ARIZONA OUTBACK
Serving the Prospecting & Treasure Hunting Community since 1998. Arizona Outback
is one of the Nation's leading suppliers of metal detection technology. Our team
members have traveled around the world using the very products we sell, and are
accredited experts on the Minelab brand. We are a family owned company, who
pride ourselves on Honesty and Superior Customer Service. We are proud
supporters of Outdoor Recreation and Mining Heritage preservation.
A Closer Look at Team AZO
 Chris Gholson
Chris Gholson’s introduction to gold prospecting started as a young boy when his
grandfather began taking him along on his many excursions into the Arizona
desert to search for Indian artifacts, relics, and of course gold. In 1998,
Chris wrote his first book, Metal Detecting for Placer Gold. In 2002, he
authored another book titled, Rich Hill: The History of Arizona’s Most Amazing
Gold District, with his colleagues from the University of Arizona and California
State University. He is a columnist for Lost Treasure Magazine, and is
contributing author for several other magazines including: The Gold Prospector,
and the International California Mining Journal. He works as a product field
tester for virtually all the large metal detector manufacturers. Chris has made
numerous appearances on the Outdoor Channel and has been featured in television
commercials for Minelab Electronics. He holds a Bachelors degree in Biological
Sciences. He has prospected extensively throughout the Western United States,
the Australian Outback, the goldfields of Alaska, and the rainforests of South
America.
 Alyssa Gholson
Alyssa is a native of Arizona and grew up in Mesa. She graduated from Arizona
State University in 2000 and spent four years teaching first grade at an
elementary school in Scottsdale, AZ. She became interested in gold prospecting
the first time her boyfriend (now husband), Chris brought her a shiny vial of
tiny gold flakes that he had dredged from the Bradshaw Mountains. She has
traveled the eastern coast of Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and throughout the
western United States. She is an accomplished prospector and detectorist. Alyssa
has temporarily left the teaching profession to come aboard full time at Arizona
Outback.
 Steve Gholson
Steve was born in 1959 in the small farming community of Hoopeston, Illinois. He
moved out West to Arizona with his family in 1959. Many hours of his youth were
spent being dragged around the Superstition Mountains by his father in search of
the legendary Lost Dutchman Mine. Steve became interested in Ham Radio at the
age of 13 (WATSC – Advanced Class), which eventually led him to the study of
quartz crystals and crystal filters used in the electronic industry. Steve began
his own electronics manufacturing company, Temex Electronics, in 1982. His
company produced a variety of products including Rubidium Atomic clocks,
oscillators, monolithic quartz crystal filters, etc.
He sold the company and retired in 1995, which allowed him more time to pursue
his interests in gold prospecting. Steve first purchased a metal detector back
in 1985, but didn’t become heavily involved with detecting until the past six
years. Together with his son Chris, he has prospected throughout the Western
United States, Alaska, and has spent many season working in the Outback of
Australia. Although Steve has found numerous pounds of gold nuggets, he still
finds enough time to pursue other interests such as tournament chess and the
study of physics and mathematics.
 Joe Kauffman
Joe’s interest in gold started back in elementary school when he began reading
about the legendary Lost Dutchman’s gold mine believed to be located somewhere
in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. Finally in 1996, a lifelong friend (Chris
Gholson) invited him to come along on a detecting trip. Joe had never handled a
metal detector before, but after only a few hours of hunting with the XT17000 he
netted his first nugget and was immediately stricken with gold fever! He now
swings a Minelab GP Extreme and is having more luck than ever. His collection of
nuggets range from a mere grain to well over an ounce. Joe; or Cactus Joe as we
like to call him; has prospected throughout the goldfields of Arizona, New
Mexico and Western Australia.
Joe is a real whiz when it comes to computers, and with the AZO website
constantly growing he is responsible for the weekly maintenance and the updating
of pages as new products arrive and gold discoveries are made. Besides his
interest in computers and gold, he is also an avid hunter. He has taken 16 big
game animals including the 11th largest bull elk in the world for the 2000
archery elk season and 2 mule deer that scored high enough to make the Boone and
Crockett record books. He is also a licensed hunting guide in AZ so keep him in
mind if you are lucky enough to get drawn!
 Bob "Montana" Dansie
When asked how he got involved with gold prospecting, Bob had this to say. “I
have always had an interest in outdoor pastimes and went artifact hunting and
rock-hounding with my parents from the time I was old enough to walk. My
grandfather was an ore buyer for Utah mining and smelting and traveled the west
in a model "A" Ford buying gold, silver, and copper ore directly from the
miners. His travels took him all over Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah, Montana
and Idaho. I grew up hearing tales of his adventures and the rich gold mines he
saw. My uncle on my Dad’s side was a mining engineer at the Campbird Mine in
Colorado. How could I not get the gold Fever at some point? It had to be put off
until I got my family raised but I started hearing tales of huge nuggets being
found in Australia with detectors in the early 80's. It wasn't until 1988 that I
got a detector and found my first nugget about a year later while living in Lake
Havasu City. Within 6 months I was on a plane to Australia. I made six trips
over to Western Australia staying 6-months each time. I went in the hole the
first couple of trips but my last trip in 1996 was good for 40-ounces. All that
gold was sold long ago because I was doing it for a living. Since that time I
have been prospecting here in the Western US, Alaska, and Mexico. I now make my
home in the California Motherlode where I continue work closely with AZO. Buying
that first detector was a real turning point in my life and has provided me with
16 years of fun and adventure, and travel to places that I would never have seen
otherwise. What used to be a fun job is now a fun hobby and I can't imagine a
healthier, exciting thing to be doing at this point in my life…”
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