Glad to be back

[Lanny]

Just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself to those that weren't members of this fine forum in its earlier days when I was sharing a story or two.

I mainly metal detect for nuggets now (chased the gold in Alaska, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, north-central British Columbia, south-eastern British Columbia, Alberta, but now I spend almost all of my time chasing the gold in British Columbia, Canada), used to dredge, sluice, high-bank, snipe, etc., (still do a bit for fun) but for more than a few years now, I've been associated with a large-scale placer operation, one that has slapped on me the title of their mining consultant. Sounds grandiose, however in no way is it, but they like to have me do testing for them with my detectors after they've finished cleaning a section of bedrock with their massive, heavy equipment.

Why have me on site? To see what they're missing. Furthermore, after I've finished poking around, they've gone back and taken more bedrock (sometimes several feet) at times when I get a lot of gold in a hurry (or they've headed in another direction if there's a good line of pay shooting off under the overburden away from where they were trending), and other times when there's hardly any gold found with the detectors, they bury that bedrock right quick. It's a win, win situation for both of us as they value what I can do with my machines, and I value the privilege of the incredible opportunity. Their only caveat is that I can't tell the total weight of the gold I find to anyone outside of their crew (and I always must report it to them), but hey, who can't live with that, right? Oh, and they let me keep what I find, won't take a percentage (I've tried many times).

In addition, I know a lot of other claim and lease owners that have properties they're not currently working, ones with abandoned excavations and sites, or ones they haven't got to yet, and they love to have me snoop around with my detectors as well, and if I find anything promising, they set up and get after the gold. I've been doing that for quite a few years, but I still like to check out unfamiliar, un-staked ground too.

In addition, I like to write stories about my gold hunting outings, and oftentimes, I'll include information for any rookies out there that are trying to figure things out as they get started. Why? That's how I got started; a few good people (my original mentor is now 88) took me under their wing and taught me the ropes (a few clichés too many in that sentence, I know).

My one son is now a dedicated nugget shooter (the other one lives thousands of kms away), and I love training him, plus my wife is now onboard with chasing the gold (she used to love panning my dredge concentrates, always heavy with goodies and always a good time for her and my mother-in-law [yeah, I know, sometimes the word fun and mother-in-law don't get used together in the same sentence]), and I'm ordering my wife a shiny new detector this winter because she's seen what we're getting (she loves to pan down our scoops of quick finds from the detectors which we slap in the pans when they're target rich for her to have some fun with; we call that speed-panning as it saves us the downtime of isolating the positive signals out of the scoop each and every time, giving us bonus time swinging the coils).

So, it will be great to recognize some familiar names, and it will be great to meet some of you that are new as well!

All the best,

Lanny

[Jim_Alaska]

Thanks for that long introduction Lanny. It really gives us a glimpse of your life since last we saw you online.

I'm really glad too have you back with us.

[Joe S (AK)]

Well, I can hardly believe my eyes! Lanny is back and, it seems, as adventure filled as ever.

Wonderful to see you back - and - still coming up swinging. (Here we go with the cliche's again).

I'll be standing by to read some of your, and maybe your wife's, adventures (maybe in installments) again.

So, get a crackin' - it's winter and we're all holding our breaths!

Joe

[Slatco]

Thanks for the intro! I mine in north central BC in the Omineca area so our real life paths may one day intersect.

[Lanny]

Well, I can hardly believe my eyes! Lanny is back and, it seems, as adventure filled as ever.

Wonderful to see you back - and - still coming up swinging. (Here we go with the cliche's again).

I'll be standing by to read some of your, and maybe your wife's, adventures (maybe in installments) again.

So, get a crackin' - it's winter and we're all holding our breaths!

Joe

Thanks Joe, truly appreciate the warm welcome and the words of appreciation as well.

All the best,

Lanny

[Lanny]

Thanks for the intro! I mine in north central BC in the Omineca area so our real life paths may one day intersect.

Slatco, I have many fond memories of the Omineca, spent a few years there chasing that nice chunky gold with the detector, panned and sniped some nice stuff too. I also learned a bunch about large-scale mining by getting to hang around with a placer outfit that let me check their bedrock a million years ago when PI detectors were just making their debut as some of that bedrock in your area is insanely hot, too hot for any VLF's we had, completely shut them down! But, through trial and error, we figured out how to use the PI's (took some ingenuity as even they struggled), and we found some gorgeous, fat and sassy northern nuggets, still have a pile of them, even got a truly beautiful one up on Lost Creek (first nugget I ever found with the detector after digging countless buckets of trash!!).

All the best, and I miss the Omineca, but not the bugs!

Lanny