metal detecting for gold on the east coast

[vaquero44]

would like advice on a detector to get for hunting dry/wet gravel river bottoms and banks..........just not sure if the minelab eureka is capable or if whites gmt is more suited or just a gold bug pro or g-2 would be more practical? any feedback would be great!

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Since gold "nuggets" are more rare than diamonds, and gold "pickers" are almost as rare on the East Coast, you'll want a machine like the Fisher Goldbug II, or the Whites GMT. Shallow and small is your focus in the East - along with a lot of prayer and luck.

The Eureka, is Minelab's attempt to build a machine that can hunt gold nuggets, and shoot coins in parks. It does both, but it's heavy and clunky. The 705 was born out of its ashes.

 

[bcfromfl]

I grew up in the Northeast, and am familiar with the types of ground, soils, and vegetation you're likely to find. The good news, is that Maine has probably the best chance of having small pieces of gold that a detector will sound off on...east of the Mississippi. The bad news is that because of the wetter conditions (as compared against Western states), the bigger gold that a detector can find, is likely beyond the capabilities of the machine because of the amount of overburden.

That's not to say that the task is impossible -- just that you'll have to be very selective in the places you go. If you Google "gold in Maine," you'll come up with a handful of sites that will direct you to possible locations. From there, it may take some scouting to find places with shallow bedrock, because these are the places you'll want to zero in on.

I don't know how much pressure Maine has had from other folks with detectors, but this is another factor to consider. You may have to do a bit more hiking to separate yourself from the worked-out spots that are closer to roads.

 

[Mgumby16]

Idk about Maine but in Virginia the only people having any success with metal detectors are using minelab gpx detectors.

High soil mineralization and deep overburden negate the use of vlf detectors in most gold bearing areas in va. Idk how similar Maine is.

Best of luck to you!

 

[vaquero44]

what is IDK? sorry

 

[Terry Soloman]

IDK = I Don't Know.

 

[vaquero44]

ohh ok thank you

 

[Mgumby16]

Vaquero44 did you get a detector? Where on the east coast are you trying to metal detect?

 

[placertogo]

Here in Maine, the best areas to work with a metal detector are where bedrock is partially exposed with only shallow areas of overburden. Often the cracks in bedrock run so deep that gold is several inches below the surface of the bedrock. Work the areas that are high and dry in summer and fall but were in the stream flow during the Spring runoff.