nuggethunting

Hello Uncle Ron, Congrats on another new nugget addition from the LSD Placers. You sure know that area well. Hopefully Ted won't claim all your spots in the near future. P.S. Will be up on the club claims Sunday with a couple new GPX-4000 customers. If you're up in that area stop over. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Zippoz, Minelab makes many models of the PI, or "Pulse Induction" metal detectors. The PI detectors include the SD2000, SD2100, SD2100v2, SD2200d, SD2200v2, GP Extreme, GP3000, GP3500 and the newest GPX-4000. The SD series run on MPS, or "Multi-Period Sensing." The technology transmits a stream of alternating short and long pulses of magnetic field into the ground, causing objects to produce a changed magnetic field of their own. This means you can locate metal targets at far greater depth than conventional (VLF) detectors, while very small targets can still be found in difficult or mineralized ground. MPS tech also aids in the accuracy of ground balance which limits the number of "ghost" or false targets. The GP and GPX series run on DVT, or "Dual Voltage Technology." DVT refers to changes in the voltage used to create the electromagnetic field transmitted from the coil into the ground. By using two different voltages the possibility of magnetic saturation of the ground is lessened. Thus, detectors using DVT have an increased ability to balance out ground mineralization providing increased depth and greater sensitivity compared with other detectors. The GP & GPX series will find smaller gold, and smaller gold at depth over the SD series. Minelab claimed the first GP series, the GP Extreme was getting 55% greater depth on smaller nuggets and 18% more depth on larger nuggets over the SD series. Hope this helps a bit, Rob Allison

Hello Shep, Did you purchase the unit from me or Doc? I'm getting 6-7 hours out of my 7800mah li-ion batteries on the GPX-4000 while using the Coiltek 14-inch round. Keep in mind the GPX-4000 uses more power and if you're using a DD Pro that will also take more juice. I can hunt pretty much all day with the Coiltek Joey Mono. You should be getting more than 4 hours per battery if you're using a moderate sized Mono or DD searchcoil. The DD Pro's use approx. 20% more power, so they will drain a battery quicker. Talk with you soon, Rob Allison

Hello Grubstake, I see both sides of gold going up. Great for the people wanting to sale, but sucks for the people wanting to prospecting and enjoy the hobby. Here in Arizona there are groups that are claiming anything that is even remotely near a goldfield. Some are claiming miles and miles away from any known gold. Makes is hard to enough the hobby when you have tons of nuts just claiming anything and selling them to people back East that don't have a clue if gold was found there or not. There are two big groups here in Arizona that are advertising & selling "worthless" mineral claims. I've watch some of the history and they are selling them. I couldn't sleep at night knowing I was taking advantage of these people! Also done some research and found out they are taking advantage of the system. They are using the "associated placer" gig and only filing on the claims if they get a potential buyer. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Fred and all, I haven't heard anymore on the Pulse Devil metal detector either. Anyone have any ideas on when a field test will be performed here in the US? Preferably parts of Arizona .... P.S. Montana Bob, bumped into Mike with the SD2200d and he stated he is going to sent it back to Minelab. He was convinced something was wrong again. I listened to it and it sounded fine to me. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Bill & Diana, The Coiltek Pocket Rocket Li-Ion Battery system is easy to attach to the side of any Minelab SD/GP or GPX metal detector. It's best if you have some type of control box cover to attach the "Pocket Rocket" to, such as the Coiltek Neoprene control box cover shown in the pictures below. The Pocket Rocket comes stock with (2) 7800mah li-ion batteries, adjustable regulator, 12v car/110v wall charger and pouch. The Coiltek short power cord is only included in the GPX-4000 Pocket Rocket System, but this short power cord can be purchase separately for $16.00. The Pocket Rocket pouch has a heavy duty clip on one side, which makes is very easy to mount to a metal detector or carry on your belt for hip mounting. However, the Pocket Rocket don't have to be control box or hip mounted, some still prefer to carry them in their backpacks with the use of full sized Coiltek Power cord. This system is revolutionary for today's metal detectorist. Everyone is looking to go lighter and more compact, and this system describes both of them. The total system weighs less than 1 pound (approx. 14.5 ounces)! The 7800mah li-ion batteries last around 7-8 hours per battery. Since you get two with the system, that is 14-16 hours of detecting time with this system. Spare batteries and chargers can be purchase individually for $40. I personally like to have (3) batteries at all times, two with me while the other one is on the charger. The price on the complete Coiltek Li-Ion Pocket Rocket System is - $275.00. I always have them in stock and they are one hot selling item. Below are a few pictures of how I mounted my system to the side of my Minelab GPX-4000 metal detector. Hope this helps a bit, Rob Allison

