Lanny

Thanks for the post. All the best, Lanny

Thanks for the laugh Geof_Junk! All the best, Lanny

Always fun to find gold on the surface, better for a wow factor when you actually see it before the detector does, also lots of fun to find nuggets with the eyeball when you don't have a detector! I'm no expert on the sun-baker definition, but I really enjoyed Geof_Junk's definition, response, and photos, amazing finds! Interesting find GoldTree, keep swinging that coil. . . . All the best, Lanny

What a great post, and it's one that contains a lot of information on why VLF's are sometimes better at finding particular types of gold as well. As I too chase the gold on steep hillsides, I enjoyed your comments on detecting in those conditions. Moreover, I learned a few new ideas from your post on what to do a little differently with a VLF, always a welcome discovery. Thanks for putting together your post, and thanks also for the pictures. Nicely done, and all the best, Lanny

No problem buying it here, hope it goes up, would love to see that as I think it's been held low for a long time.

Wow!! Beautiful creations indeed. Nicely done, very thoughtful as well, all the best, Lanny

Wonderful finds, and thanks for posting the pictures as well. All the best, Lanny

Nice finds, and what a great year you've had! Thanks for the pictures, as well as the video, and all the best, Lanny

Lunk, you're the man! Nicely done, and all the best with the rest of your golden 2021, Lanny

That's a "cool" picture compared to the hot sun-bakers, nicely done! All the best, Lanny

I'm always amazed how gold never gets a sunburn from being exposed for all of that time on the surface.🤣

I found a prospecting entry today from the summer of 1997 that I’d like to post: “Most of the prospecting I get to do is in the summer (up here in Canada) because that's when things thaw enough to get out and root around. Well, one summer in the Omineca region of British Columbia, I was working with some miners who were stripping a large placer cut in an area that had historically produced coarse gold in quantity. They got down to bedrock and as they worked the excavation of the pit, the gold got better and better as they worked from the front (south) to the back (north) of the pit. When things got real interesting (that is when nice nuggets and coarse gold were turning up in the sluice) they hit a massive series of what the local miners called drift mines (they described drift mining as tunneling from a lower elevation in relation to the pay-layer to allow for drainage from seepage). Once the old-timers hit the pay-layer, they worked back and forth following the good pay. It could be done underground all winter long and the stockpiled material was then processed in the Spring. In fact, the entire back end of the pit had been roomed out (roomed is the term they used when the tunnels were so close together they went back and forth in a series of parallel tunnels literally taking all of the material from a pay layer, thus leaving a large underground pillared and lagged [wood that forms the roof of the room]. At any rate, the placer pit was now abandoned and scheduled to be refilled. They said I could poke around, but to stay out of the old drifts as they were dangerous. Well, that didn't take any convincing on my part. I have done a bunch of caving and rappelling but the tunnel works were there for well over a hundred years and the wet lumber had changed somehow and broke in chunks with the consistency of celery, nothing like wood at all. As I poked around, there was seepage everywhere, and the lagging on the ceiling of the tunnels was all cracked and caving. In addition, the pit was rapidly filling with water from the front to the back where I wanted to prospect, so I didn't have much time. The modern miners had displaced a bunch of the large upright pillars (large hand-hewn logs) with their machinery when they hit the drifts. I panned some of the material from the false bedrock and true bedrock they had scraped. There was a little gold, mostly small flakes. I reasoned that when the old-timers were putting in their pillars and posts they must have covered up some pay, even if it was a small amount. As well, I knew from all the work they had done (extremely difficult manual labor) that the pay had to have been excellent; the modern pit had proven that as well. So, I found a nice fat displaced pillar, levered it out of the socket with a large bar and carefully collected the material from around it and in the socket forming the bottom of the hole. I panned it out and man you should have seen the pickers! I scratched around the base of another pillar but I couldn't move it out of its place and yet I still found some more coarse gold. However, time was running out. The seepage was real bad and the upper bank material started to slough off from above, and let me tell you, when that starts to happen, it’s time to get out fast! All the gold in the world isn't worth a lick if you’re dead. Standing above the bank I watched as the wet material oozed down into the pit which then collapsed the bank, with a slurping sound, down into the cut. There would be no more getting the gold there anymore, it was kind of sad, but I had found out something truly valuable: anytime I come across old drift workings that are exposed by modern mining, if the conditions are safe, I'll happily gather the material from around those old pillars and pan it.” I found out more about the type of gold some of that false bedrock (I mentioned earlier) was holding on another day, but that’s a story for a later time. May you all find something golden to smile about, and all the best, Lanny

Gary my friend, great to hear from you as well, and I hope the digger of that sassy nugget finds many more! All the best, Lanny

That's a sweet find for sure, a real heart-stopper. All the best, Lanny

(Annual Christmas Poetry) Santa’s Fate One winter’s day, in ’82, Well, things were lookin’ mighty blue, Cause Santa’s sleigh was runnin’ late, And this produced an awful state. The kids was feelin’ mighty down. ‘Cause Santa might not get to town! An avalanche had closed the way To block their local Christmas sleigh. Now Santa’s name was Honest John, A muleskinner off and on, He cussed and chewed, he liked his booze And in a brawl, he was bad news. So, not your average Santa, no. But Christmas set John’s heart aglow That he could freight the gifts and toys To all those little girls and boys. His mules he’d garb in greens and reds, With antlers mounted on their heads, Then off they’d scoot to meet the train Down far below, out on the plain. So once again they did the same, But Fate had run a crooked game And choked the pass with tons of snow. So, Honest John was stuck below. A telegram he quickly sent, And this is how the message went: “Just meet me at the closest spot Where all that snow just ain’t quite got.” The folks was stumped just how to go Through all the piled up winter snow. Why, snowshoes might just do the trick To meet their hometown Old Saint Nick! The Sheriff rounded up a crew Of miners, ranchers, gamblers too With packs and bags they quickly went. This telegram to John they sent: “We’ll get to you just at that spot Where all that snow just ain’t quite got.” This news was something mighty big! So John, he danced a merry jig To know the good he done each year To fill that town with Christmas cheer Would once again get carried out, On Christmas Eve, without a doubt. Well, Honest John, he met that crew And filled their bags and packs up too. He turned his mules out far below Then snowshoed off across the snow. ******************************* On Christmas morn, the kids they found, With wondrous feelings quite profound, Their toys and goodies 'round the tree Just like the way things used to be. But Honest John was fast asleep. His promises that he did keep Had left him tuckered, plumb worn thin. Yet on his face, a peaceful grin. All the best, and a Merry Christmas to all, Lanny

Enjoyed the story of your adventure, as well as the picture of your captured gold. All the best, Lanny

Amazing finds, nicely done! Thanks for the pictures and the storyline as well. All the best, Lanny

Highly unique find. Nicely done! All the best, Lanny

Nice finds, Montana has some nice gold! You're really doing well. All the best, Lanny

The video looks like another click-bait scam, nothing to do with the real sweat and toil of finding genuine gold. Plus, the coil is flopping around, and the swings are so wild and random, if there really were nuggets in the ground, they missed 80% of them. . . . All the best, and be safe on your trip, Lanny I

You'll always remember your first find. Congratulations, and all the best, Lanny

Nice to see you're having such a great season. All the best, Lanny

Great finds indeed! Nicely done, and all the best, Lanny

Great finds. Is there a spot available for you on Aussie Gold Hunters? All the best, Lanny

Incredible finds, nicely done! All the best, Lanny