Gold machines in the chips

[bigolhorns]

Has anyone tried a gold machine in the tot lot chips? I'm thinking there are lots of chains and smaller gold items missed by many of us using lower freq. detectors.

 

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[Rick K]

I think a gold machine which could ignore iron and sound off on small gold would do well. I don't think a dedicated gold machine is really needed. I've got a Tesoro Diablo II micromax (a gold machine), a Tesoro Compadre and a Compass Gold Scanner Pro (in spite of the name a general purpose 13 kHz VLF). All are about equally sensitive to a 0.1 gram (1.5 grain) 18 carat solid bead. The difference is that the Compadre and the GSP can do it while rejecting iron.

I just bought a Compass AU 52 which is kind of a Gold Scanner Pro which operates at 52 kHz. I'm hoping that it will prove to be the ultimate beach and park microjewelry machine!

What does everybody else think?

Rick K

 

[Sandman]

A dedicated gold detector I wouldn't think is needed in tot lots. Most general purpose detectors can find earring back sized targets with using low discrimination and good headphones. It is the thin gold chains that give detectors trouble. Thin chains are mostly broken and very light weight so the value is very low. Still they are a target and gold. If they have a pendant or larger clasp they are easier to find. This is why some hunters claim that their detector can find gold chains while others with the same machine can not.

 

[bigolhorns]

I've been detecting for 20+ years and have only found 10 gold chains. You are right they all do have large clasps or pendants. I also find pendants and not the chain anywhere nearby, which has to be there. I think chains have to be the most common lost gold item & I want to find them! Yes,I dig all foil in the chips, gives me those small gold rings.

 

[Ant]

Has anyone tried a gold machine in the tot lot chips? I'm thinking there are lots of chains and smaller gold items missed by many of us using lower freq. detectors.

That's all I use and it works great. Look at my gold finds, all found with my GB2.

 

[AZ-Mtnman]

Ant, I could be wrong, but I'm not sure that's what he was referring to. Yep, the GBII will find small gold, no question if there isn't any mineralization to contend with, but it sounds like he's asking about the higher end machines. The short answer is yes, the gold machines will help you. You have to have a machine designed to find gold to have any chance, but the only way to get the most out of any machine is to run it in all metal and dig everything since small gold like that will either blank, disc, or not register at all. By the way, the Diablo is only a gold machine in the jewelry sense, it isn't designed to find gold nuggets. This is where it turns into a personal question, are you willing to dig alot of junk for that small gold at depth, or are you willing to skip most of it to make the most of your time? Unless I knew there was alot of it there, I'd have to pass. Even clad pays better than spending all that time to getting one or two a day. You have to remember, if the gold is that light, there isn't much weight, and even at 18K, that's only 3/4 of spot price, so time vs reward, if that matters to you. If all you want is to find gold, then you need a machine that's designed for it. Yep, the GBII will find gold, even small gold, but not at depth, since it's only 71khz. To get the most, get a Minelab PI machine and biggest mono coil you can swing for the day. I've found #9 shot gold at 4" with a 2100 and a 14" Coiltek mono in heavy mineralization. I've also dug targets at three feet with that coil that sounded about the same. If you want the small stuff, you have to dig everything. It's like Sandman was refering to, yes, you can find more gold if you go that way, but if the pendant or clasp weighs more than the chain, why bother?

Randy

 

[Ant]

Ant, I could be wrong, but I'm not sure that's what he was referring to. Yep, the GBII will find small gold, no question if there isn't any mineralization to contend with, but it sounds like he's asking about the higher end machines. The short answer is yes, the gold machines will help you. You have to have a machine designed to find gold to have any chance, but the only way to get the most out of any machine is to run it in all metal and dig everything since small gold like that will either blank, disc, or not register at all. By the way, the Diablo is only a gold machine in the jewelry sense, it isn't designed to find gold nuggets. This is where it turns into a personal question, are you willing to dig alot of junk for that small gold at depth, or are you willing to skip most of it to make the most of your time? Unless I knew there was alot of it there, I'd have to pass. Even clad pays better than spending all that time to getting one or two a day. You have to remember, if the gold is that light, there isn't much weight, and even at 18K, that's only 3/4 of spot price, so time vs reward, if that matters to you. If all you want is to find gold, then you need a machine that's designed for it. Yep, the GBII will find gold, even small gold, but not at depth, since it's only 71khz. To get the most, get a Minelab PI machine and biggest mono coil you can swing for the day. I've found #9 shot gold at 4" with a 2100 and a 14" Coiltek mono in heavy mineralization. I've also dug targets at three feet with that coil that sounded about the same. If you want the small stuff, you have to dig everything. It's like Sandman was refering to, yes, you can find more gold if you go that way, but if the pendant or clasp weighs more than the chain, why bother?

Randy

All I can say is that I can, and have out hunted some of the best people that use High End machines, more than I have not. I don’t dig any more trash than the other machines, top end or not, the SE is included. The only place I can’t out do other machines is in the turf. The GB-2 in my hands will shine on playgrounds, demolitions sites and many other sites. The GB-2 handles all but the heaviest of mineralized areas.

