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I left that to my staff bbefore flying to OZ 23.2 gr not bad for a beginner Enjoy RR

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Here is a photo of my brothers finds from the sunny southwest corner of Arizona. All these were found with a gpz 7000 they range in size from just a few hundredths of a gram to close to 27 grams.Most all were found in areas that have been hunted and then hunted some more.

My customer on MX trip with me 2 weeks ago. 1st day 1st ring & it's this mans 14K gold with a gold Krugerrand coin. I told him to quit & just hang out at the bar as I felt he would not find a better. Should have listened as it actually did become his best find of the trip. It is his 1st gold coin find ever. So if entering it at the local club, does it go into the Jewelry Category or the Coin? Or he could pop the coin out and enter both individually? His Equinox 600 is almost paid for.

On our Chisana mining claims there are a few areas that the old timers hydrauliced and of course in the bedrock area the bits were blasted into the cracks and crevices. Steve H and I took many of these bits out of there, our weapon of choice was the hot GB2 with the six' coil.. I I have to admit after a few years it is finally getting a little lean.. Personally this area taught me much about hunting bits.. You can find other areas too that have been scraped to bedrock and I have been given permission many times to have at it, so to say. The Bug is a killer in these areas and it get a little boring. Lol.. I started looking at these bits a little more carefully and I began to understand why you wouldn't hear some of these pieces, but when you disturbed the ground it was zip zip all over again.. You won't find these bits at depth, but looking at the bits you will see they are not round but flat.. Sometimes you missed them because all the detector could see was the edges they couldn't pick up. When you moved the dirt the flats were exposed and presented just enuff mass for a nice little zip.. I met a miner in the 40 mile area years ago and I always chatted with him. One particular area he had mined with his Hoe and D8, bedrock was scraped pretty clean and as far as he was concerned the mineable gold was gone.. He was moving his operation a ways and when he saw me he said the area is yours good luck..... Damn ,damn I thought, A good spot for me , I went over the bedrock slowly and carefully soon I heard what I was listening for.. There was an amount of dirt over the spot and I brushed it away, what I exposed was a beautiful crack in the bedrock that was full of cemented gravel and gold.. I picked out a few small nug and finally when I got most of the gravel out I almost choked, In the bottom was a slug, yikes, when I dug it out, that beauty weighed 1.7 ozs... Boo ya, Not sure I have a photo if I can find one I will post it soon. Tough being in Thailand and posting I don't have many photos only a lot of memories... Ok here’s the slug at the bottom of the crack

I always enjoy a trip to Quartzsite with beautiful weather and a warm sun. I love the solitude of exploring the lesser visited areas with the flowers beginning to bloom, lizards scurrying around and even a few bighorn sheep on the hills. Sometimes I even get lucky. On my recent trip with my Gold Monster I found two small nuggets, a 1.6 gram and a .05 gram. At the end of the day I drove into town and celebrated with a pizza at Silly Al's.

Winter Prospecting on the Feather Watch as Jeff does some winter Prospecting for Gold trying to get the jump on Gary ( Two toes ) on there yearly Gold contest !!! I only had a short window between storms so I took a short drive to the River in search of Gold. Thanks for watching , I hope you enjoy the video Jeff

Tag along as Jeff and Gary ( Two Toes ) head to the Hills in search of Golden Crevice's Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoy the video's Jeff

Finally got around to finishing a video of Dredging In Virginia back in the Spring of 2018. Got two nice little nuggets, picked one off of bedrock but the larger one snuck by me and was found in the box. Let me know what you guys think, and would love to hear any advice, as im always learning. And as always Thumbs up for GOLD!!

Certainly not my first finds but have been out today and might as well start an album. Especially with these beauties!! Now with a thread name like this you might think it will rival the Reg Wilson album?? Sadly you will be disappointed at present but don't worry as my plan is to start small so the gold in the album can do nothing but get bigger. A cunning stunt if ever I saw one Off an old area where the gold has been washed/rockered/something. Have found quite a few other little bits there but the one to the right of the echidna's nose would have to be the smallest. To give the non-Aussie's an idea the 5 cent piece is our smallest coin and on another Aussie gold forum really small gold is often measured against the nose of the echidna. Amazing to think the 14 inch coil can pick this stuff up. High yield, difficult, sensitivity 15, volume 1, B&Z booster working nicely Retirement.......a long way off at this rate.

