nuggethunting

Hello All, Today Dawn and I took out Dr. Roy and his wife Trish. Roy purchased a brand new Minelab GPX-4500 last weekend and spent a week around Rich Hill. Today we conducted the field instructions on the 24K Gold Hunters Claims. We started early, around 5:30am and hunted to around 10pm. The weather was nice in the morning, but got humid really quick once the Sun broke through the clouds. Dr. Roy is not only a Surgeon, but also a major player in the WSOP, or World Series of Poker. He promised me he would take a bunch of my business cards and pass them around to all these rich, bored poker players! After several hours of hunting one of the pushes, Dr. Roy discovered his first Arizona gold nugget with the new detector. He was pretty excited to see that small glitter of gold in the palm of his hand. We must have dug a dozen or so small bits of iron, lead and even a few lock washers before that nugget popped out. Just goes to show, there are still gold nuggets in the pushes, you just have to work for them. That morning several other new 24K members were out surveying the claims and doing a bit of nugget shooting. Thanks a million for your business Roy and Trish. Hope to see you both back on the claims in October when the pushes start back up. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Matt, It was my understanding that Minelab was going to enclose a UPS return slip/label along with the letter. You didn't happen to see one did you? I know Minelab stated they were going to pay for shipping. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Steve, I'm really not sure what might be the plans for the club and newsletter this season. Elly is back east to my understanding. Her Mother passed some time ago (bless her Heart) and she went back to take care of some things. I was out on the claims today with a new GPX customer. Dr. Roy & Trish purchased a GPX and I conducted their field instructions on the claims today. We ended up finding a small 1/2 Dwt from push 2, not far from the road. We also picked up about 20 other small trash targets, so there are still targets to be found in the pushes. A good chance gold nuggets are still hidden. Wish I knew more about what might happen this season on the 24K claims. If I hear anything I will keep you all updated. Take care, Rob Allison

Hey Guys, Got an updated from Kevin H. at Minelab USA, Inc. last night. This is not a recall, but rather a handful of GPX-4500's in the US that could have problems. Luckily, the USA isn't effected like Australia. Anyone that has a serial number within the batch Minelab suspects might be a problem, you will get a letter from them in the near future. However, Kevin didn't know the number range off hand. Hope this helps a bit, Rob Allison

Hello Grubstake, Let me know how they work. Wishing you a bunch of gold nuggets. Rob Allison

Hey Don, I sent out your second package with the teardrops washers and nylon nuts/bolts. Thanks for all your businesss. Rob Allison

Hey Don, I knew you were good for the money so I shipped the coil the same day you said you wanted one. I received the payment today. Thanks once again for your loyal business. Take care, Rob Allison

Hey Guys, Here is some new information on the GPX-4500's.

Hello Guys, I'm using the DetectorPro Black Widow Headphones on the GPX-4500 with the stock battery. Haven't had any problems since the first couple of times. Not sure if it was really a problem, just acting weird or I was doing something weird. Take care, Rob Allison

Hey Uncle Ron, There is no doubt the Minelab SD2100 is the simpliest Minelab PI to use. Very few bells and whistles and gets great performance on most ground conditions. Sucks, Minelab recently discontinued the SD2100v2. The SD2200v2 is still available though. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Uncle Ron, I won't be sending mine back in until it craps out. Talked with another fellow last night that purchased a GPX-4500 from another dealer. I guess his 4500 was very noisy and sent it back in and had it repaired. He said the unit is very quiet now, but don't seems to be as sensitivity as before. You're doing great with your SD2100, but you're probably missing a lot of smaller gold (1/4 and smaller) at depth you don't know about. Hard to believe there is only bigger pieces like you're finding at those spots. You probably have walked over many ounces of smaller gold. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hey Guys, Sounds like this GPX-4500 recall is a real deal. From what I've heard, over a 1,000 GPX-4500's in Australia might be affected and about 150 here in the US. My serial number is way below what they stated and haven't had any problem with noise or any of the settings not working right. I've only had one problem GPX-4500 and it wasn't for a recall on the Power Circuit Board. Hope to know solid information in the near future. Rob Allison

