Working patches by other means

[spillercanyon]

I'm just curious, when you find a patch, do you ever go back and work the patch by other means, dredge, highbanker, dry washer, sluice? Just seems to me with some of these rich patches that the nuggets there would indicate the possibility of smaller, less detectable gold, perhaps in high quantity.

 

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[Rebel73153]

Not sure as i just got in to detecting for gold and haven't had a chance to get out and give it a try yet. But i would think that going back with a highbanker or power sluice would be a good idea. And i see you use a Lobo. That is what i just got. How do you like it for nugget hunting? Any tips?

 

[trinityau]

Spillercanyon, yes,yes,yes.............TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

 

[Terry Soloman]

You bet! Drywasher, recirculating sluice - Get it ALL baby!

 

[Hoser John]

First use a big coil,then rake off and hit again,then hit with a smaller coil to get them righteous crumbs that no detector can ever find and shovel into a box. My bud and I just finished up a 3 day hunt this way and almost half was fines. Just drop poker chips where ya get hits,come back and and shovel/scrape/crevice bust into a bucket and feed it to a sluicebox or truck to a stream/home to run. Newer detector are great but never give up on that dredge,hibanker,drywasher or sluice as them fines pay mighty fine at todays prices and eliminate that what if I'd a question forever-John

 

[spillercanyon]

Not sure as i just got in to detecting for gold and haven't had a chance to get out and give it a try yet. But i would think that going back with a highbanker or power sluice would be a good idea. And i see you use a Lobo. That is what i just got. How do you like it for nugget hunting? Any tips?

Hey Rebel, I've been a dredger since the late 70's and since CA got a big stick up it's arse, I'm playing with new ways of prospecting but I'm still a true novice with metal detecting. I'm hoping to learn to work with it this year. I'll let you know if I figure it out.

 

[Rebel73153]

Yea, Spillercanyon, Oregon is getting to be almost as bad as Cal. as far as prospecting goes. I have heard the Lobo ST is a pretty user friendly machine. I guess we shall see. Good luck.

 

[Hoser John]

There are 2 kinds of detector folks-1-the runner trophy hunter who swings fast,walks fast,no overlapping swings and misses 90% and is happy to get a few nuggets and claim to be a miner. 2-the miner who gets it all when done correctly as stated above. This is 32.211 grams of just the 1/32+ and many MANY more grams of smaller to talcum powder size yet to be processed. Get it all and profit. Trophy hunt and fail , mine like a miner using a tool correctly and prosper......John

 

[delnorter]

Beautiful gold John.
Mike

 

[63bkpkr]

Hoser John, only one thing to indicate ...................63bkpkr

 

[Lanny in AB]

It's amazing what you find when you rework a patch!

As Ray says: yes, yes, yes.

John has given you the same advice.

Terry backs them both up.

With feedback like that, have at 'er and post some pictures of what you find.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[2cmorau]

i have a dry washer sitting in my truck when swingin, when i find a few subgrains in a small area, detector sits in truck drywasher makes cloud of dust
like all the above cooments, use of all tools mandatory
let the environment dictate the needs don't forget a chippinhammer

 

[kazcoro]

i have a dry washer sitting in my truck when swingin, when i find a few subgrains in a small area, detector sits in truck drywasher makes cloud of dust
like all the above cooments, use of all tools mandatory
let the environment dictate the needs don't forget a chippinhammer

So, how do you do? Is it always a success, or hit and miss?

 

[IMPDLN]

You still need to sample. I have a couple places I find nuggets with not enough fines to justify other methods. These areas have been worked over many times and the nuggets I find have been missed by others. When I have sampled these particular places, there just isn't enough fines to justify doing all the extra digging. So it depends on the location and you just need to try sampling and see. Dennis

 

[2cmorau]

all depends on what ya call a success a few grains for the day or a couple of pennyweight, Camping with the dogs and your buds, it's all good and swingin a GMT is sampling finding sub-grains One day i hit a spot came up with a couple of pickers, dirt was on top of cobbles and i kept getting hits but would lose the target so i started moving all the rocks took most of the morning and set up the Drywasher started shoveling, panned out the cons and must have found 30 or 40 #7 birdshot, couple of fly poops, dogs justta smilin had a good day another time i did a weekend up in one of my fav places moved all kinds of over-burden only one picker, took a break from digging, heat and from moving rocks had a cold one, dicided to take a walk with the girls ( labs) and the GMT, all roadside scores, mostly on the surface or about an inch down, from two to six grains, (picture of coin i think was that day) i think it was 23 peices found that evening, nothing for the next two days another good camping trip the top right was found with my gmt and using a chippinhammer, top left GMT and the help of crackhammer and chisil, stuff on the coin found from mostly other dig tailings using a GMT and plastic scoop

So, how do you do? Is it always a success, or hit and miss?

 

[Notsuredomus]

Though I am new to Nugget Shooting I am sure you are correct!

Though I have not had a whole lot of experience with using a MD for prospecting. I have done a fair amount of sluicing, panning, highbanking etc... Id say you are right on the money with your theory about the nugget bearing patches having more gold that is to small to detect with your MD. Judging by the quantity of flour and flake gold I have found within 1 meter of any good sized nugget, I'd say that a good rule of thumb is that if you found say a 1 ounce nugget. Then there likely as much as twice that amount in fine gold within a few square feet of that nugget. Myself, I'd say if you found a rich patch that has produced a fair amount of nuggets then it would probably be very much worth your while to return with a sluice or high banker.