Bedrock and Gold: The mysteries . . .

[Lanny in AB]

Do you love to chase the gold? Please join me--lots of gold hunting tips, stories of finds (successful and not), and prospecting poetry.

Nugget in the bedrock tip:

I had a visit with a mining buddy this past weekend, and he told me of an epic battle to get a nugget out of the bedrock, and of what he learned from the experience. I thought some of you might like to learn from his mistake.

While out detecting one day, he came across a large sheet of bare bedrock. The bedrock was exposed because the area had been blasted off with a water cannon (a monitor), by the old-timers! It was not fractured bedrock, in fact it was totally smooth.

He was not optimistic at all of the prospects of a nugget. But, for some reason (we've all been there) he decided to swing his detector over that bedrock. After a long time, just as he was about to give up on his crazy hunch, he got a signal, right out of that smooth bedrock.

There was no crevice, no sign of a crevice, nada! So, he had to go all the way back to camp to get a small sledge and a chisel. The signal in the rock intrigued him, but he still wasn't overly optimistic. For those of you that have chased signals in a similar situation, sometimes there's a patch of hot mineralization in the bedrock that sounds off, but this spot, according to him, was sharp and clear right in the middle of the signal, not just a general increase of the threshold like you get when you pass over a hot spot in the bedrock.

Anyway, he made it back to the spot and started to chisel his way into the bedrock. If any of you have tried this, it's an awful job, and you usually wind up with cut knuckles--at the least! Regardless, he kept fighting his way down, busting out chunks of bedrock. He kept checking the hole, and the signal remained very strong.

This only puzzled him all the more as he could clearly see that it was solid bedrock with no sign of any crevice. He finally quit at the end of the day, at a depth of about a foot, but still, nothing in the hole.

An experienced nugget shooting friend dropped by the next morning to see him, and asked him how the hunt was going. My buddy related his tale of the mysterious hole in the bedrock, and told the friend to go over and check it out, and see if he could solve the riddle.

Later in the day, the other nugget hunter returned. In his hand was a fine, fat, sassy nugget. It weighed in at about an ounce and a quarter! After my friend returned his eyeballs to their sockets and zapped his heart to start it again, he asked where the nugget had come from.

Imagine his surprise when he heard it came from the mystery hole!! He asked how deep the other guy had gone into the bedrock to get it. "Well, no deeper" was his reply.

So, here's the rest of the story as to what happened. When the successful nugget hunter got to the bedrock, he scanned the surface got the same strong signal as my buddy. He widened out the hole and scanned again. Still a solid tone. He widened the hole some more so he could get his coil in, and here's the key and the lesson in this story, he got a strong signal off the side of the hole, about six inches down, but set back another inch into the side of the bedrock!!

My unlucky friend, the true discoverer of the gorgeous nugget's resting place had gone deep past the signal while digging his hole!!

Now, of course, a good pinpointer would easily solve this problem. The problem was, my buddy didn't have one, so why would he widen the hole, right? Well, the other guy was the one with more experience, and that's why he did. It was a lot more work, but what a payoff!

So, my buddy's butt is still black and blue from where he kicked himself for the next week or so for having lost such an incredible prize.

Some nugget hunting lessons are harder than others to learn. . . .

All the best,

Lanny


P.S. When in gold country--check the bedrock, regardless of whether it looks likely or not! Mother Nature likes to play games sometimes.

 

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[Lanny in AB]

Hokay, replace the Wolverine, Elk, Black Bear and the "ever ugly Moose" with an occasional Cougar, Bobcat, Coyote an the 'ever smelly Skunk' and it would be just like where I'm now living. (lol)

Yep, I'm finally back online and this evening, I'll be working on getting my thread back up and running. And, I'll be watching for the continuation of this latest story. It looks like it will be another great one. But then, I've grown to expect no less from the Master Story-teller, my friend Lanny!

All the best.....

Eagle

It's so fantastic that you're on the mend!! I'm eagerly awaiting your next story Eagle. Thanks so much for your continuing support and friendship.

