Wanting to move!!

Jwilson534

Jr. Member
Mar 2, 2017
51
41
Southeast ohio
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
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Laz7777

Sr. Member
Dec 19, 2015
255
494
South Fork Yuba River, Motherlode
Detector(s) used
GoldBug II
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I've lived in both places, but never mined in Georgia.
AZ has more places to prospect than GA, if that's your main consideration, AZ is mo' bettah.
in AZ, it's the Dept. of Game and Fish, not Fish and Game, for the main reason being the lack of too many places to fish.
you could move to some places that are good fishing: Lake Havasu/Colorado river area is one of the larger areas to fish and there's gold in the area, but you're not going to be too far from gold anywhere in AZ.
you'll need to get used to desert and very high temps starting in spring, unless you go to a higher elevation like Prescott or Flagtaff.
anyways, there ya go with my $.02
 

Laz7777

Sr. Member
Dec 19, 2015
255
494
South Fork Yuba River, Motherlode
Detector(s) used
GoldBug II
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
just another thought in favor of AZ: land prices in some areas is cheap, but many of them are off-grid living.
generators/solar panels, hauling your water, no cable (who cares)....but just look up land prices in Yucca or Golden Valley, you can get a lot for about $2 grand, even less.
 

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Jwilson534

Jr. Member
Mar 2, 2017
51
41
Southeast ohio
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I wonder how hard it would be to get the mineral rights to your land in az...wouldn't want to own the land but someone else having a claim on it...I'll have to check it out...I don't mind living off the grid and hauling water and stuff...thanks for the reply...I'll have to look into mineral rights and stuff in az.
 

russau

Gold Member
May 29, 2005
7,282
6,743
St. Louis, missouri
I wonder how hard it would be to get the mineral rights to your land in az...wouldn't want to own the land but someone else having a claim on it...I'll have to check it out...I don't mind living off the grid and hauling water and stuff...thanks for the reply...I'll have to look into mineral rights and stuff in az.

That's what your title search is for to make sure NOBODY has a minerals claim on the property you are looking at. EXPRESS that point CLEARLY to the relator when talking to them! In Missery all the mineral rights were sold off / bought up years back , so now we have to think about subsidence insurance for your land sinking or caving in under your home!
 

sherm

Jr. Member
Feb 8, 2017
41
43
mt jewett pa
Detector(s) used
minelab eurka gold
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Private Claims

Hey! Good morning.
Let me throw this at you. I started prospecting about 18 years ago. Got interested after watching the GPAA show. My wife bought me a less expensive metal detector for Christmas one year and I joined the GPAA. (Don't ever do that, or the LDMA either.) Belonged to both. There's is very limited gold on the properties that I worked and stayed at. After driving to AZ. several times, from PA. and finding zilch, I looked into buying my own claim. After researching EBAY, found a fella in the Wickenburg, AZ area that had several 40 acre BLM claims for sale. (These are for sale in just about every western state) and Alaska that has gold and/or gems. YOU OWN THE MINERALS RIGHTS BUT NOT THE PROPERTY the BLM owns the land. Now I bought one from him, it was very pricy. $7500. Later I found you can get these claims from the Government for less than $200. I had my claim for around 7 years. I found nice crystalline gold and some small nuggets but not very much of it. The work was demanding, as it is all drywashing. So you will need about a thousand dollars worth of equipment to get started. Got a call one year before from a fella I befriended out there that someone was working my claim. To make a long story short, I sold my claim to the guy I think was working my claim, alto he claimed it wasn't him. Now, hindsite is 20/20. I found later,. that I had walking past good gold the whole time I had the claim. I went to AZ last year, (last time I was there was 4 years ago) just to see who had the claim now. As luck would have it, I met up with the guy I bought the claim from and was told someone from CA. now had the claim. These claims come and go pretty fast, as the people that buy them get discouraged and quit working them and they go back to the BLM and this guy buys them again to sale again. I'm 100% positive that there's is good gold, and I mean good gold on this claim. I wish I had it back. The years are catching up to me now, almost 73, but as a retired cement finisher, block and stone mason, I still stay busy. I still pour cement and lay stone and block. That's how I fund my trips to AZ. Never smoked but I do drink beer. Just to keep my weight up. I'm thinking bout going to the Tuscon Greaterville AZ area next season. But I'd still buy that old claim near Wickenburg. What I'm getting at, if you want a claim with the mineral rights, I can give you the guys name whose has claims forsale. Maybe we can work something out. I'll watch your thread. Butch
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,225
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Buy patented land.

