Digger Bob

Ron, Please email me about this stuff. I don't seem to be able to find your email address or reply to this topic. bob@diggerbob.com Digger Bob

I heard a rumor, from Jerry no less, that Majuba Tom had passed away suddenly. So I looked up an old number I had for him, and called it. Happily Tom called me back, he was fine! Hadn't done much nugget hunting lately, had gotten into flint knapping, arrow heads and such. But he was encouraged enough I had contacted him that he would like to join us again this spring. Anyway, he's the one who told me that Frenchy had passed away. Got out of the gold game and gone back up to Alaska to commercial fish again. After a few years, moved back to Hawthorne and finally passed away to cancer. So, maybe this spring we can have a sort of mini reunion of some of the old gang that are left. Sadly, Reno Jim, who has been my hunting partner and best friend for 37 years, wont' be joining us. He suffered a massive heart attack on Valentines Day and has been hospitalized ever since. He will never be the same if he even survives this. Frenchy; Here is a pic of him in his Blazer. At the time, the thing had no reverse, he could only drive forward. So he always had to park on a hill facing down so he could drive off. He would sleep in the drivers seat with an ice chest of balony sandwiches in it. He'd sleep sitting up for few hours, then turn on the light and read for an hour, eat a sandwich, then go back to sleep for an hour or so. This continued all night. In the morning, he was fine and ready to go hunt! I never saw him eat anything else but those sandwiches! And finally Majuba Tom in his new rig and a bottle of his favorite whiskey.

I got more. How about this one?

Those were the days Jerry!

I can add more to this issue but I will wait and see if Miner John steps in. He's the one who is most affected by this. I'll just say this; Coiltek is doing this on it's own, there NO contractual involvement from Whites.

Oh yeah. I forgot about that outing. I went last year and will again this year too. Very interesting and a lot of fun. Be advised though, it's not really a nugget hunt nor is it held in the gold fields. It's more of a coin hunt, buried tokens worth some pretty amazing prizes. Digger Bob

There's a chance I some buddies will be there around that time. We'll be somewhere in N. Nevada around that area anyway. Digger Bob

Ron, contact me regarding this pendant. Digger Bob www.diggerbob.com

Just returned from a few days WAY up north near Happy Camp, CA. We weren't detecting but looking for something valuable never the less. I've heard about what's referred to as "Happy Camp jade" since high school but never went looking for it. Finally got a local guide who took me and Miner John up into the mountains near Indian Creek to find some. And find some we did! Actually found a lot more than the pictures here but some of the pieces were literally boulders and too heavy to pack out. A little research shows this is officially called Californite, not a "true" jade, but a variation because of it's unique colorations. We were told on the other side of the creek from where we were is a huge boulder with spider webs of gold incased in it, but the water was too high right now to reach it. So, a fall trip is planned. Anyway, if interested, do a quick Google search for it. Very cool stuff. Going to cut and polish a bit of it later to show it off. Digger Bob

I just got back from 5 days out hunting at Rye Patch with a group of friends. One of our group snagged 18 little dinks with his 2300. A couple other guys also got one or two. Luckily, I managed to score the best but they are not your usual Rye Patch nuggets. The large one has quartz attached. Out of the hundreds of nuggets I've found out there over the years, I've only seen two others with quartz. It's very rare. The other is not heavy, but paper thin. Again, not your usual pieces from there. Both were about 10 inches deep and gave faint signals. No chevrons or any other marks that would distinguish them as unique to Rye Patch.

Very common in the Trinity's of Nor Cal.

Doc, Actually, I've been meaning to get ahold of your sister. She made this necklace for my mom's 50th wedding anniversary. Now that mom is gone, I want to break it up into individual necklaces for my women family members. I found all the nuggets in different places, the Sierras, the Siskiyous, and Nevada. Then added birthstones for the three of us. I hate to break up such a beautiful piece but I don't know what else to do with it now. Digger Bob

Whites TDI, Whites, GM3, and Minelab 2300.

At least you had an adventure while riding and crashing. I was just loading mine on the trailer in my driveway when it flipped over on top of me. Happened so fast I had no time to react. Broke my pelvis and a couple of ribs and put a big hole in my leg. I was off work for a month. Never had anything happen out in the bush but in my own driveway??