The Ultimate Gold machine

[landman]

If you were going to hunt for gold nuggets on land, in streams which detector would you use and why?

 

[bearkat4160]

Well since you said land and streams I would have to say the LS. Land and sea, which would be an Infinium LS. If land only, GP 4000.

 

[GAdigger]

I am purchasing a gold claim on the North Forks of the Salmon River in northern CA. When not dredging I will be detecting. I am new to detecting for gold only. I have an older White's XLT spectrum but am considering the new MineLab 4500. Should I even bother packing the XLT for the next trip, or just leave it in GA for other relic hunting? Whatever new detector I purchase will be used exclusively for finding gold nuggets. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

 

[UK Brian]

I should avoid buying the 4500 for the time being in view of the recall of that model in Australia....unless Minelab U.S. confirm there's no problem with the ones in the States.

 

[drayegon]

I talked to a Minelab Dealer Yesterday. He had to send his wifes Minelab GPX4500 in for the recall. He happened to have a newer model on the shelf two of them infact. They were both later models than the ones with a newer number than the ones under recall. He did have to send one back that was on the shelf. Seems that after a very short time a couple of the transistors would short out due to the lack of a small Cap that kept down problems in the voltage swings during adjustment. That happens on any high precision electrical circuit. I do know having dealt with this person for many years and much of the time by putting my life in his hands. He would only tell me the whole truth.

73
dray

 

[EARTHLINGX]

If you were going to hunt for gold nuggets on land, in streams which detector would you use and why?

since you will be out in the backwoods hunting in not a lot of trash you could get away with an AQUA SEARCH (about 1600.00) because it is submersible to 8ft.... go to surfscanner.com and go to the bottom of the page and click on Eric Foster and it will bring up the 3 that they sell..... i have a goldscan 5c and it is 2700.00

 

[poddar]

Or you could look at the new White's TDI. It lists about the same as the Aquasearch. It won't work if you want to submerge the whole thing, but otherwise you get a PI detector with their ability to ignore bad ground and hot rocks, and you can use it as a coin and beach hunter as well. It's been said that it's not as deep as a ML on deep, large gold, but it's 1/3 the cost and maybe more flexible than any other PI. It is not a turn on and go machine like most VLFs, however, so it will take some practice to learn to use it well. Last weekend I found what may be a meteorite with mine while scanning a creekbed. It's passed the i.d. tests I've found online, but I have to submit a piece of it to the Meteorlogical Society for a final verdict. Not sure that it's worth all that.

Wayne

 

[Reg]

Hi Wayne,

First, I would recommend you have the rock analyzed to be sure it is or isn't a meteorite. Why? Well, to make a story short, a few years ago, a couple I know found what they thought might be a meteorite about the size of a baseball. That "rock" was a meteorite and estimated to be valued at approximately $22,000. Now, that is not bad for a rock.

Reg

 

[poddar]

Thanks, Reg.

I have a friend who is a medical doctor and geologist who has suggested the same. The University of Virginia is nearby, so I may try to find someone there to help. I need to clean it up to help in identification as it's hard to tell how long it's been in the creek overburden. I've read that only one out of a thousand samples submitted for testing actually turn out to be meteorites, but this one has potential in that it's heavy, magnetic, too soft to be magnetite, and has some other more technical characteristics going for it. If I have it tested, I'll post the results.

Wayne

 

[Reg]

Hi Wayne,

Many universities or organizations will test a suspected rock and do so for free. Generally, they require or request a free sample, should the rock turn out to be a meteorite. A few years ago, I had email conversations with O. Richard Norton, author of Rocks From Space and The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Meteorites. At that time, he would also evaluate suspected meteorites sent to him. If he felt they were a meteorite they were forwarded to be further evaluated. He also requested a sample if it turned out to be a meteorite. Any rock not found to be a meteorite would be discarded unless the owner paid to have it shipped back, which I thought was quite reasonable. I am not sure if that offer still stands today, though.

BTW, I have used a modified Eric Foster PI to find several meteorites in Gold Basin AZ.

Reg