nuggethunting

Hello Colorado Bob, I think Uncle Ron has a tracking device connected to me somewhere! Great to see other guys finding them up there. The place has had it's fair share of attention over the years, so it's getting tougher to find them there. You almost need a good Minelab and some idea where to look. I believe I found 8 targets up there the entire weekend, five of them were gold nuggets. Hoping to get out West after everything settles down here. Probably be sometime after Christmas. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Allen, I've personally never used a Coiltek Platypus on the GP3000 since the coil wasn't available when I owned the GP3000. However, I would recommend "Fixed, DD Mode, Sensitive/Normal" for smaller nuggets and smaller nuggets at depth. I would also suggest this mode for meteorite hunting to increase sensitivity a bit. For larger stuff, I would recommend this setting "Fixed, DD Mode, Normal/Deep." The ground at Gold Basin from what I remember is low to moderate unless you're right down in the bottoms of the washes. Some of the washes have a high content of black sands, but shouldn't effect the DD much. I would recommend running "All Metal" mode and just turn the discriminator ON/OFF when needed. I wouldn't recommend running "Disc" the entire time, but some prefer this. The Platypus is a great, lightweight, waterproof searchcoil. Hope you find some Space Rocks and Gold Nuggets! Good luck out there, Rob Allison

Hello All, I'm in the process of moving, so I'm selling everything I can't use at the moment. I'm going to let a bunch of stuff go cheap, so it might be worth taking a look. I will have more stuff up for sale soon. Here is what I have right now available for sale: NUGGETFINDER 20-INCH DD ROUND SL SEARCHCOIL (only used 3 times, excellent condition) Normal Sale Price is $459.00 + Shipping Your Price - $350.00 (includes shipping) $330.00 For Arizona Residents (must pick up) NUGGETFINDER 16-INCH DD ROUND SEARCHCOIL (good amount of use, good condition) Normal Sale Price is $342.00 + Shipping Your Price - 175.00 (includes shipping) 160.00 For Arizona Residents (must pick up) NUGGETFINDER 16-INCH MONO ROUND SL SEARCHCOIL (only used 8-10 times, great condition) Normal Sale Price is $407.00 + Shipping Your Price - $325.00 (includes shipping) $310.00 For Arizona Residents (must pick up) COILTEK 14-INCH MONO ROUND SEARCHCOIL - SOLD (only used 2 times, customer trade-in, excellent condition) Normal Sale Price is $299.00 + Shipping Your Price - $265.00 (includes shipping) $255.00 For Arizona Residents (must pick up) COILTEK WALLABY 17-ELLIPTICAL DD PRO SEARCHCOIL (some wear, good condition) Normal Sale Price is $349.00 + Shipping Your Price - $265.00 (includes shipping) $250.00 For Arizona Residents (must pick up) COILTEK 11-INCH WATERPROOF PLATYPUS DD PRO SEARCHCOIL - SOLD (only used 4 times, excellent condition) Normal Sale Price is $219.00 + Shipping Your Price - $180.00 (includes shipping) $170.00 For Arizona Residents (must pick up) COILTEK JOEY 10-INCH ELLIPTICAL DD PRO SEARCHCOIL (Customer Trade-In, good condition) Normal Sale Price is $199.00 + Shipping Your Price - $175.00 (includes shipping) $165.00 For Arizona Residents (must pick up) Anyone interested contact me at - (623) 362-1459 or email me at - auplacers@yahoo.com All coils will sale fast, contact ASAP if you're interested. Thanks, Rob Allison

Hello 29Prospector, Thanks for posting the story here. Do you need more Global Space to add pictures? I know about locations "drying" out too well. I've had a couple of nugget locations and dredging spots where I have done well and come to the point the spot(s) just petered out. When a spot produced well you just hate to leave it. Too bad your spots is not producing as well, but I'm you're thankful you had a good spot to begin with. You told me about some of the gold, so I could only imagine. Hope You, Doc and Friends get back into a "Honey Hole" soon. P.S. I know we talked about detectors in the pasts. You interested in a used SD? I have a bunch of good, used stuff coming in right now. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Way2cool, Nope, not Jim P. as of yet. He mentioned he would like one. Jim P. has to get out in the field more to justify a new toy. He mentioned he might show up at Rich Hill this weekend, but we didn't see him. Jim, you really missed out, the weather was great and I know you would have sniffed out a nugget or two. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, By any means this isn't anything to do with coil wars! The first thing I told Karl after seeing the results is to contact AZO or the dealer to have it checked out. This rough testing we conducted had nothing to do with coils, we just happened to notice the results when we switched to the Coiltek 14-inch Round Mono. There was no doubt the Coiltek 14-inch could hear something the NF 14-inch Round Mono couldn't with and without the "Superfix" mode. The main point of this test was to see how the Minelab GP3000/w Superfix performed against the new Minelab GPX-4000. The results from several tests were the GPX-4000 outperformed in "Normal" modes and even better performance in "Tweaked" modes for best performance. I wasn't overly impressed with the Finder's Superfix. All you hear is a "Beep" when you cross over a target. When it comes to faint targets, the Superfix would beep once and then pause a few times over