Another Prospector Has Passed

[Mike Furness]

Many of you here on this forum know him or have hunted with him or have purchased handmade gold jewelry from him. My friend Steve Wandt passed away this past Monday evening. I don't know the full details of his death or arrangements. He was a good friend and fellow prospector as well as a highly skilled metallurgist/fine jewelry maker. He was also a patriot and an Army combat veteran from the Vietnam era. If I hear more details from his wife Dee I will pass them along. R.I.P. my friend!

[beatup]

Sorry to hear of his passing Mike .

[phrunt]

Sorry to hear, was he on this forum and if so which name did he use? 😞

 

[locator]

Mike, I'm sorry about the loss of your friend. May he R.I.P.

[strick]

Sorry to hear this. I had the pleasure of hunting with him once near his home in Forrest Hill. I had him make a pendant and necklace out of one of my nuggets that was a gift for my wife. His art work will live on forever. I heard he moved back east recently...RIP Steve 

And thank you for your service.

strick

[Steve Herschbach]

33 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Sorry to hear, was he on this forum and if so which name did he use? 😞

 

He was a member as El Dorado...

https://www.detectorprospector.com/profile/17-el-dorado/

I met Steve years ago but have not seen nor heard from him in a long time. He last visited the forum in October 2017. He did make some really fabulous gold jewelry but his website at http://www.naturalgoldjewelry.com went offline some time in the past. Long story short I am sorry to hear this - rest in peace Steve.

Steve Herschbach

[matt]

I hunted with him many times and he made quite a few beautiful pieces of jewelry for me and my family. Very sad news. He was a stand up guy and patriot who served this country. RIP my friend

[Gold Seeker]

Oh Wow, I very saddened to hear of Steve's passing, RIP Steve.

Yes Steve recently moved to North Carolina on the coast, he was looking forward to spending his time fishing the local waters and offshore.

[GhostMiner]

Very sorry to hear of this. Prayers go out for him.

[mn90403]

Steve was the finder of the often hunted 'orange peel' patch in The Dale.  Fred Mason and Grandpa John hunted that patch often.  I didn't know where it was so I never got any of the little gold off of it.  I now know but it is completely beat.

My version of the story about how it was found was that Steve had been at The Dale at a number of different club claims and open ground around 2010.  On his way back to his rig he stopped and had some lunch.  After his lunch he detected where he sat and he found some little nuggets.

He got back up to Forrest Hill and told someone he had found gold.  When asked where he found it he was unable to give an exact location.  (That was either by design or lack of memory.)  His friends were trying to figure out which path he took back and so forth and then someone found it.  I don't know for sure if Steve ever made it back to The Dale.

The way that it was found was someone had heard the story and they tried to follow his logical path and then they saw the clues.  Orange peels were spotted at a spot that fit the description and many, many desert nuggets were found after that.

I'm sure someone has a few names and years to fill in the gaps.

RIP Steve.

Mitchel