John B.

Hi Carms ,Doc and All I modified a 40x20 coiltech DD coil onto an anti static desk mat for meteorite hunting and hunting for Coronados camp site. Ground balance was easy just put it into tracking for a few feet them manual. I don't know how the newer digital minelabs work I like buttons and knobs. But on open ground this worked pretty good. There was some static when pulling behind a quad but really quiet when manually dragging it. Here's a link to a page from the hunt with pictures. Scrool down and you'll see a piece of coin I found. I believe it's the oldest coin ever found in Az pre 1516 . http://www.chichilticale.com/review09.htm This site is interesting reading and alot of fun and work in the field.Happy Huntin John B.

Hi Waytocool I don't train elephants !! I breed them , I particularly fond of the big females , they don't squeel or kick as much !! Happy Huntin John B.

Hi Doc, Russ and All Mr Goldstudmuffin Russ quite sounding like a suck up !! Kind words won't get you in to my most secret patches . Doc those steaks were from a road killed horse !! I didn't want to let flicka go to waste as buzzard bait !! I probably should have paid you to eat them !! It's amazing what a good camp cook like Lenny or Mike can do with dog chow !! Happy Huntin John B

Hi AZOverland If you've studied the Tucson meteorites (Ring or Carlton) both were drug to Tucson from an unknown location , One was heated to try and melt ( Carlton) then used as anvils for a number of years. Do you really think they had much fusion crust or rust shale left on their exteriors ??? Fred is correct meteorites are named after the locations of their find , towns, rivers, mountains or other natural nearby geological monuments. I found King Tut, Dos Cabezas, White Elephant( not named after Russ or I) , Hualapia wash 021 Primm Dry lake. Several are probably strewnfields but are mixed within strewnfields or access denied areas. I have 2 new achondrites at ASU being classified and a box with a dozen or so more individual new finds waiting to find someone to classify. If you wish to learn about strewnfields Gold Basin was 3 years of Jim Kreigh, Twink Monrad and my hard work hunting, logging and mapping for the U of A. Trust me I'm not the one confused !! I'll be teaching Gold Studmuffin the fine art of strewnfield hunting, logging and mapping as the weather cools down. Happy Huntin John B.

Hi Del Yeah ordinary chondrites are pretty easy to ID with a window if other give away indicators aren't present. Irons may or may not etch patterns. The weathering of their exteriors can be so variable by moisture and soil PH that even within a given strewn field there are many variable appearances of the same material. Unless the iron is sizable cut, polished then etches a pattern it's still almost a requirement to present a lab with a Ni assay just to get them to look at it. I'm certain most labs look at buckets of scrap iron annually thought to be meteorites by their finders. Although some serious well known finder/hunters might get some courtesies not normally given John Q Public by labs that have worked with them before. PS Congrads on your induction into the elite group. Happy Huntin John B.

Hi Doc, Del, Fred, Russ, Rob and All Well doc I drank, squinted, farted, crossed my eyes and I still can't say it's a meteorite or even looks like one . But it doesn't mean it isn't one . A Ni test is a must to be determinative !! Del I have a complete falling apart rust ball munionlusta (sp?) that could be a twin . I also have shale balls from Wolf Creek that would fool an expert if they didn't know where they came from ? I also wouldn't be so quick to declare Lunks mothers find a space rock unless it's from a known find ?? I know I've had some pretty good looking candidates assayed to find out they were terrestrial scrap iron . I know how badly Rob wants to find his very own space rock and join that exclusive historic group of people . Maybe I can talk Gold Studmuffin Russ in to giving him a training lesson in exchange for the overdue patch invites we were promised !! Happy Huntin John B.

Hi Rob ,Doc and All Goldstudmuffin Russ has been spankin your minelab butt on new meteorite finds !! I would consider him somewhat of an expert since I personally trained him . Rob I've had many pieces of rusty iron tested hoping they were part of a famous meteorite down here. The best and simplest way to test them is take about a gram of material off and send it to the local assay office for a nickle assay. If it comes back at least 4% NI then get excited and get it to ASU. Russ can baby you thought that !! Other wise it's just another unidentifiable hunk of iron dropped by our for fathers . Looking at your pix generally the nickle in meteorites helps to inhibit rusting to some degree. Generally you can brush the rust scale off quite easily to see bright shiny metal. As many do with canyon diablo and odessa pieces. Oddly I once was in northern Nevada with a famous Phoenician prospector . Teaching him a lesson on humility at rye patch when we drove to the far side of a drylake to take a break and look for space rocks . Well that impatient Phoenecian had a little tantrum about wanting to gold hunt so 20 minutes huntin and we left. A few years later I took another hunter there where we discovered 2 large strewnfields of some absolutly gorgeous fresh looking stones . He got his name in the history books for the discovery just as Russ and I have . But we're getting a little impatiant waiting on you to finally make a find !! I thought finding your very own meteorite was a prerequisite for being a minelab dealer or at least a coil tech dealer ?? As for seeing fusion crust or chondrules these guys either have vision close to blindness or real vivid imaginations !! Happy Huntin John B.

Hi All Thanks for correcting my link !! Digger Bob if you lived near our southern borders you would know that the 10 year limit in artifacts is an attempt to make our adjoining forests and BLM lands the new National Trash Heaps. With water bottles, back packs, clothes, cans, skivies and tons and tons of other assorted crap. These dummies like Raul Grahalva want to put a couple of our counties ( Pima and Santa Cruz) off limits to mineral entry and close off all access. Making a corridor for illegals by new wilderness areas along the I19 + I10 for thier unhindered passage all the way to Pheonix. Thank God for sherrif Joe !! Now their trying to cricify him ! Well meteorites for the time bieng are off limits on all public domain lands. It won't be too long before nuggets are protected for some horseshit reason. Happy Huntin John B.

