Newbie on the forum...

[Enzed in AZ]

G'day everyone, I'm new to the forum and also nugget shooting.

My wife and I just moved across to beautiful AZ from filthy L.A and are dead keen to hunt for that elusive yellow stuff.

Shes an Irish lass from Queens NYC and I'm from N.Z at the bottom of the planet ( long story that one..)

We are both avid "scrufflers" ( see old rubbish piles in the desert and look for old bottles etc ) and coin shooters, having

done a lot of detecting back in Socal on the beaches and also parks etc for old coins and jewellery.

Both of us as far as finding gold in its natural form, are .........virgins. Yep...*sniff*

We even ordered one of those wee bags of Tom Massies to at least see colour...grief...thats desperation for you.

Although we have found some very expensive items that are man made, it's not the same as tooling around in the desert just

enjoying the beauty and having fun just looking for that yellow metal. We unfortunately for now are only able to use

our minelab EXII's that came with us. Moving into a house here and the move itself means the pulse detectors will have to

wait a few months.......bugger.

A question for all of those here on the forum.... Can we get away for now, with using the EXII's in the desert for nuggets?

I'm aware that heavy mineralization is going to put the kaibosh on us, but not all gold is found in heavy hot-rock spots is it?

The Mine-labs are deep seekers with the standard 10 inch coil on, and I've dug tiny rusty nails out of 18 inches of black mix sand

on the SoCal coast which was the deepest I've ever been, but I know thats not desert mineralization. ( Deepest in dirt about 12 inches )

I assume the halo created by the nails was fairly broad, but I'm not sure if gold creates a halo?

Do any of you know of someone or have personally used the EXII for nugget shooting? Is it at least worth having a crack at it

with these?

I'd certainly appreciate any info I can get. Cheers!

HH - Johnny

[fredmason]

Hi and welcome;

the short answer is...yes....with a BUT...you may find bigger nuggets with it, you will not find very small nuggets with it. Of course, there are many more small nuggets than large...if you can, use the smallest coil available...go slow and hunt the trashy areas people with out good discriminators avoid...

good luck

Fred

[Enzed in AZ]

G'day Fred. Welcome the reply mate.

I kinda figured as much with regards the size of nuggets from what I've seen thus far on forums and other sites. I was using the 10inch but I'll

start having a crack with the 8inch...and...go slow. I also have a couple of 6.5 inch Xcellerator coils Linda and I would use in REALLY nasty as ground

so maybe they can be put to work if theres some serious hot spots. We are use to "listening" to hidden targets that are masked by all the iron

you find in L.A parks or GGP ( Golden Gate Park ) so I'm hoping the same thing will apply to some extent here in the desert.

Thanks for the feedback Fred.

HH - Johnny

[fredmason]

No problem...since you have the 6.5 coils I suggest you go straight to them and see how you go. I haven't ever used your machines but generally less sensitivity will be better than maximum...get some small lead shot...#9, #6, #2 or some small split shot (fishing weights) and practice with them...if you can try out someone's nugget collection that would give you an excellent idea of the minimum size you can hope to find...realizing that it is always easier to find one that you know is there than to find one you don't know exists...As Unc Ron says, practice, patience and preserverance...

No doubt others will tell you to not waste your time without the proper tool for the job, but, hey, if you don't have a hammer use a rock...

Good luck

Fred

ps. you might consider joining a local club.

[29 Prospector]

Well good day to you Johnny and welcome to the forum. I believe that you will find here a group of prospectors who believe in old ways. By that I mean we are willing to help in anyway possible short of giving you gold, hell some might even do that....|Not . There is a wealth of knowledge on this forum from Hardrock Mining, Dry Placer Mining, Dredging and Metal Detecting. All of use are here to help each other, so whatever the question or problem you will find an answer here. Again, Welcome aboard to you and the Misses.

Ol'29er :sign: :banged:

[Guest bedrock bob]

Hey Johnny! Nice to meet you! new Zealand huh? Were going to have to hear more about that.

