My nephew is looking for a gold machine to search in underground mines in the California desert. Desert rats, gimme some help here.
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Mine searching
- Thread starter Frank L
- Start date
RTR
Gold Member
- Nov 21, 2017
- 8,180
- 32,469
- Detector(s) used
-
Teknetics Liberator
Falcon MD-20
***********
Blue Bowl
Angus MacKirk sluice
Miller Table
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
The perfect tool.A Drone with a infrared camera .
DizzyDigger
Gold Member
- Dec 9, 2012
- 5,880
- 11,640
- Detector(s) used
- Nokta FoRs Gold, a Gold Cube, 2 Keene Sluices and Lord only knows how many pans....not to mention a load of other gear my wife still doesn't know about!
- Primary Interest:
- Prospecting
Frank, best advice I could give would be to get a good gold detector and
teach him to hunt nuggets above ground, and to STAY THE HELL OUT OF
THOSE OLD MINES!!
Seriously, keep him out of those old mines..the risk just ain't worth it.
A number of decent gold-getters on the market. Any idea of the
budget?
teach him to hunt nuggets above ground, and to STAY THE HELL OUT OF
THOSE OLD MINES!!
Seriously, keep him out of those old mines..the risk just ain't worth it.
A number of decent gold-getters on the market. Any idea of the
budget?
arizau
Bronze Member
- May 2, 2014
- 2,489
- 3,881
- Detector(s) used
- Beach High Banker, Sweep Jig, Whippet Dry Washer, Lobo ST, 1/2 width 2 tray Gold Cube, numerous pans, rocker box, and home made fluid bed and stream sluices.
- Primary Interest:
- Prospecting
Metal detecting on the dumps...yep. Inside the mines.....nope. Bad air, loose ceiling, interior shafts, etc. Just not worth it.
If you don't know what a winze is you shouldn't go near a mine.
If you do know what a winze is you already know to stay away from abandoned mines.
If you first learn what a winze is while exploring around a mine it will sound something like this:
!! What the H.... .... .... ... . . . . . . . . . . thump*
Heavy Pans
If you do know what a winze is you already know to stay away from abandoned mines.
If you first learn what a winze is while exploring around a mine it will sound something like this:
!! What the H.... .... .... ... . . . . . . . . . . thump*
Heavy Pans
Aufisher
Bronze Member
- May 12, 2013
- 1,948
- 4,830
- Detector(s) used
- Whites Goldmaster V/SAT. VibraProbe. Bazooka 48" Prospector Sluice. Shorts. Chickens + Goats + Goldhounds. 35' Chris Craft Caribbean motorsailer. FISH OIL + BURLAP
- Primary Interest:
- Prospecting
Sort of like skydiving without the plane
Bonaro
Hero Member
- Aug 9, 2004
- 977
- 2,213
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Xterra 70, Minelab SD 2200d, 2.5", 3", 4"and several Keene 5" production dredges, Knelson Centrifuge, Gold screw automatic panner
- Primary Interest:
- Prospecting
SaltwaterServr
Sr. Member
Mine exploring is like scuba diving. Buy the gear, do it yourself, you're taking a very large risk with your life. It's basically what I did to learn mine exploring. Like anything else, there's a safe way and a stupid way.
You go in with one flashlight all excited like a school kid, you'll die eventually. Look at the gear that Underground Mine Explorers wear on their channel. Full climbing gear. Helmets. Multiple light sources. Gas meter. Never go alone. Always take a pistol. Know how to perform self-rescue first aid. Understand survival techniques in the desert. Etc.
Had I heeded the advice and stayed out of mines, Period Six Mining wouldn't exist and we wouldn't be sitting on a not-so-small fortune.
Can it kill you? For sure. It's your choice to go into them for a measured risk at the end of the day.
I never use my Garrett ATX in the mines. Spending the time to learn the geology is more important. A GB2 is pretty good to have around though.
