Where did this gold nugget come from?


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Hello All,

This picture is a good friend of mine and even an old hunting partner. As you can see he's holding a whopper of a nugget and it was found in Arizona. The nugget was found with an early Minelab PI.

Make two guesses;

(1) on gold nugget weight

(2) on location of find in Arizona (the background may or may not be the location of the find)

Here the picture -

goodfriend1.jpg

It's out there!!

Rob Allison

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Hello All,

This picture is a good friend of mine and even an old hunting partner. As you can see he's holding a whopper of a nugget and it was found in Arizona. The nugget was found with an early Minelab PI.

Make two guesses;

(1) on gold nugget weight

(2) on location of find in Arizona (the background may or may not be the location of the find)

Here the picture -

goodfriend1.jpg

It's out there!!

Rob Allison

Dang it you make it hard...

OK...the weight...

Im thinking around 3.5 oz.

If it was the area he found it in the back ground....the lower area of AZ.

That dont look like rich hill to me in the back ground...but I am usaully wrong.

Thats the best I can do!

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That was Jay ... Found that nugget on ground up out of Skull Valley known for wire gold ... About 7 oz. as I recall ... I've held it and heard the story of it's find, how it just tumbled down out of a bank, but that's what I remember of it .. Copper area now owned by a big mininig corp, Phelps Dodge and not too long after his finding that, PD began inforcing it's mining rights and stopping beepers from going in there ... I hunted it a few times before, but that one wash was hammered pretty good if you were a beepster newbie, as I was then ...I'd love to get back in there now! ... Cheers, Unc

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That was Jay ... Found that nugget on ground up out of Skull Valley known for wire gold ... About 7 oz. as I recall ... I've held it and heard the story of it's find, how it just tumbled down out of a bank, but that's what I remember of it .. Copper area now owned by a big mininig corp, Phelps Dodge and not too long after his finding that, PD began inforcing it's mining rights and stopping beepers from going in there ... I hunted it a few times before, but that one wash was hammered pretty good if you were a beepster newbie, as I was then ...I'd love to get back in there now! ... Cheers, Unc

I agree Ron

The last time I was in there the care taker said nobody allowed in according to him because Phelps Dodge said it was a liability issue. At first they were making everybody sign a waiver and then they just revoked all permissions.

I would also like to get back in there. Here is a little more gold porn from that area.

AzNuggetBob

2ddddb08_zps9a7cf7e8.jpg

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Hey Guys,

Ok, Uncle Ron has some pretty good information, but let me tell you what I know. The finder and owner is a friend named Jay. Jay was an amazing nugget hunter in the sense he loved highly trashed gold placers. This friend could spend hours and hours just digging through rubbish hoping to find one nice nugget. He done it over and over, I personally seen it several times.

Jay found this nugget with a modified Minelab SD2000. This was Jay's favorite metal detector as he claimed it was better than the most recent version out. The nugget was found around "Wire Gulch," which was a rich trib. to Copper Basin Wash. This wash produced some awesome wire specimens and nuggets, but this nugget wasn't found in the gulch like many believe. I've been to the exact spot several times. The nugget being held by Jay was 7 3/4's solid. Years later he found another around 4.5 ounces not far from the first. I was able to hunt this area a couple of times and my biggest find was about 1/4 ounce. Jay beat the patch up pretty damn good, not leaving much behind.

In this same general area Jay also found a small, gold foil and wire vein within the Granite country rock. He dug several ounces out near the surface and then came back later to dig down several more feet in the solid rock to make sure all the gold was gone. I also got to see this location, but the vein was very narrow, no quartz present in the seam. The seam was very black in color and maybe as wide as a quarter in the widest spot.

Just goes to show, it's still out there to be found. :o

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Bob - cut it out out mate, honestly mate my eyeballs are bleedin mate hahaha

You blokes heard of the 3.66kg slug found over here last week in Vic ??

the judges are out on that slug as its become traditional before every school

and major holiday in Victoria for a large nugget to appear.

