Digger Bob
New member
The TDI SL scores again! This time, it's a really nice one.
Here's the story. Working a hydraulic pit in the Sierras, I was working slowly up along a stacked pile of tailings. It was a narrow, flat "trail" where in the old days, they had placed either the sluice or the hydraulic pipes. It was a flat area of decomposed bedrock, filled in with rubble to make it smooth. Right at the edge of the rock pile, I got a very weak "woo" signal. It took a bit to break up and get down into the decomposing bedrock. The signal remained weak, since the hole was small and I could barely get the point of the loop into the hole. Once the target was out, it was a booming signal.
Now, the reason why such a big nugget gave such a weak response is simple; it was on edge, wedged into the bedrock sideways. It was only about 6 inches deep and I couldn't get enough room to sweep from all sides. But, I heard it and dug it as you must do with all weak signals. Especially in an area like this. The conditions were ideal; bedrock, old tailings, mild ground. I was using the 10x6 Jimmy loop with the settings at the standard for nugget hunting. Wt of the nugget; 5.6 dwt.
Also is a picture of the two largest nuggets I've found with this machine in the last month.
Digger Bob
Here's the story. Working a hydraulic pit in the Sierras, I was working slowly up along a stacked pile of tailings. It was a narrow, flat "trail" where in the old days, they had placed either the sluice or the hydraulic pipes. It was a flat area of decomposed bedrock, filled in with rubble to make it smooth. Right at the edge of the rock pile, I got a very weak "woo" signal. It took a bit to break up and get down into the decomposing bedrock. The signal remained weak, since the hole was small and I could barely get the point of the loop into the hole. Once the target was out, it was a booming signal.
Now, the reason why such a big nugget gave such a weak response is simple; it was on edge, wedged into the bedrock sideways. It was only about 6 inches deep and I couldn't get enough room to sweep from all sides. But, I heard it and dug it as you must do with all weak signals. Especially in an area like this. The conditions were ideal; bedrock, old tailings, mild ground. I was using the 10x6 Jimmy loop with the settings at the standard for nugget hunting. Wt of the nugget; 5.6 dwt.
Also is a picture of the two largest nuggets I've found with this machine in the last month.
Digger Bob