Bedrock and Gold: The mysteries . . .

[Lanny in AB]

Do you love to chase the gold? Please join me--lots of gold hunting tips, stories of finds (successful and not), and prospecting poetry.

Nugget in the bedrock tip:

I had a visit with a mining buddy this past weekend, and he told me of an epic battle to get a nugget out of the bedrock, and of what he learned from the experience. I thought some of you might like to learn from his mistake.

While out detecting one day, he came across a large sheet of bare bedrock. The bedrock was exposed because the area had been blasted off with a water cannon (a monitor), by the old-timers! It was not fractured bedrock, in fact it was totally smooth.

He was not optimistic at all of the prospects of a nugget. But, for some reason (we've all been there) he decided to swing his detector over that bedrock. After a long time, just as he was about to give up on his crazy hunch, he got a signal, right out of that smooth bedrock.

There was no crevice, no sign of a crevice, nada! So, he had to go all the way back to camp to get a small sledge and a chisel. The signal in the rock intrigued him, but he still wasn't overly optimistic. For those of you that have chased signals in a similar situation, sometimes there's a patch of hot mineralization in the bedrock that sounds off, but this spot, according to him, was sharp and clear right in the middle of the signal, not just a general increase of the threshold like you get when you pass over a hot spot in the bedrock.

Anyway, he made it back to the spot and started to chisel his way into the bedrock. If any of you have tried this, it's an awful job, and you usually wind up with cut knuckles--at the least! Regardless, he kept fighting his way down, busting out chunks of bedrock. He kept checking the hole, and the signal remained very strong.

This only puzzled him all the more as he could clearly see that it was solid bedrock with no sign of any crevice. He finally quit at the end of the day, at a depth of about a foot, but still, nothing in the hole.

An experienced nugget shooting friend dropped by the next morning to see him, and asked him how the hunt was going. My buddy related his tale of the mysterious hole in the bedrock, and told the friend to go over and check it out, and see if he could solve the riddle.

Later in the day, the other nugget hunter returned. In his hand was a fine, fat, sassy nugget. It weighed in at about an ounce and a quarter! After my friend returned his eyeballs to their sockets and zapped his heart to start it again, he asked where the nugget had come from.

Imagine his surprise when he heard it came from the mystery hole!! He asked how deep the other guy had gone into the bedrock to get it. "Well, no deeper" was his reply.

So, here's the rest of the story as to what happened. When the successful nugget hunter got to the bedrock, he scanned the surface got the same strong signal as my buddy. He widened out the hole and scanned again. Still a solid tone. He widened the hole some more so he could get his coil in, and here's the key and the lesson in this story, he got a strong signal off the side of the hole, about six inches down, but set back another inch into the side of the bedrock!!

My unlucky friend, the true discoverer of the gorgeous nugget's resting place had gone deep past the signal while digging his hole!!

Now, of course, a good pinpointer would easily solve this problem. The problem was, my buddy didn't have one, so why would he widen the hole, right? Well, the other guy was the one with more experience, and that's why he did. It was a lot more work, but what a payoff!

So, my buddy's butt is still black and blue from where he kicked himself for the next week or so for having lost such an incredible prize.

Some nugget hunting lessons are harder than others to learn. . . .

All the best,

Lanny


P.S. When in gold country--check the bedrock, regardless of whether it looks likely or not! Mother Nature likes to play games sometimes.

 

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[63bkpkr]

Hello There Lanny,
I hope your trip to the mountains was exciting, fun, shared and worthwhile! Also, thank you once again for the wealth of information you've given to me and others in answer to my questions!!

For me the 4th of July Holiday celebrating Independance Day that was gained by the use of arms against a tyranical government is as of yet an unknown journey. I have five days in a row off and still do not know how I will spend it? I will report on what happens.

And gold nuggets, thank you for the kind words!!..........63bkpkr

Travel Carefully.............63bkpkr

 

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[Lanny in AB]

Thanks for everything Herb--and thanks for everything you do for everyone as well.

Found some very nice gold with the little Falcon MD20 sniping bedrock--it really surprised me! I'm back for just a few days and then off again--lots to do in just a little time, but I hope I'll get a minute or two to post some pictures and some of my comments on the little 300KHZ wonder.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[63bkpkr]

Welcome back Lanny,
I stayed home for the five day off 4th of July holiday but I got in some sleep. Looking forward to your pictures and discussion on your bird of prey!....63bkpkr

 

[Lanny in AB]

Glad you got some well deserved rest Herb. The gold will still be there when you get the chance to chase it--especially the places you hike in to!

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Oakview2]

Hey Lanny how about some pictures from your latest trip?

 

[Lanny in AB]

Here's some shots for you:

That's 4.20 grams of sassy gold--a little bit from some sample panning in adjacent areas thrown in, but almost all of it was found with that tiny little detecting wonder (The Falcon MD20) while checking worked bedrock.

