nuggethunting

Hey Uncle Ron, Very good point. There is always potential for good finds in the overburden, although the richest (normally) is at or near bedrock. That being said, any overburden or cobbles could potential have values. One nice thing about a metal detector, you can scan a lot of ground quickly for nuggets or specimens. I don't encourage tearing down handstack walls (part of history), but I have found some nice finds in and below them. Thanks for your comments. Rob Allison

Hey Uncle Ron, Thanks. I have some more that I will upload soon.

Hey Guys, I don't even take the funds if we don't have them in stock, unless the customer requested me to do so. I could only imagine how much money companies like that sit on for months before you get your backordered item. Well, we have the Fisher Goldbug Pro's in stock, not sure what the problem is with the other company. You can order from us through our online store or give us a call. Hope this helps, Rob Allison

Hey Ron, That is cause you post too much over there, now you have to spread the love to the other forums!! Hehe. ... I will see if I can log on over there. Rob Allison

Hello All, This particular wash has been very productive for nuggets and guys drywashing over the years. One nice thing is the gold is local and the nuggets are normally pretty rough with a lot of character. I've found a few with really nice looking Rose Quartz on them. I couldn't imagine what the old-timers got out of here when it was first discovered. Thanks for viewing. Rob Allison

Hey Guys, Thanks. I have more coming soon, just wanted to get a few more uploaded.

Hey Guys, Thanks for the comments. Sometimes I should probably not get involved or post, but I seen stuff posted on other forums and it gets under my skin. I've built my business on honesty and integrity, no BS! Rob Allison

Hey YukonLewis, Great looking nugget. I would still call it a nugget, looks like more gold than quartz. Hope you find more, Rob Allison

Hello All, I added a few more short videos in the Youtube forums. Take a look if you get a chance. Rob Allison

Hello All, Here is a short video basically explaining old-timer handstacking (placer workings) and how to ID it in the field. Normally these are great places to prospect and metal detect around. Many times handstacking is stacked on virgin ground. Hope you enjoyed. Rob Allison

Hello All, Here is a short video I shot awhile back prospecting a small wash in Central Arizona. The old-timers worked the spot pretty heavily in the early days, leaving tons of junk behind. I managed to find nuggets in this wash over the years, slowing trying to remove more and more trash. There are workings (handstacking & drywash piles) from the bottom all the way to the headwaters of the wash. The last flash flood wiped out a good section of the handstacking and exposed about 20-30 yards down to virgin bedrock. I was using the Minelab GPX 5000 metal detector and NF 14-inch searchcoil. Hope you enjoyed. Rob Allison

Hey YukonLewis, I have to agree with you and have experienced it myself many times. It has been a debate if the ground is more conductive or just much quieter when it's wet, maybe a combination of both. That being said, it does seem like if you hunt an old patch after a rain you have a better chance to hear something you might have missed prior. Congrats on the 42 grammer. Wishing you much more success! Rob Allison

Hey Steve, Can't go wrong with the Minelab Commander. One of my long time favorites way before any aftermarket coils were around. Wishing you much success my friend. Rob Allison

Hey Guys, Thanks for all the comments. It's just great to know it's still out there to be found. Patches like this are out there, but tough to find. The gold was found in Central Arizona. Not a big story behind the finds, just the fact they were all found on shallow bedrock in cracks/crevices. The area was hit hard by the old-timers and there is a good amount of iron rubbish around. If it wasn't for a quick nugget find, we all might have bypassed this area and never knew it had this kind of potential. The oldtimers missed several good cracks, but many of them had broken pick tips, crevice tool tips, old pocket knives and a lot of iron rubbish. Majority of the wash is deep, not much exposed bedrock. All the pieces we found were on shallow bedrock. I'm sure there are more, but it's going to require digging through a lot of trash. Many of those loud trash targets can't be ignored due to the size of the nuggets now!

