nuggethunting

Hello All, In the last week or so I've received about a dozen emails and several PM's asking about where I've been. Well, trust me I'm always around, but not in one spot for too long! No, really it's just been really busy for Rob's Detector Sales, my Wife and I. We now have the new addition, our Baby Girl, but beyond that we have the same stuff; work, running the business, packing orders up, school and the daily tasks. It's a lot for a small "Mom n' Pop" shop, but Minelab just recently told us that we have moved from the Top 10 US dealers to the Top 5 US dealers! Pretty good achievement for my Wife and I since we don't even advertise like all the other dealers that are in the Top 10 rating do. No advertising in magazines, no outing, only a few gold shows, but still can maintain such a high rating from Minelab. I've always been working on some outside mining projects, claims, field instructions and a bit of nuggetshooting myself. It's always nice when you can go out and find a few gold nuggets to add to your poke. Here are some recent finds we picked up in a day's worth of nuggethunting the Arizona Goldfields. Just less than 1 1/4 ounce worth of nugget gold all found with the Minelab GPX-4500's and Goldstalker 14-inch Mono Searchcoils. Wishing you all a Happy Holiday Season. Rob Allison

Hello All, This subject has came up many times in the past and I also seen it posted on another forum. Back in the day (early 90's) I painted all my White Minelab searchcoils a Greenish color and never had any problem. Minelab made camo looking SD's with a Green control box and shaft, but the coils were bright White! Well, many guys including myself painted them the same Camo Green color and we never had a problem with performance. I've seen many different colored painted coils, even some ones that were painted Black (I guess for the night-time hunters). Never heard or seen any issues doing so. Curious if anyone else has painted or heard of any issues for the guys that might be considering painting their coils? Take care, Rob Allison

Hey DigDeep, Always nice to find something when you're out there to keep that skunk away. I know it's just a matter of time before we see a nice 1+ ouncer posted from you! Until then, keep knocking all the ones you can find out. Wishing you the best, Rob Allison

Hey Lucky, Congrats on the 8+ Dwt piece. Always nice to get pieces over 1/4 ounce when you can. Just got back from a 5 day prospecting trip. Haven't had much time to talk about it on the forums, but found some nice gold, got a bunch of claim work done and conducted several GPX-4500 field instructions during that time. Both customers found during their field instructions found gold also! P.S. I know you use those Commander 15x12-inch Mono coils a bunch. We both know there are lighter coils that perform the same, but wondering if you can tell use why you prefer them over some of the aftermarket coils? I know many like the Commanders for their weight and solid design to push down the grass and vegitation in some areas. Would like to hear more. Wishing you the best, Rob Allison

Hello DesertDigger, The bad cell issue happens when the batteries start to get old or sit on the shelf for a long time. You can get a replacement from Batteries Plus or Interstate Batteries. Either of these places can build you new battery. However, not sure they do the dome top batteries, you might have to do some adapting if you have one built from them. The might stock replacement batteries are quite expensive at $84.95 for a new 6v 15ah Gel Cell. Doc and I both sell replacement dome top batteries, which are a bit less expensive at $74 for the 6v 12ah or the 6v 7ah for $49.95. Hope this helps, Rob Allison

Hello DigDeep, It will be just a matter of time and when you least expect it. I was in the same boat many ... many years ago and never thought I was going to find a 1+ ouncer. At that time I had hundreds of nuggets under my belt, but the biggest was around 1/3 ounce. One day when I least expected it I hit a nice 1+ ounce slug at Rich Hill. From there, some reason it was down hill. I have found a bunch of 1+ ouncers now, but my new goal is one over 12 ounces (1 Troy Pound). My biggest solid nugget to date is a 9+ ouncer, but haven't been able to get over that one pounder yet. Sometimes it's best to hunt areas that have produced big nuggets or have some type of history of bigger gold. Many locations are noted for smaller under 1/4 ounce in size, but other areas have produced a number of larger nuggets. Sometimes it's best to target these areas if you're looking specifically for a larger gold nugget. On the flip side of the coin, I have found some biggie's in areas that are not noted for large gold nuggets. Go figure .... Maybe I'm talking in riddles now. Best of luck to you, Rob Allison

Hello Karl, Conrats on the new nuggets. I've dug a bunch of old patches out by hand and found many ounces of gold at deeper depths. Digging and detecting can be real rewarding in certain spots. Thanks for sharing your finds. Rob Allison

Hey Mike and Bob, That club out there this last weekend was the Superstistion Mountion Treasure Hunters Club. I also heard the same rumor around Stanton, but not sure if it was true or not. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Uncle Ron, Congrats on your recent finds. Always great to see you finding gold and meteorites in the same areas. Could only imagine how many of those things I tossed back in the early 90's when I first started metal detecting. I know I left a fist sized iron meteorite around the La Paz district back when the SD2100 came out. Revisted the spot many times and could never find the exact spot where I tossed it back on the ground. Thanks for always sharing your finds. Wishing you much more success out there. Rob Allison

Hello Chuck, Wishing you and all a Happy Thanksgiving! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello AMD and all, First Happy Thanksgiving to all! Secondly, welcome to the forums AMD. Talking about the metal detectors, I refer the GPX to like an EQ. You have a huge range of control on this metal detectors that you don't on many of the prior units. The Timings, Audio Settings, Motion Controls, Gain & Target Volume all play a huge role at finding more gold in old spots. I love the Enhance timing, which is only available on the GPX-4500. This setting alone has found me many ounces of gold I've overlooked in places with high mineralization or a bunch of ironstones. I've found hundreds of smaller gold nuggets I've missed in old spots using a combination of settings along with the Special/Extra timing. Would love to hear more about the audio stuff you're talking about. Great to have you here on the forums. Rob Allison

