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I Made The Cover of the Rolling Stone!
Posted by Steve Herschbach
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I Made The Cover of the Rolling Stone! December 28, 2014 03:39AM |
Well, not quite, but close enough. Those of you who do not know me probably think I am that guy who got all giddy over the F75 Ltd2 prototype and am now turning into a Nokta/Makro fanboy. However, although I do love jewelry and coin detecting prospecting is where I put my time and energy. Partly because it is the most challenging detecting I think a person can do, but also because I make money at it. There is a part of me that is very much a kid playing with the toys, but the larger part of me is the guy running a for profit prospecting company that uses metal detectors to pay the bills. At that level my choice of detectors is serious business. Almost all my detecting this year and the bulk of the value was produced with the Minelab GPX 5000, Garrett ATX, and Minelab SDC 2300. The only substantial VLF contributions to the bank account were made by the Nokta FORS Gold and White's V3i.
The main magazine in the small scale mining world in the ICMJ Prospecting & Mining Journal. I made the cover this month which is kind of fun. No real accomplishment really since I write regularly for the magazine so I guess it was bound to happen. The ICMJ is not a metal detecting magazine, it is a prospecting magazine. It does have a lot of articles on gold detecting though, and I contribute my share of those.
Anyway, that is little old me in Alaska this summer with my Minelab GPX 5000 and the hand is mine holding the just over two ounces of gold I found. Honestly, not all that good, basically just paid for the trip and put $20 in my pocket. The year before I came back from the same trip with over a pound of gold. But it was a grand adventure and time spent with both my brother and good friend ICMJ associate editor Chris Ralph. While I do insist on turning a profit yearly the real great thing about detecting is that it takes me not only all over the country but to other parts of the world in search of gold and treasure. I do not see how anybody could find a more enjoyable and rewarding activity than metal detecting.
From [www.icmj.com])
The main magazine in the small scale mining world in the ICMJ Prospecting & Mining Journal. I made the cover this month which is kind of fun. No real accomplishment really since I write regularly for the magazine so I guess it was bound to happen. The ICMJ is not a metal detecting magazine, it is a prospecting magazine. It does have a lot of articles on gold detecting though, and I contribute my share of those.
Anyway, that is little old me in Alaska this summer with my Minelab GPX 5000 and the hand is mine holding the just over two ounces of gold I found. Honestly, not all that good, basically just paid for the trip and put $20 in my pocket. The year before I came back from the same trip with over a pound of gold. But it was a grand adventure and time spent with both my brother and good friend ICMJ associate editor Chris Ralph. While I do insist on turning a profit yearly the real great thing about detecting is that it takes me not only all over the country but to other parts of the world in search of gold and treasure. I do not see how anybody could find a more enjoyable and rewarding activity than metal detecting.
From [www.icmj.com])
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Re: I Made The Cover of the Rolling Stone! December 28, 2014 12:54PM |
Steve ,
Did you score any of those nuggets along the Yukon after the big ice dam flood from a couple of years ago?
I always thought would be some good territory for sniping.
That's not the worst of bear country up there but they're still around I see no sidearm on you which makes me wonder---where do you pack some heat so it doesn't interfer with your swing and still have quick access?
Did you score any of those nuggets along the Yukon after the big ice dam flood from a couple of years ago?
I always thought would be some good territory for sniping.
That's not the worst of bear country up there but they're still around I see no sidearm on you which makes me wonder---where do you pack some heat so it doesn't interfer with your swing and still have quick access?
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Re: I Made The Cover of the Rolling Stone! December 28, 2014 04:13PM |
shoveler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steve ,
> Did you score any of those nuggets along the Yukon
> after the big ice dam flood from a couple of years
> ago?
> I always thought would be some good territory for
> sniping.
> That's not the worst of bear country up there but
> they're still around I see no sidearm on you which
> makes me wonder---where do you pack some heat so
> it doesn't interfere with your swing and still have
> quick access?
Thanks everyone for the kind responses! I really am very fortunate to be doing what I have a real passion for. Metal detecting helped forge my work career and now fuels my retirement years.
Hi shoveler,
The gold was all found on Jack Wade Creek near Chicken, Alaska. It is about a four day drive up, good accommodations in Chicken, and a couple miles of public detecting area on Jack Wade Creek if you want to give it a go. More information on Jack Wade and how to get there at [www.detectorprospector.com]
I have spent my entire life in bear country. Even Anchorage itself is bear country. I have encountered very many bears over the years and bears generally just want to be left alone. I have never had one seriously threaten me and rarely carry a weapon. That said on some occasions caution is in order. When using a Minelab with a big coil a hunk of large metal is a concern, but I found a backpacker .44 in a chest harness to be a workable solution. I usually wear headphones and bears have not been a concern for me in that regard. You have to keep things in proper perspective. Bears are not the danger that people imagine though they must be treated with respect. I have more to fear from falling in steep terrain.
