nuggethunting

Hey Russ, Yes, Glenn, Brandon, Dennis and I all got out. I hit a nice 8.6 Dwter and some smaller ones. Everyone hit nuggets today and I think the total was like 10-12. Getting ready to go out to eat, will talk with you more later. Rob Allison

Hello Wheelbubble and All, I would first like to say I don't want to get involved. I have heard of the rumors and that is just what they are to me. I don't know any of you guys in person, so I don't place judgement on what I hear. I know all about jealousy, if that is the case behind you guys finding some good gold. One suggestion if you plan to have people join your forum. Elliminate all the highgrading, fence jumping, painting cams and bragging chit chat. No one really wants to hear that garbage, especially if you're trying to draw attention to your forums. Like I said, it's just a suggestion. Most want to learn and stay out of "who is better, or who is finding more gold" drama. Wishing you all the best, Rob Allison

Hello Russ and Scott, Congrats on your finds. Sure wish I had a Brother to go metal detect with. You guys should really cherish the times you guys can hunt together. P.S. Same patch area? Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Matt & Grubstake, Congrats on your new finds. Heck, I'll take all the 1 Dwter's that are out there. Matt - Sounds like you're really liking the GPX-4000. You might consider the "Bates No Metal" boots from Doc like I mentioned to you on the phone last week. Also, if you need to get further out away, Otto makes a longer lower shaft that is like 3-4 inches longer than the stock Otto or Minelab. A friend is also making a longer metal upper Minelab shaft that is like 5-6 inches longer than your stock upper shaft. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Slim, Yep, there is great potential for a big nugget find, so I believe this is why most keep joining back up. Rich Hill in general was noted for very big gold nuggets ranging from smaller nuggets to many pounds in size. The Devil's Nest was one of several very rich areas on the Mountain. The famous Potato Patch drains down into the Devil Nest Claims. You make a statement about "false bedrock." Not sure what claim you are referring to, but push 5 is down on bedrock and has been for several pushes. The blue-green colored bedrock is Schist, which is Metamorphic and is decomposed bedrock. Desert Special claim 1 is also down on the same type of bedrock. This push has been unproductive, but Desert Special 2 hold good potential if you can get much deeper in the alluvial channel. There are a few spots in the other pushes that have touched a bit of bedrock, but still can be pushed down deeper for more nuggets. Last push there were more complaints about very little gold being found. It's normal to have a bad push or two, but if the pushes continue to produce very little, many will not re-join and the new memberships will start to drastically drop off. Personally, I would like to see a few of the pushes closed and one or two new ones opened up in different spots. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Jim, Well it's great some more nuggets were found. A few guys have called and were a bit discouraged about the recent pushes. Knowing Rich Hill and the Alluvial they are pushing in, you will have good and bad zones or layers. Elly mentioned they had the smaller dozer doing the pushes, so I don't think the smaller dozer was capable of getting down very deep. Hollywood recently purchased a new GPX-4000, so that must be his second nugget found with the new detector. Congrats to Hollywood! A few other new GPX-4000 owners have joined the club, so wishing them the best of luck out there also. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, JP - It just reinforces that Coiltek is making great products when competitors are using them behind the scenes. Hey, I've used tested some NF coils in the past, but ended up going back to what I prefer the best "Coiltek Manufacturing." Keep in mind, what is best for me might not be the best choice for you. Lamar - With Trev @ Coiltek back in the drivers seat, things will only get better. It took some time to get everything organized I believe, but Trev has some amazing ideas and a lot of very succesful "Australian" and "US" prospectors to help him test his products. The Coiltek Li-Ion "Pocket Rocket" Battery Systems are still selling very, very well. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Russ, You might/might not have a good point on the SD2100. The great feature with the SD2100 or SD2100v2 is the channel section (channel 1, 2 or both). In highly mineralized ground conditions you might hear a "big" nugget at depth better in one channel vs. both working together. I still have one of those big 12v batteries here if you need one! P.S. Heard you're giving me the run-around on where you found them. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello AuGlenn, Thanks for joining up on the forums! You will find a wealth of information here and all the guys/gals are great people. Looks like you're in Peoria, just right down the road from me. Hope to see you on the forums more often. Rob Allison

Hello Grubstake, Thanks for the detailed report on the trip. Sure wish I could have been there with you guys. Would like to meet Ray in person someday. Big Ed - Damn, hope everything is ok now. Wishing you a speedy recovery on your health my friend. Hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thanks for always contributing on the forums. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, Nuggetdigger - I will have to come over and visit your forum. Thanks for the heads-up on the dealer based section. Really don't know any of that "HighDesertForum" group, so can't judge them on rumors and hear-say. Can only wish them the best. Grubstake - I know you hunted with Ray Mills and I have a lot of respect for Ray. He has invited me out several times and couldn't take him up on the offer. I would love to visit those goldfields sometime in the future, but it's such a long way from home. The whole talk about Commander coils being better .... well .... The only comment I have is to use what you think is the best and keep an open mind on all products. Testing and experimentation is the best method to find the best for you (which might not be the best for others). Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Ted, I know many wish they could find big gold nuggets, but the truth is there aren't that many big nuggets out there to begin with compared to all the smaller nuggets. I do believe the GPX-4000 is getting better depth, but no so much from the detector itself, but rather more user controls to fine tune the metal detector to specific ground types. I do think the GPX is much more quiet over prior GP's and the fact the GPX was built around a Mono Searchcoil platform really helps. There are locations where I could never run a mono coil on the GP, but I can now with the GPX-4000. The SD2100/SD2100v2 is a great metal detector and I still sell quite a bit of them along with the SD2200v2. You can really add performance to them by using a Mono coil, good quality headphones and the Coiltek Li-Ion Regulated "Pocket Rocket" Battery System. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Ted, There is no doubt that the GPX-4000's will someday be on Ebay and all over the forums. I'm pretty sure by that time we will be using Handheld Ground Penitrating Radar Metal Detectors though. I know you have been very successful with the SD2100 and probably finding most of the deeper gold. However, I can guarantee you that if you're working deeper ground, you are missing smaller gold at depth. I've proved this a long time ago when the GP Extreme was introduced. I found a bunch of gold I left behind at depth using the SD2100. I even missed a few larger ones. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Matt, I really don't know much about those guys besides a few have purchased products from me in the past. I know Chip is a Minelab dealers, but not sure if he is a Nuggetfinder or Coiltek dealer. I would think he is loosing business by not taking advantage of the aftermarket searchcoils. There is no doubt, the aftermarket coils sell at least 10:1 vs. the Minelab Commander coils. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, I've been selling Minelabs and using them for the last 10 years and only seen one of those coils before here in the US. It must have been released before the GT16000, cause I used the American Gold Striker and XT17000 and beyond. Sure miss the Minelab 6-inch Round Searchcoil they used to make. Can't believe Minelab discontinued it. Rob Allison