All the best,

Lanny

 

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[Debbie Alexander]

Hi Lanny, I'm really new to metal detecting, but one of the reasons I got a metal detector was because of a lady that lived in a log house on our property. She told me a story that has stuck with me for years about how her family used to find nuggets of gold in the river here. She used to tell me to go find it, and that they had buried some there by the river. There is a lot of Slate and bedrock along the river and also a spot where there is a sort of hole or deep indent in the riverbed. I've been afraid to stick my hand in there...lol I guess my question is how do you metal detect in the river, and is there an echo from the water?, or a false reading because there is water? I don't want to sound ignorant, but I really don't know. What would be the best way to do this?

 

[Fullpan]

welcome back Eagle!

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hi Lanny, I'm really new to metal detecting, but one of the reasons I got a metal detector was because of a lady that lived in a log house on our property. She told me a story that has stuck with me for years about how her family used to find nuggets of gold in the river here. She used to tell me to go find it, and that they had buried some there by the river. There is a lot of Slate and bedrock along the river and also a spot where there is a sort of hole or deep indent in the riverbed. I've been afraid to stick my hand in there...lol I guess my question is how do you metal detect in the river, and is there an echo from the water?, or a false reading because there is water? I don't want to sound ignorant, but I really don't know. What would be the best way to do this?

Hi there. The only way to learn anything is to ask questions--so, no problem. I look back at the questions I asked when I was first starting out, and I felt a lot the same way you do now.

When you wave a coil over the water, you will sometimes get a false signal. But, if you have a waterproof coil, it disappears once you submerse the coil and detect with it under the water. Sometimes when you bring the coil back above the surface again, you'll get another false signal. So, once it immersed, you'll get signals from metallic objects under the water. In other words, don't worry about the "falsing" you get from your coil above the water, just submerge your coil if there's water and scrub the coil along the rocks on the bottom. However, be sure that your coil is waterproof.

Moreover, be very careful with your control box that it doesn't get submerged--water and electronics don't get along at all. So, check with the manufacturer to see if your coil is waterproof. If you're going to detect with the whole detector submerged, you'll have to buy a specialty detector that fitted and designed specifically for that purpose.

I'd spend some time detecting around the old buildings, not too far from them. Try to pick places that could easily be seen from the cabin. Most people liked to keep an eye on caches they'd buried.

If there's nuggets in the river, you should be able to find signs of gold in the river by panning. On the gold prospecting forum, on the gold prospecting thread, I put together a whack of videos on various methods of recovering gold, and on basic panning principles (click on the red words for the link):

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/327445-gold-panning-video-4.html

Check it out, and keep asking questions. Read everything you can on detecting and get to know your machine by putting lots of hours on it by doing lots of detecting. I'm not familiar with your machine, but someone on here will be. Check out youtube videos on your machine, and you may get some great tips, and there's great tips as well on general nugget shooting (metal detecting for gold).

All the best, and welcome to the forum!

Lanny

P.S. If you have lots of bedrock exposed along the river, you'll want to research how to do "sniping". It's a great way to only move a little material with a good chance of finding gold.

 

[hamiddetecting]

 

[Lanny in AB]

to you Hami.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

I found this little story archived. (It fits nicely with my current story as it's an excerpt of the larger story.)

I wrote it many years ago in response to a request from a fellow Australian prospector that was suffering from cabin fever, but if memory serves me right, it was written during their rainy season, but all of that rain accomplishes the same thing--people that love to chase the gold get their dose of cabin fever from the rain instead of from the snow.

I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this archived message, and I'd like to share it here (with a few edits) on this thread.

Cabin fever cure for Dave (the original tag on the story).

The summer found me deep in the boreal forests of North Central British Columbia.

The black flies, and the no-seeums, and the mosquitoes were having a bloodsucking, banner year.

Before I stepped out of the 4X4, I made sure I had my can of bug dope in hand ready to hose myself down as soon as I stepped from the vehicle.

