nuggethunting

Hello Alan, Yes, it's best to seal around the outside edges to make sure dirt (especially black sand or black sand pebbles) don't get under the searchcoil cover. I just removed mine since I don't use it a whole lot, but don't recommend this for others. Using any searchcoil without a "searchcoil cover" can void the manufacture warranty. Years ago I experienced this same problem with a small Minelab coil. I was working some bedrock and the coil became very unstable. I couldn't seem to figure out the problem since it was intermittent. Eventually I decided to remove the searchcoil cover and found a lot of sand under the coil. I clean it all out and re-taped the searchcoil cover and everything was fine from there. However, doing so I also found a very small, flat piece of metal and I believe that was the problem. Don't ask how it got under there, but I guess anything is possible. Funny, how a little bit of sand or micro piece of metal can make the searchcoil go nuts! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Alan, The coffee cup or specimen? Rob Allison

Hello Steve, I enjoyed the link you posted. Brought back a lot of memories of me taking Historical Geology 1 & 2 in college about five years ago. The class was very interesting and touched more on history than just plain old rock geology. However, I probably forgot 75% of what I learned, I still have all the books and browse through them once in a great while. The subject is way over my head, so I'm just sitting back reading all the information you all post. Wish I knew a solution ... Rob Allison

Hello Big Ed, I thought you would like that Minelab Coffee Cup. I actually placed it there so people could see the size of the specimen. I would send you a FREE coffee cup, but since I have only ordered $50,000 in detectors since the beginning of the year I was only granted two cups! Talk with you later, Rob Allison

Hello Alan, No telling why the others didn't find the targets. My best guess would be that the Wallaby was punching down deeper than the smaller coils like the Minelab 8-inch round. Also, a lot of times people will dig a target and not re-check the hole or surrounding area, they will just walk away and start detecting somewhere else. However, I think you're just punching down deeper or covering more ground in less time with the larger coil. Just think, those 5 bullets could have been gold! You're right, the Platypus and Wallaby combined make a great combination. Wishing you the best of luck out there. P.S. Thanks for the comments about fast shipping. Talk with you soon, Rob Allison

Hello Alan, Both the Coiltek Platypus and Wallaby DD Pro are great coils. I would give the outright coverage and depth abilities to the Wallaby DD Pro (due to size), but would give the sensitivity edge to the Platypus. Been having some good feedback about the Coiltek Platypus recently out of Oregon and N. California! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Alan, I think cutting it up into thin slaps could make pretty pieces, especially if some gold is shot through them. Pieces like this would bring some value! Here is a piece I have that is between 6 - 6.5 pounds. It was found near the surface around a well known goldfield in Arizona. The piece has at least one 1/2 ounce nugget sticking off one side with a lot of little spots of gold. I'm not sure what the actual value would be, but would guess there might be approx. 1 - 1.5 ounces of gold within the huge piece of quartz. My Minelab GP3500 just screams on it, even when the searchcoil is a good foot over it. However, during the GPAA Mesa Show I had it on display and it caught a lot of attention. Many wanted to picked it up and hold it. Keep us updated on what you do with yours. Rob Allison

Hello eodseal2000, Pretty interesting specimen you found there. Curious if you just visually picked it up, or if your detector sounded off on it? I think it would be pretty tough to do any type of specific gravity due to all the other mineral present within the specimen. With this being said, it would be tough to determine if there is just a small amount of gold (stuff showing) or more within the specimen. I wouldn't think it would have a lot of value, but would bring more value as a "conversation piece." A piece like that would be great for display purposes and something to hand someone and say, "Look at the gold!" Thanks for sharing, Rob Allison