Most blokes call em as not fakes but "dealer specials" hahaha (saved for the shopping season)

The poor thing is since the 90's in Victoria and it only seems to be in that state that 2-3 weeks

prior to any long school breaks or xmas holidays these big nuggets show up in the press.

Doi we think they are fake ?? No way, they are real nuggets.

are they found where they are supposed to be found ?? never

Are they found at the time they are reported to be found - Never

Here's the big one , and this is my own personal feelings, althiugh many of us old

time diggers feel the same - are they even from the state they sre proclaimed to be found in ?? NO

Now then, i'm in no sayin that this Dab (WA for heavy slug) is fake...... but most of us old diggers thzat have worked the gold

i many states and goldfields of our own countries get to know the very distinct looks and features of the gold found on not just a certain

area but on a certain gully even, you old timers and switched on younger fellas know what i mean....

http://www.thecourie...t-region/?cs=61

My personal beliefs are - WA gold - not Vic gold

i have spent 19 yrs on the Vic gold and without a doubt that is not Vic Gold.

I have also spent the same time pullin WA gold - and if i had to choose....... its a WA dab boyond any other state

Some guys says pete, how can you say that so strongly, well its not about testing the % or geomorphology nor the

botanical detritus on te dab, its from pu;;ing gold on the presumed patches.

We all, well the old shcoolers know, we can look at any nugget or specie and hazard a very close if not exact guess

as to the area its from.

I wont name names of membes on here who will agree and think the same b ut i can hear you agreeing with me hahaha

Ok so here's the nugget posted in the courier mail in melbourne, most of the full timers ithat know me think the same as i do.

NOT FAKE............. NOT VIC

http://www.thecourie...t-region/?cs=61

Victoria has a tradition of good slugs being produced all the time prior to buy up holiday times, its a well known thing, and

Its been goin on since the 2000 came out and its commonly beleived to be spread by the detector shops in Vic.

Am i gonna name names ?? no way am i........ do most of the real pro prospectors Aus wide think the same as me ?? shit yeah they do....

Now... here;s the funny thing about it all...

Does this fenominem happen in any othr state of Aus - NO Never

Does it happen on a regular pattern- YES only in Victoria

Are there bigger slugs found in Aus - WA every year and we are talking 10 + kilo slabs, and many of em

Why dont we then hear of this media hype of these nuggets in WA ???

I'll tell ya why........................ Bullshit thats why....... in Australia we know it as a Cockies Rush

you may have your own term for it in the States, but it sums up to BS.

Now let me put this straight from my own peresonal feelings.

This endemic is rife only in Victoria Aus anmd no other state here....

shait man... you can virtually kark it on your calinder its so common.

plese excuse my spelling, my spell check if offline hahahaha

My last words on this subject:

I have worked at most of the high end gold prospecting and ML suply shops in OZ during the last 20 yrs,

i have also run my own gold prospectimg and detecting tuition company so i'm not takin outta my arse.

Now, most of you are probably thinkin ? just shuit the FK up pete" but i do have some good news for my septik mates :)

You guys are blessed, truly you are, for starters you have great prospectin dealers like Rob, i never hear of the BS on here

like we do in Aus, well in Vic not WA anyway cause we actually have heavy gold and domt need to start BS cockie rushes..

Thanks Rob and the rest of yous on here for keepin it REAL.. Old Tom and YT legends.AzBob real scratcher that bugger, Grubby, Flak mark,Unc etc

your all gold and cheers for accepting me into the fold...

OK............ now i been nice hahahahha RACE YA TO THE GOLD YA BUGGERS hehehehe.

lookout if i hit the Tank, the race will be on, my shout

Pete B)

.