Field test results:

Because of its tiny coil size and incredible sensitivity, I was able to get the Falcon MD20 into cracks and crevices I couldn't navigate with the bigger coils. Moreover, the rifle-shot detection capabilities of the machine, well it forces you to slow down and do a thorough job of detecting (new or previously worked bedrock) as you're now working with small patches and areas that you've cleared, not worrying about trying to cover the maximum ground possible in the shortest amount of time as a person usually does on a standard detecting outing. In fact, because I was forced to slow down, I was amazed at what I'd left behind!

Any time I got the slightest disturbance in the threshold, I'd chisel out any contents still trapped in the cracks and crevices that sounded off, and the photos clearly show what the results were.

As well, because the detector runs at 300khz, it found tiny gold right on the surface of the bedrock as well (you can also see the sizes of the tiny gold in the one photo clearly). Even my wife who'd never found any gold with a detector was able to find pickers trapped in the bedrock--the first time out!! (I tried to explain to her how remote the chances are of that happening, but it just didn't compute to her. She's happily hooked, and she certainly loves the extreme light weight of the unit too.

It's remarkable how small the tiny bits of gold are that the Falcon will find--I see great potential in using the Falcon to detect bedrock in dry areas far removed from panning water, because if there's any gold in dry bedrock cracks and crevices that are cleaned out during a prospecting trip, the Falcon will certainly see them, without any need for panning.

However, as you can see from the photos, if there's any gold of larger size, the Falcon will most certainly nail it.

Moreover, ID'ing hot rocks is a piece of cake anyone can learn in a very short period of time--minutes, in fact, is all it took the three people I worked with (a friend of mine bought one at the same time, and we tested them on a combination of day outings while on the gold claims), for the sounds were very easy to recognize. (Falcon sends a test card with each unit so you can practice listening to the sound of gold, pyrite, and magnetite [many hotrocks in our area are magnetite].) Oh, by the way, use a supermagnet on the end of a collapsable wand--it saves a ton of time as you're allowed to quickly eliminate many hot rocks (magnetite, other iron rich samples, etc.) by passing the magnet through the material you want to search; and, when you ID a hot rock wedged in a crack or crevice, or one that is trapped in dried clay, the power of the magnet easily removes the masking signal so you can scan the irregularities again for any subtle positive disruptions in the threshold.

As a side note, I even chose bedrock areas that had been avoided by other nugget shooters clearly because of the profusion of hot rocks littering the sites, but with the use of the magnet and the knowledge of the easy tone ID for hot rocks of the Falcon, I was able to eliminate all false signals and spend my time focused on positive signals, resulting in many sassy pickers discouraged detectorists had left behind, for the size of the pickers in the hot rock impregnated sites would have easily been found by larger machines.

(I may update this field test later with further results when I have more time, as this is a superficial, summarized account of the outings.)

All the best,

Lanny

 

[EagleDown]

Hmmm, what is that weird looking stuff on the scale?? Strange color!!

 

[EagleDown]

Wow! I love that bear that's in the middle of the first and second photos!! Love that sassy gold Lanny.

Eagle

 

[Lanny in AB]

Great to hear from you Eagle--thanks for the comments. I'd totally missed the bear, but now I see him!

Thanks for dropping in, and all the best,

Lanny

 

[63bkpkr]

Lanny,
Great finds and great writeup for a quick one! Most interesting inputs as when I get out for my first trip I expect to be around a great deal of bedrock or exposed rock.

Again thank you for sharing the find and the input on the MD 20......63bkpkr

 

[Hemisteve]

Wow Lanny,
Great Gold! Thanks for the write up on the MD20, I have been seriously considering getting one for a while and I think I will be ordering one tomorrow.

Thanks again
Steve

 

[EagleDown]

I went into the site of the Falcon MD20 to check it out. Yikes!! It looks like you would have to do your search on your hands and knees. Have you adapted it to a handle of some sort, or would I have to go into my invention mode again??
Plus, you're definately right, you would only cover a little ground at a time. (lol)

But, you did give me an idea for another invention. I'll tell you all about it as soon as I prove it out.

Thanks for the explaination My Friend!!

Eagle

 

[Lanny in AB]

Eagle,

Yes, I bought the handle for it. In fact, that's the configuration I was using when I found the first piece of gold with it--but that's another story for another day. I also bought the case for it as well. But, a friend of mine came up with the idea to loop a camera strap through the case to have it chest mounted--a great idea.

As far as area coverage--the tiny coil makes it a small area specialist. Plus, the coil and probe are waterproof--giving over four feet of waterproof depth detecting capability (most of the majority of the cable and probe length) as well. The best way to use this would be with the optional handle I believe. And, it would really come in handy late in the season when the streams are running low.

