Newbie

[Lucky Gator]

Hey all, I am a newbie to this site and the whole prospecting thing in general. I am a 45 year old disabled veteran, and have taken up prospecting with my 8 year old son, who is a real rock hound. I live in Montana so opportunities abound here. Right now we are doing a little panning and some "hard rock" mining, and by that I mean we are finding a lot of quartz and then busting it up to see what treasures it holds. So far we have found some promising looking quartz in one area, and are in the process of staking it. Any advice any of you all might have is welcome. I don't foresee this becoming anything more than a bonafide hobby, but I do envision spending a substantial amount of time in the field. We just joined the GPAA and will be joining the local mineral club as well. Eventually I would like to get a detector and try prospecting that way, but might want to do a little relic hunting as well. Any thoughts on a decent "multi purpose" detector? I have heard that Garret makes a good one. Thanks, look forward to hearing from everyone.

 

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[Sample Pan Dan]

Welcome

 

[buttedigger]

Hey all, I am a newbie to this site and the whole prospecting thing in general. I am a 45 year old disabled veteran, and have taken up prospecting with my 8 year old son, who is a real rock hound. I live in Montana so opportunities abound here. Right now we are doing a little panning and some "hard rock" mining, and by that I mean we are finding a lot of quartz and then busting it up to see what treasures it holds. So far we have found some promising looking quartz in one area, and are in the process of staking it. Any advice any of you all might have is welcome. I don't foresee this becoming anything more than a bonafide hobby, but I do envision spending a substantial amount of time in the field. We just joined the GPAA and will be joining the local mineral club as well. Eventually I would like to get a detector and try prospecting that way, but might want to do a little relic hunting as well. Any thoughts on a decent "multi purpose" detector? I have heard that Garret makes a good one. Thanks, look forward to hearing from everyone.
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Hey there sounds like your about to have a lot of fun. I just moved to the Butte area from Northern AZ and prospected for years there. I am only 25 so you have some years on me ha... I started recreational detecting when I moved out here and purchased the Garrett AT PRO and love it. It was perfect for the money, its waterproof to 10 feet and can be used almost everywhere here and there are several different coils for it. They also make the AT GOLD but I have no experience with that one. I do know the AT PRO does find gold as a friend in NV found a pretty small gold nugget and silver nugget with the AT PRO and I have tested it on my small nuggets as well. I would also recommend the Gold Bug 2 or the Tesoro Lobo SuperTRAQ, I used the supertraq in AZ and it worked great on small gold and gold veins. It was a great all around detector as well minus the digital screen display. The Gold Bug and the Tesoro are pretty dang close and I suggest either one. As far as all terrain though, you can't go wrong with the AT PRO, or Fisher Gold Bug. I am trying to get a FaceBook page blooming for Metal Detectorist here in Montana so if you have a FaceBook or know someone who does the metal detecting send them to the page
https://www.facebook.com/WmdWesternMontanaDetecting

 

[Hoser John]

Great article on Montana mining in this months GPAA rag magazine-John

 

[NJnuggetpirate]

Welcome this is a great site to join everybody is here to help

 

[B H Prospector]

Welcome Lucky and thankyou for your sevice. You will make some good friends here and learn alot. You are on your way to making some wonderful memories for you and your son as you start this great activity.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector