Fist Full of Nuggets!

[omnicron]

Ok well not exactly a fist full but is none the less awesome to me! I've gone 2 years with only finding mostly -30's and a flattened nugget. In the last 2 weeks I've found many nuggets with the largest being .5 grams and the 3 bigger ones this last trip being .2, .3, .3 grams. In the display case is what I found last week. It includes a few gold/quartz's specimens. Some may not be considered nuggets but after dealing with -30's for 3 years they look like boulders to me!







Also is included is a pic of my take for the last trip, about 12 grams in total.

 

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[Timberdoodle]

Way to go Omni!!

 

[panningjack]

Awesome! Glad things are starting to turn around for you.
Between work, birthdays, graduations, an holidays I don't think I'll be able to get out for a few more weeks

 

[rodoconnor]

Good job man!!

 

[bill-costa rica]

nice stuff, both the big and small. go find more , lots more

bill/cr

 

[omnicron]

Thanks guys! I did have another flat tire and burst a heater hose on my way home....god it's just not my year! I have a great idea though...stay on the damn road and for the most part it'll stop my getting flats!

 

[Portadrillmini]

looks like retirement savings starting here...

 

[Oakview2]

At least your luck is changing on the creek. All that hard work is starting to pay. Conrats.

 

[Campngolf]

Thanks guys! I did have another flat tire and burst a heater hose on my way home....god it's just not my year! I have a great idea though...stay on the damn road and for the most part it'll stop my getting flats!

But at least you got some good gold. Think how much the trip would suk without it.

 

[omnicron]

But at least you got some good gold. Think how much the trip would suk without it.

Well being this is my "job" failure is not a option...but yes it would suck.

 

[TAKODA]

Ok well not exactly a fist full but is none the less awesome to me! I've gone 2 years with only finding mostly -30's and a flattened nugget. In the last 2 weeks I've found many nuggets with the largest being .5 grams and the 3 bigger ones this last trip being .2, .3, .3 grams. In the display case is what I found last week. It includes a few gold/quartz's specimens. Some may not be considered nuggets but after dealing with -30's for 3 years they look like boulders to me!

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Also is included is a pic of my take for the last trip, about 12 grams in total.

Nice shine .

 

[johna2231]

That's fantastic! Congrats!!

May I ask what has changed since you were a greenhorn like me? Better place? Better Equipment? Better technique?

 

[omnicron]

That's fantastic! Congrats!!

May I ask what has changed since you were a greenhorn like me? Better place? Better Equipment? Better technique?

The single most important aspect is the ground. No matter how good your equipment, knowledge or technique is, if there isn't gold then you cant expect to find gold. Once you've located good ground then the rest comes into play. I think the second most important aspect is knowledge. I think I have logged thousands of hours in research. I've read anything I can on the subject of prospecting. You have to know what your doing! Gold is easy to capture. You don't need thousands of dollars in equipment, heck you could capture gold with dog poop if you tried hard enough. Look at MadMarshel, he goes out with a gold pan and basic tools and supports himself snipping cracks in bedrock.
For me, I choose to dredge as there is nothing else like it under the sun. When your underwater, your calm, you forget the problems in your life, your whole focus is the task at hand, getting material up your nozzle. If you daydream and lose focus you could die. But you would die on your terms, doing what you want and not because of someone else's stupidity.
There is no sweeter music then rocks "pinging" on the nozzle and the sound of water bubbles as you exhale. It's very serene. Then you get the adrenaline rush when you uncover a pocket of gold, find that nugget or do your clean out and find your cons full of gold. It's like a drug, you want more.
Don't get me wrong, for me gold is a means to the end. I hear people say they have gold fever...well gold is money...if dog poop was valuable then I would be collecting it. Yesterday was my birthday, I turned 44 and in my life I have had many jobs. Some I liked, some I hated. I've done jobs that I despised, worked for people who where bigots, whom I couldn't stand to be around because they are asses and such but the pay was good so I did the job. Dredging allows me the freedom of working for the best company on the planet, have the best co-workers you could ask for and the freedom to do it your way. Prospecting for me is about freedom. Gold is a means to a end.