Hello Bunk, Keep in mind most Arrastra's were used for "Free Milling" ores and not very far from the mine or prospect they were working. I've always found some ore with visible gold around Arrastra's in Arizona! Might be worth poking around that area a bit more. Rob Allison

Hello All, Leaverite and I met up with Jim P. and his Son today. During the course of the day I picked up three moderate size gold nuggets and Leaverite found one. I was using the GPX-4000 with the Coiltek 14-inch Mono, which I now dub "Never Fails!" Leaverite was using the GPX-4000 and Coiltek Joey Mono. Spent some time with another GPX-4000 customer on the 24K Gold Hunters Claims also. Claims are still producing gold nuggets and specimens for any claim member willing to spend the time chasing them down. Jim P. found two large quartz and gold specimens today. Nuggets are shown below, Rob Allison

Hello All, Today Leaverite and I met up with Jim P. and his Son Tanner for some beeping. Earlier in the day Jim found a nice quartz boulder with a good showing of gold on one side. Later Jim decided to investigate the area more and discovered another big piece that also has a good showing of free gold. I will let Jim tell the entire story, but it was exciting to see him and his Son find the two pieces where everyone and their Brother walked over! Take a gander at the pictures below. Congrats Jim!!! Rob Allison

Hello Guys, Yep, I was there the day when John B. found the "invisible nuggets." John thought they might have been all one piece originally and broke up over the years or maybe even after they were dug up. I remember John having them all in a plastic cigarette wrapper and I couldn't hear any of them, or all of them grouped up together with the Minelab GP3500 and a smaller mono coil. Reg Sniff was out on the 24K Gold Hunters Claims recently and I tried to detect a few of the nuggets he got from John B. I couldn't hear any of them with the GPX-4000 and Coiltek Joey Mono. I tried every setting and couldn't get a peep! P.S. Make you kind of wonder how many smaller porous nuggets you might be missing? Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Shep, Congrats on the big nugget! Now that a nugget that has some great character. Now you have to get Grubstake over one like that. Hope you guys find many more, Rob Allison

Hello Reno Chris, Looks like a spammer got under the radar, but he is not gone forever! Great seeing you at the last outing. Rob Allison

Hello Goldbug Ron, He actually got back in contact with me. I was emailing his old email address and they were bouncing back to me. He wanted a quote on some products, but have yet to hear back from him. Hope everything is well on your end. Rob Allison

Hello Guys, I'm not sure anyone knows the true number count of gold nuggets found this season. Many are sneaky and don't like to share their finds, while others really enjoy to tell others. I'm one that loves to show a nugget(s). I believe it gives everyone encouragement and motivation. The pushes are great for two reason; some nuggets can be found by just about anyone, while others are deep and take a bit more experience and a good beeper to locate them. Many of the larger nuggets have been found near the surface and anyone getting their searchcoil over them would find them. To some degree beginners have the same chance as some of the better metal detectorist. I prefer to hunt the pushes a few days after the opening date. This allows me to come back and hunt the area real slow and locate nuggets at depth. Close to half my nuggets have been found at depth and overlooked by many due to the faint signal response. I prefer to use a Mono Searchoil on the pushes since it gets the most depth in the "sweet spot." Mono's are also a bit more sensitive over a DD or DD Pro of the same size. As for 1/4 the total finds, I sure wish I could claim that! If that was the case I would have 100-200 nuggets in my poke. What I know is I'm happy with the 63 nuggets I found this season on the claims. I spent more time BSing and helping others. Next season I'm going to hit it hard since I wont be in charge of Seminars and such. Lets see who will step up to the plate and dedicate majority of their time with the members rather than hunting .... Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Sim, I think you're right. I just counted my nuggets from the push sites and I have 63. I also missed at least 4 pushes since I had to work. If I would have pushed it hard and not spent any time with members I probably could of had 100 nuggets from the pushes. I prefer to work the pushes a week after they have been hammered. I can work them slow with very little PI cross-talk. What is your best guess on the nugget count? I'm thinking more along 350-400 now. Talk with you soon, Rob Allison

