Back from CA - dug another half ounce
 

Well, I'm back from my little prospecting trip to CA. An elm tree fell on my trailer the night before I was supposed to leave. I needed big time chainsaw work to free it and get the elm tree out of my driveway before I could pull the trailer out and leave. Weather was cloudy and drizzly first two days and sunny the last two. No real big amounts of gold, but I did get one real nice one at 8.4 dwt. The total weight is 10.1 dwt, or just a hair over half an ounce. A nice addition to the collection. This was probably the last weekend trip of 2007 - weather is getting cold, snow will be coming.

All the nuggets were dug by metal detecting. Of course, not all metal targets are gold, the vast majority are trash left by previous miners.

The big piece is a slab of pretty much solid gold covered with heavy stains of iron oxides and manganese oxides (black). I've had a couple pieces from this location that come out of the ground with no gold showing at all, including this one. You can feel how heavy it is, and I put it against the high power magnet on my pick and saw it was completely non magnetic - I knew it was not iron, but gold. after a bit of washing with water, you could see some metallic gold. After a light cleaning with a tooth brush, you could see it was a solid slab. I've also had several pieces from this spot that were flat slabs like this, although this one is by far the largest - the others were like 1 or 2 dwt.

(The buffalo nickel is exactly the same size and weight as a modern Jefferson nickel)

Chris

Re: Back from CA - dug another half ounce
 

Nice score. Great picture.

Re: Back from CA - dug another half ounce
 

How deep in the Gold you are finding? Inch or two maybe several feet?

Looks like a fun thing to do on the weekends for sure.

E-A

Re: Back from CA - dug another half ounce
 

Congrats, Chris! You have found a special place. Can't wait till I find my special place!

As soon as I find color I am hoping to add a Whites Goldmaster GMT (http://hobby.us.whiteselectronics.co...nt/view/58/46/) to my equipment. I understand it is the best unit to use in this area. Nugget shooting look like a leisurely way to look for gold. I think I'd rather get skunked with a detector than with a pan.

Re: Back from CA - dug another half ounce
 

EA - the pieces were 3 to 6 inches deep. I could have detected them deeper, but thats where they were.

SLV - I dont want to make you think this is easy. Yes, detecting is not as much work as back breaking digging, but finding gold aint easy - if it were, gold wouldnt be $750+ per ounce. I've got 30 years of experience and a couple thousand invested in my detector and accessory coils. Plus, you are right, I've found a good spot. I know a guy in Colorado who spent more than me and worked for two years on weekends as he had time and has never found anything with his detector in Colorado. He did find some gold with his detector here in Nevada recently. I'd recommend waiting to buy a detector until you've found at least a couple pieces of gold 1/8 inch size or larger.

Chris