Digger Bob Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 Last Saturday I decided to get out and enjoy the unusual, for January, weather here in N. Calif. I met my partner Reno Jim and headed for a spot we've hunted for years. We didn't expect to find anything, maybe a crumb that had been overlooked in all the trash. It was just a good day to get some exersize after the holidays.While Jim worked the banks digging trash, I started up a dry creek bed rechecking exposed bedrock I'd already hunted before. I came to a spot where a 10 ft section of new bedrock has been exposed. It looked like a gully washer had come through and blown off the overburden. It was just above a spot I had done well at in years past. I wasn't expecting anything as I had seen fresh dig holes further down stream. Within a foot of hitting the new bedrock I got a good signal which I knew for sure was a bullet. I scraped a bit of dirt off and the signal was gone. Checking the dirt, there it was, right on top, a nice little 1.5 dwter. Wow, that was easy. I wonder how that got missed. I moved another foot up stream, and bang, another signal. Again, I was sure it was trash, it was so big and loud. This one I checked with the pulse delay to see if it went away like a nail, but it was still there, so again, thinking it's a bullet, I scraped off the dirt and got the signal in the cup. It couldn't be a nugget, that first one was a fluke, the only one in all that bedrock. But, sure enough, out rolled an ugly 3 dwter encased in red quartz! At this point I thought I'd better call Jim over to hunt the rest of the spot. He'd been on a long dry spell. He hunted that spot the rest of the day but could only come up with one tiny little .1 dwt grain.I left him to clean it out and moved further upstream. Around the corner was more bedrock that I had hunted at least a dozen times over the years. A couple of nails later came a loud booming nail signal right in a little pocket of rock. And again, scraping the dirt out with the pick, again, I look down and see a huge flat nugget just laying there. I couldn't believe it! How could I have missed it before? Because it was SO big and loud, I just passed it up KNOWING it was trash. Geezz, you think I would know better by now. Glad I wasn't hearing nearly the iron trash of years past because I was using my TDI in low conductivity which knocks out the larger iron. We were both using the TDI SL with the 9x5 Jimmy loop.So, by the end of the day, we each had found one more small piece for a total of just over 1/2 oz. The big unly slug weighs 5.7 dwt.Good start to the new year!Digger Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shep Posted January 9, 2014 Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 Bob, that is BUTT UGLY gold, but then I like Bull dog and Pug dog faces also. Good on you, it is all good! Find some more! Shep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted January 9, 2014 Admin Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 Hey DiggerBob, Great to see you're back in the goldfields swinging. Congrats on the new additions to you and your partners collection. Wishing you continued success out there. Hope to see more great finds of yours in the near future. Rob Allison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digger Bob Posted January 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 Hey DiggerBob, Great to see you're back in the goldfields swinging. Congrats on the new additions to you and your partners collection. Wishing you continued success out there. Hope to see more great finds of yours in the near future. Rob AllisonIt's been a long dry spell for me. I had to have the other knee operated on about a month ago. That's two knee surgerys in the same year. I've barely recovered from the first. The excesses of my youth coming back to haunt me. But, I should be good to go now come spring.I'm looking forward to hitting the Nevada gold fields again.Digger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendo Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 Hey Bob! You go man! Go White's Hendo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 That's some seriously good gold there! Like the big flat one. Ugly duckling nuggets, only ugly till it turns into $$$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDdesertman Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder... I like 'em! Great start to the year and I'm sure there will be many more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Ron Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 Really, really nice nuggets, Bob ... I especially like the "ugly" nugget ... What a great start to the new year ... Cheers, Unc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank c Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 You proved "they're still out there" Congrats on the great day of beepin an sharin the pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Majuba Tom Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Way to go Digger!Its good to hear you and Jim had such a good start for the year.Majuba Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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