Having super saturated every exposed inch of skin with the aforementioned northern sauce, and even my pant cuffs where I had them tucked into my socks, as well as my shirt cuffs, my shirt collar, my ear canals, and the hair on the top of my head (I'm not kidding!), I grabbed the 2100 and fired it up.

It gave a nice solid hum, so I knew it had survived the arduous sixteen hour trip across several mountain ranges and untold miles of rugged, unforgiving logging roads (for yes, I've been lost on that route before, and have had many, many flat tires, and dodged moose, elk, deer, bear, and wolverine on the road, not to mention fully loaded, out of control logging trucks!).

But, I digress again. . . .

I took the 2100 into a pit that my mining friends had just finished mining.

They told us to have at the virgin bedrock (old Tertiary channel--never seen the light of day in tens of thousands of years, never seen a detector before either--that type of holy-grail virgin ground).

I eyeballed a likely spot, put the 11inch double-d down, made several sweeps, and immediately had a target! I couldn't believe it.
I thought it had to be a piece of bucket blade or track or something--it was just too fast, too easy.

But my heart was beating faster as I saw that the bedrock was bank-vault solid after I scraped it off.

I passed the coil over it again--a nice low on the sides, peaked in the middle, typical Minelab-SD nugget-like sound.

I got out the hammer and chisel and carefully chipped around the signal area. Next, I broke out a piece of cemented bedrock about the size of a baseball on steroids. Then I passed that mass of natural concrete under the coil--there was definitely a signal in the rock.

Carefully, I began tapping the mass with the side of the hammer to get it to crumble. A golfball sized piece broke free.

I waved that piece over the coil--nice signal.

Ever more carefully now, I gently tapped and weakened the concreted package deposited in Nature's bank long eons ago, and eventually I broke it down. Out popped a nice, sassy nugget that was right close to 5 grams in weight--freakin' beautiful it most certainly was. For, not only does Mother Nature know how to hide them, she did that particular nugget up with lots of character--several little spiky protrusions came thrusting off from the main rough-textured body.

I scanned the area again, gradually moving about a meter away, and bingo--I got another nice signal. It was not as loud as the first one, but it generated a very mellow, nicely peaked-in-the-middle sound again.

I scraped the thin layer of gravel and clay working right down to bedrock again--bedrock that was, once more, nice and solid.

Swing the SD back on track again, I scanned the spot isolated on the rock--the signal rang clear and strong. It was time for hammer and chisel work once more. I had to work harder and go deeper this time. At last a chunk broke free that I hoped carried the signal.

I scanned the newly freed chunk of bedrock. It gave off a sweet tone.

I broke it down very carefully and, voila, a nice fat little chunker rolled lazily out and sunned itself sassily on the reddish bedrock. This little lump had no real character, being no beauty contest winner like the first one. It was simply chubby and round--but it weighed in at just over 4 grams. However, it was a sweet example of another withdrawal made from yet another stone-deposit box housed in Mother Nature's bank.

This all happened in about ten minutes, and that's no fish story!

Yes, we did find more nuggets later, but those are other stories, for other days, when the cabin fever gets unbearable.

I Hope this helps Dave in Darwin and all other sufferers laid up with this common, often experienced, winter malaise of the North, and the all too common summer scourge of the South.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Jim Hemmingway]

In keeping with our bilingual traditions...voila... tres bon monsieur Lanny... non... it is excellent!!

Jim.

 

[BigBob]

Thanks for the stories & great pics. It stirs my imagination & makes me want to get out there.
I just contacted an old friend who had offered to use his claims & equipment years ago. He still has 4 claims in a great area (Greaterville, Az.) so I can hardly wait to get to it. I finished making a sluice & it seems to work nicely. I'll post a pic someday.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Thanks for the stories & great pics. It stirs my imagination & makes me want to get out there.
I just contacted an old friend who had offered to use his claims & equipment years ago. He still has 4 claims in a great area (Greaterville, Az.) so I can hardly wait to get to it. I finished making a sluice & it seems to work nicely. I'll post a pic someday.