Tom, you are right, for tens of thousands of people around the world metal detecting is far more than a hobby, and if you are in some places in Africa it may be your only way out of abject poverty. Given the worldwide explosion in gold prospecting with metal detectors in the last decade the product responses from the metal detecting companies, or lack thereof, has been very frustrating. We do not want to get me started on that rant however.
canslawhero, I agree about that specimen I found but this stuff has a good feel in your hand - it is nice solid gold and jingles like a handful of coins. Here is a better photo:
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2014 04:17PM by Steve Herschbach.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steve ,
> Did you score any of those nuggets along the Yukon
> after the big ice dam flood from a couple of years
> ago?
> I always thought would be some good territory for
> sniping.
> That's not the worst of bear country up there but
> they're still around I see no sidearm on you which
> makes me wonder---where do you pack some heat so
> it doesn't interfere with your swing and still have
> quick access?
Thanks everyone for the kind responses! I really am very fortunate to be doing what I have a real passion for. Metal detecting helped forge my work career and now fuels my retirement years.
Hi shoveler,
The gold was all found on Jack Wade Creek near Chicken, Alaska. It is about a four day drive up, good accommodations in Chicken, and a couple miles of public detecting area on Jack Wade Creek if you want to give it a go. More information on Jack Wade and how to get there at [www.detectorprospector.com]
I have spent my entire life in bear country. Even Anchorage itself is bear country. I have encountered very many bears over the years and bears generally just want to be left alone. I have never had one seriously threaten me and rarely carry a weapon. That said on some occasions caution is in order. When using a Minelab with a big coil a hunk of large metal is a concern, but I found a backpacker .44 in a chest harness to be a workable solution. I usually wear headphones and bears have not been a concern for me in that regard. You have to keep things in proper perspective. Bears are not the danger that people imagine though they must be treated with respect. I have more to fear from falling in steep terrain.
Tom, you are right, for tens of thousands of people around the world metal detecting is far more than a hobby, and if you are in some places in Africa it may be your only way out of abject poverty. Given the worldwide explosion in gold prospecting with metal detectors in the last decade the product responses from the metal detecting companies, or lack thereof, has been very frustrating. We do not want to get me started on that rant however.
canslawhero, I agree about that specimen I found but this stuff has a good feel in your hand - it is nice solid gold and jingles like a handful of coins. Here is a better photo:
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2014 04:17PM by Steve Herschbach.
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Re: I Made The Cover of the Rolling Stone! December 28, 2014 05:55PM |
Kevin B Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steve H., just curious, how do those nuggets get a
> 'rounded' look to them?? They remind me of the
> stuff that you find under a welders table where I
> used to work. They look like they were molten,
> and then hit the water or something. I have even
> found Civil War camp lead that looks like those
> nuggets (apart from the gold color).
> This question is just out of pure
> curiosity....as i have often wondered how gold is
> actually formed or whether it is a naturally
> occurring metal. Very interesting stuff!!! Wars
> have been fought over those yellow nuggets.
> Several times, the entire continent has been
> affected by someone picking one of those nuggets
> up and shouting "GOLD!" ....and then, are sorts
> of stuff would follow!
> But besides my ramblings and questions,
> congrats on the photograph!!!!! I would LOVE to
> have your job!!!! Detecting and sluice-boxing (if
> I even said that right), panning, and sleeping out
> under the stars. That holds a certain appeal to
> me. Anyway.....GREAT PIC and I hope the New Year
> brings with it a very prosperous endeavor!!!!
Hi Kevin,
I always enjoy your posts. Such enthusiasm is infectious!
The geology and geochemistry of gold can get complex and is the basis for much of what I do. It is all about putting myself on the right geology. What I am relaying here is perhaps the simplest and more common explanation but certainly does not cover it all.
Study this photo carefully, especially the lower left corner.
What I am holding there is a 55 ounce gold specimen found by my friend Dan Wiltz at Ganes Creek, Alaska in 1996 with a Minelab metal detector. "Gold specimen" usually refers to natural gold that has a lot of the original rock still as part of it. A gold nugget would be pretty much all gold, and a specimen mostly rock, but the dividing line is vague.
I like this picture because the specimen is a relatively intact portion of a quartz vein 8-10 inches thick. A vein is a layer of rock enclosed in different rock, much like the frosting in the middle of an oreo cookie. Quartz is a very common mineral and quartz veins are also very common, so unfortunately most quartz veins do not have gold in them. But when you are in gold country quartz veins may be where the gold is originally coming from.
