I didn't find was any unseen screamers which I was hoping for. I did find some deeper targets but all turned out to be the very sticky hot rocks. Another detectorist who was with me using his 14" found similar targets and no gold also. We both tried hard. Late in the afternoon I tried one last spot where I had found a specimen. It is an area that has been raked, groomed and detected. I found a few bbs there that probably came after the detecting. At this point in my detecting life I honestly don't know where I can find a guaranteed nugget on a trip. In years past I've had a couple of spots that would produce and I went to one of them the first time with the X-Coil. It is time for Arizona trips I would say. That would be Gold Basin and Quartzsite, in that order when I get the time. I need to spend a couple of hours learning what a deep or faint gold sound is with my settings and new coil. I did try to dig everything but also listen for obvious targets also. The 15x10 X-Coil is a pleasure to swing. Andy has said in another thread he compares his 10x10 to an SDC coil. I can understand what he means and this is much, much more friendly on the arm with my bungee system than a 2300. I'll get a picture of that one day. Mitchel

Take My Land Matters with you and/or study it before you go. My Land Matters has managed to implement both the new Alaska BLM & State mining claims systems on the Alaska Mining Claims Map. They even went further by including the State Mineral Withdrawal areas and the State Mining Leases in the mapping.Each BLM mining claim information window now has a link directly to the BLM ACRES case file for that claim.Each Alaska State Mining Claim or Lease information window has a link directly to the Alaska State ADL Case file.Each Alaska State Mineral Withdrawal information window has a link directly to the Alaska State ADL Case file for the Closure Order. http://www.mylandmatters.org/Maps/ClaimsAk/GetMap

I was up in Nome a few years ago while the show Bering Sea Gold featured the 'father and son conflict' episodes. We were early in the season and the dredgers weren't out yet for the new season so some of them were hanging around talking about the show(s). Just like Dale has said there are only a couple of 'characters' who are paid. If you are not on the paid list then you are helping them for free and also stopping your own production to let them get the right scenes. Most of the dredgers in Nome were not interested. They didn't have time for it as they had a short season. The 'reality' portrayed was not real. I still like seeing the gold on the gold shows and the fish on the tuna shows. To me there isn't any better TV when I watch. The gripes I have with the Tuna shows bring all of the problems of production into play for me. I know it is scripted bs and post produced to the max to make a fake contest. Who cares who 'wins' that stuff? (The 'tune in' audience does and that is the formula.) What really irks me is when I see a 'fish on' scene and it is obvious that they have spliced together different days and sea conditions and fake it as one landing of a fish. It takes several hours and one year they gave 'fight times' but they don't do that anymore. Some of the clips are calm seas, some are rough, some fog, some sun ... I've been on fishing boats often enough to get pissed off when my eyes are snapped around by these clips. Those of you here who are real gold producers know how fake the gold shows are and I appreciate your insights. I know those shows have contributed to the decimation of some of our patches. Mitchel

I put up 4 of the pictures to give some people that don't like to click on links a preview. The smaller nuggets are enticing. Look at the past sale prices and that will give you an idea but remember most gold has gone up since the last auction. There is also a network of dealers who deal in the art gold. Check them for latest prices also for comps.

Heritage seems to be the gold auctioneer of choice for many gold nugget sellers. Before you dolly that nugget find out their charges and you might get a great premium for a little bit of preparation. When they market they do excellent photography. Here is their next auction link. https://fineart.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?N=3173+792+4294945681

Who has seen it? I'm sure someone on the forum has. This is an article about the Armstrong Nugget which is 80.33 ozt. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-armstrong-nugget

Look at that young, boyish face ... (not Lunk) ... Gerry in that old picture!

Well done Gerry. Will Lunk have his own story and different gold?