After finding a few nuggets last year this year is starting off a little better. The Monster does a fine job on small shallow pieces of gold in the Arizona desert. This is only my second year detecting.

Yesterday morning i went to one of my beaches and searched from mid day till 4pm sunset . I found the beach looking quite good and thought it would be good for Gold . I started on a small beach first and found a few older Pound coins and other coins that had obviously been there a long while. I then hopped over onto another beach by that one which is normally very good in the Summer wasn't good and i found almost nothing . Going onto the next beach i found this beach to be very different and saw very hard cuts into the higher end of the beach . I started to find many coins amongst the millions of nails and other Iron . Half way along i found a few coins and then got a target that i didn't check on the meter and dug it . I suddenly saw yellow and when i picked it up found it was a 22k Gold ring , it says on the ring 22kDM916 . I also found old early 1900's Pre Decimal coins . A short while later i found a Stainless Steel ring and a junk Shark thing and a 1 Euro , a US 2010 Five Cent and a coin with a hole in it . I then turned around and headed back and finished at 4pm . My finds for the day were £35.72p in coinage , a 1 Euro , a US 5 Cent , an unknown coin , several Pre Decimal coins , a junk Shark , the Stainless Steel ring and the 22k Gold ring . The stone in the pictures is a lot clearer , it might be the Bluetac thats making it dull. I would have gone today but i will on Wednesday morning , not sure it will be the same place .

It's a beauty - nice character!

Nice Story" Nice Gold! I've never seen this "Beast" before? Passing it on to the Forum! Goals 4 the New Year? Find a Nugget/Specie Like this? OK! ?Ig

So I was able to make it out for a half day yesterday of detecting. The plan was to start at an old wash I had found a few nuggets. Hit really low and slow, jamming the coil under all the bushes. I must have done a good job before...no luck. I did see a new wash I never hit before and thought I'd give it a try. Hit a 1 g nugget right of the bat and figured I was on a new patch. NOPE lol. My super power seems to be finding lone random nuggets, not patches. I had an hour and half left before I had to go, so I decided to hit an area that has trash, and most people assume has been pounded. Its below an area of scraping and full of drywasher piles. I tried to look at the area from a different perspective and not automatically go to the washes. The plan worked. I picked the 2 small species back to back and then had to work a little harder to find the last nugget of the year. 2.8g. It was a foot down and not a solid signal to start with. 2018 was a tough year, because 2017 I picked all the low lying fruit with my new then GPZ 7000. Now I have to work a little harder, think more, and explore more. But I figure this is what makes us better prospectors. My buddy Dave and I have tried to explore and expand new areas with very limited success lol. But we will keep trying. 2019 will be a tough year as well because I have a couple of surgeries scheduled, but I'm sure I'll make the most of it. Happy New Year everyone!! Chris

Because of my almost complete lack of success lately I`ve only been getting out for a couple of hours a day. The one on the dime is a 2 grammer and I think just about any detector would have got it. It was a big broad signal and I just happened to be the one that waived over it. The other one, I got out at Waanyarra the other day and thanks to the wonders of usb microscopes, it`s a hell of a lot smaller than it probably looks. ? Dave