the target and beep again. To my understanding it "wasn't" hearing the target well, but Karl claimed that is how it works. I sure hope it works better than that. Since I'm not an expert with the Superfix, nor is Karl, there is a slight chance something might not have been set up properly. If you're going to tell me this unit gets 6-9 more inches of depth, well I won't even comment on that! I seen better results of it making the detector quieter than making it achieve more depth. As for our testing techniques, I never stated they were the best. However, it did tell me if something would hear a target or not. I'm not overly impressed with any of the tests they conduct "ONLY" in Australia. The Australian results are normally 180 degrees from what we get here due to the drastic change in mineralization. If you own a GPX-4000, there is no reason to even read this. You're not going to loose any sleep knowing you do own the best gold detector on the market. After testing some other combination of settings on the GPX-4000 I'm amazed on the versatility of this unit. Montana - When Karl called the first night and told me the results I was shocked, but then scared a bit. I couldn't being what I was hearing, but come to find out we believe "Skipper Bill" might not of had his GPX-4000 set up right. When I showed up Friday morning and conducted the tests, Karl and I both were impressed with the results of the GPX-4000. Roger D - No coil wars here! I know better to stay out of that mess, been there and done that. I agree with you, there is no touching that Coiltek 14-inch coil! From the results this weekend I believe I sold three of them. I will be in contact with you soon. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello mycorrado, Sorry no one has responded to this post. I've been out of town for the last couple of days. There's no doubt in my opinion the GPX-4000 is the best gold detector on the market. However, I'm not a meteorite expert by any means and can't say it's the best detector for meteorites. There are a lot of meteorites that are "undetectable" due to the very low Nickle/Iron content. Some of high freq. VLF's work best for meteorite hunting. There are a lot of books about gold placers and meteorites. I personally have a book or two on gold placers in Colorado and several books on Meteorites. Shoot me over an email at - auplacers@yahoo.com and I can tell you more. P.S. If you have a State Land or BLM Department, they will have Land Surface Maps that will show BLM, Forest and Private Land. The BLM LR2000 might be best for online mineral claim research. Hope this helps a bit, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, Damn, I thought by now you would have nailed it. Azaware - Heard from Uncle Ron today that Mike C. now has one and scored a nugget or two in an old patch. Congrats Mike!! Wirechief - Nope, not Jim Straight. However, Jim would give an honest field report on it for sure. Hammer - Who is John B.? Oh, the guy that had no faith in the Minelab Coatracks? Brandon - I believe Mike K. had one of the first ones in the States. I'm not sure if Gary purchased one. I believe he purchased his GP3500 from me, if I remember correctly. Brandon, about time you get back into detecting. If you purchase the GPX-4000 we can honestly say you purchased all the GP's and sold them the same year! LOL .... Bandana Don - Lamar hasn't purchased one. I believe he has his hands now full with the GP and SD there in Bolivia. I know Lamar would give one a good workout with all the different ground conditions there. Mike K. - Nope, not Reg Sniff. I didn't hear from Reg this weekend, said he was coming down. Hope everyting is well with him. We were going to do some testing and maybe get over a nugget. Mike C. - You're going to love the GPX-4000. Glad to hear your giving us the locals your business. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Way2Cool, I would agree with you, the coils "should" be performing similar. However, after several tests on different detectors there was no doubt the coil wasn't performing up to standards for deep targets. I suggested Karl contact the manufacture or dealer about the issue. Never hurts to have an assortment of various coils in your arsenal. I personally have a couple of all the manufactures, but many more Coiltek coils. Karl might not have clarified enough when he made the original post. However, both coils were 14-inch round mono's. Talk with you soon, Rob Allison

Hello All, Friday morning Leaverite and I headed out to the 24K Gold Hunters Claims for a couple of days. The weather was beautiful Friday with overcast the entire day. Friday there were only a few guys roaming around the claims, so Leaverite and I spent majority of the day hunting hard. I ended up with (4) nuggets Friday, over 7.5 Dwt's in weight. Leaverite didn't score, but hunted hard. Saturday the club conducted another push, but it didn't turn out very well since the dozer went down the day prior. I know of one nugget around 2.5 Grams that was found in the push. Leaverite, Steve, Kitty, Karl, Uncle Ron and a few others worked up the hill in hopes for a gold nugget. I ended up scoring a small nugget in an old patch area and invited the guys up to have a look. We spent a good hour BSing at the nugget location and then a couple of the guys tried working around where I found the nugget. I pointed a few spots out to Uncle Ron and suggested he