Hey Steve, This is actually a question I get asked a lot when I'm taking calls from customers. My personal opinion is they are all very close, probably so close I couldn't say one is that much better than any other. The Coiltek 6-inch Round Mono, Coiltek Joey 10x5 Mono, Nugget Finder 8x6 Mono or the Minelab Commander 8-inch Mono Round are all great for small gold. I think it comes down to a customers prefered manufacture (Coiltek, Minelab or NF) and shape (Round vs. Elliptical). I have used them all, found hundreds of nuggets with all of them but the NF 8x6 due to it being one of the newer smaller coils. Hope this helps, Rob Allison

Hey Bob777, Welcome back to the forums. Most detectors don't have a so called "Black Sand" feature, but some of the White's do. You can normally find concentrations of black sands with a VLF detector by paying attention to areas where the unit don't balance, or where you need to re-balance. Those hot spots are normally concentrations of iron, mostly blacks sands. I used this method back in the early 90's to find very heavy concentrations of black sands, but I didn't really see any big differences in finding more gold. It's worth a shot though. Hope this helps. Rob Allison

Hey Tom, Now I thought you knew more about gold then that ... LOL! A Troy Pound is 12 ounces, heavier than a conventional pound at 16 ounces. All metals are weighed in Troy, so 12 ounces is a pound, 6 ounces is 1/2 of a pound.

Hello All, Well they are out there, but far and few inbetween. This half pound patch was discovered lately using a Minelab GPX 5000 and NF 14-inch coil. Always great to dig the first gold nugget and it turns out to be a multi-ouncer. Biggest nugget was 2.01 ounces, then 1.22 & 1.13 ounces. There are also 3-4 1/4 ouncers and the rest of the gold being about 3 Dwt's and under. Total weight was 6.1 ounces and all the gold was sluggy and solid. Been a long time since I dug three 1+ ouncers in a day of swinging. Just goes to show it's still out there, but requires a lot of field work to find them. I'm excited to get back with a larger searchcoil! Wish me more luck .... Rob Allison

Hello All, No natural holes on those nuggets. The long bean looking nugget was a double-beeper! I normally don't find them that thin and long from this area, but do have one about the same size from about 10 years ago. All were found in bedrock cracks & crevices. Retorted - You didn't high-jack the thread. Great to see your finds! Rob Allison

It woudn't allow me to post them all together, so here are a few more -

Hello All, I have to say over the last 6 months the new Nugget Finder 14x9 elliptical mono solid has been very good to me. Despite I haven't been out too much, the times I have been it's been a great coil to use. It's a tiny bit heavier than an open coil, but I like the fact it don't snag on brush and is extremely stable when it comes to bumping rocks and such (no falsing whatsoever). It's been one of our best selling coils in the last 2-3 months also. All the nuggets displayed below in the pictures were found with a NF 14x9 and a Minelab GPX 5000 metal detector. Many of the pictures you might have seen already posted in the past. Guessing off the top of my head, I would say 6-7 ounces of nice Arizona placer gold nuggets.

Hello All, Nothing special, just some more gold from gold bearing wash we discovered. Just over 12 Dwt's or 19 Grams shown below on the NF 14x9 Searchcoil. All Gold was found with the Minelab GPX 5000 metal detector and Nugget Finder 14x9 Solid Mono. I'm excited to get back ..... Hope you enjoyed. Rob Allison

Hey Tom, Congrats on the new finds. Wishing you and your Father many more to come. I finally broke away Saturday and scored a bit. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hey Guys, Thanks for the comments. Looking forward to getting back, but this weekend I have other plans. I have a good idea where the gold is coming from, but for the most part I believe it's going to be small. The gold is bleeding from a small, iron stained vein system on a saddle. Two small drainages come right up to it and I found a small nugget in each one. The vein also travels somewhat parallel with the main wash, so it could be bleeding off in several spots. It's fun to find these spots, but was hoping the gold might be a bit bigger in size. I was using the Minelab GPX 5000 metal detector and NF 14x9 solid elliptical Mono. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hey Chris, Great idea, but I can't seem to find the forum link on the ICMJ forum. Can you direct us or give us a URL to click on? P.S. I highly recommend the ICMJ Magazine, without a doubt one of the best out there. Sally and Family are awesome people!! Talk with you soon, Rob Allison