My First Gold Nugget Found with a Detector

Ed144

Full Member
Apr 27, 2015
105
261
Saddlebrooke, Pinal County, Az.
Detector(s) used
Garrett Axiom and XP Deus
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I've been detecting for gold nuggets for several years without finding any Au. As many of you know, almost everything else is found: bullets, fragments of bullets, fragments of fragments of bullets, bullet casings, nails, hob-nails, foil, lead sinkers, lead shot, and the list goes on-and-on.
We'll I finally found some Au! The first time out with my new Garrett Axiom after some backyard and nearby gulch practice I went to a southern Arizona location with a local detecting buddy. We have both been on a quest to find some gold. On a steep rocky hillside and after finding several lead bullets and a big jacketed rifle bullet I thought I found another when a large signal was heard. About three inches down was a flat dark dirt covered rock that was unusually heavy. My first thought was "that's a funny piece of lead." I called my buddy over to take a look at it. He hollered and identified it as a specimen piece of a gold vein! After all of our searches we were finally on the gold!
After hundreds of hours of detecting my only hope was to find some small or tiny piece of a nugget....anything. What I found was about 3.6 ounces of specimen. I'm not certain how much Au is inside but I'd guess about one-half of it. I've scrubbed it with dish soap and also liquid Bar Keeper's cleaner but the gold is not clearly visible except on the edges. The piece is about 2.2" long, 2" wide and 1/2" thick, so it clearly is a piece of mineralized vein. I may consider cleaning it with Muriatic or hydroflouric acid to remove everything except the Au and quartz, but it is such a nice example of a thin gold vein it I'd rather not damage it.
I'm most impressed with the Axiom. I was using the 11" mono coil on a steep brushy and rocky hillside. The detector is well balanced and easy to use with only a little practice. My detector settings were Fine, Slow, and Manual ground balance. Unlike my past VLF detectors the Axiom virtually ignored the mineralization and hot rocks. This meant I could detect almost continuousely with only an occasional manual ground balance. I'd guess compared to using a VLF machine I covered twice as much ground with far more confidence in hearing targets.
For all of you still searching for your first gold detect I say stick with it. Perseverance pays off. One of the best suggestions I've heard from an experienced detectorist was to be sure I was detecting in an area of known gold, so this is what I did.
Good luck and keep detecting. Ed144
 

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Upvote 24

Digger RJ

Gold Member
Aug 24, 2017
19,313
33,446
SW Missouri/Oklahoma
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030; Minelab Equinox 800;
XP Deus 2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I've been detecting for gold nuggets for several years without finding any Au. As many of you know, almost everything else is found: bullets, fragments of bullets, fragments of fragments of bullets, bullet casings, nails, hob-nails, foil, lead sinkers, lead shot, and the list goes on-and-on.
We'll I finally found some Au! The first time out with my new Garrett Axiom after some backyard and nearby gulch practice I went to a southern Arizona location with a local detecting buddy. We have both been on a quest to find some gold. On a steep rocky hillside and after finding several lead bullets and a big jacketed rifle bullet I thought I found another when a large signal was heard. About three inches down was a flat dark dirt covered rock that was unusually heavy. My first thought was "that's a funny piece of lead." I called my buddy over to take a look at it. He hollered and identified it as a specimen piece of a gold vein! After all of our searches we were finally on the gold!
After hundreds of hours of detecting my only hope was to find some small or tiny piece of a nugget....anything. What I found was about 3.6 ounces of specimen. I'm not certain how much Au is inside but I'd guess about one-half of it. I've scrubbed it with dish soap and also liquid Bar Keeper's cleaner but the gold is not clearly visible except on the edges. The piece is about 2.2" long, 2" wide and 1/2" thick, so it clearly is a piece of mineralized vein. I may consider cleaning it with Muriatic or hydroflouric acid to remove everything except the Au and quartz, but it is such a nice example of a thin gold vein it I'd rather not damage it.
I'm most impressed with the Axiom. I was using the 11" mono coil on a steep brushy and rocky hillside. The detector is well balanced and easy to use with only a little practice. My detector settings were Fine, Slow, and Manual ground balance. Unlike my past VLF detectors the Axiom virtually ignored the mineralization and hot rocks. This meant I could detect almost continuousely with only an occasional manual ground balance. I'd guess compared to using a VLF machine I covered twice as much ground with far more confidence in hearing targets.
For all of you still searching for your first gold detect I say stick with it. Perseverance pays off. One of the best suggestions I've heard from an experienced detectorist was to be sure I was detecting in an area of known gold, so this is what I did.
Good luck and keep detecting. Ed144
Nice Specimen!!! Congrats!!!
 

OP
OP
E

Ed144

Full Member
Apr 27, 2015
105
261
Saddlebrooke, Pinal County, Az.
Detector(s) used
Garrett Axiom and XP Deus
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I measured the dry weight and the amount of water displaced when suspended by a thread. Calculations estimate the amount of Au at 1.89 oz-Troy. Further detecting at the location uncovered some blasting wire and pieces of blasting cap nearby. It looks like the specimen was blasted from some rock outcroppings further up the hill by some highgraders. They must have spotted some free gold in the rocks and blasted it free with dynamite. The piece I found was likely thrown clear by the blast and never retrieved.
 

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hampton detector

Full Member
Feb 15, 2023
166
420
I measured the dry weight and the amount of water displaced when suspended by a thread. Calculations estimate the amount of Au at 1.89 oz-Troy. Further detecting at the location uncovered some blasting wire and pieces of blasting cap nearby. It looks like the specimen was blasted from some rock outcroppings further up the hill by some highgraders. They must have spotted some free gold in the rocks and blasted it free with dynamite. The piece I found was likely thrown clear by the blast and never retrieved.
That’s freakin Awsome!
 

Rick (Nova Scotia)

Silver Member
May 8, 2008
4,098
2,711
🥇 Banner finds
3
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
Omega, F75, AT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yes nice specimen, find.
I would clean it up, but not dissolve the quartz as it could very well be worth more as a specimen.
That was a pretty "rich" vein.
 

Reed Lukens

Silver Member
Jan 1, 2013
2,653
5,417
Congres, AZ/ former California Outlawed Gold Miner
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Vaquero, Whites MXT, Vsat, GMT, 5900Di Pro, Minelab GPX 5000, GPXtreme, 2200SD, Excalibur 1000!
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Because it's your first, keep it 👍
The specific gravity water weight doesn't work unless you know the amounts of other metals trapped with the gold. You can clearly see lots of iron, looks like maybe 50/50 but you can see and guess it better in person.
Because it's a hardrock sample, usually you would simply crush it and recover the gold. I would definitely dig out some more of that vein and file a claim on it if you find more.
Congratulations on finding your first vein of gold 🥰👍🥰
 

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