Hello all, this topic was in response to several messages that I have received in the last year or so. I am hoping that some of you other guys that have just as much background detecting for gold will chime in also. We have a vast array of experience on this forum. All of the messages I received were requests for information that would guide an individual to be a better detectorist/miner. I write detectorist/miner purposely because to be adept at one does not mean you know anything about the other.
The one thing I have seen since the arrival of PI's is that if a person is given a PI and put on a piece of gold bearing ground, they pretty well are going to find gold. There is a learning curve with a PI but I think some of the guys that have been doing this for awhile would agree that the learning curve is nothing to what we had with older units, mostly VLF's. The other thing as far as I am concerned is that we have come full circle with PI's. When I got the GP 3000 it was a unit that you turned on, ground balanced, and started to hunt. Pretty easy, huh, well that was suppose to be the nice thing about Minelab's back then and they were easy. In my minds eye the newer PI's have evolved to a very fancy VLF machine without the low frequency. You have so many selections and functions that it is mind boggling to all but the very experienced. I still use that very same GP 3000 that has mods that were done by Ishmael. With the right coil on my 3000 I still find my share of gold very easily, if it is there. I use several different coils for certain areas. I have been finding grain size pieces of gold at some depth for many years. My old 17 inch NF Mono has searched out many nuggets at up to two feet, and yes I have many friends that will attest to that.
So what does this have to do to help newbies, probably nothing, other than reinforce the fact that you have to learn whatever machine you have. Would I like a 5000, yes I would love to own one but because of the knowledge I have of my 3000 and it's little nuance's and the ease of operation I will stay with it. If you are in an area that has been hunted for years and years then it may be advantageous to own and learn the newest technology that is out there. A prime example of this is the Golden Eagle area and Rye Patch, both in Nevada. Hundreds and I mean hundreds of ounces of beautiful nuggets came out of both these areas long before the PI's came out. I remember seeing and old timer and his wife at a place called the Big Easy take pounds of gold out with a Whites 6000 DI. Many years later PI's became king and many more pounds have come out of those same areas. With the new technology on hand even more is still being found.
Now, I ask this question, do we all have access to these and other areas or for the most part are we working locally ? Many guys cannot afford to travel to find gold in the "famous" areas and therefore have been forced to learn something about local geology. Hopefully they are in an area that produces gold. I am lucky that I am in an area that has gold and that gold is in nugget form. I see a lot of the new guys that are travelling to try and find gold. If you are in an area where there is nugget gold then narrow it down and go back to school and learn that area's geology. The area I hunt here in Redding is so different from the Sierra that most guys that come to hunt with me are lost as to where to start. Yes, there are the basic places, old mines, old diggings, creek beds, placer deposits and mining pits. I find gold in all those areas but I also find much of my gold on open grassy hillsides that have never been mined. These are pocket stringers and can be very productive. What do you look for ? I can go into a whole spiel about that but will not. As I said earlier learn your hunting area. Basically most structure is pretty close to the same but the names of the host rock, the intrusive material, and the general lay of the land changes. In most instances I cannot expect to go to Gold Basin and look for the exact same formations of rock that I deal with here in Redding. Again the structure is probably pretty close but the local rock is different. You will encounter this wherever you go. I have four distinct formations here in Redding that will produce for me. Many of these formations intermingle throughout other formations so it becomes a bit tougher as two formations generally carry nuggets and the other two throw fine gold only. Learning facts like this can help you to be successful.
I would say to some of the new guys, find a producing area and learn it. You might find that that you don't want to go anywhere else. Sure, I go to many areas to hunt but I do a lot of research on the local geology before going. I don't like going to an area and being satisfied that I am hunting where everyone else has. I go out and roam, look for contacts, look at rock, look at ground. One thing I love to do is walk miles and miles of ditches to see where the water went to. There were many small operators who stole water from a ditch to wash a bit of ground before being caught. Some of these areas have been very good to me, especially in the Sierra. It does not have to be a big area. ten square feet sometimes is all you need.