Hi All After finnaly getting a link to the Forest Service Web site with rockhounding rules for collecting meteorites. I sent it over to the Forest Service fellows that were telling me it's illegal. They just sent me this link and advised me the old link/web page was comming down. Apparently our new administation is putting a kabash on meteorite huntin /collecting. It will be interesting to follow the first challange to this ruling. Here's the new link which will be on all BLM/Forest Service sites. http://www.blm.gov/o...ollectables.php Happy No Huntin John B. Hows that change working out for you now?? PS it won't be long before nuggets are protected as well

Hi All I was woke this morning by a freind and fellow forum member. Who told me he was in Greaterville detecting on one of the GPAA claims the other day. When he got back to his truck he was greated by a forest ranger who had been waiting on him for some time. The ranger promptly wrote him a citation for metal detecting without a metal detecting permit in the National Forest. Advised him he could confiscate his vehicle, GP4500 detector and everything involved. The ticket fine was $250.00 but being the genorous ranger that he is he only cited him and additional $500.00 at the price of $50.00 per piece of trash he had in his possesion. He actually had a couple dozen pieces of trash so he got out cheap. On my last couple of visits to the forest service they advised me rules and laws were changing but were vague as to any references. I thought I smelled a rat in the hen house. I'm willing to bet the permits are for archeologists, PHD and universities only and that these new rules apply on all public domain lands. I'm curious if mining NOI (Notice of Intent) or PoO (Plan of Operations) will suffice as a use permit if such use is listed ? I don't recommend metal detector stocks as investments right now !! Happy Huntin John B.

Hi All I don't know much about the old goldmaster of the 1970's that was before my time . There were 2 styles of goldmaster2 which originally came out in 1990 . The first version had a 1/4 20 coil bolt which like the pi minelabs broke when you where in the middle of no where and left you shit outa luck . The second version of the Goldmaster 2 had a 3/8 inch coil bolt as do all the predicessors and an XtraGrnd Salt setting . The vsat came out3 or 4 years later, them the GM3 then GM4 then GMT . I totally agree with Steve. The GM3 is probably the best of the bunch , it's harness or belt mountable box makes for an easy long day of beepin . I never thought much of the DD coils on the newer than GM3 models either. Since all coils are interchangeable with all units( the early model GM2 will need an upgraded wand) there isn't a whole lot of depth difference with the exception of the signal boost modes on the GM3 and up. I've never owned the GM4 or GMT I don't need a touch pad or VDI to geuss what I'm about to dig . I own 2 GM3s and never leave home without them. They are hard to beat in trashy areas and mine dumps which the PI's are virtually worthless in. Here is a link to some of my goldmaster 2, Vsat and GM3 finds , I've found lots more since this page was made and some with my minelabs too but they aren't included on this page !! http://www.treasure-hunting-info.com/GoldMaster/ Happy Huntin John B.

Hi Again All Maybe Aaron and Claim Jumper can advise us how many PI invisible nuggets they've found !! Now THIS OUTA BE REAL GOOD !! Happy Huntin John B.

Hi All I'm not sure I wish to be lynched by this mob like Reg is getting. My experiences with the Minelab PIs only goes to the 3500. However I'm told by several friends the 3000 hears smaller deeper targets than the 4000. I have nuggets up to 4 dwt that are clean gold that my minelab PI's ignore. A very good friend of mine has a 1.25 ounce clean gold matted wire nugget that he cannot hear with his GP Extreme. I will wager with anyone that I have multiple multi pennyweight pieces that thier minelab PI's cannot see, hear, fart or hickup on. Yet my primitave old GM3 will hear at respectable depths and not just a little ZIP ZIP more like a Whoa Whao !! I don't believe it has much to do with the wieght of gold or even so much the mass. It has more to do with the porousity(sp?)of the gold and the exterior surface features . If you exclusively swing a PI you are most certainly missing lots of gold. The closer to the load you are the more you will loose. The PI machines are great for alluvial ,ellivial gold with pounded surfaces but suffer on disceminated course gold. Just to prove a point to the non believers on this subject, take an automotive sloted screw type hose clamp and cut the screw end off of it. through it on the ground and listen to it . It's a real SHOCKER, you can hear it but not at all what you would think !! Yet this is a fairly large mass of metal !! Soooooo How much is the wager, when and where !! Happy Huntin John B.

Hi Reg I'ld be curious to know what if any pulse machine can respond on those GV nuggets ?? You stated that most can't but what can ?? Have you tried the gp4000 with the 8 inch coil !! AZ4AU Mike and I played with a bunch of species that were screamers on my GM3 but that 4000 setup wouldn't make a fart on with lots of visable gold !! Happy Huntin John B.

Hi All Reg are either of those nuggets the Greaterville nugget I sent you ?? Reg I doubt the alloyed composition of the nuggets make much difference as to invisibilty since most alluvial gold nuggets will have variable purity within the nugget with their exterior bieng the purist gold !! AZ4AU Mike showed me something, take about a 1 inch piece of the sloted end of a stainless steel hose clamp !! The PIs can hear it but it's really shocking they can only hear it at a couple inches . A VLF will hear that target at 10 or 12 inches . I think it's the same principle as stelth in our fighter plans as to what radar sees and cannot get a return on !! I think it's more the surface features and porousity as to how the PIs respond . As a matter of fact if I took a torch to those nuggets you'ld hear em real good with your PIs !! As far as antomony I haven't paid it in years !! Happy Huntin John B.