So as promised, in this thread I wanted to share some specific lessons learned, observations, tips and suggestions for anyone who plans on visiting the Gold Basin Arizona. Before you read this Part 3, please read Parts 1 and 2 as I won't cover anything that I already covered except to perhaps elaborate on a couple things I may have already "briefly" mentioned.

For anyone who doesn't already know, I am no expert, I am actually a Greenhorn, a rookie when it comes to Gold Prospecting and having never, before visiting the Gold Basin, I have never been in any known Gold Field before... So for those of you who have, maybe some the following will be seemingly based on naive or ignorant presumptions of what is important to know. Nevertheless, I will share things that I would have liked to have known before visiting, things that I believe may have helped make my time more productive, enjoyable and perhaps even more successful. But just keep in mind... I am new to this LOL

So as "briefly" mentioned, the Gold Basin Arizona is nothing short of spectacular... It's a Gold Prospectors or Geologist's haven. If you, like me have been researching and studying all of the geology and topography to pay attention and look for while Gold Prospecting; rock and soil types, conditions and formations, manmade signs as well, i.e. previous dig sites, rock piles and tailings, etc. then the first thing I quickly realized is, the entire Gold Basin is a geological, gold prospecting prefect storm LOL... Every great insight of potential locations where Gold could be found that I had learned was useless here LOL... The entire Gold Basin is filled with massive Quartz outcroppings and exposed Quartz viens, Iron Oxidation was everywhere, Contacts Zones every few hundred feet in any direction, deep, new and old dry washes everywhere, dig sites, holes, rock piles and tailings for miles in every direction LOL... My first impression when I arrived was HOLY COW... I CAN JUST SEE THE GOLD, EVERYWHERE... Must be a Nugget or Two every few feet LOL, AND I am sure at one time, along time ago, THERE WAS! But, the greatest challenge, at least for the Nugget Shooter would be to find a spot, where no Coil has swung before... So it's that thought, as impossible as I now feel it is, that kept me hunting, and will for sure take me back to hunt some more. So, for Nugget Shooters, lesson learned, don't waste time trying to be a Geologist in the Gold Basin. Focus on where maybe, nobody has swung a coil before. One Nugget of knowledge I have yet to resolve and unfortunately cannot help with, is it better to use a smaller coil searching for small nuggets on benches or in crevices as an example, or use big coils hiting the flats searching for that big deep nugget just under the bush or cactus? Not sure! For my first visit I spent most of my time on benches and in crevices... And I came home with empty vials.

I did however bring home some classified paydirt as well as a ton of rocks - beautiful Arizona desert rocks. There is nothing like them, so cool. This brings me to another tidbit but not yet fully tested or understood. At the end of my visit, as I was packing up, I went through my rocks and separated them. My reason was, I wanted to give my 2 and 7 year old boys some rocks from my trip on my arrival home, but wanted to make sure I set aside any that I wanted to research some on, or keep for my personal collection and memorabilia. Anyways, as I was looking at one, I caught a glimpse of gold flake, actually on closer inspection, a ton of gold flakes. Since my trip was winding down, and feeling a little defeated, I naturally got really excited... I immediately went back through all of my rocks and analyzed them much closer and to my surprise I found four more, so I have a total of 5 gold flake glazed rocks - at least for now I believe them to be flaked in gold as I still haven't tested them (not ready to face ultimate defeat LOL). They could be glazed in Pyrite but at least to my knowledge (and it's very little) it does appear to be gold flake. So, of course I will test them soon, but if I am right, knowing this and then looking for this while hunting, obviously would be very useful, for if somehow through all of the years of dry washing and others prospecting, finding untouched, unwashed rocks containing gold could possibly indicate an area with greater possibility for more careful searching, as well as better paydirt underneath.

Okay folks, I actually thought I could finish in 3 parts but I still have more, but for now, I have no more time. Family time calls LOL... I will also probably read this back and clean it up a bit in an edit but I have to run now. So please comment below if something that I've shared isn't clear or something that needs even more explaination. Be back for Part 4 soon.