Metal detecting for gold can be a big challenge. There is a steep learning curve. The best detector in the world will probably make it a lot easier but just about any metal detector can work if you work within it's parameters. You can use a top of the line machine and stumble around over a crappy spot for a long, long time and not find anything. You can also take a $75 detector into a rich nugget patch and find a whopper.

The area you hunt and the way you go about it make a heck of a lot more difference than the machine that you are using. I can't afford an expensive detector so I am still using a Gold Bug II and an old Whites Goldmaster. I have pretty darn good success. I cant walk into a hammered area and find one at 12" deep like the PI machines can, but I find steady gold. Your research and prospecting skills tell you where to look anyway, the detector just puts it in your pocket. If the gold is smaller or deeper than your machine will detect you won't find it. Look in areas where the gold is large enough and /or shallow enough for you to be successful with what ever wand you are wielding. This is where research and advice make a lot more difference than your machine. Being obsessive will help a bunch too.

Guys that use the good equipment tend to learn quicker. They find more gold faster and it teaches them where to look. I believe that it is well worth the investment to buy the best equipment that you can afford if you really want to prospect seriously. You will invest a whole lot of hours looking and a machine that will find freckles at a foot will give you more gold for those hours that you have invested. Every one of those pieces you find adds to your knowledge and experience.

So, there is my nugget.

Welcome y'all!

Bedrock Bob

[lon]

bedrock bob

that hit the nail on the head good going

good luck

LON

[jagdoctor1]

Another way to say what has been said above is there are 2 learnign curves. One is learning how to listen and operate you detector, the other is learning placer mining. Having a great detector is useless if you can't put it over gold. That is not my own qoute but one I've read several times. You can find gold with just your eyeballs if you try hard enough. If you want to detect gold succesfully you need to learn placer mining well. Read some of the books mentioned on this forum. Trust me I'm in your boat. I think I have half a grip on my detector but I need alot of work on the placer mining curve.

[L-T]

I too am new here and been looking for post like these. (helpful knowledge)

There are so many post on this site its like trying to find a nugget.

I also welcome and thank you for any advice as I have never used a detector as of yet.

I know absolutely nothing at this point, well I know to use a smaller coil. lol

I know it will probably take a while for me to learn to use one.

The post replies in this thread are great for me and I want to thank you guys

for being so helpful. Until I can get out there I will keep reading and my best to learn from you.

Bill told me to get on here that you guys were this way.

Thanks again.

P.s all suggestions on how to start are welcome.

Lt

[Guest bedrock bob]

The best advice that I could give anyone would be to learn from someone with experience. My most productive hours in a placer area have been developing friendships and seeing how it is done first hand. I would say about half of what a fellow knows about placer gold is learned from someone else, and the rest is hours and hours of work.

As far as prospecting goes, no one knows where the gold is. You can know a hell of a lot about it but you are always wondering where the it is. And when you find some? Pretty quick you clean it up and you go back to where you were before... Wondering where it is. The general rules about prospecting are a great start, but each area is different and each has its own mysteries. Guys that are familiar with the specific area have figured things out and definitely have some good knowledge to offer.

So go forth, into the placer fields and hunt! Speak to bearded folk and dig a five gallon bucket of rusty crap. Listen to racket through headphones for days, maybe weeks. Bring sunscreen, snake chaps and bug repellent, water and a mild sedative. One day you will find one. It will be very cool.

Bedrock Bob

[L-T]

Thanks Bob,

I do plan to spend plenty of time.

I will come out with my travel trailer and I have no where to be and all the time to get there once I am done

with my doctors here. Then its of for a new adventure, can't wait actually. So for now though I am here like this :coffeetime:

[Gilaoro]

HI 'L-T', Welcome !

if you have Bill advising you listen! He is one of the best. Your profile dosen't say where you are located but if you get around Morristown give me a PM. I havent been able to get out much but there are a LOT of prospectors here working the LSD area. My only thoughts are to join a club, they have so many claims that you would never be able to visit all of them! In case you don't know of them I'll link to some i belong to and that have some good claims:

http://roadrunnergold.com/

http://home.att.net/~desert-gold-diggers/

http://www.minerscreek.com/

http://www.havasugoldseekers.com/ HSG has its own R/V park near the claims, big nuggets among the .50 Cals.