Hello Lotsa Luck, I know what you mean about a race going on. The US Forest Ranger stated they are really under-maned. I'm sure the guys on Quads just take the hell off when they see a Ranger. Not likely he is going to catch up with them if they are riding a quad on a backroad. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, Yesterday Leaverite and I spent some time doing some prospecting in the high country of the Prescott National Forest. On the way back out of there, we bumped into a US Forest Ranger. He stated that several of the Arizona National Forests are closed, including Coconino. He said if there are no changes, he heard from higher up that all the Arizona National Forests will be completely closed within the next week or so. This would mean no entry unless you lived there. He mentioned he already has given out 19 citations within the last week for unattended fires and such. He said the fines for being in a "Closed" Forest are extremely high! Rumors of some rain coming this week, but then again Monsoon's seem to bring a lot of Lightning also. Looks like we will have to live with low desert prospecting .... P.S. Yes, we found some gold, but nothing in the Forest region. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Jim, Forgot to add I like the pictures you posted. Many are very interested in joining in on an adventure to Moore Creek. If you have more pictures we would all love to see them. I like the Black & White photos you shot. We sure had a great bunch of guys during the first week. P.S. Did you happen to figure out how much weight we recovered when we both double-teamed on the high-banker for about an hours time? I think there's some great gold waiting to be recovered there if someone wants to spend some time shoveling. Talk with you soon, Rob Allison

Hello Frosty, I was wondering what the heck happened to you. Glad you're back around, we all missed you. Sorry to hear about all the bad things that happened, hopefully everything is going well now. You're going to have to get back down here this Winter. Yes, Glenn kicked everyone's butt at Moore Creek during the first week. However, Rich Lampright is at Moore Creek right now (3rd week) and is determined to beat Glenn's 12+ ounce record for a single week. However, I have my fingers crossed Glenn will keep that record and I beat it! Talk with you soon, Rob Allison

Hello Russ, Grubstake and All, LOL .... I guess I should have followed directions. I was out in the field saying WTF, this thing isn't working right. The ball kept coming off the unit and we couldn't figure it out. Low and behold, Dennis and I had the shaft piece facing downward ... Duh .... I really couldn't see clear pictures the night before, but Grubstake really posted some great ones now. Hoping to get back out and test the "Hipstick" the way it should work. Looks like a great invention if you use it correctly. P.S. Russ, great to see you and the shop. Take care, Rob Allison

OH My Gosh, Jim!!! Check your email if you get a chance. Long day, but didn't get skunked! Rob Allison

Hello Steve, That dirty dog Rich Lampright!! Good to hear he hit a nice one with all the stuff thats probably on his mind with his Father's health. Rich is a very methodical hunter, so I pretty much knew he would do well. Any updated on where he hit the nice 3.6 ouncer? Rich must have sent me a dozen or so emails, and also talked with Glenn for several hours on the phone. Glenn and I are both curious on where he might have hit it. Rich also mentioned he might have left a nice nugget in a hole last year. Congrats to Rich!! Rob Allison

Hello All, Well I guess I should have done an Internet search first! The name is actually, "Hiram Walker & Sons Limited." Here is some interesting information on the maker. Hiram Walker and Sons I guess it was a liquor lid or top, which could have been Whiskey or Rum. Still reading more about the stuff as I type this. Rob Allison

Hello Everyone, I forgot to mention I found this strange item at Moore Creek this year. The item would not discriminate out so I continued to dig. When I first got a glimpse of the item I thought it was a gold coin! However, it's not a coin, but looks like some type of gold plated lid from something. I have no clue what the heck it is, so was hoping for some help on identification. I believe it says "Hiran Walker & Sons, Limited - Made in England. I heard the Bloody English liked to gold plate nice things, but maybe mines just a piece of junk. Thanks for the help in advance, Rob Allison

Hello All, I must appologize for the customers that had to wait for a good month for several Coiltek products that were on backorder. The increased gold price really created a mini "Gold Rush" all around the globe and most manufactures weren't ready for it. I just received a call from Kevin H. from Minelab USA, Inc. He mentioned that all the Minelab GP3500's are taken and no more will be available until late July maybe early August! Whatever the dealers have in stock (most a couple machines) is what they have for now. He also mentioned I have one of very few Minelab SD2100v's available in the US. I might just hold this one. The mini "Gold Rush" was great for business, but with a long of accessories and coils on backorder many gave up on the orders after the extended wait. Just to let you know, I have a bunch of "New Coiltek Amplified External Speakers" back in stock, "Coiltek Heavy Duty Power Cords," "Mini Power Cords," "Detector Protector Hats," and pretty much all the searchcoils back in stock. If you ever need something, I'm just a phone call away! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, I just done a final update on the Moore Creek page. You can see all the pictures I took on the page now. You can access the page by clicking this link --> "MOORE CREEK GALLERY 2006" Also, if anyone is interested in learning more about the gold adventures to Moore Creek, Alaska you can visit Steve Herschbach's Moore Creek Website at this link --> "MOORE CREEK WEBSITE" Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Rob Allison