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Pete, I think I understood 'most' of what you said and I suppose it's the work of just one or two bolkes. They probably get a big kick out of it and maybe sell a detector or two. Can't say as anything like that is going on over here, I don't think that prospecting is as big and widespread here as in your neck of the woods. Maybe I'm wrong but before gold hit the high mark very few guys were doin' it, just the ol'e steadys still hanging in there. When gold takes another bounce I expect there to be many more come in and frustrate themselves. You gotta love it man, it's the passion.

Old Tom

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Pete

A lot of the areas were describing on the forums are not new areas. there well known. well documented. there know big secret. many of the nuggets I show were found years ago.trust me these nuggets are from that general area. I recognized jay but could not place him until Ron jumped in. I also took a better look at the nugget and it didn't look like Rich Hill gold, wrong color.but I do think that photo of Jay with the nugget was taken at Rich Hill.

Pete I generally dont get real specific about nugget find locations.

and the new large gold discoveries that are being hunted today aren't usully being discussed (publicly).for obvious reasons. just a lot of small ones.

Some nuggets or new patch finds you dont hear about or see for weeks or months after they were found. part of the game.

It really doesnt matter about Copper Basin, ya cant get in there anymore. :ph34r: The care taker put his house right in the heart of the area. ya may get past him but I'll bet you dont make it past his mean dog and I heard they put a six foot fence around it too.

So you better be able climb fences in a hurry and outrun your hunting partner. :D

Some gold can be placed but not all and not with a 100% accuracy in some cases.

AzNuggetBob

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Hey Guys,

Pete - I seen the find a few days ago on another forum, not sure which one off hand. One hell of a find. I have a find a bit smaller, but I'm waiting for the Minelab GPX 5500 to hit the market and then I can say I found it with that .... LOL :P Ok, I'm just joking, but I sure wish it was true. :mellow:

AzNuggetBob - That is correct, that nugget is for sure a Copper Basin Nugget. The smaller piece around 4.5 ounces looked the same as the larger, just smaller in size. My quarter ouncer hade the same general shape and luster as both of Jay's larger nuggets, so I know there was no BSing. I know most probably think lets rush up to Copper Basin and find all that gold. Well, without a doubt there are places that have been missed, but for the most part the area has been pounded to death. The area is heavily claimed now and a guy is watching the general area of Wire Gulch. I guess if you're brave enough to claim jump, watch your back and hope you find a nugget, then head on up that way.

As for the picture, I took it back in early to mid 2000's on the road heading to the famous Devil's Nest placers. Jay and I actually hunted that day at the placers.

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There is probably still some nice gold in one of the main creeks near the Phelps Dodge Property. The Roadrunners have a contigous group of claims near there that does produce very pretty wire (and other) gold. I would think dredging on those claims may yield some nice gold.

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Jay was (is?) a master and dedicated detectorist ... I first met him out at Red Basin near the Vulture Mine ... It was mid-Summer and about 112 degrees ... He's the only person I ever met out in the heat of the summer when I normally had the patches to myself, and the strange thing is that he hunted with his baby boy, about a year old, strapped on his back, and his little girl, about 8 years old walking beside him and sometimes helping him dig up nuggets ... I once ran into him and his kids hunting near the Decision Corner Octave cemetary ... He had just dug up a 2+ ounce nugget from the middle of the road ...That was about a dozen years ago ... Cheers, Unc

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Geea i just read my previous rant and mannnnn, all i can say is my tablets must haved kicked in all at once hahahaha...

It has now been confirmed the 3.66kg is in fact real, but when you get so many fake reports like they do in Victoria

it's no wonder the claws come out.

Pete

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Are there bigger slugs found in Aus - WA every year and we are talking 10 + kilo slabs, and many of em

Why dont we then hear of this media hype of these nuggets in WA ???

.

10+ kilo slabs in Western Australia?! Wow, I'd love to see a pic of one of those slabs. I always assumed the biggest nuggets were historically found in Victoria, the propaganda and hype must be working.

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