 

[Hoser John]

HMMMMM you said NO other option as no job no mo'?Great gold but a JOB with benefits in todays insane world mo'better. Buy a toyota and them vehicle problems go away. Driven/owned a dozen since 75 and never walked even once-John

 

[omnicron]

Honestly John, I don't know if I can ever work for someone again. This last place I worked really put a foul taste in my mouth. With my throat issues and losing my voice, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to find a job. I have enough built up into Social Security that I could retire at 65 and live in the Phillipines as a king! Also being a disabled Vet gives me free medical care the rest of my life.
As for a Toyota, I agree but a full sized truck is more practical at this point for me. I know Toyota has a full sized truck but even used is more then I want to pay.

 

[principedeleon]

Omni i dont know but it seems like you have money save up or recieve money from something else because the gold you are pulling out barely pays. So i dont think is like a job to you more like a hobby since mostly what you end up spending is what you make and your time & effort is not valued.

The only way i could continue the quest is by having money come in without me working to mantain my hoddy and quest.. but to make a living out of it you need to go through a process of errors to know how to manage your profit because if not you will burn it just how you made it. Its a gamble basically..

If you can only hit profitable ground but there is no 100% sureness to you start dredging. you may find some flood gold with a gold pan then you can dredge to bedrock and find no better gold or gold at all.

 

[eathan]

Congrats on getting into better ground, and I agree on the truck. You don't need a new truck, you need to stay on the road...

 

[omnicron]

I never claimed I was making good money. I spend $75 on gas for my truck and dredge to go there and back. I do not figure in food expense as I would still have to eat no matter where I'm at. So as I figure, if I had a job working 40 hours a week, I would spend more in gas going to and from unless I worked locally. I own my home free and clear, I have my truck payment and other living expenses so while I am making money it's about minimum wage right now.
If I recover 10 grams of gold, it could be sold for 90% of spot price. Lets say $360...do that 4 times a month and minus fuel...I'm making about as much as I would working at McDonalds with out having to deal with dumb asses, rude people, racist or just plain jack asses.
The Veteran's Administration deems that my service connected disability is worth a whopping $130 a month so I'm rolling in the money!
Oh and my wife works... actually has a good job and ends up paying the bills. Now that I'm dredging and making money I'm also helping out.
Since the age of 16, I have always had a full time job. Even when in school I worked. Sometimes I had 2 jobs, working 70+ hours a week. It's only been the last 8-9 months that I have not had a job...been unable to get a job actually...but what ever. I'll gladly go dredge, sell the gold, not pay taxes on the money and laugh at everyone who gets up at 5am to go to a job they may hate.

Oh and yes I receive other money btw...I'm a porn star. Every time someone watches one of my 1000's of movies I get paid! Duh!

P, I challenge you to come with me to one of my dredge trips and try to keep up. Then tell me after that it seems like a hobby. While it's true I may only dredge 5 hours in a day right now due to a reason that I am not going to mention and you do the math, I'm up there for 4 days...the first and last day I may only dredge 3 hours so lets say 16 hours of nozzle time in 4 days at $360 I would be making $20 a hour. In that time that I'm dredging I'm a whirl-wind. If I could dredge longer I would...this up coming anti-epa event, if they don't limit our hours like I heard they were going to, you'll see me dredging 10-12 hours a day...

 

[omnicron]

I've came to the conclusion that I am losing gold out of my sluice. I did some testing of my tailing and found concerning amounts of gold. I've been taking with Doc and crew and may not be running my mats at peak efficiency. I believe I need to increase the pitch and also give it more throttle.

Eathan, I kind of wish I never bought this truck as it was just used but the last owner abused it. It's just like everything else, if you don't do proper maintenance , in no time your going to have a pile of junk. I'll use my wife's Ford Expedition as a example. It's got 290,000 miles on it. The past owner did routine maintenance, did have to replace the tranny once and I've owned it for 3 years now and haven't had a lick of problems. It's doing 21mpg, doesn't use oil and runs like a top.

 

[principedeleon]

I thought you has been going out for about 3 weeks every weekend and this your total count . I wasnt trying to say you dont dredge seriously. I thought it wasnt covering the bad things that has happen to you while getting there and the gas expense. But 10 grams in 16 hours dredging on your own is not bad. You could recover more then twice with someone else. Since there is rocks for two people and you winching each of those rocks will consume you more time. You may have also rocks piling up on your sluice and you may not know it causing vortex and blowing out your gold. I know you know this and it might not be as easy to find someone to dredge with you. Wish i live around there for i can help ya out. Sometimes having someone else motivates you and makes things in the woods less lonely.. I also jam to music underwater it motivates me to keep up with the rythem. I wish ya the best and that you could probably find some highgrade .