Hello Steve and Dan, Dan - Congrats on the amount of nuggets and weight you found! Would love to see some pictures when you get a chance. Steve - I pretty much did the same thing Dan did, dug tons of faint whisper targets, but all my ended up being 2-3 foot holes and iron rubbish!!! After about 3-4 two plus foot holes I gave up on the faint whispers. Heck, right off of 13-ounce pile within a hour I dug six foot plus holes, all which ended up being trash (nails, wire and iron garbage). I guess I just dug the wrong faint targets .... My smallest nugget (.09 ounces) was the deepest nugget I dug at around 8-10 inches. All the other nuggets were probably 3-4 inches at best. I just seemed to be out of the zone with too much stuff on my mind. I was physically exhausted before I arrived and didn't get much sleep. However, I still tried, just couldn't get into a good zone. After going 3-4 days without finding a single nugget it started to wear on me a bit. With all that said, I'm ready for another adventure up there! Regardless of what I find, the adventure is the true gold for me! Looking forward to some nugget/specimen pictures. Rob Allison

Hello Buddy, The one week trip to Moore Creek is $1,995.00. However, that don't include airfare. From Arizona a friend booked all of the first weekers and I believe the cost was just over $500 round trip from Phoenix to Anchorage and back. Then you have the Pen Air flight which was almost $400 then the Redline Air (Bush Plane) which was $175 (I believe). Then you need to book a stay in McGrath on the way out of Moore Creek for one night. The going rate was around $75 without dinner included, or approx. $95 with dinner. From the Phoenix area you're looking at roughly $3,500 for everything. This is a bit more than what it costs, but $3,500 should cover all your food on the way and just in case you want some extra cash to spend. I could be wrong on a few of the prices, but not by much. Hope this helps a bit. Rob Allison

Hello Steve, Just wanted to send out a special Thank You for allowing me to book the first week at Moore Creek this year. Once again it was an amazing trip to Interior Alaska. I didn't do as well this year, but no one can predict the outcome. To me it was more of a vacation with friends and a bonus to find gold! Anyone that hasn't experienced the outback of Alaska is missing out. Moore Creek is probably the best "Pay-to-Mine" Alaskan adventure one could ask for. I also wanted to send a "Thanks" to your cousin Bob Herschback and George (Seeker). Bob cooked some amazing breakfasts & dinners for the group. I never heard one complaint the entire trip, even from the guys that found very little gold. George was a great help for anyone wanting to know about the area or needed asistance with something around camp. I'm hoping we can get something cooking for next year! Thanks Steve H., Bob H., Seeker and the entire first weekers for memories that will last a lifetime. Sincererly, Rob Allison

Hello All, I just added another dozen or so pictures from Moore Creek. If you get a chance check them out. The direct link is located on the first post. More pictures will be added soon. Rob Allison

Hello Bob, Yep, you're correct about getting close to 1,000 registered members. We would have more if I left all the spammers stay registered, but I tried to delete all of them as them came on and spammed the site with porn or nonsense. Not bad to have 1,000 registered members for just a "Gold Prospecting" forum. I'm sure if I had multiple forums I would of had over a 1,000 a long time ago. However, I'm glad all the members have stuck around and supported this Nuggethunting.com Forum. Thanks to all the registered memebers. Rob Allison

Hello Gary, Great looking piece of gold. Really has some good character to it. Just imagine if someone would weed through all the trashy placer fields .... I'm sure in some spots there are some real lunkers to be found. However, some are so trashy you get multiple targets every foot! Congrats on the new find. You're really doing well out there. Thanks once again for sharing your find and story with us. Talk with you later, Rob Allison