Specimen in highly mineralized ground

[Brivic1]

Recently I was using my old whites Vsat GM3 downslope from an outcropping, high in the mtns of Northern Calif. It was a terrible place to hunt No trash but hot ground all over. Then I hit on a solid sound . as if it were a 30.06 cartridge case.A solid and clear signal.
I soon had it out of the ground, about 4 " down max. It was a lumpy , heavy stone... or whatever. Too much dirt on it so , taking a walk to the truck and some water in a pan, brush a little , softly... and there shone gold.
I will attach some images.
The specimen is 2" x2" x 2" and weighs 55 gram. A quartz matrix and iron staining , . It is a crystaline , lacey specimen. I thought of nitric , to melt away the rocky quartze etc. But, who knows of its make-up.

Anyway, some of my mates thrashed the area with various machines, VLF and Pulse but found no more. All were challenged by the iron ground.

I am needing some ideas.... How would the XP Deus handle this contrary ironstone ground? . I have heard that it is a great machine.
Anyone with info on the XP wireless Deus and this kind of situation please comment or contact.. Thank you all, Brian
]

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[meMiner]

A beautiful specimen for sure. Congrats!

I am actually surprised that it gave a bang like a 30 cal shell casing. It must have quite a bit of gold or other conductive metal within. I agree with the above not to mess with it too much, because it is beautiful as-is. Perhaps a mild solution like coke or vinegar to remove some of the staining, but I personally would not go overboard with anything harsh.

A couple of maybe useless thoughts, but I will state them anyway. If you have a bunch of guys detecting in the same small area, there might be interference from another detector working on a close frequency (ie. it might not just be hot rocks that are causing you chatter). If you have narrowed down the spot to where you have found gold, a sometimes slow but workable process is to set your detector with the coil off the ground and run samples over the coil by hand.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[Brivic1]

Two summers gone by now... and have hunted only about 8 hours in two years at the site... terrible. It is a 3+ hour drive tho.. and at about 6500 feet, I have a bit of a breathing problem... yuk
I will be there again tho,,, before the snow flies, with a GoldbugPro................ good hunting to you all. friends,............

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Two summers gone by now... and have hunted only about 8 hours in two years at the site... terrible. It is a 3+ hour drive tho.. and at about 6500 feet, I have a bit of a breathing problem... yuk
I will be there again tho,,, before the snow flies, with a GoldbugPro................ good hunting to you all. friends,............

Hopefully you marked both finds. Don't be surprized if the majority of the float gold runs in nearly a straight line down the hillside.