Hello Goldman, Actually the club claims have been hit hard in the past, but with newer technology such as the Minelab Pulse Induction Metal Detectors more nuggets are being found at depth. The dozer is a huge help, since many of the nuggets (small and large) are very deep. The Minelab's are finding more than 95% of all the nuggets on and off the pushes on the 24K Gold Hunters Claims. Last weekend was the last push until the pushes start back towards the end of this year. If I had to make an educated guess, I would say 200-250 nuggets were found just on the pushes alone. Some of the biggest ones reported this seaons were from 1/4 up to 1.8 ounces. Most of the weekend warriors paid for their membership off the pushes this season. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello All, Due to demand from many nugget hunters wanting "Completely Waterproof" Searchcoils, I've personally made some adjustments to the recent package. You can now choose from either the Minelab Commander 8-inch Round Mono or the new Coiltek 11-inch Elliptical Platypus DD Pro Waterproof Searchcoil. The Coiltek Platypus is becoming a very hot seller and many are choosing it as their coil of choice around the Rivers, Running Washes and even Beach Hunting. Just wanted to update you. Rob Allison

Hello Guys, Actually my partner Glenn loved the Fisher GoldStrike Metal Detector. He found many nuggets with the detector and liked the two-tone feature. I guess it's just a matter of preference. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Ray, Shoot me over an email at - auplacers@yahoo.com Rob Allison

Hello Bill & Diana, Give me a call when you arrive. I have the stuff you asked about also in stock. Talk with you soon, Rob Allison

Hello All, Several people have contacted me about deleted posts. Yep, I screwed up ..... I pruned the forum to delete all posts that had less than 2 replies not thinking about recent posts .... Please post them again if you could. I promise not to mess up again. Rob Allison

Hello All, I spent Saturday and part of Sunday hunting the 24K Club Claims since it was the last push for the season. Saturday a bunch of nice nuggets were found. Several 1/3 ouncers and Jim P. scored a nice 10+ Dwter. I believe there was about 20 nuggets found Saturday. Sunday morning I had to meet up with a new GPX-4000 customer. Art Graves, Father of Champion World Class Bull Rider, Lee Graves. Art is from part of the Yukon, Canada and plans to run the new GPX-4000 along many miles of the Yukon and joining Rivers. The weather was great today with a nice mild breeze and cloud cover. I found one small nugget yesterday, but came back today with three decent pieces. The weights of the four nuggets I found were 3.7 Dwts, 1.5 Dwts, 1.1 Dwts & 0.3 Dwts. Almost 1/3 ounce for the weekend. Good seeing all the guys that were on the claims with weekend, Jim P., Glenn, Dennis, Steve L., Uncle Ron, Charlie, Joan, Chester, Colorado Bob, Nick, Bunk, Rusty and many others I'm probably forgetting ... Jim P., Congrats on breaking your nugget weight record. Was 1/4 ounce, now over 1/2 ounce, next will be .... 1+ ounce! Bunk - You're kicking butt and taking names now with nuggets. Some pictures below. Rob Allison

Hello RenoJim, I will let Allen answer your questions, but from what I seen testing, the GP3500 was equal to about 8-9 Gain Level on the GPX-4000. When you cranked up the gain the GPX-4000 really outshoot the GP3500 on depth and smaller nuggets. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Bill & Diana, Yes, a smaller nugget will have a much lower tone than a larger nugget. The best suggestion on a SD is to run in "Sensitive" if you're searching for smaller nuggets, or smaller nuggets at depth. The SD2200 don't have the boosted audio like the GP series or GPX-4000, so you might strongly consider a booster/amp. Also, if you're looking to add a bit of performance, you might also consider the Coiltek Pocket Rocket Li-Ion System. This system will run your SD at 7.3 volts rather than the stock 6 volts. The added voltage will increase the electromagnetic field and give you a bit more performance besides a much lighter battery system. A good pair of headphones will also help. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, There are a lot of brands out there, but the ones I sell have no metal whatsoever. The are the original Snake Gaitors and come in Medium, Large and X-Large sizes. The price is $49.95 + Shipping/pair. Regardless of what type you have, they are worth having during the Summers seasons here in Arizona. I wear them more for brush/cactus protection. Take care, Rob Allison