One other thing is the fact that many of the guys that have contacted me have spent six or seven thousand dollars because they were told that gold would be found just because they have the newest machine on the market. This takes me back to the beginning of this topic. It really helps to be somewhat of a miner and have some knowledge of geology to begin detecting for those nuggets. Like I said if someone got a new unit and had someone stick your nose in an area with nuggets well.... But not everyone has the money to buy all the newest technology so learn what you can and then buy the best unit for the area you are working. You may not need a VLF, you may have to have a PI. or vice versa. I hope some of this answers some of the questions I received. Again I hope some of the other great hunters we have on this forum will come forward and shed some light on things that could help a newbie. TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS
The one thing I have seen since the arrival of PI's is that if a person is given a PI and put on a piece of gold bearing ground, they pretty well are going to find gold. There is a learning curve with a PI but I think some of the guys that have been doing this for awhile would agree that the learning curve is nothing to what we had with older units, mostly VLF's. The other thing as far as I am concerned is that we have come full circle with PI's. When I got the GP 3000 it was a unit that you turned on, ground balanced, and started to hunt. Pretty easy, huh, well that was suppose to be the nice thing about Minelab's back then and they were easy. In my minds eye the newer PI's have evolved to a very fancy VLF machine without the low frequency. You have so many selections and functions that it is mind boggling to all but the very experienced. I still use that very same GP 3000 that has mods that were done by Ishmael. With the right coil on my 3000 I still find my share of gold very easily, if it is there. I use several different coils for certain areas. I have been finding grain size pieces of gold at some depth for many years. My old 17 inch NF Mono has searched out many nuggets at up to two feet, and yes I have many friends that will attest to that.
So what does this have to do to help newbies, probably nothing, other than reinforce the fact that you have to learn whatever machine you have. Would I like a 5000, yes I would love to own one but because of the knowledge I have of my 3000 and it's little nuance's and the ease of operation I will stay with it. If you are in an area that has been hunted for years and years then it may be advantageous to own and learn the newest technology that is out there. A prime example of this is the Golden Eagle area and Rye Patch, both in Nevada. Hundreds and I mean hundreds of ounces of beautiful nuggets came out of both these areas long before the PI's came out. I remember seeing and old timer and his wife at a place called the Big Easy take pounds of gold out with a Whites 6000 DI. Many years later PI's became king and many more pounds have come out of those same areas. With the new technology on hand even more is still being found.
Now, I ask this question, do we all have access to these and other areas or for the most part are we working locally ? Many guys cannot afford to travel to find gold in the "famous" areas and therefore have been forced to learn something about local geology. Hopefully they are in an area that produces gold. I am lucky that I am in an area that has gold and that gold is in nugget form. I see a lot of the new guys that are travelling to try and find gold. If you are in an area where there is nugget gold then narrow it down and go back to school and learn that area's geology. The area I hunt here in Redding is so different from the Sierra that most guys that come to hunt with me are lost as to where to start. Yes, there are the basic places, old mines, old diggings, creek beds, placer deposits and mining pits. I find gold in all those areas but I also find much of my gold on open grassy hillsides that have never been mined. These are pocket stringers and can be very productive. What do you look for ? I can go into a whole spiel about that but will not. As I said earlier learn your hunting area. Basically most structure is pretty close to the same but the names of the host rock, the intrusive material, and the general lay of the land changes. In most instances I cannot expect to go to Gold Basin and look for the exact same formations of rock that I deal with here in Redding. Again the structure is probably pretty close but the local rock is different. You will encounter this wherever you go. I have four distinct formations here in Redding that will produce for me. Many of these formations intermingle throughout other formations so it becomes a bit tougher as two formations generally carry nuggets and the other two throw fine gold only. Learning facts like this can help you to be successful.
I would say to some of the new guys, find a producing area and learn it. You might find that that you don't want to go anywhere else. Sure, I go to many areas to hunt but I do a lot of research on the local geology before going. I don't like going to an area and being satisfied that I am hunting where everyone else has. I go out and roam, look for contacts, look at rock, look at ground. One thing I love to do is walk miles and miles of ditches to see where the water went to. There were many small operators who stole water from a ditch to wash a bit of ground before being caught. Some of these areas have been very good to me, especially in the Sierra. It does not have to be a big area. ten square feet sometimes is all you need.
