T-Bone's Big Nugget

[dutch john]

Rob... I was lucky enough to hunt with Terry over two seasons. His detector of choice

was the White's Goldmaster ll. He could make it work in the alkali areas as he had an

"ear" to pick out a "nugget" sound out of the ground noise. I was lucky enough to have

hunted with some of the best while they were out and doing it.

I was also lucky enough to have got to have known both Richard and Elizabeth when they

were the Gold Dust Twins. We never met in the field but at the GPAA gold shows.

I was lucky that Richard liked my original "Follow the Drywashers" that at this time was being

published by "Mountain Publications." I know Richard bought 200 copies from dennis and

put a copy in each wooden box that he sold of the GT-16000.

I guess this was about the first time you and I got to know each other. And I was lucky to

become one of your friend, and you still are that. So I guess I'm really "Lucky Jim," as I'm

still here and most of those I shared "beans and coffee" with while on the trail are now gone,

but their stories are now Legentary and will be told over the campfires for years.

"Lucky Jim"

[mikeadair]

Hello Shadow,

I'm still holding several Arizona topos that I got from Arizona Al, when Terry said he was done with Arizona. I found nuggets in all of his old patches, most were only worked with the Goldmaster VLF's that Terry loved so much.

AZNuggetBob - I agree, normally when someone buys a nice nugget, I tell them they can tell whatever story they want about the nugget. Funny, I have a story just like yours I might start in a new post.

GreenBox - I still think about Richard and all the times we hunted together. Without his help back in the early to mid 90's, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now. He was truely my mentor when it comes to electronic prospecting. I have a million stories I could share about this very missed friend. Some of my first ventures with Floyd and Richard were up around Soap Creek in the early 90's. Several years later Floyd Allen trusted me enough to allow me to tag along on a handful of Rich Hill adventures. I couldn't count how many nuggets I seen popping out by all of us back then. Richard loved the smaller coils, Floyd loved that damn 18-inch trash can lid ....

Yeh Rob I remember Floyd with that garbage can lid,one day on flour hill we were all hunting and Floyd hit 3 nice nuggets right in front of my truck 50 yrds right there.But he would or only could hunt a couple hours with that thing and his arm got sore.Like you said in an earlier post I'd probably still be dredging too if I had never met Richard.

Mike

[AZNuggetBob]

I remember one day I was out hammering an old patch. Id been there many times

before with my gold bug. the patch was getting to the point were I was happy to score a grammer.

I look up and see Floyd.

Im watching him put nugget after nugget in his gold bottle and Im trying to figure what he's swingin.so finally I walk over and say Floyd what is that detector your swingin. He says its new, made by a company called Minelab.

Its the new Minelab 2000

I said I noticed you found a few can I see um. he pops his nugget bottle an pours out some nice nuggets.So I ask can you get me one of those detectors. he says I'll see what I can do, there's only about six of them in the U.S.A. He gave me a call a few days later and I met him at Richards and purchased it. It was about $2000.00 as I recall. It seemed like a lot of money considering the price of a gold bug but I just had to have one. I took it back to that same patch and took home 4 oz. the first day. Been sold on Minelabs ever since, Thanks Floyd. AzNuggetBob

[nuggethunting]

Hey AzNuggetBob,

I was also one of the first one to get a SD2000, along with my cousin Chris and I believe his Dad. I know I paid $3,750 for the SD2000. I'm sure you paid the same, you just might not remember it. I remember I had to convince my parents to loan me $2000 and I put the rest on a credit card. Since Floyd didn't accept credit cards, I had to go to the bank and get a cash advance for $2000 with like 25% interests ..... Well I at least got a new SD2000 and was able to get onto some ground before it got too hammered at Rich Hill and many places on the East slope of the Bradshaws.

It took some time to get used do, as it was so quiet sounding and so freaking immune to some of the worst mineralization. I was used to my Tesoro Lobo and Minelab XT17000 with the loud, sharp hits on the VLF's. The Minelab SD2000 was Woo-Wee and not very loud.

Back on the subject of T-Bone, I can tell you he had a handful of patches in the Minnehaha area, which I have a bunch of topos of. That being said, most of the patches are pretty beat down, many were shallower areas where the VLF's done well and left a few lumps in deeper areas.

Also, some memories of blowing tires in Northern Nevada and then thinking of guys like T-Bone that drove low clearance cars.