You go in with one flashlight all excited like a school kid, you'll die eventually. Look at the gear that Underground Mine Explorers wear on their channel. Full climbing gear. Helmets. Multiple light sources. Gas meter. Never go alone. Always take a pistol. Know how to perform self-rescue first aid. Understand survival techniques in the desert. Etc.
Had I heeded the advice and stayed out of mines, Period Six Mining wouldn't exist and we wouldn't be sitting on a not-so-small fortune.
Can it kill you? For sure. It's your choice to go into them for a measured risk at the end of the day.
I never use my Garrett ATX in the mines. Spending the time to learn the geology is more important. A GB2 is pretty good to have around though.
Aufisher
Bronze Member
- May 12, 2013
- 1,948
- 4,830
- Detector(s) used
- Whites Goldmaster V/SAT. VibraProbe. Bazooka 48" Prospector Sluice. Shorts. Chickens + Goats + Goldhounds. 35' Chris Craft Caribbean motorsailer. FISH OIL + BURLAP
- Primary Interest:
- Prospecting
Never heard my uncle cuss until he almost dropped down the winze!
looking for gold in tailing piles the oldtimers missed, some people use a Falcon MD20 Metal Detector
to cover larger areas you'd have to get a more expensive detector,
I've had the older Fisher goldbug-2 and White's GMT, I thought the goldbug did better in mineralized areas
.
.
and one from "ask Jeff" testing a contact zone with the falcon https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SsZd4vkwDVA
to cover larger areas you'd have to get a more expensive detector,
I've had the older Fisher goldbug-2 and White's GMT, I thought the goldbug did better in mineralized areas
.
.
and one from "ask Jeff" testing a contact zone with the falcon https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SsZd4vkwDVA
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IMAUDIGGER
Silver Member
- Mar 16, 2016
- 3,400
- 5,194
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
i found a mine that had detectable gold in quartz veins. Problem is...it was an area where the tunnel was nearing the surface. Reality sets in once you have to start hammering away with a sledge and chisel and little bits of rock start falling off the ceiling. You can only break away so much material that way. Hammer drills and explosives are the next step...are you prepared to take the risks involved in actually hard rock mining? In my case, I chipped away the easy stuff, the rest is still there because I do not have the tools or knowledge to pursue it. Really wasn’t an aspect I considered when I first started going in mines. What happens if you actually find a seam of high grade ore...
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SittingElf
Full Member
- Feb 25, 2018
- 211
- 560
- Detector(s) used
- Equinox 600, Equinox 800, Garrett Ace 300 (x2 For Wife and Son), Ground Hawg, Garrett Carrot, Minelab Pro-Find 35, SoundClean9 APTX LL Headphones
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Whew! When I first saw the title of this thread..."Mine Searching" ...My military brain took over and thought your son was going to be mine "Detecting", not gold searching! 
LOL
LOLblackchipjim
Full Member
- Dec 25, 2016
- 213
- 194
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- bounty hunter time ranger
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- All Treasure Hunting
You would be surprised how many people die each year in mines across the nation. I would learn from a person with alot of experience before considering exploring mines.
Old Bookaroo
Silver Member
- Dec 4, 2008
- 4,335
- 3,538
All the good advice above about how dangerous it is to explore "old mines" is on the money!
There's another issue - ownership. Particularly after gold ran up to $1,800+/oz., abandoned claims were bought up and assessment work was done on many more. I'll hazard a guess that almost every "old mine" is owned by someone.
Good luck to all,
The Old Bookaroo
There's another issue - ownership. Particularly after gold ran up to $1,800+/oz., abandoned claims were bought up and assessment work was done on many more. I'll hazard a guess that almost every "old mine" is owned by someone.
Good luck to all,
The Old Bookaroo
Old Bookaroo
Silver Member
- Dec 4, 2008
- 4,335
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Clay Diggins:
Your excellent post made me wince.
Good luck to all,
The Old Bookaroo
Your excellent post made me wince.
Good luck to all,
The Old Bookaroo
