SECOND TIME OUT AND 3 HUGE NUGGETS FROM ARIZONA

[pvampire]

I thought I might post some pictures of my great nugget finds I found in southern arizona over this last Christmas. I was using my Xterra 70 with the 5x10 DD HF coil. The nuggets were found about 5 inches deep in prospect mode...sensitivity 24, threshold 9, ...The large one is 12.7 ounces the the other 2 come in at just over 3.5 ounces each.
the University of Nevada tested them for me and found that the 12.7 ounce nugget contained 5.58 ounces of gold with the remainder being copper, and the 3.5 ounce nuggets contained approximatly 1.2 ounces gold and the remainder being copper. This was only my second time out prospecting! The nuggets were found all within 10 meters of each other. I love my minelab!

 

[Furious T]

Fantastic finds! You've paid for your detector many times over already. Well done. Sapper.

 

[pvampire]

Thanks and your right! In a way though, I kind a wish these finds had been spaced out over 3 trips! haha..I know it was beginners luck and it's hard to imagine I'll ever find anything as nice again..(I'm not complaining though) It was a really cool area I found them in too. The nice thing about Arizona is even if you found nothing it's so beautiful down there it would be fun anyway.

 

[Pyledriver]

Awesome! That gives me real high hopes for my 705 as I prepare for my first ever prospecting trip! I'm curious, where did they fall on the target ID, or did you just go by tone? The only gold I've found so far with mine is refined (rings) and they come in at 10. With those nuggets being partially copper, I just wonder for my own future reference.

 

[xwyokid]

Excellent. You give the rest of us some hope

 

[Beale]

Congrats on the fantastic finds! You really did great! I like seeing this type of find withan all purpose machine, Beale.

 

[TomB]

We don't gee to see raw "real gold" often. Thanks for the post and way-to-go. TomB

 

[SteveP(NH)]

Paid for your machine several times over with those finds - way to go!!!

 

[TURNMASTER]

VERY COOL, I can't wait for my 1st prospecting trip, which should be after my daughter finishes softball this summer.

What was your Iron mask set to?

Good Job
Jeff

 

[Goes4ever]

cool digs, how do they test it for weighing each item separately

 

[Gold Digger]

neet to real gold I'm hoping for better luck on my next trip to Az.

 

[pvampire]

Hi..I was in prospect mode when I found them but I did an air test today in coin and treasure mode and two of them registered 28 and one a 30. Good luck on your trip! Dont think cause it's your first you wont find anything..haha...I got skunked on my first trip, but the second trip was huge, and I've found gold each time since then so good luck and post what you find so we can see too! ross

 

[pvampire]

Oh yeah, sorry I forgot to mention that...Iron Mask was set to 1. That seems to be the best setting for me in Arizona as well as where I usually hunt in Nevada. Good luck! ross

 

[pvampire]

Hi, I think your question was how do they test it for gold content each item separetly? They had to take a small piece of each one (I hated that but it was a VERY small piece, small as a grain of rice) and they run it through a machine called a "spectrometer" I think...atomic spectrometer or some such gadget that gives it a readout of it's makeup..then they calculate how much AU and CU is there...I'm not sure how...best part was though it only cost $10 per sample and they give you the readout with the results. Everywhere else I went to have it tested wanted $250 plus and most would just tell you if there was gold content, not how much. University's are great resources if they have a geology department! I believe the device they use has some sort of laser that it works by. I wasnt there when they tested it but next time I bring some in I'm hoping they will let me see how they do it...take care, ross. ^_^