Good luck to you, and it's great you have a friend that is kind and generous; moreover, I hope he points you in the right direction on his claims, if he will, as this will save you some time. Having said this, I know some like you to "put in your dues", but I hope you get a hot tip or two before you head out.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Thanks Jim. It's great to hear from you, and I'm glad you enjoyed the tale.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Terry Soloman]

I found this little story archived. (It fits nicely with my current story as it's an excerpt of the larger story.)

I wrote it many years ago in response to a request from a fellow Australian prospector that was suffering from cabin fever, but if memory serves me right, it was written during their rainy season, but all of that rain accomplishes the same thing--people that love to chase the gold get their dose of cabin fever from the rain instead of from the snow.

I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this archived message, and I'd like to share it here (with a few edits) on this thread.

Cabin fever cure for Dave (the original tag on the story).

The summer found me deep in the boreal forests of North Central British Columbia.

The black flies, and the no-seeums, and the mosquitoes were having a bloodsucking, banner year.

Before I stepped out of the 4X4, I made sure I had my can of bug dope in hand ready to hose myself down as soon as I stepped from the vehicle.

Having super saturated every exposed inch of skin with the aforementioned northern sauce, and even my pant cuffs where I had them tucked into my socks, as well as my shirt cuffs, my shirt collar, my ear canals, and the hair on the top of my head (I'm not kidding!), I grabbed the 2100 and fired it up.

It gave a nice solid hum, so I knew it had survived the arduous sixteen hour trip across several mountain ranges and untold miles of rugged, unforgiving logging roads (for yes, I've been lost on that route before, and have had many, many flat tires, and dodged moose, elk, deer, bear, and wolverine on the road, not to mention fully loaded, out of control logging trucks!).

But, I digress again. . . .

I took the 2100 into a pit that my mining friends had just finished mining.

They told us to have at the virgin bedrock (old Tertiary channel--never seen the light of day in tens of thousands of years, never seen a detector before either--that type of holy-grail virgin ground).

I eyeballed a likely spot, put the 11inch double-d down, made several sweeps, and immediately had a target! I couldn't believe it.
I thought it had to be a piece of bucket blade or track or something--it was just too fast, too easy.

But my heart was beating faster as I saw that the bedrock was bank-vault solid after I scraped it off.

I passed the coil over it again--a nice low on the sides, peaked in the middle, typical Minelab-SD nugget-like sound.

I got out the hammer and chisel and carefully chipped around the signal area. Next, I broke out a piece of cemented bedrock about the size of a baseball on steroids. Then I passed that mass of natural concrete under the coil--there was definitely a signal in the rock.

Carefully, I began tapping the mass with the side of the hammer to get it to crumble. A golfball sized piece broke free.

I waved that piece over the coil--nice signal.

Ever more carefully now, I gently tapped and weakened the concreted package deposited in Nature's bank long eons ago, and eventually I broke it down. Out popped a nice, sassy nugget that was right close to 5 grams in weight--freakin' beautiful it most certainly was. For, not only does Mother Nature know how to hide them, she did that particular nugget up with lots of character--several little spiky protrusions came thrusting off from the main rough-textured body.

I scanned the area again, gradually moving about a meter away, and bingo--I got another nice signal. It was not as loud as the first one, but it generated a very mellow, nicely peaked-in-the-middle sound again.

I scraped the thin layer of gravel and clay working right down to bedrock again--bedrock that was, once more, nice and solid.

Swing the SD back on track again, I scanned the spot isolated on the rock--the signal rang clear and strong. It was time for hammer and chisel work once more. I had to work harder and go deeper this time. At last a chunk broke free that I hoped carried the signal.

I scanned the newly freed chunk of bedrock. It gave off a sweet tone.

I broke it down very carefully and, voila, a nice fat little chunker rolled lazily out and sunned itself sassily on the reddish bedrock. This little lump had no real character, being no beauty contest winner like the first one. It was simply chubby and round--but it weighed in at just over 4 grams. However, it was a sweet example of another withdrawal made from yet another stone-deposit box housed in Mother Nature's bank.