Talk with you later,

Rob Allison

[FlakMagnet]

What a wonderful thread.

You guys have some great memories and it is a treat

to hear you recount them.

Thanks

[JIM MCCULLOCH]

Yeah, guys, T-Bone was certainly worthy of our fond recollections. He was the only person whom I've ever known to make two syllables out of "Jim." As in "Well, how y'all doin,' Gee Umm?". I spoke to him a few days before his death, he had high hopes of getting his nugget back, or at least getting paid for it. In our"Treasure" Magazine write-up on the big nugget, alluding to the issue of ownership I mentioned something like "I hope Terry can soon be enjoying some T-Bones to celebrate [the return/payment] of the nugget." The exact wording escapes me, but it was something like that.

Flak, your memories of great people would likely eclipse all of our's combined. HH Jim

[dutch john]

Hey Jim.... it is great to see you posting on this thread. One thing Terry mentioned to

me was words to the effect that he yet still owed you for a set of headphones. I could

tell that he intended to pay you as he saw you again as he said "yet" so he may have

have later paid you.

I last saw Terry in northern Nevada. We were going to meet again that fall, but according

to Homer he last saw Terry at "Stringer" .... (which is in the Mohave desert and also

happens to be an epithermal ore deposit as the Great Basin of northern Nevada)...

where he (Terry) just found several nice nuggets

Homer told me one of the nuggets was over an ounce. But Terry said had to leave

"Stringer" for northern Nevada. Homer told me he replied to the effect that you don't

leave a patch. Terry replied he needed to meet someone.

Thus Terry and I never met that fall. Although I never saw Terrys nugget, I have always

believed it was epthermal as many of the local mines are associated with miocene-

pliocene volcanics.

[cochetopa]

Hello,

I spent my entire working life inside office buildings. I have greatly enjoyed reading this thread with the sharing of old stories about great people and good times. Thank you very much...everyone.

Uncle Ron

Nuggethunting

Jim P.

Ironman

dutch john

minerjoe01

AzNuggetBob

GREENBOX

The Shadow

JIM MCCULLOCH

[AZNuggetBob]

Hey Rob

Try riding a dirt bike with a trash can lid strapped on your back. The good old days.

Trust me it works best with the coil facing down. They were old tech but they did find the big deep ones.

I know ol floyd got me a good deal on it, Thanks Floyd.

are you sure you payed that much Rob? could it have been $2700.00?

Anyway It don't matter Rob, they were so much better than any other machine availible at that time,

it didn't take long even around $400.00 an ounce to pay them off.

I first met Terry at the three pound patch in Az. he was popping nuggets behind us and we had been huntin that patch for a month. He was good. Take care out there, AzNuggetBob

[JIM MCCULLOCH]

"Dutch," no, Terry never did pay for the headphones, but the value of my memories of the time we spent together in AZ around Congress and Wickenburg when the Goldmaster II first came out far transcend an unpaid debt. I well remember us rattling down an old road which ran alongside an auriferous wash. At one point a stone formation crossed the wash, diverting a slow water flow, but would act as a large riffle during flood stage. It was about 10' long, 4' wide, flat-topped, but with a rough surface. "Terry, stop, STOP!. Dibs on that flat outcropping!". I shouted. Soft-spoken Terry drawled "Yer too late, Gee Umm, I already hit it, got me 4 ounces off of it...."

By the way, "Lucky," Hawkeye sends her love. Me too, for that matter. HH Gee Umm

[way2cool]

Great stories guys. Bob is that your pick on the front fork?

[nuggethunting]

Hey AzNuggetBob,

That is a great pix with the dirt bike and SD2000. You might be correct on the price, maybe it was in the range of 2000 - 3000, been so long ago.

[AZNuggetBob]

Tell ya the truth Rob Im not absolutely positive what I paid for mine but I do know that I was sure glad I did. I left a post on the new 2000 thread you started that may explain more. It was frustrating to me knowing there was deep gold in those hot old patches and the VLF just couldn't handle them. In some patches I was digging by hand and swinging to get depth advantage. The SD2000 changed everything. It made a lot of old patches new again.

way2cool That is my pick in the holder. it worked out well. If your interested in building something similar its just a 2 1/2 " PVC pipe, end cap glued on the bottom and held onto the forks with a couple radiator hose clamps, trick is drop in your pick, mark the shape of your pick head and cut an angled slot in the top or a big V.

drop it in and go.