Hello Guys, I can't say enough how great the "Li-Ion System" is! It's so small and lightweight that you can mount it right to the side of the metal detector. Including this "Li-Ion" system in my current GPX-4000 bundle package is a great advantage. Trev - Great talking with you last night on the phone. Sounds like you have some great ideas and new stuff on the way. Also, you know your products are great when the competitors are using them behind the scenes! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Buddy Trev, Thanks for giving us the heads up! Had a good idea that it was running straight through rather than regulated. There is no doubt this is one amazing system! I haven't heard a bad review on the system since it's been out. Trev, who (person) designed the "Pocket Rocket System?" Can't wait to see some of the new stuff you have coming out. Heard great things about them. P.S. You need to post here more often Trev. People would love to hear some more about your technical knowledge of coils and such. Take care mate, Rob Allison

Hello Russ, I thought you were going to stay away from the "Big Toad" claim until next weekend! Hey, thanks for the phone call, always great talking to you about gold nuggets. Sure sounds like you found another great patch. Make sure you grid it hard and hit it with your biggest coil before you invite me out. P.S. I'm calling Scottie right now ... Hope to see more finds soon, Rob Allison

Hello Bunk, Thanks for posting the nuggets cleaned up. They sure look nice and could probably guess where they came from within a few hundred yards. Found some real beauties around that spot. Keep checking the area out, Rob Allison

Hello JP, The batteries to my knowledge will charge up to like 8.4 - 8.5 volts max. I know when I turn on my GPX-4000 to check the voltage on a full charged battery its around 8.2 - 8.4 volts. I'm not sure if the regulator is actually dropping down the voltage a tiny bit or running straight through just using the regualtor as more of a battery craddle. I know the Li-Ion System has been and still is a major hit! I actually just sold 4 more complete systems today and reordered another big shipment from Doc. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Dustin, That has always been a good question .... I believe moist or damp ground is more quiet and this makes people believe they are getting better depth. Not sure there is any evidence that moist or damp ground gives you better depth. Hope this helps a bit, Rob Allison

Hello All, Uncle Ron - As for small nuggets at depth, the GPX-4000 is doing better than the prior GP's. I like the fact I can find smaller nuggets at greater depths over the SD's. However, the question is, "what is the size of small nuggets?" I've found nuggets up to about 1/4 ounce deeper than the prior Minelab metal detectors. Most of the stuff is smaller, under a Dwt, but there are obviously more of the smaller nuggets. I did find one of the 8 Dwter's recently at a pretty good depth. It was just a whisper and under a large rock. I know for a fact I would have missed this particular nugget with an SD, maybe an earlier GP also. The increase in Minelab prices will either force people to purchase before or discourage them more than ever! Reno Chris - I seriously doubt we will see anything this year, but I would keep a close eye out around this time next year. Minelab likes to release gold nugget hunting metal detectors in the range of Oct - Nov to get the winter prospectors and the Christmas business. Would love to see a much cheaper PI, but I've been waiting since the SD2000. I paid almost $3,800 for my SD2000 back in 94-95 I believe. The last 10 years Minelab has had a monopoly on detector technology in my opinion. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, Many ... many years ago, Richard Doherty told me to whip down my coil with some type of anti-static wipes. The anti-static property don't last real long, but does improve "static discharges" during the Summer months in Arizona. I used them for awhile, or until I ran out of them. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Jim, Good to hear from you. The Desert Special pushes don't seem to be very productive. Desert Special Claim 1 is down on bedrock now. The Desert Special Claim 2 holds good potential at much deeper depths. Desert Special 2 is in the alluvial fan coming from the Turkey Foot, but the claim is a bit to the right of the fan. Good to hear someone found at least a small nugget. Thanks for the update, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, Here are my thoughs .... It's too soon for a new GPX series metal detector. Typically it's 2-3 years before we see something new. Keep in mind, if something new would come out you would see it first on the Aussie forums. Remember, Minelab is based in Australia, so most, if not all of the first field reports will come from the Australia goldfields. Once the field tests are done, reports will leak onto the Aussie forums for us to read! I think I'm giving too many secrets away ... Yes, I agree that without the "bundle packages" I'm sure less metal detectors would be sold. This is one reason I try to run the best metal detector bundle packages available for all you guys! The US Dollar is getting weaker. Rob Allison