BIGFOOT

Thats some beautifull rock!Hit it with the Nitric...theres more hiding in the Oxides! BIGFOOT

Zippoz, Dry Panning ...also called "winnowing" was first used with a sheepskin blanket(to help build a static charge to attract the smaller gold particals)in Europe.Then the Beaners(my grandmother sat on Poncho Villa's lap when she was very young.So I'm allowed to joke about "that" word...lol) learned this technique and used wind with blankets...later on this contributed to DryWasher manufacturing as well. Everyone talks about how great it would be to find the old DryWasher Tailings and MD it.......if theres a way to find where they were Winnowing or DryPanning(in the dryer districts) it could pay off. BIGFOOT

THE one plus of using this detector?Well in areas outside of of Lovelock,Nevada there were "Dealer Wars" going on between 2 dealers in one favored area......one would "salt" the area(area's?)with BB's in order to run out the other guy,hoping he/they would get so disgusted with all the BB's/trash and move on OUT of the first guys area.So EVENTUALLY here we have 2 "professional" dealers throwing a bunch of BB's around on top of each others patches.......I do believe this is another form of "prospecting" by Finding BB PATCHES in order to find GOLD underneath them.The GoldStrike was/is good for setting the visual I.D. on BB's then discriminating(with that setting)to find THE BETTER TARGETS. BIGFOOT

Miner Matt & Others, Makes me wonder HOW many other Arrastra's are out there that had a fire started in them(to shatter the rock,cement,ore OR burn off any amalgam)that were forgotten and left as a campfire location.......hhhhhhmmmmm...........I can hear you diggers thinkin from here!GO GET IT!!! BIGFOOT arrastra.bmp

I know this is off subject.......unless you dredge in Croc infested waters. He gets it back. http://www.tylerpaper.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...NEWS05/70412011 Bigfoot taiwan_zooworker.bmp

Shep DOES happen!!!Right on man!I can see a few pyramid(octhedral)shaped crystals that are a little smashed but they are there and nice sized.Shep,when you have that many pyramids in a specimen that definitely increases the value. Maybe another one out there with a bigger crystal. BIGFOOT

Tool, Actually Tool,there is more in common with finding large AU nuggets associated with large CU nugget DEPOSITS than people think!I've seen a few deposits in Nevada where Cu nuggs were found on top of the surface...IN districts labeled ONLY as a Cu districts in the books...but.......large Au nuggs were found in association with them!There was a 2 3/4 oz AU nugg found in such "Cupperous labeled/defined" areas.Of course your hunting area would have to have somewhat similar geological conditions....the areas I mention have Epithermal Deposits with Tertiary Rivers nearby.The Au is lumpy/smoothe in appearance and very little actual quartz AU(with a rough and/or crystaline texture) is found in the area as well.Others that have seen these GEO-COMBO'S should KEEP checkin!GO GET'EM!!!!!!!!!!!!! BIGFOOT

29er, I DO BELIEVE maybe you cant see the artistic geological inspirations involved with these pictures of yours now... but later on in your life ...when you get REAL old...they could be great canadates for framing! Thanks for the visuals digger! Bigfoot

THATS a AUrific natural fishing hook!(I know.......the booger could most likely bite through the darn thing!) Bigfoot

AzNuggetBob, Thanks for the compliment bud!Another worthy point is IF possible...REMOVE ANY/ALL targets that block efficient coverage(I know ya know this...maybe others here dont). Theres a huge monster out there in the high desert of N.Nevada thats been calling for removal.NICE pieces have been found ALL AROUND this mammoth....somebody has had the b*lls to sink a few holes directly underneath the rock but its so big that holes only partially surround it.The holes sunk are only big enough for a small coil that cant go deep enough to detect any "possibles".I have figured out how I'm gonna move this thing...and I'm gonna do it before I get "premature seniality" setting in from thinking about it TOO MUCH!lol! When I was 13 my first BIG find was on the Yuba River.I was invited to help a dredge crew that already had a man camp set up with a 3"Keene Surface and 6" Gold Divers Surface Dredge.I found a quartz stringer running THROUGH the bedrock about 3 feet below the surface....I saw Bright YELLOW right there in front of my eyes!It ran for only two inces and was/IS very thin.I tapped my dive pard on the shoulder and his eyes buldged out of his head...we proceeded to attack the bedrock with every available pick/pry bar/chisel and NO GO!It wouldnt fracture..........and its STILL there sittin in that river....whats AGGREVATING as all "heck" is that where the AU ends?OR....is that where it OPENS up into a large pocket on the other side of the bedrock?!!As the years pass I find MANY(shocking!!!lol!)that want to help me recover this "stringer".The best advice comes from the hardrockers,they suggested how to drill a particular pattern and cover it with a blanket(or whatever......this IS out in the middle of nowhere....no chance of using a mattress for cover/containment).This has to be done UNDERWATER.......its not exposed........which is why I think its still there! So.........I'd BETTER get at these before its too late and I cant move around(like I used to)........either that OR somebody reading this may get it before I!!! BIGFOOT THE RUSH NEVER DIES TILL ITS ALL GONE!!!