Although I first searched for native gold with a detector in late 2015 (3 years ago) I've really only been able to spend less than 75 hours in the field due to the distance I live from detectable gold. Add to that the fact that even though I've spent a lot of time reading about how to find gold with a metal detector I really didn't know what I was doing. All that changed last month when I took Gerry McMullen's in-field training class. "All that" includes what I report here. I'll be creating a separate post reviewing Gerry's class so I'll only quickly set the stage now. Rye Patch, NV, north central part of section 17 -- 32N32E, a location that has seen more than its share of detectors of all types. I brought my Equinox 800 and (at the time) new 6 inch coil fitted with a homemade polycarbonate skidplate (copied from Steve H.'s design for his 11 inch coil). After 3 days of training I stayed around for an extra 2 days on my own (actually, Earl from Idaho also stayed and we compared finds during and at the end of each day). On the last afternoon of my last day, hunting only about 50 meters from the location where the 'classroom' part of the class was conducted, I got a familiar signal and scraped off about an inch of soil with my boot, finding I had moved the target. I say 'familiar' because I'd been digging tiny foil (cigarette pack?) pieces, tiny wire, and lots of bullet shards for 3 1/2 days. I was in Gold 1 mode, threshold = 8, recovery speed = 4, iron bias = 6, ground tracking, sensitivity = 19, using the WM-08 module attached to SunRay Pro Gold headphones. I got an ID of +1 which I had been told by the instructors was where much of the Rye patch area small gold was hitting on the Eqx 800. The signal was loud and clear. Expecting another piece of lead I was surprised to see a faint yellow color on the recovered piece. I noticed Earle was near his campsite and I tried to hide my excitement when I showed him my find. He (diplomatically) told me he wasn't sure that it was gold based upon both its color and a scratch on one face. His alternate theory was that I had found a piece of brass bullet jacket. I countered with the fact that it wasn't at all jagged (like most bullet fragments I had found) but in fact had the rounded characteristics of metal that had seen a lot of natural (water, wind) wear. But I certainly took his concerns to heart. I returned to the 'patch' ? with a couple hours remaining before sunset. It took me the full two hours but right before calling it quits I got another solid +1 ID, this one about 2 inches deep, that also showed the sought after yellow color, this time more pronounced (gold-like) in color. It was a smaller piece but also showed weathering. As it turned out, my 'backup' find was needed. I didn't get home for another week, and then after weighing both pieces I decided I needed some under 0.1 gram calibration weights for my milligram scale so another few days went by. When I finally was able to calibrate the scale (it was pretty close to being accurate, within 1 mg at the low end of weight) and after fumbling around making a sling to hold the larger piece I found the following: Larger sample (1st piece found) had a dry weight of 171 mg (just over 2 1/2 grains) while the smaller weighed in at 121 mg (about 1 3/4 grains). That was the good news. Repeated measurements of the larger piece suspended in water gave a displaced volume of 16 microliters (from a dry vs. wet difference measurement of 16 mg). Dividing that out gives a specific gravity of between 10 and 11 (with an uncertainty in the neighborhood of 1 on this scale), definitely nowhere near gold. In addition, I later accidentally broke the larger piece into smaller pieces. Gold doesn't break. Although a specific gravity measurement of the smaller piece could be done, this would tax both me (trying to get it into a thread sling) and my scale, which would likely give a single digit reading (that is, < 10 mg displacement weight) for the divisor and introduce even more uncertainty into the calculation. Of course maybe I'm afraid to know the truth. One positive sign is that I tried to break the smaller piece (using my fingernail -- that's what broke the large one) without success. So, what is the imposter? I don't think it's iron pyrite since it gave a strong metal signal and ID of +1 on the Eqx. It could be some kind of alloy, possibly of copper and silver (but are those found in native form in Rye Patch?) or even some kind of Au-Ag or Au-Ag-Cu (electrum?) alloy. But, regardless, if my specific gravity measurement is anywhere close it can't contain much gold. The photo shows clearly the difference in color of the (original) two finds. (Oh, even though my find was half a world away from Australia I thought it might be good to put things in perspective for those Down Under who aren't well versed in the size of our US dime.) The upper two pieces are the remains of the broken larger piece. I did lose about 14 milligrams in smaller fragments when it broke and those were scattered on my dirty workshop floor. (Good luck finding that 14 mg amongst all the metal shavings, even with a detector. I'd have to sweep the floor and pan the refuse!) I'm interested in reading your opinions, both of what the larger piece really is but also whether you think the smaller piece looks legit.

Tis the season for nuggetshooting the great American desert southwest once again, and for the first leg of my annual pilgrimage it’s always mandatory to spend some time at the Rye Patch area in northern Nevada. With the ground being very dry this time of year, the GPZ 7000 performs at its best in this region with minimal interference from the conductive alkali component of the local ground. In areas where there was variable ground however, a quick adjustment of the Ground Smoothing from Off to Locate Patch returned the threshold to a smooth and stable operation again. One of the highlights of the hunt was a decent, broad target that had a hint of a gurgle as the coil was swept completely out of the target zone, which indicated the nugget was going to be a bit larger than the usual dinks I had been finding. After removing 8 to 10 inches of material out of a broad area centered over the target, the signal response was fairly screaming as I swung the coil flat against the bottom of the excavation. Turning the coil up on edge however, and the Zed struggled to get a response from the bottom of the hole; when this scenario happens, it’s telling me there’s a really nice nugget and that I have a lot more digging to do. ? Finally, at a depth of 18 inches, the target was screaming off the edge of the coil, so just using the plastic scoop, I dug into the floor of the mammoth dig hole and retrieved the golden beauty: a lovely 10.6 grammer!? This same process was repeated on another occasion, but this time it was a 4.5 gram nugget about 3 inches away from another nugget about half its size, again at around 18 inches deep. Although pretty nippy in the mornings, the sunny weather held out with no wind. So all in all, a super good hunt, with a total of 51 grams of golden goodies.

