Inexpensive detector for placer flake concentrations?

[CO2]

Hi, after doing a bit of prospecting I can tell that my eye isn't really good enough to find the exact spot I should dig for flake. I could do test pans but that takes a while and you could end up wanting to dig at your first hole you tested an hour ago and skip the rest. Then when you've dug some you have to decide, should I keep digging down or should I go lateral? So I'd really like a detector but the issue is, I'm already over budget on my new sluice, so my detector budget is pretty much I can't afford a detector right now. But if I can find a good one less than say, $300, I'm willing to make it work for the peace of mind that I'm digging the right spot. Especially when out scouting, digging the wrong spot gets old fast.

Out in my neck of the woods the placer is in the range of flake to flour with concentrations frequently in the 1-9 inches down range, and the flour really is everywhere. But the flake isn't. I'm not expecting to detect pickers but they might be out there. And I'd definitely need a watertight coil (I could watertight it myself if I had to). I was thinking maybe I'd go on the cheap side and pick up a BFO to detect the iron sands concentrations with my fingers crossed for luck, but maybe I can pick up a decent VLF in that price range? I'd rather detect the gold than the iron if at all possible but I don't know what's on the market and I certainly can't spend $700 on a detector. Not at this point in time.

Thanks for the assistance; I don't want to go pester the guy at the detector shop all the way to the other side of town unless I'm sure he can sell me something I'd appreciate.

 

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[winners58]

I've heard the White's goldmaster v/sat , 2 , 3 the ones with "iron ID meter" can be set up to find the line of blacksand
if your going for a good one maybe save up and get the MXT or GMT
.

 

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[Adventure_Time]

Not that I want to rain on your parade, I feel like you are going to have a hell of a time with all the trash in the creeks where you are. Best bet is just find someone that knows the area up there and go with them a bit if you goal is to find big gold in CO, that or sifting through some very questionable geological jargon for a good few hours. Personally if I was there trying to fill my vials I'd be on the hunt for the more recently discovered placers and move volume. Colorado has good gold, its just mostly fines... which is fine...

 

[Rik601]

Also the discontinued Fisher GOLD$TRIKE it hits gold targets like a ton of bricks , but not to many people liked the features or lack of or the two tone sound emitted by the Gold$trike , you will find more gold with this detector than the Goldbug 2 that it was built to replace it also finds hotrocks so you can eliminate them from your search !! Still a great little detector I like it better than any Minelab I have ever owned !!!!

 

[Rik601]

Find lines of black sand with your Whites GMT use a rare earth magnet instead only $9 not $729 big ones I have found a lot of gold doing it with my rare earth magnet on a small pick !!!!

 

[Rik601]

Build your own dredge like I did a 4 inch that moves a few yards an hour it was well worth the investment $1400 vs $5000 to $8000 from Proline and Keene the Dredgers warehouse and mine works like a champ !!!

 

[Goldwasher]

Also the discontinued Fisher GOLD$TRIKE it hits gold targets like a ton of bricks , but not to many people liked the features or lack of or the two tone sound emitted by the Gold$trike , you will find more gold with this detector than the Goldbug 2 that it was built to replace it also finds hotrocks so you can eliminate them from your search !! Still a great little detector I like it better than any Minelab I have ever owned !!!!

There are numerous nugget hunters that will disagree with this....It didn't discriminate out hot rocks it alerts you first with a low tone...then a high tone indicates a non ferrous target...Get into a trashy or high hotrock area and all the noise will drive you crazy.....the gold bug pro came along and then....what the heck is a gold strike....the success of the gb and gb pro speaks volumes as far as the viability of the goldstrike in the nugget hunting world!! VLF machines are so comparable to each other that when one comes along that makes a difference the market makes notice....what is a goldstrike again....oh a metal detector that was made less than five years ago and no one uses now because of the GB Pro.... Ability to detect is one thing usability wins at the end of the day!

 

[Jason in Enid]

Build your own dredge like I did a 4 inch that moves a few yards an hour it was well worth the investment $1400 vs $5000 to $8000 from Proline and Keene the Dredgers warehouse and mine works like a champ !!!

I know this is getting OT, but anyone wanting to build their own dredge had better have a lot of experience with professionally designed ones first! The concept of the dredge is stupidly simple, building one that works correctly from junk and home-depot supplies is a whole nother animal!

 

[Rik601]

Blue Bowl Really !!!

Blue bowls are actually more work then they are worth , build a mini sluice for your gold recovery !! It is much cheaper and works a lot better !!!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

We do not allow links to other forums, if you want cut and past the post but no hot links.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Riki, your post was deleted for violating our rules, your not that new here and you have been warned before about insulting members.