Hey Steve, I think Coiltek at one point really fell off the face of the Earth when they didn't want to build anything new. I told them for years the new trend was lightweight, but they didn't do anything. Finally, Trev came about and lite a fire under the owners ass! Trev got many new coils off the ground and the famous lightweight pocket rocket system. Now that Trev is owner of Coiltek, things are really starting to take off. Nuggetfinder for a long time has the edge with lightweight coils, but now Coiltek has came around with some lighter coils and won't false like all other coils once they have been banged around enough. I think this is a great start to "just the beginning" of what Trev has in store for us. I can't wait to see the new stuff coming out soon. Take care, Rob Allison

Hey Bob, I felt the same way with the Koss UR-40's that I purchased from Radio Shack. They didn't block the outside noise worth a crap and were only like 60 ohms. I'm used to by Black Widow's that are 100+ ohms (must great and cleaner audio). Speaking of vehicle accessories, we can talk about that also. I have a large tote that I carry when I'm going on trips. I have some spare parts and belts, oil, tow rope, flashlights, toilet paper, backpack, air compressor, lighter and lighter fluid, couple of small jacks, medium Craftsman tool kit, hammer, battery jump box, blanket and other minor accesories. I also carry my work tools along just in case. I also have a good shovel, pick and large Railroad prybar. You just never know when you might need these things. Normally it when you don't bring them! Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hey JP, I'm been following that thread over on AZO. Kind of interesting to see what something can do in the air, but curious how that related in the ground. Steve mentioned that both would be porportional, air and ground test. I'm anxious to see the new Goldstalker searchcoils that are coming out. Trev @ Coiltek has really make some great progress with the "No False" lightweight Goldstalker coils. I can't get these darn coils to false, which is just amazing! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, Today Leaverite and I met up with a few Minelab GPX-4500 customers. We all planned just a short hunt this morning in a couple of old patches. The first couple of hours I conducted field instructions and then done some hunting myself. Both of the new GPX-4500 customers found their own gold nuggets the first day. I ended up finding a small one later in the day down about 6-inches. These old patches are loaded with ironstones, quartz and very blood red dirt. I've found nuggets in these patches in the past, but really struggled trying to kick all the ironstones out of the way with prior Minelab's. The new "Enhance" timing works awesome on these patches and we are finding more gold. No more kicking ironstones or trying to listen through them, now 99% of them are gone with the new Enhance timing. I filmed a few short video clips of several of the finds. New, Happy Minelab GPX-4500 Customers! Hey, take a look at this Horny Toad. He really blends into the surrounding ground conditions. Below are a few Youtube videos I created from today's hunt. Hope you enjoyed, Rob Allison

Hello Hlo, With the Minelab GP3000 you have two ground balance modes, the "Fixed" or "Tracking." The Tracking mode is auto tracking, or adjusting to the ground conditions automatically for you as you swing along. The Tracking mode is better for high mineralized ground conditions or places that might have a lot of ironstones or volcanics. The Tracking mode can track out very faint targets if you're not careful in mineralized ground condtions. In the "Tracking" mode you don't have to pump the coil up or down, just swing it side to side and the GP3000 will balance for you. The "Fixed" mode is my favorite. In fixed, you lock the ground balance so it don't change. To do this you must have your GP3000 in the "Tracking" mode to balance the unit by pumping the coil up and down 3-4-inches from the ground. When you get a nice solid threshold tone then flip the switch back to the "Fixed" mode. You have to do this all in one motion, pumping and flipping the switch back. You will now be locked onto the ground and any little variation in the ground or a metal target will give you a signal response. At any time you think you might be out of balance, you can check by pumping the coil up and down about 3-4-inches from the ground. If you hear a postive response when you lower the coil, then you're slightly out of balance and you need to re-balance using the procedure above. I prefer "Fixed" since I know I won't miss any faint targets if you're working slow and paying close attention to the what the detector is telling you. Hope this helps a bit, Rob Allison