Most private land in the west was patented. The mineral rights can be separated from the surface rights once property leaves the public domain.

So, if you are looking to buy land to dig on, make sure you check the deed first to see if the mineral rights are retained. It may take a bit of looking.
 

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arizau

Bronze Member
May 2, 2014
2,485
3,871
AZ
Detector(s) used
Beach High Banker, Sweep Jig, Whippet Dry Washer, Lobo ST, 1/2 width 2 tray Gold Cube, numerous pans, rocker box, and home made fluid bed and stream sluices.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Most private land in the west was patented. The mineral rights can be separated, from the surface rights once property leaves the public domain.

so, if you are looking to buy land to dig on, make sure you check the deed first to see if the mineral rights are retained. It may take a bit of looking.

Hey Goldwasher

Here's your chance to sell your house and lot.:laughing7:
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,225
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hmmm...well I was getting ready to join the gpaa but now maybe I wont...haha

For a guy coming from the midwest looking for spots in places you haven't been to, it may be worth it. having the maps in one book with the nearby pay to play spots as well is handy.

In my opinion a lot of gpaa claims are only played out in relation to the average effort ant ability that visits them. Looking at most of the claims in the west they do tend to be in good areas.

the new ones that pop up are worth hitting first if your worried about spots being pounded.

If you head out into mining areas with out real knowledge of the claims in the area you could end up doing a lot of driving around. with a membership at least you'll know your somewhere you actually have the right to be.

If you live in an area with mining history and public lands it has less value and reason to join. Especially once you learn to research and prospect.
 

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Jwilson534

Jr. Member
Mar 2, 2017
51
41
Southeast ohio
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I live in an area that has no mining and no gold. So I thought about joining just so I had some places to go that are a few hours away from me.
 

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Jwilson534

Jr. Member
Mar 2, 2017
51
41
Southeast ohio
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Well I'm single and my kid is grown and in college so I'm free to move where ever I want. Just finding that place is hard to choose...haha
 

brianc053

Hero Member
Jan 27, 2015
974
3,371
Morris County, NJ
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
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Minelab Equinox 800
XP Deus 2
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Metal Detecting
...If you head out into mining areas with out real knowledge of the claims in the area you could end up doing a lot of driving around. with a membership at least you'll know your somewhere you actually have the right to be....
When I read sherm's comment about the GPAA it gave me pause, because I just renewed my membership at the end of 2016. But then Goldwasher's comment reminded me of my personal reason for joining: I live in New Jersey but occasionally get to go out West and spend a day or two prospecting. The GPAA - with its locations and their maps - give me an "anchor" for any trip I make, a fall-back plan just in case I can't find a better location from a local.
I do have to say that I don't feel like I really get my money's worth out of my GPAA membership, but still - it only takes one good trip to a claim to make it FEEL like it was worth it.
- Brian
 

bc5391

Hero Member
Sep 23, 2016
541
775
Southern Arizona
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Minelab ,XP
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I vote for Arizona, I've left several times but keep coming back. If you can handle the heat its a great place to live. When I bought my property, I bought the land, but not the mineral rights. The scenery will change from desert to high desert, Forrest, mountains to flat land. I've seen it 115 in Phoenix during July but snowing in Show Low.
 

russau

Gold Member
May 29, 2005
7,282
6,743
St. Louis, missouri
I was wanting to move back when I retired BUT where else can you get the aroma of burning buildings and the whiz of bullets flying by or the threat of drive bys! Its the same all over except a slightly different situation!:dontknow:
 

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