37 Dry land gold find last year:
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,121785.0.html

50 silver finds last year:
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,122166.0.html

When you dig for gold you can expect to dig trash like this:

And when you do, you can expect to find stuff like this:

I have 26 gold finds for this year (I would have 27 but I lost one); all found using my GB-2. And last year I sold $1,116.95 ¢ in scrap gold. I only sold damaged items and bracelets. The lot was from an acclamation of 3 years or so. If you go to my profile you can see that most of many of my gold find are still entrapped in soled dirt clods.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,139915.0.html

 

[Ant]

The GB-2 is supper fast comparied to other machines, so digging trash is not an issue. This is typical of a tot lot hunt, not may machine other than the GB-2 will detect bracelets like these:

 

[Ant]

Oh and:
One of my typical threads:
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,136432.msg967164.html#msg967164

I found this chunk of gold chain. The itme pictured is posted in my first thread, first photo, top right:
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,134476.msg953528.html#msg953528

 

[Rick K]

Hi Randy,

You seem to have the Tesoro Diablo MicoroMax confused with something else. It's a dedicated all-metal-only gold machine with a 10" elliptical coil. It was designed by Dave Johnson who also did the Lobo Super Track, the MXT and now the Fisher F-75. Here's a link to some kind words the respected Mr. Jim Straight had to say about this machine.

http://www.voy.com/76600/3/1705.html

And here's the well known Monte on the subject:

http://jb-ms.com/Carlsforum/Oct31-2007/1189261530.html

It seems to me that depth is to be avoided in searching for small gold in loose material like bark or in lawns for that matter. The targets won't be detectable at any depth anyway, so the fact that a higher frequency machine like a GBII won't penetrate far is of little consequence - in fact it will hopefully keep you from wasting time on deep pulltabs, etc.

Tom Dankowski wrote about hunting for microjewelry in one of his Fisher newsletters and used a GBII to do it - here's a link (See article #13 on page 14 of the booklet - page 19 of the PDF).

http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/documents/DankowskiIntelligence5thed.pdf

Another machine i'm itching to try is the Compass 77 series. These 100kHz machines are famous for ignoring and even seeing through iron trash and they are very sensitive to low conductors like alloyed gold. They have no great depth, but again, I don't think that's a problem.

Keep thinking!

 

[Rifleman]

The X-Terra 70 with either the 6" or the 10.5" dd 18.75 kHz coils is a killer on small gold. It will detect those really thin chains and ear rings that other detectors miss. While detecting the small gold it will also detect all other desirable targets. Try one, you won't look back.

Good hunting, John K

 

[AZ-Mtnman]

Wow, Ant. I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers, and don't want to argue, but he was asking for opinions, so I gave him mine. I never said the GBII wouldn't find small gold, I allowed how it would. We pretty much said the same things about the machine, only in different ways, or that was my take on it. I also mentioned mineralization as being a factor in detector choice. If there isn't much, the GBII does fine, but if there is, you have to know how to swing it in those areas, since that isn't covered in the manual. This topic is more about helping someone than it is what machine you swing and why. You're happy with the GBII, and obviously have alot of experience on it, which is fine, but don't try to brow-beat someone into swinging what you do. The guy has to make up his own mind in the end, so the best we can do is give him our thoughts and wish him well. If face to face would I recommend a Minelab PI unit for that type of hunting? No way. That's not what they're designed for. They are made to go out and hunt nuggets in highly mineralized soils. But by the same token, the GBII was designed to find small gold in lightly mineralized areas. Sure, you can use a pair of pliers instead of a wrench, but is it the best tool for the job? In my opinion, the guy should be asking himself not what machine to swing, but if it's worth it to recover what gold he will for the amount of time spent detecting? Yep, you showed some finds, and trash, but you didn't mention how many hours swinging for that much recovery? How about time researching? Don't take it personally, but the GBII has never been touted as a turn-on-and-go machine. There is a learning curve involved with it and unless this guy knows someone that has alot of experience with it, he'll more than likely become frustrated with it or may even quit swinging. In the end, I guess what I'm saying is that unless you've done your research or know that there is a reasonable chance of finding that much of something, why waste the time to chase it? Yep, it's out there, but is it worth the time finding it? Maybe, at best. Everyone has to answer that question for themselves no matter what type of detecting they do. I've known guys that have detected for years without finding their first nugget, but they don't quit. Sure, they could take the same detector into a park and have already found one clad dime, which is more than they had before, but that isn't what they are looking for. It all comes down to what you want to find. If small gold in the chips is all bigolhorns is looking for, I wish him luck. Would I recommend it? Nope, too many other things out there to be found, for the time spent. Everyone would have to agree that any gold you find is special, I know I treasure mine, but I try to eliminate 99% of an area before swinging, whether thru research or boot leather. Ant? If you'd like, I can post all the pics of my finds with a detector, sorry, all nuggets, or I can just show you the pounds of gold I've found. Yep, might be new here, but been in this game for a long time.