Hello Steve, My best guess is the new Coiltek Goldstalker Elliptical 18.5-inch would be equal to about a 15-16-inch Round. I'm hoping Coiltek comes out with a 14-16-inch Round Mono in the Goldstalker series. A 15-inch Round might be a nice coil to have. Hope this helps a bit, Rob Allison

Hey Grubstake, Today Dennis and I took several new GPX-4500 customers out. Man, talk about freaking hot out here now! Last night I went through all my accessories and made sure my backup accessory bag was up to date and I have at least one spare of everything. It's always good to turn on your metal detector before you start hiking off too far. I've hiked for a mile or two before and then turned on the detector to realize something was broke or not working right. A long hike back and I could have caught the problem at the truck. Always test your metal detector and accessories before you take off. Sorry to hear about your regulator. Do you know if it's still under warranty? Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Steve, I knew I was forgetting something. A backup detector is always helpful if your main detector goes down. I used to have a GPX-4000 backing up my GPX-4500, but now I don't have anything besides a Eureka Gold. Take care, Rob Allison

Hey Mike, There has been debate about the membership price at $350. This is not my club, so I don't make the rules or establish what membership fees will be. Mike, I paid for my membership many ... many times over this year. Travis & Earl have paid for their memberships several times over. I can name probably another dozen guys that have found 1/3 ounce or better this year, or the second season on the claims. The only way you're going to pay for your membership is to join and hunt like the others are doing. Standing on the outside voicing your opinion means nothing to the guys that have joined and are finding gold. I'm not sure how to take your cracks at the guys that are trying to help and better themselves. Maybe you should create a website, forum or create some maps and see what kind of hard work and dedication is required. Better yet, why don't you spent your Winter season like I did the first year helping others with their metal detectors. I spent hundreds of hours the first season helping others when I could of been hunting myself. I probably could have found another 100 nuggets, but I spent time helping newbies get over their first nuggets on the claims. I'm sure if you're willing to spent this kind of time& effort with the club, Elly would work with you on the membership. Mike I'm not sure about all the previous owners of the club and the details. I know Elly had a list of all prior active members and I believe gave them some type of discount. Maybe you were not an active, up to date member. Never stated I was a carekeeper of the 24K claims, but if I wanted to be at any time I could be. I believe I stated a "carekeeper of many claims" around Rich Hill if you re-read my post below. Nugget Bob is a personal friend of mine Mike. I talk with him all the time. However, the information we share is confidential when it comes to gold talk! P.S. I think you should join and give it a shot at best. With the information you already know about the claims you should be able to find at least 1/3 ounce of gold to cover your membership over an entire year. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, I thought I would post a list of backup accessories I try to carry with me at all times. Unlike this weekend, where I forgot my headphones and was unable to hunt. I also posted a short video clip below for anyone that wants to see some of the items I'm talking about. Keep in mind, this list is geared more towards the Minelab Pulse Induction metal detectors. Backup List for Minelab Metal Detectors - (1) Headphones or External Speaker (2) Stock Battery or Coiltek Pocket Rocket System (3) Coiltek Regulator (if you're only using the Coiltek system and not the stock battery) (4) Power Cord (Minelab or Coiltek), Short Cord for Coiltek Li-Ion System (5) Lower Shaft (Minelab or Otto) (6) Searchcoil (7) Minelab Handle (basic or one with ground balance button) (8) Nylon Nuts & Bolts (1.5 & 2-inch) (9) Teardrop Washers for Lower Shaft (10) Plastic Nugget Scoop (11) Basic Tools or Leatherman (12) Electrical Tape Short Video Clip - If anyone can think of other items that are important for detecting, please post them here. I'm more interested in things that are needed to detect. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, Early Friday morning Leaverite and I headed for the higher country to try our luck and some nugget hunting for a couple of days. It took us every bit of 3 to 3.5 hours to get to the hunting location. After we arrived and talked about our game plan, we started to get all the detectors and gear out and ready. We both were just about ready to walk off and start hunting when I realized I didn't have any headphones! Normally, I have at least two pairs of headphones, but this time I left them both at home. I couldn't believe this, such a long haul and I forgot such an important piece of gear. Leaverite only had one pair of headphones, so I was pretty much out of luck with the Minelab. I was a bit discouraged and thought how I could rig the Minelab up, but I was pretty much out of luck. After some thought, I decided I would drive back 100 miles to the nearest town and find a Radio Shack. I was able to find one and purchased a pair of Koss-UR40 Titanium Headphones. Although these were nothing like my DetectorPro Back Widow's, they were better than nothing. After about an hour or so I arrived back to the hunting location to realize the clouds were really building up. I got to hunt for about an hour before the Thunderheads started dropping rain and the Lightning was make the Minelab's go nuts with the EMI Interference. Several times the rain just dumped, but we both continued to hunt hard trying to find a nugget. The Monsoon Storm continued to build and drop big cells of rain all around us. The washes even started to run, so we decided it was time to pack it up and head home. The moral of this story was I drove over 550 miles round trip, two tanks of gas, no headphones and crappy weather, but it was better than sitting home! Before you leave for your next prospecting adventure, make sure you have a check list of all your prospecting and camping items. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Steve, I'm dug some nice nuggets that gave me the "Woo-Wee" rather than the "Wee-Woo." Most of the "Wee-Woo's" seems to be gold nuggets somewhat near the surface, or nuggets that are not right at the faint threshold point. The nugget below I found in California about a year or so ago. I was working a small wash with the GPx-4000 and Coiltek 14-inch Round Mono. I heard a few faint, broad Woo-Wee." For the most part, these are normally deep cans, nails, horseshoes and other iron rubbish at extreme depths. Since I knew I was right in the middle of a patch, I dug down about a foot and the target changed from a "Woo-Wee" to the loud "Wee-Woo." Low and behold it was a nice 12+ Dwt flat specimen of gold. Dig everything and never loose any sleep at night! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Steve, The Sesitive/Smooth mode on the GPX-4000 is a huge hit. There were places that were loaded with ironstones and volcanics here in Arizona that I could never hunt with prior Minelab's. I was able to go back to these spots with the 4000 and mono coil and hunt using the Sensitive/Smooth timing. However, you do loose some depth. It comes down to being able to hunt the spot or not. I would rather be able to hunt the location with minimal amounts of ground noise and find what I can within a certain range rather than not being able to hunt the ground due to the amount of ironstones and volcanics. There was and still is a lot of debate on the Senstive/Smooth timings. I've done enough testing to conclude you will loose some depth, but then again you can do other things to bring some of the depth back. Many of these areas that require Sensitive/Smooth timing are very noisy and almost un-huntable with other timings such as Normal. If you were able to use Normal to some degree, you would probably have to turn the Gain down to maybe below 8 to somewhat hunt these areas. With the Sensitive/Smooth timing I was able to hunt these spots with a mono and turn the Gain up to 11-12. Yes, I might still be loosing some depth, but for the most part I'm getting all the smaller and medium sized nuggets at depth from what I've seen. One of the new settings on the GPX-4500 is the Enhance timing. This timing is somewhat similar to the SS, but you don't sacrifice all the depth you would in SS timing. At Moore Creek the "Enhance" timing was a huge hit. I was still able to get the same mineral immunity as the SS timing, but able to get much more depth, almost the same depth as in the Normal timing from what I seen. For the last 4 years many of those mounts where hit by all type of Minelab's and different users. We went back with the Minelab GPX-4500's, Goldstalker Mono Searchcoils in the Enhance Mode and found over 15 ounces in a week working old pounded ground. To me, that is a pretty good testimony! The nugget/specimen below was 1.65 ounces. Before I dug more than a few inches I played around with the settings a bit. I couldn't hear this nugget in any of "Special, which includes Sensitive/Smooth" timings on the GPX-4500. I was using the Enhance/Deep timing and toggling my audio from Quiet to Normal. My audio was in Quiet when I found this specimen. I also tried the Normal timing and it also heard the specimen a bit better than Enhance. However, I probably wouldn't of heard this piece in Normal timing due to the amount of basalts scattered throughout the tailing piles. Never hurts to experiment with your setttings, but you must find something that is stable and immune to the mineralization if you're looking to hear those faint targets like below. Talk with you soon, Rob Allison