29 Prospector

Bob spoke so highly of you all, he considered you family...and now i understand. I can't begin to express my gratitude for your thoughts and prayers and generous gifts. As you can imagine this time has been unbelievably difficult but you all have carried me through what would have been even more devastating. I'm sure he'll take a moment away from prospecting the universe to tap you on the shoulder and cause you to look in an unusual spot to beep or a crazy rock to overturn to bless you all for your kindness with a weird nugget or... (who knows?) the mother load! He loved being out in the desert with everybody. You all made his last years some of his happiest in spite of his disablities and pain. I can't find the words to tell you how much i miss him and always will. I feel lost without him. Our kids have been a tremendous comfort to me and each other, and our four grandkids will miss the funny stories he loved to tell them. I guess we all will miss his stories. I want to thank you all again for helping our family get through this huge loss. You're the best, sincerely dani

As most seasoned miners & prospectors know, you stay away from open shafts, caved in tunnel fronts, etc. Those of use who have worked underground and in mine rescue work, a fall of that distance will pretty much break up your bones. The decision to leave someone is a hard one to make, but you must take into consideration the danger to the rescuers as well as the material thats going to fall down on the person. Bob

Everyone who came in contact with RD, never walked away without learning something. I met RD while drywashing a small wash that had flattened out coming down a hill. RD was working the ridge line and came down to visit. We spent an hour talking about the Dale and our love for the place. After RD passed, Denny and I went out to his camp site to pay our last respects. The energy and emotions felt that day were heavy. It was as if RD was there with us. I'll never forget that day. We lost a truly wonderful prospector. Bob

Welcome to the forum Dusty. Your question is somewhat of a loading statement. That being said, Is the MXT a good all around detector? The easy answer is yes. It is a very good starter detector. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to the VLF style detectors, but most are together in opinion when it comes to PI units. My old hard rock partner use an MXT and has done very well with it. As with any type of detector, patience, practice, and more practice a long with more patience is what is needed to find gold. Just make sure your in a good area that's known for gold and join a club. In a club you will find good claims to work and a bunch of friendly people who are very willing to help you get over your first nugget. Bob

Well yesterday it almost got warm, 52 degrees. Sun went down and at 4am today it was 24 degrees on our back patio. It's now 38 degrees with a high of 48 today. Where were these temps. in July & August? Bob

Good morning prospectors! Such a nice day out, for those who like to freeze their N%ts off. It's 28 degrees out here in 29 Palms @ 7:15am. It was 24 @ 5am. Fire sure feels good. Bob

I jokingly opened with the 100 bullets so that you might understand that this hobby is fun and taxing on the brain. Like Bill, my first nugget came from my own drywasher tailings. I've dug more bullets, nails, tacks, and pieces of wire than nuggets, but that's the name of the game. If it beeps repeatedly, dig it. You never know what you might find. Bob

Well there is an old saying out here in the Dale. "A newbie must dig at least 100 bullets before his first nugget" Ol'29er

Nice finds John. With the way your luck has been running, I would hunt gold and for go the coin shooting too. Bob

SWEEEEEEET.............

It could be one or the other. If the bottom is flat and smooth then it could be a stamp from the mill. If the bottom is rounded on the bottom then it could be an old crucible. I personally think it's part of a stamp mill. Like Chris and Ron, I have seen gold pounded into iron stamps. :twocents: Bob

Well Frank, I still have my 92, but with the nerves the way they are in my left leg, it's hard to work the clutch. I have a friend here in town that wants to buy my 92, actually, he wants to trade me his 97 Nissan 2 wheel drive truck plus some cash my way. His truck is a automatic and with the right tires, I'll be able to get to just about any place I want. I can only think of 2 places where I would not be able to go, and I really do not want to there without a smoother riding truck. The old back won't take the pounding anymore. Bob

Well I'll jump in here first and see if I can help. First thing to do is get a good pair of headphones. Everyone has their own preference. I used "The Rattler" headphones. They have just one ear cover. Here in the desert I wanted one ear free to hear rattle snakes. Second, I would get the small coil for it, it is very good at picking up very small gold. The deepest that I found a nugget was 10" and weighed .25pwt. The Gold Bug 2 is a very good starter detector and it will find you a lot of gold once you get use to its little signals and tones. As for why it did not pick up you bottle of gold; well there are several reasons for that. Take the largest piece of gold you have and the smallest picker you have out from the bottle. Test the machine with the gold out of the bottle. Find a plastic lid that does not set the detector off and place the pieces, one at a time and test the depth. Work with the settings until you get the clearest sound for the nugget. After you have done that for a while, practice, practice, and practice some more. Bob

SGTFDA, Perfect choice for desert prospecting. I have had a 82, 83, 85, 87, and a 92 Toyota. All took a beating and kept on going back for more. My problem here in California was getting them to pass smog. If you do not have good tires yet, 10"x31's fit perfect on them without hurting you MPG's. Bob

Denny, Congrats. I know you have been wanting this for a long time and I'm glad that you and Bill have partnered up in business. Nuggetshooter and Minelab both have one hot team now. Bill you could not have picked a more honorable partner. Good luck as you both grow 100 fold. Bob