Big Ed, I think you and I had talked in the past about FrenchGulch(me&girlfriend lived 3 miles UPSTREAM from the original townsite) and you sent some FIRE pictures of all the damage that had taken place.Redding was another Ol'Stompin Grounds place that I lived at for several years...those WERE my drinkin days and we used to hang out with "Merles" bass player John.Unfortunately I was more into the bottle then than finding color....Haggard has a ranch south of lake Shasta(but I cant remember exactly where because of Mr.Daniels). ANYWAYS Ed theres some decent ground not far from Redding to MD or go find a Salmon...(I ate salmon smoked,baked,fried&grilled for 3 years and never got sick of it)....I saw some pickers that were found off of a major watercourse that were recovered CLOSE enough to the surface that a shovel scooped them up for a buddys sluice box within 6 hours. As far as the responses above its accurate to say that prospecting in and of itself is already challenging enough by itself!But whenever death or a expiration date is found on your birth certificate.......you DO start to change your values and outlooks on life(Believe me I know).The risk's that are taken are discriminated upon differently...and things that were NEVER noticed before are now overwhelmingly appreciated. I believe some of us wouldnt be here today if it werent for this hobby.........TEAR IT UP WHILE YOU CAN! BIGFOOT

1dredger, Your on the right track!There was a patch out in N.Nevada that had nuggets found ONLY UNDER THE SAGE.......WHY do ya think this happened?Some wierd geological botanical/geological occurence?Of course not!The MD'ers that hit that area first did NOT tilt thier coils at a angle that enabled a better signal response. So ANYTIME you get the chance...tilt or angle your search coil.This is a great practice because not only are you going to find more targets...you are doing what a majority of what others DONT(lotta lazy ones out thier not putting in extra efforts)....and this "habit" will increase your chances of a find. BIGFOOT

Big Ed, Some of the guys here BRAG ABOUT being a member of the "1 Ouncer Club" or the "One Pounder Club" etc.......but there IS a crowd thats been TOTTALY OVERLOOKED AND UNDER-RATED. WHAT ABOUT the folks who's had a heart-attack and STILL gets out occasionaly and finds more gold???Expotentialy these guys gotta be tougher...not just lucky.......to live and still talk about it?! I'm sure somebody could make some rules...but I do believe this deserves to be a whole different catagory or CLASS of detectorist all together. Personaly...its the ones who lives the longest to continually find the color are the most successfull!The doctors that want to contribute to this new club could arrange for some angioplasti coupons for raffles/contest instead of the normal silver coin or gold nuggie. After dogin bullets,rattlers,bears and enviros for 60 years it would be a shame if the deadly Glazed Donut did him in........watch where you step.........those burgers will getchya! BIGFOOT

Dakota Slim,others, I noticed one of the Owl Eyes is square....like a cube of pyrite that got(or still is)oxidized.Also I've noticed when a piece has that many SCRAPE MARKS (of course not all scrapes run the same)that run parallel or side by side that at one point it was the nugget itself that was moving/traveling across a surface getting uniform gouges as oposed to several boulder/rocks running over the top of it.......in that situation the grooves hardly ever run parallel.When there's traffic over the top of a piece...it hardly gets grooved at the same angles(parallel gouging) by different rocks scraping it...and rapidly pounding it in strong current.NOW I'm not familiar with the Geology of RichHill....but when I see parallel grooves like that it REMINDS me of something big & heavy(Glacier?) GRABBING it and scraping it OVER another surface. NICE PIECE coil swinger!Its got me wondering if thiers been any AU associated with pyrite out there. Go find the rest of it! Bigfoot

..........possibly a mill/refiner product such as a SilverCloride of some sort. Bigfoot