Mineral Specimens

AugustMoose87

Sr. Member
Sep 10, 2014
443
264
Longmont, CO
Detector(s) used
Gold Pan, Sluice, Hand Dredge, X-Terra 30, X-Terra 705, Sand Shark
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I don't know how much cross-over there is between detecting and rockhounding, but as someone who does both, I'm curious what minerals can and can not be located with a detector.

On the "can" side, obviously native gold, silver and copper - are there other metals that occur that way? I would assume tellurides, and that is where my certainty ends. Intuition says hematite, magnetite, galena, and other minerals where metals make up a large portion.

As for the "can nots", I think we can skip the obvious ones - I know sandstone, quarts, granite, fossils, etc. can't be metal detected. I'm thinking more are there any that either their appearance or composition would make you think it might be detectable, but it isn't. For example, mica looks somewhat metallic/silvery, but it can't be detected.
 

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Helipilot

Tenderfoot
Mar 13, 2015
9
10
Arkansas
Detector(s) used
Whites, Garrett, Garrett Pro Pointer, gold pan, Keene High Banker,
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I was down at Magnet Cove, Arkansas today rock hounding and looking for bits of meteorite myself and a professional geologist believe impacted in that area. Lots of "hot rocks", volcanic ejecta and debris, and other great specimens. I use a Whites, Garret, and a rare earth magnet affixed to a hiking pole for iron based meteorite specimens. Haven't really done a lot of tests but I think you are covering the obvious usual suspects in your post. I will play around with my rock collection and report back on what I find.
 

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AugustMoose87

AugustMoose87

Sr. Member
Sep 10, 2014
443
264
Longmont, CO
Detector(s) used
Gold Pan, Sluice, Hand Dredge, X-Terra 30, X-Terra 705, Sand Shark
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks! About all I have worth testing at the moment is a piece of galena, but I will dig it out and see what the detector says
 

TerryC

Gold Member
Jun 26, 2008
7,732
10,991
Yarnell, AZ
Detector(s) used
Ace 250 (2), Ace 300, Gold Bug 2, Tesoro Cortes, Garrett Sea Hunter, Whites TDI SL SE, Fisher Impulse 8, Minelab Monster 1000, Minelab CTX3030, Falcon MD20, Garrett Pro-pointer, Calvin Bunker digger.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
You will also find that Iron Pyrite will sound off with a metal detector.... but it must be one used for gold prospecting and it must be very sensitive. My Gold bug II would sound off to a half centimeter square of Pyrite. TTC
 

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