Gold is a soft metal and does not like to form crystals. It tends to form as soft rounded masses inside the rock, and so you can see in this picture a chunk of gold weighing several ounces in the lower left corner of this rock. Quartz is hard and resistant, so when the gold gets exposed on the surface by erosion, it rapidly becomes even more rounded off if the specimen gets rolled around in a creek. A large boulder might roll over this chunk of quartz. The quartz, being brittle like glass, would shatter. The gold is more like lead however so it tends to stay intact. It may flatten or fold but it rarely will break. If the rock gets pounded and rolled enough, the quartz all breaks away, leaving you with these nice, rounded gold nuggets.
It is actually possible to 'read" gold, in that very round gold has traveled far from the source not just in distance but in time. Much of the Jack Wade gold is very old and has been in the erosion cycle for millennia. The original source for much of it may be long gone. Gold like the delicate specimen pictured on another thread has only recently (in geologic time) broke free of the vein and has not traveled far. When you find a specimen like this big quartz chunk with gold in it, the source is sure to be nearby, probably within a mile of less.
That is part of the fun of prospecting. I look for individual nuggets. But the nature of those nuggets can lead me to the source. I have been and still am involved in some exploration projects of that nature but that is another story.
Hope this provides a decent explanation for you. Best wishes to you in the new year Kevin!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2014 05:57PM by Steve Herschbach.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steve H., just curious, how do those nuggets get a
> 'rounded' look to them?? They remind me of the
> stuff that you find under a welders table where I
> used to work. They look like they were molten,
> and then hit the water or something. I have even
> found Civil War camp lead that looks like those
> nuggets (apart from the gold color).
> This question is just out of pure
> curiosity....as i have often wondered how gold is
> actually formed or whether it is a naturally
> occurring metal. Very interesting stuff!!! Wars
> have been fought over those yellow nuggets.
> Several times, the entire continent has been
> affected by someone picking one of those nuggets
> up and shouting "GOLD!" ....and then, are sorts
> of stuff would follow!
> But besides my ramblings and questions,
> congrats on the photograph!!!!! I would LOVE to
> have your job!!!! Detecting and sluice-boxing (if
> I even said that right), panning, and sleeping out
> under the stars. That holds a certain appeal to
> me. Anyway.....GREAT PIC and I hope the New Year
> brings with it a very prosperous endeavor!!!!
Hi Kevin,
I always enjoy your posts. Such enthusiasm is infectious!
The geology and geochemistry of gold can get complex and is the basis for much of what I do. It is all about putting myself on the right geology. What I am relaying here is perhaps the simplest and more common explanation but certainly does not cover it all.
Study this photo carefully, especially the lower left corner.
What I am holding there is a 55 ounce gold specimen found by my friend Dan Wiltz at Ganes Creek, Alaska in 1996 with a Minelab metal detector. "Gold specimen" usually refers to natural gold that has a lot of the original rock still as part of it. A gold nugget would be pretty much all gold, and a specimen mostly rock, but the dividing line is vague.
I like this picture because the specimen is a relatively intact portion of a quartz vein 8-10 inches thick. A vein is a layer of rock enclosed in different rock, much like the frosting in the middle of an oreo cookie. Quartz is a very common mineral and quartz veins are also very common, so unfortunately most quartz veins do not have gold in them. But when you are in gold country quartz veins may be where the gold is originally coming from.
Gold is a soft metal and does not like to form crystals. It tends to form as soft rounded masses inside the rock, and so you can see in this picture a chunk of gold weighing several ounces in the lower left corner of this rock. Quartz is hard and resistant, so when the gold gets exposed on the surface by erosion, it rapidly becomes even more rounded off if the specimen gets rolled around in a creek. A large boulder might roll over this chunk of quartz. The quartz, being brittle like glass, would shatter. The gold is more like lead however so it tends to stay intact. It may flatten or fold but it rarely will break. If the rock gets pounded and rolled enough, the quartz all breaks away, leaving you with these nice, rounded gold nuggets.
It is actually possible to 'read" gold, in that very round gold has traveled far from the source not just in distance but in time. Much of the Jack Wade gold is very old and has been in the erosion cycle for millennia. The original source for much of it may be long gone. Gold like the delicate specimen pictured on another thread has only recently (in geologic time) broke free of the vein and has not traveled far. When you find a specimen like this big quartz chunk with gold in it, the source is sure to be nearby, probably within a mile of less.
That is part of the fun of prospecting. I look for individual nuggets. But the nature of those nuggets can lead me to the source. I have been and still am involved in some exploration projects of that nature but that is another story.
Hope this provides a decent explanation for you. Best wishes to you in the new year Kevin!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2014 05:57PM by Steve Herschbach.
