Gold Fever: How bad do you have it?

QNCrazy · Feb 25, 2015

ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1424920510.456484.jpg

Is there a cure? If not, I think I can live with it.

ratled · Feb 25, 2015

I watch the movie "Fools Gold" with the Mrs just so I can see a little suction dredging

ratled

ikesdad · Feb 25, 2015

The virus initially infected me the first time I climbed back up into a stope after a shot and saw it smeared like butter across the the vein.
It goes into remission but returns from time to time, usually associated with cabin fever.

DizzyDigger · Feb 25, 2015

"Gold Fever" is incurable, yet there are times when the fever
abates sufficiently that we can still function when normal human
activities are required. This is not always the case, however.

When not in remission, episodes can run from mild to extreme.

I was so hard up for something to pan out once that I went and
dug about 3 gal. worth of gravel from my driveway...found gold
in it, too!

Peachy · Feb 25, 2015

I swipped my brothers record cause I heard it went gold. Seriously, there is no naturally occuring gold anywhere near here. I don't need another vice! I could send for a bag of paydirt... Mrs. frowns at me. HaHa

Lanny in AB · Feb 25, 2015

The fever is still going strong.

No antibiotics or antivirals have any effect on it.

However, brief remissions in the sickness occur after digging large holes in hot, sweltering weather while working through boulder infested ground, but symptoms recur at the first sight of any golden metal on the bedrock.

Lapses in determination briefly lower the fever, especially when detecting for endless hours while collecting untold buckets of trash, but they return with a vengeance when a fat and sassy nugget comes to rest in the palm.

Some cases of the sickness have confirmed reversals of the most prominent symptoms when the prospector takes a light tumble down a mountainside, resulting in the snapping in half of a detector shaft, or the tearing loose of a coil wire. As for having only one functioning headphone out of a former pair of two, the cool air around one ear can be very refreshing and help with the symptoms of the virus.

While dredging, brief improvements in the malady have been observed when the dredger unwarily slips his or her body into the main current of the stream and gets stretched like a spinning tornado-like kite in the water column. But, the fever returns with renewed vigor when a deep crevice yields its ancient, tightly packed contents of golden goodies.

I'm sure others have observed instances of remission or perhaps in isolated instances, certain cases of the fever have even been cured, but I'll leave those anecdotal medical references to them.

All the best,

Lanny

QNCrazy · Feb 26, 2015

Lanny in AB said:
The fever is still going strong.

No antibiotics or antivirals have any effect on it.

However, brief remissions in the sickness occur after digging large holes in hot, sweltering weather while working through boulder infested ground, but symptoms recur at the first sight of any golden metal on the bedrock.

Lapses in determination briefly lower the fever, especially when detecting for endless hours while collecting untold buckets of trash, but they return with a vengeance when a fat and sassy nugget comes to rest in the palm.

Some cases of the sickness have confirmed reversals of the most prominent symptoms when the prospector takes a light tumble down a mountainside, resulting in the snapping in half of a detector shaft, or the tearing loose of a coil wire. As for having only one functioning headphone out of a former pair of two, the cool air around one ear can be very refreshing and help with the symptoms of the virus.

While dredging, brief improvements in the malady have been observed when the dredger unwarily slips his or her body into the main current of the stream and gets stretched like a spinning tornado-like kite in the water column. But, the fever returns with renewed vigor when a deep crevice yields its ancient, tightly packed contents of golden goodies.

I'm sure others have observed instances of remission or perhaps in isolated instances, certain cases of the fever have even been cured, but I'll leave those anecdotal medical references to them.

All the best,

Lanny

I think was the definition i saw on Wikipedia.

Lanny in AB · Feb 26, 2015

QNCrazy said:
I think was the definition i saw on Wikipedia.

Perhaps it should be, to warn others of this motivating malady. :laughing7:

All the best,

Lanny

Medina Joe · Feb 26, 2015

I spent the last 2 week looking at properties to buy in a warmer climate like Georgia. This has been the coldest February on Record. I need to get out and dig for the little gold we have in ohio

Ice fishing is not holding back the beast anymore. I have no more room for fish in the freezer

goldenIrishman · Feb 26, 2015

How bad you ask?

Let's see here.... Gold fever.... I'm pretty sure I've had a case of it since 1980 or so when I started working a part of the Baliena Placer that runs through San Diego County from the mountains to the coast. At first I was just digging to have some fun with my friends, suck up a few brews and in general chew the fat. :occasion14:

Then it hit me! I was needing to go out more and more often to keep my craving for digging for that wondrous metal in check. It didn't take long before I was going out every weekend that the weather permitted digging and bringing back materials to sluice in buckets. :blackbeard:

Then I got a wild hair and decided to move to Georgia. The symptoms abated for quite a while since I was in the south central part of the state and working pretty much 7 days a week. Even though I was hip deep in work, the memories of digging and sluicing for that sassy gold were never really far from my mind. After seven years in Georgia, I decided I'd had enough of the humidity and lack of gold and decided to move back out west. Not wanting to move back to California having escaped from their insanity once already, I decided to move to Arizona where I had some old friends living. Within two months of getting back out west I was gearing up to get back to digging again. Research into areas near me showed some promise and it wasn't long before I had started checking them out. I joined the local club but never work their claims because I had found a good place near Greaterville. Pretty good gold and worth claiming.

Since my girlfriend and I had split up and I had decided to move up to Kingman, I started doing some very serious research into the area. I'm currently planning on heading up there around the 15th of March and spending the entire summer in the field locating and staking several claims that will be spread out from Wikiup to Lost Basin, Hwy 93 to the Colorado River. :laughing7:

(you didn't REALLY think I was going to tell you exactly where did you?) :find:

So being willing to live in a tent for several months, eating field rations except when I go into town to resupply on "Beans and Bullets" (Got to have a burger once in awhile) while digging for gold should show that I've got an incurable case of "The Fever". :headbang:

I don't even think that finding a pocket that would allow me to retire would get rid of this malady. :3barsgold:

As a matter of fact, all it would do is give me a case of the "S'mores", cause I'd always want some more of that metal we all love. :metaldetector:

2cmorau · Feb 26, 2015

ratled said:
I watch the movie "Fools Gold" with the Mrs just so I can see a little suction dredging

ratled

watching this and a pile of cons in the back yard gets me through the winter

Vance in AK · Feb 26, 2015

2cmorau said:
watching this and a pile of cons in the back yard gets me through the winter

One of the greatest movies of all time.
They may have been a little off on their mining techniques, but they sure knew the nature of men!
Going to have to watch it again tonight!

fowledup · Feb 26, 2015

2cmorau said:
watching this and a pile of cons in the back yard gets me through the winter

"BADGES? We ain't got to show you no stinkin badges!"

Skiddum · Feb 26, 2015

awe the gold fever. gotta love hate thing going with this. I love hunting for it and playing in the river but my wife hares that I spend money on equipment like the grizzly 3. but at the same time she wants it to lol. but we have.
Last week I was going crazy for something to do. pan sluice whatever. I almost bought a bunch of equipment we didn't need. especially after the nice weather the week before. I got to go out an find some nice gold. then it turned cold and yeah. so Instead we bought a bag of pay dirt. so I could pan. 15 buck for dirt most people would think where crazy. it contained a tiny amount of gold nothing big just some small stuff. allot of it is close to 30 to 100 mesh it's supposed to be for experienced panners. allot harder to pan I guess. I went through it 6 times sadly I caught it all the first time. but I keep it in a small tub so when the fever hits I got something I can go do to keep it in check haha