The Weaver Mining district also has claims around Rich Hill and only costs $25 a year the office is just north of Congress and before the road to Stanton. There is also the LDMA & 24 karat club in the Rich hill area, they are somewhat more pricey.

Good Luck

Max

I too am new here and been looking for post like these. (helpful knowledge)

There are so many post on this site its like trying to find a nugget.

I also welcome and thank you for any advice as I have never used a detector as of yet.

I know absolutely nothing at this point, well I know to use a smaller coil. lol

I know it will probably take a while for me to learn to use one.

The post replies in this thread are great for me and I want to thank you guys

for being so helpful. Until I can get out there I will keep reading and my best to learn from you.

Bill told me to get on here that you guys were this way.

Thanks again.

P.s all suggestions on how to start are welcome.

Lt

[jagdoctor1]

"So go forth, into the placer fields and hunt! Speak to bearded folk and dig a five gallon bucket of rusty crap. Listen to racket through headphones for days, maybe weeks. Bring sunscreen, snake chaps and bug repellent, water and a mild sedative. One day you will find one. It will be very cool."

I love this statement. Mind if I add it to my signature Bob? lol, it just lays it all out there.

[Guest bedrock bob]

"So go forth, into the placer fields and hunt! Speak to bearded folk and dig a five gallon bucket of rusty crap. Listen to racket through headphones for days, maybe weeks. Bring sunscreen, snake chaps and bug repellent, water and a mild sedative. One day you will find one. It will be very cool."

I love this statement. Mind if I add it to my signature Bob? lol, it just lays it all out there.

I would be honored! You have my full authorization to use it. I am glad that you got a kick out of it!

Bedrock Bob

[L-T]

Bob,

The first thing I plan to do is hook up with Bill, then once I spen a couple of weeks runnin round that are learning the first sets of basics

I will go who knows where to hopefully start honing those basics and find some flake N such lol

I will have no schedule what so ever once I am done with these doctors. When I was younger I cowboy'd around brawely, ca and southwestern, az

including John waynes place in stanfield. I worked up in payson when there wasnt much there, I want to take some time southeast arount bensen as well as the superstitions. I have seen quite a few places I wish to explore with a machine.

would have been nice if back then I would have known about this.

I am in southwest, mo currently seeing doctors here at the spinal center. Yeah just stopped through here to pick up a few stainless steel

spinal parts and I'll be on the way. :outtahere: :Huh_anim]: is true though.

Bottom line I am up for what ever.

All though unless absolutely necessary my horses will have 4 wheels and shocks,,,,,,,again unless necessary I will rhide.

[Enzed in AZ]

Everyone, thankyou all for the information.

Fred Mason

- I intend to look into clubs here mate. I've been here...hmmm....a month? I intend to at some point, if possible, to meet up with some

of the people on this forum. Great way to make new friends and to also gain knowledge. For now, I'll perservere with my rock, and the wife with hers...*grin*

Bob Dunkin

- Bob, thanks for the welcome. 29 Palms eh? Mate, I've been all over that place like a hot rash. Linda and I have probably stayed in every room at the Motel 6 there. The old dale area and other haunts were places we loved to scruffle around for old bottles and junk. Linda was standing next to some bullet riddled cars whilst I went to inspect a small miners pit. I hear..."Hey...I found a ring...I think it's silver....but old"

Ya wouldn't credit it....she was scruffling with her foot...moving dirt and bits of crap around..and there it was. about an inch under the dirt. And it wasn't silver, it was white gold...dated the design to around the 40's. ( car wrecks were from that era as well ) I just laughed.... Minelab-Foot Coil...go figure...*lol*

Bedrock Bob

- G'day mate. You kinda summed it all up. When we first started coin and jewellery shootin, we had Whites MXT's....we found all sorts of things, yet I had a niggling feeling these wands were missing things. Sure enough, a mate came along to the same park with his EXII and promptly started hauling silver rosies and mercs and older out of the soil...and 10-12 inches down. We wouldn't even get a whisper. When he pulled the late 1700's gold coin out ( small park across from an old Mission ) I knew we needed to upgrade. Once we went to the Mine EXII's....it was like putting glasses on.