This all happened in about ten minutes, and that's no fish story!

Yes, we did find more nuggets later, but those are other stories, for other days, when the cabin fever gets unbearable.

I Hope this helps Dave in Darwin and all other sufferers laid up with this common, often experienced, winter malaise of the North, and the all too common summer scourge of the South.

All the best,

Lanny

I want to be you when I grow up Lanny.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Terry,

Many thanks for your kind comment. I'm sure you have lots of fine gold tales yourself, and I'm just as sure that you've forgotten more about nugget shooting than I'll ever know in a lifetime.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Note:

As this is a very long thread, and if you're a new visitor here looking for some tips, you should start at the beginning, for right away there's some tips on working bedrock and an assortment of gold tales that you could find useful. Then, you can selectively follow the thread, scanning and skimming your way through, guided by your own pace and interest level.

You'll find more tips, photos of found gold, and there are a wide variety of stories. Some of them are about sniping for gold, panning for gold, dredging for gold, and of course metal detecting for gold is a main focus.

Moreover, some of them are about a few of the more humorous adventures I've had while chasing that sassy gold.

Furthermore, there's most certainly stories about mistakes I've made, the lessons I've learned, and I've posted them in the hopes that you can learn from them, and that hopefully it will help you save some time as you hunt for the gold, and in some cases, improve your chances of finding the gold.

Every once in a while you'll even find a series of stories about extended trips involving successive weeks of concentrated effort in very remote areas.

In addition, you will find varied entries, stories, and pictures from other prospectors, as their contributions and input concerning their gold chasing adventures have always been a welcome feature.

If you're new to prospecting, and stick with it, you'll experience an unforgettable reward without equal. The reward of the unique rush that accompanies the discovery of your own sassy gold!

All the best, and please enjoy the journey.

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

In response to http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detecting-gold/328494-frequency-gold.html from Jangles, Steve gave two excellent responses.

Furthermore, when you're detecting for gold, whether it's working your way through soil or whether you're working right on the bedrock, Steve's advice will help you solve the mystery of frequency (kHz) as it relates to VLF detectors and target size and detection depth, temperature of the soil, coil size, masking of targets, interference, etc., etc.

With his permission, I am posting his superb responses here on this thread.

Thanks Steve!

"The following is in reference to VLF (induction balance) detectors. PI (pulse induction) is a different thing entirely where frequency is rarely discussed except as relates to electrical interference.

Frequency does two things. First, the target itself. Higher frequencies hit harder on small targets. Not gold per se, small targets. Take a common BIC type ball point pen, the type where the entire pen is plastic except for that little ball in the point. No other metal. A good gold detector will pick that ball up. A coin detector, you can write your name on the bottom of the coil and get no signal.

Low frequencies do not detect deeper. That is a broad statement with no meaning. In air tests high frequencies will detect farther, and on small targets a low frequency detector will miss it is obvious the higher frequency detector goes deeper.

The second thing frequency does is change ground response. Low frequencies do not react to ground and hot rocks as much as high frequencies. So that hot Gold Bug 2 also picks up ground and hot rocks better, and this means it gets very poor depth on larger targets in highly mineralized ground. It gets great depth on large targets in the air or in no mineral ground, but add mineral and the depth drops rapidly.

Detectors that work under 10 kHz hit very well on coin size targets and have a low ground response, making them great coin machines, but they have poor small item sensitivity. Detectors over 20 kHz are hot on tiny targets but have more issues with ground and hot rocks. Detectors in the teens are chosen as a best all around solution for do it all detectors. People used to coin detectors find them "noisy" as they tend to chatter on small targets and ground that a coin detector, designed for smoother operation and depth on coin size targets, will ignore.