Hello Doug, Congrats on your Greaterville nugget. Sorry to hear the Weaver claims didn't pan out. I talked with a couple of guys this weekend that found a few small ones over there lately, but you have to kind of know where to hunt (old isolated patches). Wish we could have hooked up, but looking forward to heading down your way soon. Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving. Rob Allison

Hello Doc, Well I really don't want to be in the middle of this. You guys are both great people, so hopefully you both can resolve it. I think all the following manufactures make great quality prospecting picks and I carry them - Apex Badger Doc's Goldsquirrel Pro-Gold picks (similar to the old Walco) Hodan and Hodan's Pro-Pick AZO's new pick (will post a picture, real slick pick!) Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season. Rob Allison

Hello Tx, If you make it down to Greaterville and plan on taking some material home, make sure you dig close to bedrock for the best results. Most of the major drainages are deep, but several of them along with some side drainages have exposed bedrock or shallow depths. You might also try to take home some of the fine tailing pile material that is all over the place. A guy a few years ago was working just these piles with a drywasher and doing well. Wishing you the best out there. Rob Allison

Hello Tx, Like another forum member stated, you will need a permit to hunt city parks, but anywhere else beyond Private Property you should be good. If you're out nuggethunting in the field, make sure you stay clear of private mineral claims, private property, State Trust Land, Indian Reservations, Wildlife Refuges, State Parks & Bombing Ranges. As for areas around Tucson, Greaterville has always been one of the popular nugget hunting locations. There are many smaller placer areas North and South of this location also. Hope this helps, Rob Allison

Hey Jen, I know what you mean about Doc. One of my shipments had knives and guns! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Sean, I know about 3-4 guys that manufacture picks and I'm sure they can send you a pick head. You might try Travis Brown at Pro-Gold Prospecting in Youngtown, Arizona to start. The Pro-Gold picks are great. John Hodan at Hodan Machine and Mfg also makes picks and might make some pick heads separately. Hope this helps, Rob Allison

Hello Robbor, The Jimmy Sierra 14-inch elliptical is a great coil if you have that one. I think Uncle Ron on this forum has used the little 6-inch Gold-Shooter coil. Congrats on getting a great deal on a GM3. Heck, I sold mine at the goldshow for I think $350 and it only had the stock coil. Take care, Rob Allison

Hey Leroy, Great story! Wish more forum members would share such stories with the forum. The GP3500 is a great metal detector. I found many ... many ounces with that detector. I would consider a Coiltek Pocket Rocket System for that unit to elliminate the heavy battery. Wishing you the best of success out there! Rob Allison

Hello Doc and Grubstake, I know what you mean about the local and non-local customers. I'm selling enough GPX-4500's to local customers I don't even take orders from the non-locals. I do return their emails and phone calls, but I also let them know the priority is local customers. I probably could have sold 200+ GPX-4500's to all these non-local customers if Minelab had them in stock. Lately I've been so busy with field instructions I haven't had a whole lot of time to do much detecting. Doc, sure wish I could get more GPX-4500's, we both are in the same boat. There are many local customers that are chomping at the bit to get detectors before the heat rolls back around. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello All, I just wanted to inform the ones that want to read this about issues on GPX-4500 sales. Most of you probably already know that the Minelab GPX-4500's are tough to find anywhere. The backorder list has now climbed back over 1,000 and demand far outweighs what the manufacture can product at the moment. Despite the backorders, customer and dealers need to carefully watch who they are dealing with! There are many scams going right now, but at the same time some dealers "might" be playing some games (bait and switch). A customer called this weekend and wanted to know if there was any chance they could get a hold of a GPX-4500 any time soon. I told the customer, like anyone else calling that I should have another shipment within the next couple 2-3 weeks, maybe sooner if everything goes well. Before I even get my shipments, the detectors have been sold many weeks prior. I doubt any dealer right now has one just sitting on the shelves. Getting back to the story, I told the customer I would gladly take a down payment or payment in full if they wanted to be guaranteed a unit. They stated they already purchased one, but waited over a month past what the dealer stated and only got a fraction of what the dealer said would be included. The customer would not give me any information on who this dealer might be, but stated they would call Minelab directly. All I can say is, "DO THE RIGHT THING!" If you promise something, stick to what you say. I suggest that customers research the dealers and their packages before any purchase. I also suggest that all dealers be careful with whom you might be selling your products to and make sure the funds are good. There are tons of credit card scams and fraud going on right now due to the poor economy and the Holidays right around the corner. This message was strickly informational. Thanks, Rob Allison

Hey Uncle Ron, Congrats on your recent finds. It's great to know there are still hundreds, if not thousands of locations still to find gold nuggets. I actually prefer searching for the little, overlooked placer deposits rathar than searching around the well-known ones. Some of the smaller, uneconomic ones are prime time targets for metal detectors. Wishing you much more luck. Rob Allison

Hello Guido, Thanks for the information. They look like good control box covers. The price and weight might make a difference vs. other ones currently on the market. I sell both the AZO Camo and Coiltek Neoprene. The AZO ones are cheaper in price, but cover the entire control box and are made of canvas. The Coiltek ones allow the control box legs to stick through, but are much thicker and are neoprene. I sell a bunch of each, just a matter of customer preference. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hey Guido, Who sells those new control box covers? They look nice, just wondering if you sold them or if they are coming from someone else. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Turkey, Yes, visit Ismael's website on his Minelab mods. Everyone I know that has had them done has praised Ismael and his service. You might want to email him first and see what he can do to your unit. A couple of friends just had some SD's and GP's modded and love them! Hope this helps, Rob Allison