One other thing is the fact that many of the guys that have contacted me have spent six or seven thousand dollars because they were told that gold would be found just because they have the newest machine on the market. This takes me back to the beginning of this topic. It really helps to be somewhat of a miner and have some knowledge of geology to begin detecting for those nuggets. Like I said if someone got a new unit and had someone stick your nose in an area with nuggets well.... But not everyone has the money to buy all the newest technology so learn what you can and then buy the best unit for the area you are working. You may not need a VLF, you may have to have a PI. or vice versa. I hope some of this answers some of the questions I received. Again I hope some of the other great hunters we have on this forum will come forward and shed some light on things that could help a newbie. TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS
I use different gold detectors for different prospecting scenarios. My go to detector is a Minelab 7000 with the 12-inch Nugget Finder coil, I also use the Minelab Monster 1000.
Check out the soil in this picture. It is made up of clay and the dirt itself is very granular and gritty. This soil is setting on shale bedrock which is only about a foot deep.
I use a VLF unit when I am going lightweight and checking out very shallow bedrock. The current VLF I use is the Gold Monster 1000 made by Minelab. I use the five-inch round coil on my Monster. The Monster is a very sensitive detector and will hear the smallest sub-grain pieces of gold that may be encountered in the field. The Monster is waterproof up to the control box making it a fantastic sniping detector for bedrock in shallow water conditions. The Monster is an exceptional gold detector for high trash areas. I have pulled many ounces of gold out of high trash areas. Yes, I have also taken lots of other targets out of the same areas, however the monster just seems to make the distinction of sounds better.
Here is a small nugget found in an area new to me. One piece was found initially and after sweeping the same area there were another seven or eight pieces found. Slow down and sharpen your pencil.
If you are considering getting into detecting for gold nuggets then you need to realize the need for using both technologies, PI and VLF. There are excellent detectors on both sides of the fence. You can start out with one or the other but at some time in the future you will more than likely see the need to use both technologies. I go over this subject with more detail in my book, "Detecting for Gold, Adventures, Trips and Tips". I can say that quite a bit of my gold could have been found with a VLF. I have used many VLF's over the years, Whites DI 6000, all the Gold Master series, Fisher Gold Bug II, Minelab's Eureka Gold and the various Garrett units. Most of the VLF units that are dedicated to gold detecting run neck and neck in comparison with one unit having something that another does not. A new company, Nokta is offering a gold detector that has a vibration mode for detection. This company has a combination of what the other manufacturers offer and a few more new items on the menu. No one company has put a dedicated gold detector on the market that seems to do it all.
My wife out detecting an old cabin site, one Chinese coin and a piece of silver. I found several small nuggets a few yards away on the banks of the gully.
I use equipment that works for me. That does not make other equipment bad. As I mentioned already there are many capable units on the market but the way that I go about choosing a gold detector may be totally different than how any other person may choose a detector. I try to get my hands on a detector before I purchase it. I also like to give the detector a test drive for at least a week or two, preferably a month or so. The weight and balance of the detector is another decision that is high on my decision making process. Since I do trips into the back country for days at a time I like a detector that will break down easily for packing. Power is a consideration as batteries can get expensive and add to the weight load. A key item that I really watch for is how the unit is designed, meaning that I like a detector that can be guided through the dense brush that I normally encounter. Hang-ups on limbs and other obstructions are detector and headphone killers. Finally, I want a detector that is suitable for the ground conditions and is waterproof as I have been known to detect bedrock on small streams.
Lots of bedrock to work along this watershed. The nugget gold detected was here and there, no real concentrated areas.
I have been switching on and off with the use of VLF and PI detectors for years. I have learned to use them both in their respective type of detecting. I choose the detector that will work for me at the location I will be detecting for gold at that day. Let me make it clear, I do not carry two units out in the field on any certain day. I keep mental notes as to what type of ground and what detector will perform better at particular locations that I come up on. When ever I go back to that area I have a general idea of what detector to carry along. There have been times when I wish I had both types of detectors right there with me, just so I would not have to make the same trip again. Some of my hikes, walks, trips seem to be pretty grueling with many people, but that is a part of detecting for gold to me.
