Hard Prospector

An old salty and gruff character,  the kind  reality show TV producers are always in search of.  The guy seemed legit (although his kid somewhat of a knuckle head). 

RIP

Since on the subject of gold panning in California,  its my understanding that gold panning in California state parks is legal so long as only "hands and pans" only.  To imply no hand tools of any kind allowed in the process.  Can anyone confirm if this is so?  

Just a simple question,  nothing political here.

Kinda reminds me of the occasional cheater you see entering a bass fishing tournament. Money and acclaim seem to bring out the skeemers and dirt bags

Gotta be tough making a living swinging for gold.  Looks like you've done quite well and I enjoy reading about your adventures.  I've found my share with the detector but been doing much better filling the polk drywashing, sluicing even highbanking last several years.  Claims are the way to go but I've done quite well prospecting out of a backpack out in the boonies as well.  Good luck this year working your Montana claims and best of health

21 hours ago, SwiftSword said:

I confess I know nothing about prospecting, but that doesn't seem to be a lot of gold for a whole summer's worth of detecting. Is this par for the course, or do you need better them thar hills? 

Not too bad for many find nothing for their summer swinging for nuggets. Metal detecting is by far the most challenging method for finding gold.  Every year it becomes more difficult.

Three of the four pieces look well traveled, perhaps from an ancient  river channel or bench deposit long since pushed way up.

Sounds good Steve,  practical yet still fair to new-b's with good intentions

Life-like bots convincingly impersonating real people.  I don't like the direction this Brave New World is headed..........frightening

Seems very fair Steve,  need to adjust to changing times and the methods these skeemers use.

As one of the "older members",  I can honestly say I could care less about such antics.  I mean, this particular forum kinda opens up the door to non prospectors hoping they stumbled upon some unique find leading to a pay day.

Now if perhaps I was owner/moderator of this web site I could understand being a little taken back by "interlopers" mooching expertise then outta here without so much as a thanks.

I still find myself often reaching for this machine from time to time.  Very stable and effective, found lots of gold over the years with my F19 / GB Pro's.  Very nice ergonomics and lite weight allow me to swing all day without my shoulder getting pissed off.  I mainly bring it (or the Monster) on  long range back pack  / prospecting trips as it   and breaks down so well  and only uses a 9v battery.

5 hours ago, Reg Wilson said:

The problem is that idiots outbreed those with a modicum of intelligence and are easily influenced by the avalanche of the worst of America (moronic television programs and junk food). We are becoming just an extra state of the USA and a puppet country that does what Uncle Sam dictates. Having been to America I have seen some of the poorer areas that are third world, with trash everywhere.

As an example we loyally follow the USA into each unjust and unwinnable war that our master commands, which other countries are smart enough to avoid. 

There are some great intelligent people in America that have contributed to world betterment, but don't kid yourself, there is a dark and dangerous, not very smart aspect as well, that the less intelligent of Australians identify with. We have perhaps more that our share of idiots here.

Perhaps you've forgotten but if it wasn't for the US Navy and our "Yank" air craft carriers (Battle of the Corral Sea),  you would likely be speaking Japanese today.............just a little remedial history lesson here

*Sorry for the politics Steve but he started it

Hey Fred,

The  SDC 2300 is about as simple as they get and will find  the smallest nuggets around your foothills and jewelry at the beach.  The Gold Bug Pro / F19 is super simple to operate, has good discrimination  and could fill in the VLF nitch.   Both detectors can be picked up dirt cheap these days  but still very effective.  

2 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I agree that Keene has a tendency to being overly complex in many things they make. I prefer simplicity.

I’ve never seen these myself but maybe what you are talking about?

Man,  I think that"s it!    Just like the classifier I saw working on the A52 at San Gabrial River! 

If Mark isn't interested in making it,  I'm sure you could contract with a local metal fabricator in Anchorage to produce them,   shouldn't be hard for a shop to make.   From what I've seen on the creeks,  I  guarantee they will sell. 

Might be better off  bypassing Keene all together and  just making this a AMDS exclusive product! 

49 minutes ago, AMDS said:

Keene has something similar, here is a picture of the classifier screening system. I personally have not used it but, i have gotten a lot of good feed back from several customers. 

Yah,  I've seen this thing in action  and works ok but its expensive and has issues.

I wish I had a picture of the one  I've seen around or the name company who made it.....bummer

The one I'm talking about is 1/4" holes (only) in heavy duty stainless punch plate.  It has  folded over "U" shaped lips that just drops over the edges of the A52 sluice sides.  NO WINGNUTS that always disappear.  Just insert,  shovel on to and even more importantly, pull out for a clean up......super simple  

90% of the time ,  reducing the material to minus 1/4"  is plenty enough.

A classifier should not be expensive or complex.  Rugged, effective and simple is key

Keene needs to produce a 1/4" drop in classifier for the A52 sluice, simple and rugged......just shovel in material.  Covers the flair and maybe half down the sluice run. One was made for it by another company that went defunct. There's some around and they work really well. One will come up for sale second hand occasionally and it sells  quick.

Mark takes after his Dad and is all business,  Pat is a good miner and  a character.

I never really thought of it before but it makes  sense for so many reasons.  Once you've built a successful business and ready to retire,  selling it to the your dedicated and passionate  employees  just seems  a win- win for all.

Can't tell you how many  successful mom n' pop business I've seen  ended up going bust because it was decided to "turn  the  company over to the kids"   when we retire. 

 A passion for the business as well as some "skin in the game"  seems key here.

Nice to see a family type prospecting/mining store still flourishing someplace. They've about gone extinct in many states.

 I'll be in Anchorage this summer,  looking forward to stopping by.

Never got a chance but have heard the beach swinging is quite good with little pressure down there.  I know of a guy who vacations to Cancun beach resorts every year and  really cleans up on the gold jewelry. He takes down older less expensive detectors "just in case"  but has told me he really hasn't had any issues with authorities.  Says he feels safe at the resort beaches that he stays at and gives any Mexican coins away to hotel staff as tips.   

Perhaps someone else on this board has experience doing this and could comment more........

 Been going to Baja for over 40 years exploring, fishing,  diving and prospecting.  The biggest fish I've ever caught and largest nuggets I've ever found have been down there. Going to Mexico used to be safe for the most part however in recent years, this is no longer so.  Mainly because of organized crime and the epidemic of violence. The Mexican culture is rich and the people are wonderful. BUT  their country and the fabric of their society is under tremendous strain,  breaking down and I feel Mexico is in danger of becoming a failed state (remember Columbia not too long ago).  I stopped going down recently because of a couple close calls,  one of which I was lucky to escape from.  Anyone considering prospecting in Mexico should consider all of the risks for sure.  The average American has no business going down these days.  

Steven;  I hope the information I shared with you was of some help.......good luck and safe adventures

Bought myself a Geo Sluice highbanker recently and looking forward to getting it out.  Always wondered just how effective it would catch the smallest gold...........you sure answered that  question ............ Thanks!

Since the Massie's removed themselves from the organization several years ago,  the GPAA  has been in a steady decline.....now this.  They should have  at least kept the Vegas show as it was always a big deal.

  The Buzzard would not be pleased.

Been using one for a year now for scouting / prospecting.  It seems to work well and will fit into most any pack

Lots of work  but good way for the promoter  to clean up  a chunk of cash.

Think so