I went to the WSPA Outing in the Dale district over Thursday through Sunday...I managed to find this 2.5 grain nugglet. I did have to stay on fairly level ground. fred

The best part was how much fun I had chasing the gold with my son. The two of us really hit some nice stuff this past season. All the best to those of you that enjoy chasing the gold, Lanny

Well we’ve had some snow and cold temps up at the cabin....here’s my thermometer for my morning walk the other day: Hadn’t made it to my little claim in well over a month, so decided to give it one more visit when it warmed up in the afternoon. Roamed over the handstackings and found a promising spot to clear and detect a bit: Nice little nuggies found both near the surface, and some better ones in some depressions in the bedrock...here they are in the canister cap. Was afraid with my cold hands I’d knock them off the Monster’s coil if I displayed them spread out! : Did a final weigh-in of the gold found on the claim....used the Monster mainly, and some drywashing till it started to crap out on me mid season(a big shout out to Chet for fixing it better than new for next year!) My goal was to just find enough to at least pay for my claim fees and corner posts....ended up with 12.85grams, so did a bit better than that lol! Here’s the pic of it all....looks like a tiny micro version of Lunk’s killer Rye Patch finds that he posted about recently? It was great fun to have my own special place to play this summer....looking forward to continuing moving rock etc on the claim next year! I am so grateful that I have my cabin in the hills and pines, and am able to enjoy the wilderness and the critters in it. Here’s a couple recent pics taken while on my walks...not the best quality on my phone, though I think you can make out Mrs Moose(Mr had stepped out of view by the time I took pic), and a huge coyote that hung around for a couple weeks. I’ll be heading to FL for the winter soon....so will be switching to beach hunting....wish me luck! ?

Nice Dig! ? Enjoy! Ig

If does help to have a bulldozer and jackhammer also! Published on Oct 6, 2014 - Yes, over his 35+ year prospecting career Matt has found more than his body weight in gold nuggets. Garrett ATX Information Page

Well with the Thanksgiving Holiday we just had, I was able to jump in the truck for a quick over-nighter to try out the 15" coil on the NOX. Now for those of you who know me, I spent most of the summer/fall testing the new Whites 24K in Oregon and Idaho (with great success) so I did not get to hunt gold this year with the NOX. Actually this was my 1st trip using it for gold nuggets and since my friends had already hunted the site with their NOX and standard 11" round DD coils, I figured there is no use in doing the same thing over. My intuition paid off and to say it bluntly was an understatement. My 1st gold piece (not jewelry as I have found ounces of gold rings so far with NOX) is a dandy. 2.78 ozt or over 3 regular ounce "Golden Oreo" at 16-18" deep. This is by far my biggest Oreo of 2018. The photos show the 15" coil standing upright in the hole and the sun is coming down at an angle and barley shining on the top of the coil. You can see the back of the rock pile is higher than the coil itself. Another factor is I found out the 15" coil is very bump sensitive to rocks so I had to swing it a couple inches off the ground. I typically do not recommend this to my customers and say to keep the coil to the soil, but at times it can't be done. Yes I did drop my SENS down and preferred 19 most of the time. Do you think "Golden Oreo" is a good name and if you have something better, please share it as this masterprice needs its own name. On a side note. When swinging the 15" coil on the NOX for 8 hour days in rough terrain, you need a bungee and I really do like and recommend Docs Ultra Swingy Thingy Harness System. I actually use it with my GPZ 7000 as. Another great thing I like about the harness is it actually clips to the back of my pants to hold them up better and my plumbers crack does not get burnt as often.

I haven`t been posting any finds recently because, well, I haven`t been finding much. I`ve been spending a fair bit of time in a area where years ago multi ounce nuggets were common, but most days I come home empty handed. Today I got one of those "is that a signal or isn`t it?" targets. I run very conservative settings now and because the detector runs so quiet I dig a lot more ground noise than I used too, I thought this was another one. It was just the tiniest change in the threshold. When I was down about 4" it was giving off that lovely electronic warbly signal I like and somewhere down about the 8 or nine inch mark this little speci popped out.