SnJ
Stan Christen
Howdy
I'm glad to be a part of this forum, as I hope it connects me with my Aussie counterparts Down Under. You may wonder why a Yank is on an Oz forum, but I hope to travel there soon because I know it's the best place in the world to hunt nuggets.
As for my story- I'll keep it short... I got the fever as a teen, panning with my dad in Arizona. Then life came along (wife-kids-career) and I kinda dropped the hobby until a couple years ago when I started watching YOUTUBE videos. So I got a detector (Goldbug 2) that could detect small gold, because as you know, there are very few nuggets here in the US compared to Oz. So I did my homework and found my first two nuggets in California while on a business trip - and they were big by US standards! 1/4 oz and 1 gram. I found my third (10th oz) last January. I posted the vids on YouTube (search my name: Stan Christen). I got a second detector for depth (Tesoro SandShark, a PI), but it's not as good as the GPX 5000 or Garrett ATX.
So now I spend my spare time planning the next nugget hunting trip. I try hard to find those places that others will not go, either because the place is to remote or too rough. I also am trying to figure out where the 49ers would have missed nuggets in California and search those areas. Problem is, I am 16hrs away from the Mother Lode area, and there aren't many place in Colorado with detectable gold. I'm currently searching an area 3 hrs from here and hope to find some pea-sized nuggets from glacial deposits.
My hope is to meet someone on this forum that I could partner with to explore both the WA goldfields and the Victoria goldfields, for about a week each. I'm about to purchase a Garrett ATX and get good at using it. Perhaps by next July I'll find someone, or a group.
And finally, a shout out - I really enjoy WalnLiz and TheNuggetMagnets videos - Thanks!
I'm glad to be a part of this forum, as I hope it connects me with my Aussie counterparts Down Under. You may wonder why a Yank is on an Oz forum, but I hope to travel there soon because I know it's the best place in the world to hunt nuggets.
As for my story- I'll keep it short... I got the fever as a teen, panning with my dad in Arizona. Then life came along (wife-kids-career) and I kinda dropped the hobby until a couple years ago when I started watching YOUTUBE videos. So I got a detector (Goldbug 2) that could detect small gold, because as you know, there are very few nuggets here in the US compared to Oz. So I did my homework and found my first two nuggets in California while on a business trip - and they were big by US standards! 1/4 oz and 1 gram. I found my third (10th oz) last January. I posted the vids on YouTube (search my name: Stan Christen). I got a second detector for depth (Tesoro SandShark, a PI), but it's not as good as the GPX 5000 or Garrett ATX.
So now I spend my spare time planning the next nugget hunting trip. I try hard to find those places that others will not go, either because the place is to remote or too rough. I also am trying to figure out where the 49ers would have missed nuggets in California and search those areas. Problem is, I am 16hrs away from the Mother Lode area, and there aren't many place in Colorado with detectable gold. I'm currently searching an area 3 hrs from here and hope to find some pea-sized nuggets from glacial deposits.
My hope is to meet someone on this forum that I could partner with to explore both the WA goldfields and the Victoria goldfields, for about a week each. I'm about to purchase a Garrett ATX and get good at using it. Perhaps by next July I'll find someone, or a group.
And finally, a shout out - I really enjoy WalnLiz and TheNuggetMagnets videos - Thanks!
