Tortuga Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Finally beat the skunk in Greaterville yesterday. Since I got into gold prospecting I've been going down there on and off for about three years and haven't found anything.Tried a few different machines down there; Gold Bug Pro, GPX 4800, now I'm using an SDC 2300. This is the only machine I've found gold with so far.I think it's more of a combination of experience and research over the last couple years that's leading me to the gold finally than the actual machine I'm using.Rob has been a big help too in explaining the nugget occurrences in Greaterville and how random they can be. Nuggets can be found there on hillsides, hilltops, on the roads, down in the gully's etc.I even gleaned a little info from Ray Mills' new book on studying the land and looking for that RED DIRT.I was quite surprised how deep I dug a few lead slugs with the small 8" coil on the SDC 2300 however now I'm thinking I need to add a GPX 5000 to my arsenal to go over the spots I have success at (GPZ 7000 is just a little out of my price range right now).1.26 GRAMS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relichunter2 Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Very nice, congrats on the nice nugget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
way2cool Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Congrats on your first find there. Rob gave you some great advice about that area. Slow down when you hit some of the trashy areas there is still alot of gold there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Posted March 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldies1955 Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 That's sweet!Congrats on that nice nugget Hope you get a lot more out of that area....go geeeet it!!!Tom H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIAMONDBACKDAVE Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Great Job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted March 9, 2015 Admin Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Great hit for Greaterville. It's a tough place to hunt, tons of trash and mineralized ground. There is gold left, but you're going to work hard for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Posted March 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Thanks Rob. Taking another page from Ray's book I only detected a fairly small section that I thought "looked good", with the signs like red dirt and schist(?).Correct me if I'm wrong but is schist the rock that looks like "pages of a book" and shale is hard, crumbly clay-like rock?I went really slow, checking all targets then I dug this nugget up. After that I probably spent another hour slowly checking a 50x50 foot square around the area to see if I hit a "patch" but that was it. This nugget didn't have any "friends" unless there's some more around that are much deeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mn90403 Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Congratulations!Rob got most of the gold there years ago. hahaGreaterville is a tough hunt for me too. I've been there a couple of times and the last time about a month ago I even saw some of John B's gold and patches but none for me yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Posted March 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 It's in my backyard, and it's obviously yielded some BIG gold in the past, so I'm going to put some time in down there to learn the area as best as I can.There's no way a coil has been swung over EVERY square foot of ground Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted March 9, 2015 Admin Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Hey Chris, Greaterville is a goldfield no different that most. It has potential just like Rich Hill, Quartzsite, Lake Havasu and other placers that have produced large gold nuggets and specimens. I was blessed with some good friends that showed me that placer area years ago and gave me a tour of where some of the better spots were and big nuggets found. With all the information, I spent hundreds of hours swinging the gulches, benches and hillsides in hopes of a single nugget. Greaterville is a tough hunt, most get skunked on a normal basis. The amount of trash and high mineralization makes it a tough hunt for the average detectorist. Most will hunt it for a day or a weekend, get skunked and never return. The ones that continue to get skunked will eventually hit a nice one at some point (hopefully). You're on a 1-1 scorecard right now, lets see how that changes in the next couple of hunts down there! Wishing you much more luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
way2cool Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 You did OK down there Rob. A 9 ozer right?Tortuga if you haven't read Fists full of Gold by Chris Ralph you may want to pick that up from Rob. By far one of the best prospecting books out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldies1955 Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 I think it was Borderboy that used to do pretty darn good down there a year or so.Its still out there. Just got to get the coil over it.Like you say Chris...they couldn't have hit every square inch and the monsoons we had this year were rippers.GL to yaTom H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted March 10, 2015 Admin Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Hello Way2cool, Ya I got a couple of nice ones over the years down there, but if you knew how many 2+ foot holes I dug it would blow your mind. I should have learned by now, if you show someone a spot, they dig, rake and pilfer the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.