Here is another nugget sitting in that same gritty soil overlying shale bedrock. This piece was about four pennyweight.
If you are detecting for gold on wide open ground with no chance of damaging a detector then your choices in a detector could change. Battery weight or cost may not even come into the equation. You may never detect in water, some of you desert guys and gals will never detect in water, so a waterproof unit is not something you need. You might be able to purchase a detector that will offer items on the menu that you will use. I guess what I am heading at is that there are trade-offs on all the various gold detectors on the market. You as a consumer, just as in any other purchase, need to know exactly what you need before you head to the store.
These pieces of gold were found where a granite dike cut across a creek bed that was generally shale. The contact made for good gold deposition. Watch for any type of dike that offers a disruption along the creek bed and lends itself to gold deposition.
I have some detectors that are not gold dedicated units but do other things very well. Discrimination is one of those things. I had a patch a few years back that was putting out lots of pennyweight plus nuggets, very coarse and they all looked like steel wool pads. These nuggets were out of reach for a VLF as far as depth. Several PI units would not give a signal on the spongy gold. I have had this occur a few times at different locations with this type of gold. One day while out detecting for gold my wife came along for the hunt as there was an old cabin site right nearby. She loves to detect for relics and coins. I had found a few small pieces of gold and wandered over to her and was surprised to see that she had found an old Chinese coin. Just over the ridge a hundred yards was the location with the spongy gold nuggets. She was going to take a break for awhile so I grabbed her Explorer II and headed out for an experiment. I turned the detector on and went over the extremely well detected ground. Within a few minutes I had a nice signal. It was very clear and pinpointed. After digging down about fourteen inches there was something that looked like a golden steel wool pad that rolled out of the hole with the dirt. I put it in my pocket and continued detecting. I found four more small masses of gold before heading back over to my wife. At home that first piece weighted out at a bit over seven pennyweight. All together I had twelve and a half pennyweights of gold. I used the Explorer II several more times at similar scenarios and it did well for me. Don't be afraid to try something different, you might get a pleasant surprise.
Here is a pennyweight nugget that was just lying in the red topsoil about six inches deep.
There are other very capable gold detectors on the market that offer PI and VLF technology, The first books I ever read about gold detecting were written by Charles Garrett and Roy Lagal.
A good friend detecting along a creek bed. Lots of cracks and crevices for the gold to hide in. This bedrock is very hot and the signals are soft, so slow swinging is in order.
With the upsurge of newer technology I keep my eyes open for the next gold detector that will be made for the consumer. I see no reason why we cannot have lighter, longer lasting batteries that are contained in the control box or the shaft. Why can't we have a coil cord that will be located inside the detector shaft. With the electronics we have nowadays why not make a better connection for coils, closer to the coil. It sure would make changing coils out a lot easier. I would suspect that if coils were easier to change out that there would be a rise in the sales of additional coils. On a final note, with my eyes at my age I would like to see manufacturers stop putting text on the coils especially in a gold color, come on guys, you're killing me.
Here is a nugget that was very shallow and lying near bedrock. Note again, the same gritty soil, however this nugget is almost three hundred miles to the East of the other nuggets shown above. Goes to show that favorable conditions where gold gets caught up can be similar at different locations.
Lots of guys have told me that they just want to find the big stuff. I guess that is a good outlook however it does not seem to work out very well for most folks. I have come across a few guys when a patch of sub-grain gold has been found. They will be doubled over scratching at the ground feverishly, and they almost always have grins on their faces. Gold is gold and it all adds up. Another point about small gold is this; small gold many times will lead you to big gold.
Two beautiful nuggets found by a friend. Many people thought they were found in Northern Nevada because of the pattern. These nuggets were found in Shasta County, California. These two nuggets remind us not to get too set in our ways of what is what and have preconceived ideas. Gold is where you find it.