AzNuggetBob

[dutch john]

Howdy Everyone... This is getting to be a great thread. Terry would be pleased to know

we are honoring him around this "electronic campfire." The last time I was with Terry

he was driving a small pickup w/o a camper shell. It had a full set of new tires and Terry

said to me to the effect ... that happyness is having new tires.

At this time Dick Bailey was still the tireman at the truckstop and he was well aware of the

sharp volcanic Trachyte rocks cutting tires... If the side wall was punchered the tire was

usually ruined, but Jims tire store in Lovelock would vucanize a boot and save the tire

as a spare.

Many of us may still remember Dicks instructions on how to drive on the roads. Back then

Dick owned a 2000 with the trashcan lid. He would loan it out and whoever borrowed it

was honest and 50/50 split of the placer found. Back then placer was more plentiful and

the northwestern side of the Eugene Mountans was little worked and seveal gulches

yielded good gold, but mostly about five to 10 grains, but it was easy digg'in as most of it

was shallow, only about a few inches in depth.

Those of us who worked a push on Oakie Jims claim split 25/75 with Oakie getting

the 75%... However back in the early days when Mark was still running a backhoe

going up the gulch spreading piles on each side of the trench, the gold was good

and everyone should have been happy with 25%. I know I was!

Much of the gold, both hardrock and placer, as found in the Basin Range is epithermal.

George Duffy found over 100 pockets. The largest one I know of was a shallow surface

pocket of about 40-ounces. For those who have a copy of the ICMJ, the pocket is

documented in the "Picks & Pans" section of the ICMJ Vol. 74, No 1; September

2004 issue.

As I best remember both George and Dick paid about $2000 for their minelab 2000.

When I bought my 2200d I paid about $3000 which included California state tax. I

later sold it to Grubstake and he really made it "sing a happy tune."... "Tailgate"

[AZNuggetBob]

Jim I remember Dick at the truck stop (Burns Brothers)we never did hunt together but he was great to talk to and knew a lot about the area. and George Duffy too. Duffy and Smoky were hammering that area for years and doing very well. I was working with Jimmy for 25% of the take too. All the gold went into a pool and was split every few months.He wanted to keep that big Nugget and rightfully so.Thats how I ended up with that 10 Oz.and a gorgeous 3/4 oz. perfect cross nugget. I usually work 50/50 but the gold and the perks were so good out at jimmys 25% was well worth it. and yes I agree chevron gold is found other places too. AzNuggetBob

[dutch john]

Bob... You are truly and amaizing person. You have done more in your short lifetime

then a total of a dozen others could do in their lifetime including me.

Dick Bailey is now gone. However we hunted together a number of times at Willow Springs.

I'm stil in contact with Dusti who is the owner of the Star Point Trading Post in Imlay.The

store still carrys detectors and other mining and prosecting supplies. As youj know Terry

stayed at the Star Point camp grounds,

[AZNuggetBob]

Jim the important thing is to have a lot of fun doing it, and learning from you and your writings has just made it that much easier.

I had not heard about Dick. He fixed a lot of my tires at Burns Bothers and he was good at it.

That area would butcher tires and still does from what I hear. Two spares minimum.first one to fix a flat and the second one to limp back to town on.

and those jack rabbit holes in the middle of the road aren't any fun either.They took out more than one UPS truck. those guys never slow down.

I would see Terry come thru Dusti's RV park and store. It seemed like he was always on his way to a new prospect somewere out in the area.

I remember that little pickup Terry had one of those little trucks could really take a beating. I think it was a Nisson or Datsun.

Jim we ended up setting up trommel out at Jimmy Malone's Lunker Hill property and worked it full time. It was about 20' long and started running all those huge piles that everyone was hitting with detectors. same deal 25% of the gold plus perks. Jimmy covered all the expenses. judging by what people were finding with detectors we knew there was a lot of gold in them. Jimmy was also swinging a detector behind the dozer just for fun and to make sure no lunker nuggets

were rolling over the 1" screens and out the end of the trommel into the waste piles.

I was running the loader feeding the the trommel.

Dusti used to come out from time to time to bring us parts or supplies from her store.

and we would give her tips on how to run a metal detector. she picked it up very fast and I'll bet she is a great nugget hunter today.

I was back in Az, when I heard about Jimmy's passing.

We worked together on several placer projects both in Az, and Nv.

