Metal detecting in mines, yalls best suggestions?

[NVkermit]

Howdy all, yeppers I'm a noob to mining, but I enjoy the hunt as well as the possibilities it brings. I have two small mine sites, the first one has a lot of quartz vein runs, pockets, and some sections with all the tales of good possibilities , the second one sparkles up in the daytime because of the amount of pyrite. The boulders, rocks, and the sand itself appears to be made of black rock and pyrite combined. I've learned so far you can crush down the quartz and work the fines to separate the gold and I have research some on how to release the gold from pyrite. My big question for you fine folks is what would be the best gold detector to take into and around the mines to narrow down my searches and so my time and can be better spent in the more productive areas. Both mines "used" to produce gold when they were last mined 80+ yrs ago. And yes I am the legal registered owner of each claim and will not go into the DEEP shafts until all the proper safety equipment and proper entry/exit gear is in place. For now I'm happy with just searching the shallow pits and tailings. I will be retiring in a few years and these mines will be my hobby (fortune?!) but in the mean time, I plan on getting all the tools I will need and build on the knowledge on how to use them. Thanks for reading my rambles and double thanks if you have any suggested equipment.
This is a picture of basically what type of the pyrite I have at site two.

 

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[Sheldon J]

Just two words BE SAFE!!!

Old mines are dangerous!!! Low oxygen, rotten timbers, that little puddle is very deep, various varmints, old unused explosives, who owns it now, never go alone, and that is just a partial list....

 

[NVkermit]

Good words to go by. I own it. I have researched it. Won't go down a shaft until my 4-1 air monitors show up. And I always take my son and his friends (all in their twenties) along for the adventure. I'm ex-military and grew up on bases with a Drill Sargent for a dad, so I always follow the rules I just trying to work smarter and not harder than is needed. That's why I figured I would get advice from the pro's as to what detector (below 1k cost) would they use to help guide a noob to dig better and not be wasting too much effort in a non-productive area.

 

[Alex Burke]

The Gold Bug II is a good detector but if you have a lot of heavies present you might want a pulse induction detector because they sort of ground balance themselves and might work better. I would check out the metal detecting forum here on tnet, there are some guys that use detectors for hunting gold in the Sierras and could tell you way better than I. PI detectors are expensive but I think there are a couple in the 1k to 1500 range and may be worth spending the extra money on depending on the advice you get.

 

[Anduril]

Congrats on your mine!
I really hope you find a nice fat gold vein that our old-time miner brothers missed !!!

One recommendation:
I know you are already very safety-conscious, but I would strongly suggest everyone take an OSHA refresher course in "Permit-Required Confined Spaces".
The next regularly scheduled class offered in your area is on March 22:
CONFINED SPACE AWARENESS (LV) | SCATS

 

[smokeythecat]

I used a Tesoro Lobo with excellent results.

 

[NVkermit]

Thanks for the info. I will look into the pulse detectors and see if I can swing it.
With my current job I do constant confined entry training along with about 18 other OSHA required trainings each year. (I work for local city here and they require for us to stay current and constantly tested on all OSHA safety) But yes, anyone going in a hole should know safety so they will come back out of the hole.

 

[NVkermit]

I haven't heard of that one before, time for more research, thank you.

 

[Terry Soloman]

VLF: Fisher Goldbug II; Tesoro Lobo Super Traq; Whites GMT

Pulse Induction: Minelab SD, GPX, GPZ; Garrett ATX

 

[Sheldon J]

of note on the PI detectors some units are specifically designed to ignore hot rocks, iron deposits such as black sand and detect specifically gold although very expen$ive (mine Lab for one and yes I have one) they can be worth their weight in deep recovery maybe you can find a local dealer that will rent you one for e weekend before you buy...

 

[NVkermit]

Thank you all for the suggestions and messages, I have lots of research to do, may wait till after the https://www.facebook.com/events/1628029154103903/ at the end of this month (they are giving away detectors in random drawing, hope I win, lol)

 

[dave wiseman]

At the Sixteen to one gold mine in Northern California they used White's metal detectors in combo with other technology to find highgrade pockets of gold and species.

 

[NVkermit]

White's is one of the front runners on my growing list, it seems to be mentioned the most so far for what I have planned.

 

[Scubaman2]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Me and my son have been prospecting placer and hard rock for quite some time now and he too is 20yr old and always looking for people his age interested in this hobby. Let us know if you would like to meet up sometime. We are also safety conscious as he wants to be a cop and would rather not die in a mine.

 

[NVkermit]

Good to see other's in the Valley are interested in this. To be honest, my son is more interested in Xbox than mines. But he knows when I go to the mines he's my co-pilot and until I get the ATV fixed , he's gets to carry all the heavy items. Kids, gotta love em.

 

[dave wiseman]

Detecting at the Sixteen to One Mine - ICMJ's Prospecting and Mining Journal

 

[NVkermit]

Thank you for the link. I read that article some time ago and it seems apparent the only way to find out what will work best for my mines is to buy one (detector) , try it in the two mines (both are near each other but seem to have a different composition ) and hope it works. Then buy another one and see if it works better. One mine has a lot of pyrite and the other is more quartz based.

 

[Joanne]

I also have a hardrock mine claim with a history of gold production so this thread is of interest to me. I've been saving for a Gold Bug II but was also wondering whether a pinpointer would be of any value in a mine? In my particular case, the stopes that look promising are not that large so there's not a lot of area to cover. Our assays have returned positive, so at least some gold is there. I would like to have more certainty where to focus my efforts.

Joanne

 

[dave wiseman]

I also have a hardrock mine claim with a history of gold production so this thread is of interest to me. I've been saving for a Gold Bug II but was also wondering whether a pinpointer would be of any value in a mine? In my particular case, the stopes that look promising are not that large so there's not a lot of area to cover. Our assays have returned positive, so at least some gold is there. I would like to have more certainty where to focus my efforts.

Joanne

One thing to think about is that a metal detector or pinpointer will not go as deep into solid rock as they would would in soil or gravel.There may be a large quartz specie or a pocket of gold that's 4-5 feet inside a wall and it could be missed by the best detector/detectorist.If the history of your mine is such that it's known for free gold quartz species/and or pockets you should sample constantly.

 

[NVkermit]

Next weekend is the "2016 Las Vegas Gold & Treasure Show" at Cashman Center. Besides having lots of drawing for detectors, their will be lots and lots (according to their website, lol) of vendors, miners, speakers and demo's. I plan on going and taking a little sample baggy from each of my mines with me. I will ask each of them which detectors can detect gold (most likely small stuff) the best in those types of rocks (samples will be semi-crushed) and see who wins my business. If I don't win one, will most likely pick one up there.