People always ignore one thing when they go on about the Minelab multi-frequency detectors. They focus on the so-called high frequencies employed. It does not matter. What does matter is those detectors are designed to find silver coins and are tuned and act like lower frequency detectors. Do not let specs blind you to reality. If multi-frequency were good for nugget hunting Minelab would make multi-frequency nugget detectors. They do not, nor does anyone else. The nugget machines run at one frequency to put all the power into one frequency instead of sharing it among multiple frequencies. I am not saying the Minelab units will not find gold - my CTX 3030 is a jewelry killer. But it is not a hot nugget machine.

There is another thing frequency does, and that is deal with electromagnetic interference (EMI). Some frequencies like the 30 and 40 kHz range get avoided due to interference issues.

Finally, the nugget market is saturated and most serious, that is to say "been at it awhile", nugget hunters already have their detectors. The AT Gold does just fine compared to other mid-frequency detectors. The thing is it also does no better than anything else out there for years. So nobody is rushing to replace the detector they have with the AT unless they need a waterproof nugget detector, a rare requirement indeed. Most guys hunt in deserts. People mention what they have and what has been around for years and the AT is a new kid on the block. Bottom line is as a nugget hunter, take away the waterproof, and it is just another good detector along with a half dozen others.

To sum up, the higher the frequency, the better the response on small targets, and the better the air test. But the higher the frequency, the more response to ground and hot rocks. The two work against each other, and a detector has to balance the two parts of the equation. Mid frequencies are basically just the best compromise. Multi-frequency units just think of as lower frequency units and you will be fine."

Steve Herschbach
DetectorProspector.com

This next post from Steve is in reference to "masking" (ground balance/discrimination/target rejection). It also explains what timings are on the Minelab GPX 5000, mineralization, the effects of salt, ground balance, etc.

"Or just masking the target signal by overwhelming it with the mineralized / hot rock signal.

It is actually simple. Ground balancing is just another discrimination circuit at work. It is also referred to as ground rejection. The detector discriminates out the ground reading. Targets that read the same as the ground are also eliminated. Targets are masked by the ground. The more ground you must discriminate out the more target masking occurs.

Low frequency detectors react less to the ground so there is less need to discriminate out the ground. But they miss tiny gold. So crank up the frequency, now you hit the tiny gold, but the ground gets more reactive. You apply more ground rejection to eliminate the ground signals, but now deeper targets are getting tuned out. Two opposing effects at work.

Salt can be a ground signal on alkali flats or salt water beaches. Tiny gold items read like salt water. You can use low frequency or PI detectors that do not pick up salt water but they miss the tiny gold chains and earrings. You can try an MXT to hit the items, but now you pick up the salt. You can flip on the Salt switch on the MXT to eliminate the salt reading, and now you lose the gold! Two opposing effects at work.

There are many items in the ground that you want to dig that generate a signal that is the same as the ground reading and so are missed by tuning out that ground signal. What makes a Minelab GPX 5000 special are the timings, which are nothing more than a set of ground elimination settings designed to reveal as many targets as possible. Each timing rejects a certain type of ground and also rejects a certain number of good targets. Changing timings will reveal targets that another timing was eliminating.

Detectors work perfectly in the air. They do actually detect the ground. Prior to ground balancing circuits being developed you just lived with no depth due to the ground hiding everything. Ground balance was a game changer, but people would be amazed at what still remains in the ground due to ground balance systems themselves eliminating targets. Add the use and limitations of regular discrimination circuits and the sky is the limit for guys like me. There is no lack of good detecting left to be had out there.

And yes, small coils help eliminate all types of target masking, including ground effects. Putting a large coil on a VLF often results in less effective depth, not more. Counter-intuitive but true. Especially with high frequency units. DetectorProspector.com - Gold Prospecting and Metal Detecting"



When you're detecting for gold, I hope Steve's information helps you understand how VLF's work as much as his advice did for me.

All the best,

Lanny

P.S. Steve--can't wait until your book comes out!

 

[gold nuggets]

That's what is so neat about a thread/forum like this one Lanny, a person
can find out information and opinions about many different facets of looking
for gold. Gotta keep checking back...don't want to miss nuttin'.... Thanks
for posting Steve's responses.