No doubt, thats the same case with the Pulse machines, but like you said...you have to know where to look otherwise the best machine won't find you jack.

Linda and I are attempting to get out every weekend if I'm not on call. We both just love the desert, and respect it. Finding the yellow stuff is secondary.

As far as I'm concerned ( and her ) we found gold when we moved here......

Jagdoc

- I agree mate. I've got books galore I brought over with me. A mate of mine owns Keene Engineering ( well...Pat runs it for his dad ) and I scored a ton of books from there. ( he's also got one hell of a nice nugget around his neck! ) So, my goal is to start reading...and reading....

I'm also going to listen to the sound advice I see here on this forum too.

[Regmaglitch]

Hi Johnny,

Welcome to the forums, there's lots for you to sink your teeth into on this site. Just a note. When we were using an Explorer II, even with the large WOT coil, we could not get the depth that I could get with my GMT because the explorer could not handle the mineralization past a certain depth. The good news is that the target ID was dead on. I hope that will be food for thought.

Good Hunting, Ben

[Enzed in AZ]

Ben, thanks for that. That is indeed food for thought mate.

HH - Johnny

[Johnno]

G'Day Johnny

Welcome mate. A kiwi, cool. How long have you been out here in the states? Where do you hail from? North or South?

Cheers

Johnno

[Enzed in AZ]

G'day Johnno. You Californian or an Ocker? At least you know what a kiwi is...hahahaha. I've had no end of weird looks when I've told people I'm a "kiwi".

Clerk: "You're a what? A fruit?"

Moi: "uh....no......it's a bird....trust me."

Clerk: "So..you call yourself a bird?"

Moi: "ugh......no.....never mind...can I have my 6 pack please...."

North Island. Westie actually. Grew up there surfing the west coast. I've just moved across here to AZ from L.A, where we were situated at the top end of the San Fernando Valley ( Chatsworth ) up amongst the horse properties. I've been there 4 yrs. No surf here, but having spent 30+ years in the water, I think time out is ok...*grin*

My wife and I love it over here in AZ. It's clean..it's slow paced and theres no traffic jams ( not what I'm used to anyways ), plus theres nice people and a great atmosphere.

We love the desert..it's just beautiful...with a bite if you don't respect it. Hoping to find gold, but it's more the adventure for us. I mean...the other day my wife was excited about finding an old late 50's soda bottle but the top was broken. So, yeah...we have VERY..low amusement thresholds, so easily pleased...*lol*

Hate to think when we both lose our "cherry" and find gold. You'll hear us holler from way over here....hahahaha.

HH - Johnny

[jagdoctor1]

I'm at the Colorado River and I-10 Junction so if you come through little o Blythe drop me a message. :whoopie: Glad to meet anyone I can. I've been frequenting Quartzite lately tryin to work on those placer skills.

:confused0013:

[Johnno]

G'Day Johnny

Fellow surfer, huh? Yeah, I'm an ocker. Came out here for 3 weeks, it's been 20 years, but I try to get home as much as possible. I have rels on the South, actually spent 3 years there working and bumming around and that place be Oamaru. Got some good surfing in at Murderer's, as long as you could deal with the kelp. Had the best party ever at Duneden Varsity, but I'll keep that story to myself.

Well you're lucky you got out of Chatsworth, today we've had a light dusting of ash from the fires. Our desk looks white and gray. Kat and I sometimes get a chance to get over to Arizona when work slows down a bit. If we're heading your way, I'll give you an "Oy" Now you need to go out and get that nice chunk of gold.

Cheers

Johnno

[Enzed in AZ]

Johnno....I've sent you a personal message mate.

HH - Johnny