try the smaller coil crevicing around. Low and behold Uncle Ron found a nice 1.2 Dwt nugget in a crevice. Great to see friends score a nugget from the old Hill. About 3-4 weeks prior I pointed this area out to Steve and Kitty and Steve scored a nice 1.7 Dwter and a smaller nugget. Saturday's turnout was good and later in the day they had a Chili Potluck. Talk about some good Chili! Not as many nuggets found this weekend, but everyone's spirits were high. Next weekend will be Push # 2 and I'm positive some nice nuggets will be found then. Below are a couple of pictures. "Click" on the pictures to enlarge them. I ended up with (5) gold nuggets, all found with the GPX-4000 and Coiltek 14-inch Round Mono. My nuggets weighed (L to R) 0.25, 0.45, 0.55, 3.25 & 3.40 Dwt's for a total of "8 Dwt's!" Second picture is a couple of the guys working around where I found a nugget. Great to see Karl from Texas, Uncle Ron and a bunch of other new faces. Nothing like finding some gold with friends. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Way2cool, Thanks for posting the link. I actually read the entire thread and believe "Fossil" was shooting us all straight. Good to know there is no "hype" in that post, just valuable facts that people want to know. If the GPX-4000 was a Lemon I would tell you. I don't need to sell detectors to make a decent living, I do that without the business. However, I have a great passion for this hobby and will continue to tell you what I know about products. I'm impressed with the GPX-4000! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello way2cool, Both Searchcoils were 14-inch Round Mono's. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Doc, Thanks for letting me know about the special. Hopefully some people will call tomorrow, as I will be home all day! I pretty much sold a couple of Coiltek 14-inch round mono's this weekend. I won't go into details, but Coiltek was tearing them up at Rich Hill this weekend. I've placed all my faith and support in Coiltek and they continue to amaze me. Since day one I've been using Coiltek Searchcoils and Products. I stand behind them 110%. Anyone looking to order can call me at (623) 362-1459. The Coiltek 1-inch probes are a great investment. I have one in my backpack at all times. They are so small and lightweight you can pack them around and use them when needed. Well worth the investment (especially if it's FREE ) to accurately pinpoint gold nuggets, coins or relics. Probe A - Searchcoil Purchases from $205 - $335 Probe B - Searchcoil Purchases from $340 and Up Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Jim and Montana, I wasn't able to access that site since I don't have the website. Anyone have a direct link? There is no doubt the GPX-4000 is a huge improvement. I picked up 1/2 ounce of gold this weekend working some old spots. The nuggets were found at depth, several of them missed by the GP3500. I found some settings that I'm really starting to like a bunch~! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, I'm not here to bash any product, but will let you know my opinions on what I seen. First, I wasn't overly impressed with the "SuperFix." What do you mean it has to be used with an SD? It says right on the side of the box, SD or GP's! Karl pretty much summed it up, the GPX-4000 outperformed the Finders Superfix. I didn't even have the GPX cranked up to max settings and I was still hearing a clear signal when the GP3000 with the Superfix wasn't hearing it as well. Does the Superfix increase performance? Yes, from what I seen it does, but takes some time understanding the signals. It would "Beep" and then pause and "Beep" again .... Kind of hard for me to figure it out. There's no doubt Karl was getting better performance in the "Superfix" mode over the "Minelab" mode on the GP3000. I'm not convinced the Superfix is getting 6-9 more inches on certain ground types. That a huge gain, when just a couple of inches is a big break in technology. Since I have the GPX-4000 I won't be looking back. This detector is much more stable, more versatile and getting better sensitivity and depth over prior SD/GP models. Great testing with you Karl, Steve, Kitty and Leaverite. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Uncle Ron, Congrats on the nice nugget find! Hey, who said I don't have a pointy finger also! I point figures for good friends and flip fingers for ..... well you know story. It's always great seeing you around Rich Hill Ron. You're a very likeable guy, everyone seems to enjoy your company, so make it a point to find us more often and I will point more fingers. The weather and company was great this weekend at Rich Hill. I was hoping Karl from Texas would have gotten over a nugget, but he still has a day or so. Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello All, Talk with a good friend Karl Baltz tonight on the phone. He is out camped at a local goldfield and done some comparison with his GP and Finders Superfix to a brand new GPX-4000. I guess the GP with the SuperFix was able to hear the targets much better than GPX with all the cranked up settings. The guy using the GPX was relatively new to the detector, so I'm heading out in the morning to do some comparisons with my GPX against the Finders Superfix. Just curious if anyone else has had any success with the "Superfix" on their GP's? Maybe Finders has something here .... Rob Allison