And Eagle, if you come up with a giant brain-wave of an invention to facilitate things even more, let me know.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Oakview2]

Thanks for the photos Lanny, a usual, top notch accounts as well.... Happy Hunting...

 

[Lanny in AB]

Steve,

It's a great little unit (not a primary or front-line unit), with the limitations of any specialized unit that need to be considered: the Falcon's limitations are that it is a small area specialist, and a small gold specialist. You can only examine small patches with it due to its size, but its small size is its strength I believe when it is used to examine restricted areas that have been passed up by others, or areas that have been worked with larger machines when the patch was producing good amounts of gold. As well, it allows the user to pinpoint with extreme accuracy--an area about the size of a quarter initially, and then when you get closer to the target, it will be in a point in the middle of that quarter-sized area. Some people use it to pinpoint coins--I haven't tried that yet.

When it comes to finding gold, what I like about the Falcon is that it gives a nice crisp "zip, zip" on gold. Small pieces of steel or iron (blade or track pieces from large excavating equipment) will "zip" but they will often have a "rackety" sound as well. As you experiment with various targets, you will see what I mean.

So, for finding small gold in irregular areas, it excels, and for finding larger bits of gold in areas where you can't proceed with your larger coils, it allows you to proceed as well. Moreover, for assessing bedrock cracks in dry areas that you want to prospect for fine gold deposits, it will definitely see the gold without the need for water to process your sample.

As a side note, I kept a pan handy when I was finding tiny targets when I was working near water, and that way, I sped up the recovery process by capturing as many small signals in an area to process them later instead of taking the time to isolate each target visually in the plastic scoop. Furthermore, the gold was always in the pan when I processed them at the end of the sessions.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Thanks for the photos Lanny, a usual, top notch accounts as well.... Happy Hunting...

No problem--glad to do it.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Herb,

If you're around exposed or previously worked exposed bedrock, get it down into the small places that allow you to proceed where larger coils make that impossible. Flatten the head along one angle of a crack or crevice and detect "slowly" until you hear a disturbance in the threshold. Then, use a chisel (or angled sniping tool) and in stubborn cases a hammer to penetrate deeper with the chisel to remove all of the material in the crevice (in some crevices I had to remove capping bedrock first to access the crevice material with the hammer and chisel), then carefully detect all of the material.

Sometimes, in areas that I knew had produced well in the past, I deliberately removed covering bedrock along crevices that looked promising and sometimes it produced gold when I cleaned the underlying crevice material in the bedrock, and sometimes I got skunked, but the gold that I was able to find this way left me with more than if I hadn't have tried.

The best results came when I made sure I carefully detected one face of the angle of the crevice completely and then returned to detect the opposite side of the crevice's angle completely.

All the best my friend,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

I went into the site of the Falcon MD20 to check it out. Yikes!! It looks like you would have to do your search on your hands and knees. Have you adapted it to a handle of some sort, or would I have to go into my invention mode again??
Plus, you're definately right, you would only cover a little ground at a time. (lol)

But, you did give me an idea for another invention. I'll tell you all about it as soon as I prove it out.

Thanks for the explaination My Friend!!

Eagle

Another way that allows you to work in comfort Eagle is to have a foam cushion (the extra thick ones people use to kneel on for gardening or mechanical work) when you have to kneel, or a person can use it to sit on to carefully examine a small patch of irregular bedrock. (Doing this saves those tender places from wear and tear at the end of the day.)

All the best my friend,

Lanny

 

[Lanny in AB]

Here's some more pictures from the bedrock detecting outings with the Falcon:

Hand stacks close on bedrock.

I love this photo as it clearly shows the ingenuity of a gold-seeker of old. He took a piece of belting, traced a sole for his boot and then cut it out to make a repair in the field--essential, yet ingenious.

Carefully covering recently worked bedrock that produced good gold--the Falcon easily found what was left behind.

Two essentials: a super-magnet on an adjustable wand, and a plastic scoop for target recovery.

Some close-ups of sassy gold that couldn't hide from the Falcon.

The Falcon and a very thick pad for sitting or kneeling on. It also works great placed on a five-gallon pail for a very comfortable seat!

Spoons of various sizes make excellent crevice cleaners and gold capturing devices for retrieving samples to place targets, isolated in small amounts of dirt, in the scoop.

 

[EagleDown]

Another way that allows you to work in comfort Eagle is to have a foam cushion (the extra thick ones people use to kneel on for gardening or mechanical work) when you have to kneel, or a person can use it to sit on to carefully examine a small patch of irregular bedrock. (Doing this saves those tender places from wear and tear at the end of the day.)

All the best my friend,

Lanny

No problem there. I still have 2 sets of cushioned knee pads from when I was laying ceramic tile about 3 years ago.
(But, what do I do about my back)?? (lol)

Best to you too My Friend!!

Eagle