 

[Lanny in AB]

That's what is so neat about a thread/forum like this one Lanny, a person
can find out information and opinions about many different facets of looking
for gold. Gotta keep checking back...don't want to miss nuttin'.... Thanks
for posting Steve's responses.

Thanks for dropping in and thanks for the kind words.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

This is some interesting historical material taken from and out of print, copyright expired book (1900): Gold Mines and Mining by Hurley, Thomas, Jefferson.

It's all about the great gold that was found in the good old days.



Gold Nugget from Atlin Lake District, British Columbia.

The nugget was found on Spruce Creek; it was taken out 126 feet below the surface. Its weight is 84 ounces, and the contents in pure gold are estimated at 50 ounces. It was found on July 8th, 1899. Its value is about $1,000. We have reports of thousands of golden nuggets the size of beans, and worth about $1 each, and hundreds the size of gravel stones. We are indebted to the late George M. Dawson, Director of Mines for Canada, for the fact that a nugget weighing 52 ounces was found on a branch of the Gilbert River, Province of Quebec, in 1866, and another later weighing 45 ounces. The circumstances of finding the nugget was as follows:

A little girl named Clotilde Gilbert was crossing a ford of the stream when she found in the sand a nugget about the size of a pigeon's egg. Her own account as given by Mrs. Chapman is as follows:

"My father sent me on Sunday morning for a horse in the field to go to mass; when crossing the stream I saw something shining along- side the water and took it up to show my father. I never thought that such a pebble would make so much noise afterwards."

No other discovery has been made on this continent that so closely resembles the Yukon diggings as the sandbars along the American, Yuba, Stanislaus and Trinity Rivers, in California, in the memorable years of 1848-49-'50. But the most important nugget ever found in the United States, and around which the most interest centers for Americans, not because of its size, but because its finding marked the dawn of a new era for the Pacific slope, is the one found by Peter L. Winner and James W. Marshall in the year 1848. It was only about the size of a lima bean, but it started the enormous emigration from the East to the Pacific Slope and California, caused the opening up and development of her mineral industries, and was the forerunner of the more than $2,000,000,000 worth of bullion that have since been mined from the golden area of the West.


The mining claim, however, which holds the world's record for the greatest production of gold nuggets, both as to size,value and quantity, is the Reed Mine, in Cabarras County, North Carolina, within twenty-four hours' ride by rail from New York city. Taking the nuggets in the order of their weight, and not chronologically, the Reed Mine has yielded nuggets weighing 28 pounds, 17 pounds, 16 pounds,
13 pounds, 9 pounds, two 9 pounds, two 8 pounds, 5 pounds, 3 pounds, two 2 pounds, and 1, 1 pounds, and an even peck of gold the size of beans and peas. The first discovery was made by a slave, as were also the 1, 7-pound and 1, 6-pound nuggets. In addition a quartz vein has been developed that assays from $10 to $300 to the ton.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[EagleDown]

New theory to an old question.

Good morning Brother Lanny,

I recieved this link from mariposagoldbag and thought I'd share it with you. Interesting theory in that it sounds very plausible. If true, it means we should never run out of gold to search for. (lol)

Earthquakes Turn Water Into Gold - AccuWeather.com

Happy detecting!!

Eagle

 

[Lanny in AB]

New theory to an old question.

Good morning Brother Lanny,

I recieved this link from mariposagoldbag and thought I'd share it with you. Interesting theory in that it sounds very plausible. If true, it means we should never run out of gold to search for. (lol)

Earthquakes Turn Water Into Gold - AccuWeather.com

Happy detecting!!

Eagle

So good to hear from you again Eagle, and I'm glad to see you posting again as well!

Yes, that's a very interesting read--I hope I absorbed most of it. It's a fascinating concept for sure.

I trust all is well with you, and I hope to see some pictures here soon of some gold you find with your detector.

All the best,

Lanny