Colorado silver mines, ghost towns, etc...

[maryhm]

Hi all. I'm brand new to this hobby and have a question. I'm moving to Durango, Colorado and would like to do some detecting in the mountains around the old silver mines, ghost towns, places I find while hiking/4 wheeling. Any suggestions on a good detector that will help me find a little bit of everything from buttons to silver nuggets?

 

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[Mighty AP]

Hey Mary, Welcome to TN! I lived just over the border from Durango in Aztec NM for a few years, take the old highway & be in beautiful Durango in about 20 mins! There was a bar I used to get thrown out of quite frequently............cant remember the name now. I used to drink a lot. lol Anyhow, I would recomend a machine with manual ground balancing due to the high mineralization in the ground there. I prefer Whites machines but there are some good detectors made by others that would serve you well. What kind of budget are you lookin at, new or used? Ebay & this websites classified section are good options to find a nice used machine at a good price. Others will chime in with suggestions & good advice............weigh all the options before you buy & good luck!

 

[maryhm]

Hi Mighty! Did you ever do any detecting in that area, or just drinking?

I'm just looking for a good machine that a beginner can learn on, but not outgrow too quickly. Budget of less than $1000. Not too particular about new or used- just depends on the machine I decide to get and the pricing difference. I've had a suggestion of the MXT. Any experience with that one?

 

[Mighty AP]

Hi Mary, I didnt do any detecting when I was there, I just got my 1st machine about 5 months ago. With a $1000 budget the sky is the limit! I use a Whites QXT, just a step below the MXT, have a buddy who uses an MXT & he loves it! There are a few MXT users here & I hope they give you some feedback but I can tell you the MXT is a great machine! I know it has a "prospector mode" & with a DD coil it is a good machine for finding gold nuggets, & it is a coin & jewelry killer with the stock coil! I think the MXT would be a great choice for your area! HH (happy huntin)

AP

 

[bakergeol]

I have spent some great times(metal detecting) around Durango. A good treasure hunting book "Golden Treasures of the San Juan" is my favorite for that area.

HH
George

 

[maryhm]

Hey George! Thanks for the book tip. Got it at Amazon for $6.48 including shipping. Can't beat that! What brand detector did you use in the Durango area? Any cool finds?

 

[Pirates Keep]

Hooray!!! I didnt think anyone was gonna be from Colorado. I am new to this too. I live near golden. Maybe some day we could detect with eachother.

 

[bakergeol]

Hi Folks
Yes it is nice to see some Colorado detectorists here.
I live in Aurora but love the San Juans because of their beauty and
abundant public land..
I use an X-5 for relics and a PI(GS5) for gold if the iron trash is not
great.(MXT is a great machine for relics,coins and nuggets)
My favorite finds were old store tokens(X-5) from a mining camp.

HH
George

 

[madfranks]

Welcome to the forum! I live in Colorado as well, and I've been hunting in the hills for a while now, and my detector has been great so far. I have a Tesoro Vaquero, and like AP said, the manual ground balancing is very important for this area! Sometimes I forget to set the ground balance before I go detecting and I'll get lots of chirps and noise because the ground around the mountains is highly mineralized. Plus the Vaquero has great depth and can see things really deep, good for cache hunting. Anyway, good luck, let us know what kind you are going to get, and ask more questions if you have them!

 

[maryhm]

Thanks for the tip on the Vaquero. I've been looking at reviews and they're all pretty good! The more I've been thinking about, the less I think I'll be using the detector for nugget hunting. Mainly coins, jewerly, and relics. I like the fact that it's a couple of pounds lighter than the MXT also. Since I plan on hiking quite a bit with it, that will make a big difference. It's cheaper too. Other than the prospecting mode on the MXT, any other pros/cons when comparing these two machines?

 

[bakergeol]

The Vaquero operates at 14khz which means it can be used as a gold detector. The link below shows this.
The Cibola and Vaquero are the deepest machines for the money.
http://www.akmining.com/mine/tesoro01.htm

HH
George

 

[LadyDigger]

My sister use to live in Aurora (Denver) and now lives in Parker, Co...does that count? LOL I love it there, just the altitude and my body don't work well together Was able to make it to Pikes Peak, Contential Divide and even have a piece of the ROCKIES in my China Cabinet ....so yes, I own a PIECE OF THE ROCK LOL

Hi Mary and Welcome. We are newbies too We've only been detecting since April and having a blast!!!

You mentioned silver mines and such...my hubby recently found a web site about old mines and such in Virginia and recently ordered some books from them. It included maps of where all the gold mines and such are located. Very informative!!!! (Dept of Mines, Minerals and Energy -- Virginia)

Hubby and boys are going camping this week coming (that male bonding thing while I stay home (my choice) and throw everything in my house in the trash!!!)....and he has been mapping on todays maps, all the locations and found where he wants to camp and all. They are so excited. I told him not to come home without my BIG NUGGET!!!! heheheehee

I did locate a site for Colorado, if you would be interested or anyone else reading this post. http://mining.state.co.us/

Happy Hunting and hope you have a blast in Colorado!!!.............Ann

 

[mxtswinger]

I love my MXT, and think it would be an outstanding choice. The Vaquero is also an excellent machine. I just want to point out a couple things that might be if interest to you.

The MXT does not have manual gb per se, but you can manually lock the GB to any ground conditions. Simply swing the detector a few seconds in the GRD position to acclimate to the soil, then switch to Lock position.For low mineralization/iron areas the automatic GB mode is excellent.

I read the review posted by George and it listed the accessory coils available for the Vaquero. I did not see a small DD (double D) coil listed. I don't know for sure if this means there are no DD's available or not, but it's something I would look into. The DD design gives better performance than concentrics in high mineralization and a small coil will give better target separation in the probably trashy areas you mentioned.

Welcome to our great hobby and HH.
Kevin