JIMMY

Here's to all the gold we found and great times we had together. AzNuggetBob

[nuggethunting]

Hey Guys,

Speaking of Northern Nevada and tires, here is a picture of John "Goldmaster" Blennert and I back in Oct. 2003. The road don't look like a tire slicer, but just one sharp rock on the rock can do it. We were just driving down this road and "BOOM!"

We spent some time around several of the major placers and picked up a few pieces on most of the placers. John found a real nice 1/2 ouncer in the Majuba placers, right outside an old push that everyone and their brother has worked.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[dutch john]

Gosh Rob... Great photo... I have always choked in the alkali dust. .

Worse... the front tires could kick the sharp trachyte bits up into the undercarrage.

Bob... I have a photo of Terrys truck some where in my mess. I do not remember

what make it was, but I agree it was either a Datsun or Nissan The photo is of

backside while we were stopped at Burns Brothers.

Does anyone remember "Tin Door" who (Ken Dorff) who drove a wrecked

Dodge Dart... the passinger door was replaced by a primitive piece of sheet

metal by metal screws. He was involved in the early-time back hoe operation

when Mark Anderson ran the backhoe digging piles to the right and left. One

pile was detected by a original gold bug and the other by a gold bug-2; but

the goldmaster was also okay... the frequencies did not interfere. Smoky was

then the point man... up the gulch ahead of mark.

When one of us found a nugget by detecting each bucketfull dropped onto a side

pile by mark the "game was to put in the mouth" as a sign we found one.

From this small 'single blanket' operation, it became big time. Okie Jim was one

great guy.... I last saw him about a month before he passed away. I did not know

he had a cancer... SAD I AM.... jim

[dutch john]

Howdy Uncle Ron.... You have worked so hard and done such a great job in Honoring

Terry, Im taking the liberty of "bumping" this thread before it goes to pg 2.... jim

[nuggethunting]

Hey Jim,

Just think if we could bring all these great guys back for just one weekend around a campfire. I don't anyone would sleep for days listening to all the great stories they would have to share. I used to love to sit and listen to Floyd and Richard talk about places they have been prior to hunting with them. I could only imagine what Terry "T-Bone" would have to tell.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[AZNuggetBob]

Rob I agree Terry was a super hunter. I remember talking with him every now and then we would cross paths.

I'd sure like to see a map of his Nv. patches. AzNuggetBob

[AZNuggetBob]

Jim I think that poo dirt. alkali dust is still hiding a lot of gold in N.Nv. It is a whole new area to hunt from a geological point of view. when I first saw that ancient gravel bed high up on the Eugene mountains it changed my whole outlook on the age of that area. AzNuggetBob

[dutch john]

Gosh Rob and Bob...

As you may remember; many years ago it was said "to invest in

silver and gold." The sale pitch was to the effect.... Their

ores formed by what is called epithermal processes which was

quickly explained as simply meaning that when the molten masses

of lavas cooled; silver and gold values formed a shallow skin

on the outer edge of the Earths surface, and they were now being

worked out. Some examples were (of course): Virginia City, Tonopah,

and Goldfield in Nevada; Oatman in Arizona; and Randsburg in

California.

As it has been said by some explortation geologists during

the 1960s: as Carlin-Type "invisible gold" (micron)deposits

become known; there was found to be a possible association

(a metallogenetic trend) between some of the volcanic epithermal

ore deposits related to fissure veins associated with mountain

building; low angle thrust faulting; and flat structures with

Carlin-types at depth.

Thus as more is now known, some of the oldtimer epithermal

"Volcanic" precious metal ore deposits once considered to be

worked out are now being revaluated and drilled; as at depth

they may overlie a Carlin-type silver/gold (or a plus 20% silver-

gold alloy known as electrum.)

As metal detectors have improved in recent years, "here-to-for-

unknown epithermal placers are now being found and worked by

metal detectors.

Some of the (better)potentual Carlin-type areas will be declared

"Off-limits" as being a historical area, and others already have,

or will, become a wilderness area. And in some areas they will

face considerable over-regulation.

[nuggethunting]

Hey AzNuggetBob,

I wish I had it maps of Nevada, but I actually got a few maps from the Northern Bradshaw area. Many of the areas have been pounded to death, but I was able to get in there with the PI's and score some gold. For years after this, many with PI's were going into the general patch areas and finding gold. Terry was one of the guys that first found the "Johnson Flat" placers. The area years later got dozed and many pounds of gold were found.

Take care,

Rob Allison