We do not allow insulting other members.....

Please follow our rules....

 

[Goldwasher]

Blue bowls are actually more work then they are worth , build a mini sluice for your gold recovery !! It is much cheaper and works a lot better !!!

? Blue bowls are for finishing. Not recovery...A lot easier to tune flow based on material type with a blue bowl vs. a sluice.

 

[Lanny in AB]

C02, it sounds like you've kind of talked yourself into something completely different and worlds apart from detecting now, which is part of the process of discovery I guess.

A bunch of people have given you some pretty solid advice on the pros and cons of different detectors according to your original request, as well as what they're capable of according to your very restricted wish list, but using a detector to find flake gold severely limits your options since your desire is to cover large areas, it sounds like. However, gold detectors just aren't designed to chase flake and fine gold in the way you've set your wish list up. Dragging a magnet and looking at what it catches is a great alternative if you're not having to work in grass or other cover.

I really think now from rereading your posts, and by following your progression of thought, that you'll benefit from a lot more experience with how metal detectors work and what their possible uses and viable functions for finding gold are before you put any money into buying one. So, I'm glad you've decided not to put any money into a purchase at this time.

You've arrived at the point where you've transitioned to dredging, which can progressively be much more expensive than entry level detecting. I've done a lot of dredging, and you'll need more equipment and essentials, even if you build your own dredge, and you'll need something to transport your outfit to the river you've chosen, etc., etc.; plus for safety reasons, someone should be there to tend the dredge for you as well.

So, if you've decided against a detector, that's fine, and I wish you all the best as you work your way to a choice that meets your needs. After all, researching the technology and equipment for chasing the gold (and then finally getting some) is what we're all after.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[romanf]

Tr are horrible ,bfo also, as antiquated(ground balance useless) and not worth squat for small gold. You need ground balancing VLF technology such as Gold Bug series or Tesoro Lobo Super Traq THEN the tiny gold will come. The new NEL coil on a 5000 Minelab(pulse) was MOST amazing performance out on my claims run by another fella. TR is good for ID of metal vs mineral so not useless. The only thing useless is any detector that's a closet queen covered in dust.John

Which NEL coil are you referring to? I need to get one for my 705. Thank you.....

 

[Rik601]

It looks like all of these guys giving you advice are confused , The Bounty Hunter TimeRanger is on close out at Amazon.com for about $165 big ones and it will find black sands in all metal mode , mine does , also pretty much NO detector is going to find very small flake gold but look for IRON instead , where the iron is concentrated at is where the GOLD will also be, this is the method I use and it really does work , I use it on the Yakima and Columbia rivers we have small flood gold here !! and Google earth to find inside corners of the river , I placer mine almost everyday and started back in 1975 I am going out tomorrow morning with my electric powered highbanker bildge pump 3700 GPH , The Timeranger was around $700 bucks before they discontinued it and it comes with a 5 year warranty and it does a lot for an inexpensive detector , it also comes with a small nugget coil , you do not need to spend a small fortune to get a good detector , I am an Electronics Technician and own about 8 detectors and can totally recommend the TIMERANGER as a great detector for the type of prospecting you are doing , don't forget to look for the IRON that's WHERE the GOLD will BE the BH goes pretty DEEEEP as well , Happy hunting DUDE !!

 

[Rik601]

WRONG !! they are for processing your black sands I have been mining since 1975 way before Blue Bowls hit the market for $39! I am not impressed with there performance if you want one build it out of an angle food cake pan !!! Instead of spending almost a $100 bucks on a cheese ball piece of equipment ! Mini sluice with a resurc pump for processing black sands with gold , or build a miller table ! AS usual most of you guys giving advice have never mined or prospected , I am running black sands right now and will be mining in the morning with my electric powered high banker 3700 GPH with an RV battery , 11/5/2015, moves a lot of material and I own a blue bowl and a mini sluice for black sand processing and a desert Fox wheel and a gold magic wheel still the best and most versitle piece of finishing equipment is my $15 mini sluice and that included the pump !!!!

 

[Goldwasher]

numerous successful miners would disagree....bundt pan lmao....i've seen some kiddie projects on you tube also... sluice for recovery and concentration finish with a blue bowl get all the gold visible....smelt the rest later....been doing it for two decades pretty simple process....we dig in gold country for pickers and up, fine gold and black sand is a byproduct....finishing tables and electric recircs go in the garage and on the patio....if we took that kind of gear to the field the sun would break it, or it would end up under a large pile of material.......I sure am glad I don't have to hunt micro flood gold on the banks of the Columbia that's for sure.