 

[Rick K]

Hi goldseekers!!

OK - we've had fun proposing our favorite machines. I'm a little disappointed however that nobody has taken up the challange implicit in Dankowski's article (link in my previous post). If you buy his argument - there's heaps of thin small gold out there which normal coinshooting techniques (and to some degree equipment) doesn't recover. At $900+ per ounce, it doesn't take much gold to be worth your while.

Who has found it - who will find more??

 

[AZ-Mtnman]

Rick, if you have something to say, say it, don't refer to an earlier post. And PURDY PLEASE don't make me respond to your earlier post.

 

[Ant]

I have no issue with what you said, and we sort of agree. I just wanted to set the record straight about the GB-2. The Fisher M-Scope GB-2 manual say that it works just as good on coins and relics as it does on small gold. It also says that it works in all but the heaviest of mineralized soils; it doesn’t say that it only works in lightly mineralized soils.

GBII was designed to find small gold in lightly mineralized areas

This is not entirely true, the reality is that it will work in all but the heaviest of mineralized soils.


The poster is not asking about hunting for gold nuggets, they want to know will a gold machine work in the chips.
He’s his quote:

Has anyone tried a gold machine in the tot lot chips ? I'm thinking there are lots of chains and smaller gold items missed by many of us using lower freq. detectors.

In my opinion, the guy should be asking himself not what machine to swing, but if it's worth it to recover what gold he will for the amount of time spent detecting?

It takes me 45 minutes to a 1 hour and 15 minutes to hunt a large playground with chips.

Yep, you showed some finds, and trash, but you didn't mention how many hours swinging for that much recovery?

I hunt demos like a job, 8 hours if the site is producing, just like the other guys around here who hunt with the top end machines. No different than anybody else, except I go faster and find more of a variety of items, less silver than others, but I find much more gold, gold size is not an issue. Oh yeah, I pass up iron, look at my trash, notice that most of my trash is coin size.

How about time researching?

I use the commonness approach when it comes to this and it has worked well for me.

There is a learning curve involved with it and unless this guy knows someone that has alot of experience with it, he'll more than likely become frustrated with it or may even quit swinging. In the end, I guess what I'm saying is that unless you've done your research or know that there is a reasonable chance of finding that much of something, why waste the time to chase it?

I originally purchased the GB-2 to help out in my drywashing operation. But I soon became discouraged with that because it took too much labor for a small return for me. So now I was stuck with a $700.00 dollar gold nugget machine.

But then I remembered what the GB-2’s manual had said, I also remembered what the guy said on the GB-2 video, the one that came with the purchase. It said that the machine would work just as well at finding coins and relics as it did finding gold nuggets. Other than that, I had nothing else to go by, no paradigm to be influenced by.

So I started exclusively hunting playgrounds, and after about 6 to 7 months of weekend hunting, all of a sudden something clicked n my head that said “that sounds like a coin, that sounds like the right size”. Then WALA, I started understanding what the GB-2 was saying. Yes it has a long learning curve but the rewards are many.

 

[AZ-Mtnman]

C,mon Ant, you're splitting hairs. I can make the GBII work in highly mineralized soils, never said you couldn't. Is it fun? No way. Does the average person just buying the machine know how to do it? Nope. I wasn't refering to what the manual said, only what the machine could do in a real environment. Ok, average it takes you an hour to hunt that type of area. Still nothing about how many times you've hunted that type of area and found nothing vs what you did find when you did, and how that works out to an average dollar amount for time spent? Ok, how about this? If you and Rick are so convinced about the superiority of your machines above mine, how about y'all come out here and we'll have a hunt for some money at the end of the day? Me, you, or anyone else can find a thread or post on the net to support what they want you to believe, but real life experience is different. Getting tired of dealing with all the BS. Don't know how else to say it other than how I did the last time, I DON'T WANT TO ARGUE! But, if you're convinced you can out-hunt me, with any machine, bring it on. If it would make you feel better, I could go back and hunt down all the pics of the gold I've found with my machine and post them here since it seems like if you don't have a pic, it ain't real, but would your $1116.95 worth of gold in three years compare to the several POUNDS that I have found each year with mine? (Deep Breath) (More than one), (Ok, a couple more). You guys need to get a grip. But, I hope you don't have clue and agree to come out and hunt some. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[GrayCloud]

AZ Mtnman gave his opinion. Whats the deal challenging him like this. We all have different opinions and theorys. Last time I looked outside this was America. Cool your heels boys, its all going to be okay.

 

[Rick K]

This started out with a simple question about whether gold machines would be useful in tot lots and now folks are being challanged to gold nugget hunting competition for money.

I think I'm done with this thread. Once someone starts shouting (using ALL CAPS is the same as shouting) - it's time to move on.

Rick K

 

[bigolhorns]

Well...... I'm gonna give one a try. Got a Fisher Gold Strike on the way. Thanks for all of the comments.