Hello All, Been following the threads over on the Prospecting OZ Forum about Doug and several others claiming the GPX-4000 is missing nuggets in the "Sensitive/Smooth" mode. I can't honestly comment on this, since I haven't tested the Smooth mode at all. I do know for a fact the GPX-4000 in the "Normal/Deep" mode was able to outshoot my GP3500 hands down with the settings cranked up past the Factory Default Settings. The GPX-4000 heard a very small nugget, a nugget right at 7 Dwt's and another at 1 ounce deeper than the GP3500. This is the only test I have concluded with the GPX-4000 vs. the GP3500. I'm going to do some testing this weekend on deep nuggets in the "Sensitive/Smooth" mode to see if there is actually a lose in depth. Kind of makes me wonder if there is a "dead zone" in this mode or it just has to do with the soil conditions in Australia. I promise to keep you posted on my findings. This is the main reason I held onto the GP3500. The GPX-4000 seems amazing, but I want to make sure there are no bugs before I let the GP3500 go. Here is a post I copied from the other Australian forum - Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Arizona Guide, Nope, not Lazslo, not Brandon (yet!) or Bill (who is Bill?) Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Goldmember, First I would like to welcome you to the forums! As for the drywashers, I have used them both personally. I owned both models many years ago and spent a lot of "dirty" time behind them. In my opinion, the Keene 151 is more of a production unit. You can use it as a sample unit, but it's much bulkier and tougher to pack in/out of locations. However, if you find a spot and really want to get serious, the Keene 151 will keep a couple guys busy the entire time shoveling. As for the 140, it's more of a practical drywasher. You can use it in combination with a Vac-Pac and works great. It's very important to break up the crevices/cracks and use a Vac. You're leaving the best nuggets and gold behind if you don't use this method in my opinion. The 140's are smaller, much easier to pack around. You can even get a "Hiker's Backpack Frame" and pack the entire drywasher in and out of locations. Kind of tough to do this with the 151 due to the engine size and weight. If you're going to use the unit mostly yourself, I would suggest the smaller 140. The 140 can handle one guy shoveling all day. If the ground is pretty much dry, you won't loose much with the 140. Worst-case scenario, you run the material a couple times through the drywasher for best recovery. Both work great. Hope this helps a bit, Rob Allison

Hello Lamar, Great question! There's no doubt I would agree "Experience" is the key to successful prospecting. I know I could easily go back to a Minelab SD, even a VLF if I had to and find gold. The experience of knowing your detector, knowing the ground and where to search is very important. Most newbies have no clue where to search and even how to operate a detector, let alone try to find gold. There is always beginners luck, but for the most part an experienced detectorists will always be more successful. Now when you put "Experience" with "The Best Tools/Equipment" you get even better results! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, I agree with you on asking about permission. I actually obtained permission to hunt some very good ground in Arizona by just calling up the owner. Many years ago I was out swinging a detector around Cleator in a bunch of small washes. As I was walking from one wash to another I heard a small engine running. The wind was blowing pretty good, so it was hard to tell where the noise was coming from. I finally ended up tracking down the noise and it was an older gentleman working a small drywasher down in a small wash. We talked for a bit and the guy mentioned he owned the entire section, which pretty much took up all the washes I was hunting. He asked me if I found anything and I told him know, but did find some nuggets several years prior in a few washes. He was kind of amazed to hear about nugget gold, since most of what he was finding was fines and very small flakes. I actually showed him where I found the nuggets and he gave me unlimted permission to hunt all the claims and even some claims over near Bumble Bee! I actually helped him shovel some gravel for a few hours and broke up some good crevices to dig out. He was getting some good color, probably about 1/2 - 1 Dwt of gold per hour in the sweet spots. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, Just about all my personal friends already own a GPX-4000. Leaverite purchase one last week, so it's not him. The person I'm talking about isn't someone I hunt with all the time, but really shocked me when I got the phone call inquiring about the GPX. Ok, if you guess the person first here on the forums I will send you a FREE Kanagroo Scrotum Nugget Pouch! Hint: It's not Rod or Ted. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, Wishing you a Wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I'm very Thanksful for a handful of things. One of the most important is my health and wellness. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Jim, Ralph did an excellent job with claim security, he didn't even pull out a gun! Had to throw that in there .... I'm sure Ralph will be missed when he is gone. I know he's a valuable asset to the 24K club. Take care, Rob Allison