mn90403 Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 53 minutes ago, Rob Allison said: You realize people around you have died off, kids grown up and wonder where did time really go, as I didn't really get to enjoy anything running and gunning for years on end. I've done things a bit differently and find myself now with a couple of little guys that will be 3 and 6 soon and let me tell you ... time still flies by. It is already Wednesday ... what happened with Monday and Tuesday? Stay in the moment as much as possible. I'm coming up on a milestone. No, not another birthday but an odometer reading. I'll soon have 250,000 miles on my car. I drove it when it was new and then my step-dad had it for 6 years and put very few miles on it. Since about 2010 I've put over 200,000 miles on it as the sole driver. I took some odometer pictures in the past but what did I do all of those miles? What beach or goldfield was I at? It is mostly a blurrrrr. Stay in the moment and enjoy that next nugget as long as your belly is full and your health allows. It is not a second chance sort of deal. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cascade Steven Posted September 20, 2023 Share Posted September 20, 2023 Reese: Just wanted to wish you the best with your new location. As I read your post it occurred to me that you might have the "makings" of another book. An autobiography of sorts describing your experiences and lessens learned from this life style and advice for anyone that may be considering such an adventure. Just a little food for thought. Hope your next nugget is a big one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry in Idaho Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 North NV is one of my favorite part of the country to hunt gold. Yes I have been to AZ and Gold Basin with Success, but NV is my favorite of the 2. I imagine part of it is the time spent and knowing of the area. You have been to AZ and spent many more hours swinging a coil there than NV? Same with me about NNV, I have thousands of hours on many detectors going back 25+ yrs and some crazy great finds made. No matter where your desire to swing is, at least you are getting out there and doing it. Thanks for sharing and sorry your so called friend pulled the stupid on you. I actually think it's happened to us all at 1 time and some of us more than once. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasong Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 An RV is a game changer for that lifestyle, even a small lightweight one like 14-17ft. The shower/heat/ac/fridge/toilet make it so much more comfortable, especially since you are out working all day. You can get one for like $2500 down in AZ if you look around for deals. I can't remember what you are driving for tow capacity, but I had a Tacoma back then and it hauled a 20 footer ok in AZ/NV (2x leaf pack plus airbags). The Rockies passes were a bit tough, but doable. You are detecting a lot of the same places I spent time in when I was doing it full time. It's going to be a grind man. It was a grind 10 years ago and it was still possible to have 1-2 ounce days occasionally back then and find patches that could pay for a season of gas/food in one punch. Commerical mineral exploration (ie, extending outside of just gold) is the only feasible way I see to make a semi-comfortable living as a prospector today, and is the inevitable end game for anyone seriously trying to pursue field exploration as a job. Unless you own or have access to some primo land with an excavator to mine on. Just my view having spent the better part of 7 years doing the same thing, in the same places, and learning a lot from the experience. Might want to start expanding out from nugget detecting only, grab an RV, get good cell data and a computer, and start a mineral exploration business. You can make more with 1 good discovery you sell than 10 years of detecting. *also wanted to say: yes NNV gold has a lot of silver. But find the right places and some of that gold sells for many times over spot, so it's actually worth more. GB/LB gold has horrible refinery returns, grab a good 20x loupe and look at some "solid slugs" of it and you'll see why. A lot of it has tiny grains of quartz imbedded all through it. More often with GB than LB, but seen it on both. It also has a lot of quartz/limonite inclusions in general. I sold almost all mine for spot or 5% under spot because the refinery returns were poor on it and it was easy to saturate the collector market demand. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotAU? Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Guiding can be a good venture if you can stand baby sitting in the outdoors- I used to do it as a white water guide and got a lot of tip money, it paid for my college, but man, working for a lot of rich sissies from the city killed the fun. But most prospecting types are outdoorsy people anyways so it may be easier. I’d go on a paid venture to get some training and advice…. If I had the time! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldseeker5000 Posted September 22, 2023 Author Share Posted September 22, 2023 Jasong, please give me a call. I want to talk to you in depth on your advice suggestion. 1-406-309-1009 cell Reese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now