Pinpointing Gold

[whiteriver23]

Is there any need for a pinpointer when detecting gold
or don't the hand held pinpointers detect gold?

BTW, thanks Terry for the giveaway on the AGA website.

 

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[NeoTokyo]

I have not used a pinpointer yet so I dont know anything about it other than its extra equipment to have to buy and bring with you.

I have a plastic scoop, Jobe sells a very nice green scoop.
The scoop works very well as you simply cross it over the coil and take out more soil each time till you can see the nugget.

TrinityAu also showed me a neat way of looking for the small stuff, after you figure out that you have the nugget in your hand with the dirt slowly drizzle it onto the coil, when you hear the blip you know the nugget dropped onto the coil and you should be able to see it.

 

[Lanny in AB]

The time a pin-pointer is handy to have is when you're digging a hole, chasing a nugget through hard compacted or cemented material, and the diameter of the hole gets smaller than the coil; at that point, it's very difficult by waving the coil over the hole to tell exactly where the target is in the hole (side, bottom, other side, up higher, down lower) or in narrow bedrock cracks. That's where a pin-pointer is handy and can save time. (You've already covered how dropping dirt on the coil lets you know when a target hits the coil--so you don't need a pin-pointer for that.)

All the best,

Lanny

P.S. The pin-pointer has to be able to handle the mineralization of the area (VLF or Pulse--it makes a difference).

 

[jmoller99]

Good luck finding a good gold pinpointer. Ones that work well for coin and relic hunters tend to be useless for small free gold (under 1/10 gram).

 

[nuggetshooter323]

I always have my MD-20 with me, and I use it when I get in the situation that Lanny describes. I've seen nugget hunters using the Garrett Pro Pointer and the new Minelab pinpointer, since they're VLF I wonder how good they work on various sub gram sizes.

 

[Ca70]

I Used to use the UNIprobe headphones with the pulse probe , worked great . Little pricey though.

I now keep my MD20 in my pack. A friend went as far as mounting it to his box on his GPX. Looks clunky, but he wants it within reach.

 

[Fullpan]

Ca70 - having talked with you on another thread(new Members), I'm curious to know about your MDing drift mines.

 

[Ca70]

Sure Fullpan , where should I start ? My best finds are centered in and around drifts in bench placers. I stay away from open abandoned mines , and focus on harder to reach and closed up drifts .
I use different detectors , depending on the area. Research helps. I am a fan of sample ,sample sample. I'll drill with a 30" gas power 1" auger and scanning with MD20, it's fast and easy.Or detect faces with a GMT looking ground changes , maybe then bring in a minelab GP detector looking for bigger hits. Im not totally brand loyal. I've used alot of different detectors , and the ones I use now work best for me .I own 4 different brands , each works best for a given situation. For mountain gold, it's Whites and Minelab. But thats me.
Bottom line I stay out of old dried out drifts , too many snakes , cave ins, dried out crumbly faces, they are picked over and full of bullets.
Drifts are extremely dangerous.
Ones Im watching , I'll place trail cams in ( after digging out ) , and spray paint with water marker on sheer and face walls , come back later and look for earth movement. only then i'll go in and poke a little bit. I have been rewarded nicely by being patient . Some look great and warrant staking and building a portal for further exploration.
Im more than happy to share tips, and I'm still learning . thats why I finally came here, I'm dying to get back in the water and dredge. until then im going to find other ways.
I have found that if you could peel away the years of tree and bush growth, it's amazing how many exploratoy diggings and sample holes there are out there. with modern tools sometimes they were closer than they knew to a decent find. I'll mark these spots and decide if it's worth it to spend more time on it later.

I'll start a thread on some of my experiences soon.

A couple of nice finds in a drift face fall 2011 , just food for thought. Cheers
One non gold related was a buried wood case outside an old portal . Weight of just over 75 lbs box of square nails , under almost 3 feet of gravels . Half were preserved, non rusted . So you never know. They sold for $1000. I found no gold that 4 day outing.


Came out of totally cemented graveled substrate.

 

[LinkHylian]

I've been thinking about getting a MD20. They are pretty cheap and from I've heard they work well. Any advice on that? Do you drill a hole and then stick the probe inside?

 

[NeoTokyo]

Wow, thats some beautiful gold and a good read too.

Out in Folsom there are old old Chinese diggings that go into thin walkways 20+ feet down.
I would love to check them out but have not clue how to get to them.

Here is a hikers video that I found on YouTube showing them.

 

[oldbrundogg]

Hey Neo, just my two cents, you got babies stay out of those things. Leave those to the folks with lesser responsibilities.

 

[Fullpan]

Ca70 - great gold nugget! Looks like we've found someone else who has gone the extra mile to recover gold in non-stream environments. Liked the tip about
marking the walls to check for movement and stability - afraid I wouldn't have the patience to hike back in. WOW on the 66grm'er also

 

[NeoTokyo]

Thats pretty good advice, that would be pretty much instant lights out of the walls came in.

x_x

 

[Fullpan]

Neo, - never seen no nuthin' like that. Thanks!

 

[Ca70]

Link' I love the MD20 . it's a niche device. but it serves that niche very well. It finds very ,very small metallic objects. The thing I didnt elaborate on is .. After drilling into rock media I catch the drillings in a container ( a pan doesnt work, well a flat sided vessel fits more flush to the wall .) I then run the MD20 over the contents and / or pan them out if I have water handy. If the sample hole "pans out" ill mark the hole with green paint to come back later . I then go and take more sample holes.

These places still scare me , and thats the way I like it. All it takes is one softball size rock just a couple feet over your head to really ruin your day. Let alone a slab the size of your hood . They let go without out any notice. Ive seen it . BTW I do wear a hard hat and cap lamp, and I try to not do this alone . Im trained in Rescue systems and confined space rescue which may give me a bit more respect for these things. I see teenagers sometimes poking around these open holes in shorts and flip flops and I gotta shake my head . They have no idea .

I dont want to be a kill joy but you gotta know what you're in for if the situation goes "sideways". I have little ones too and that has to be foremost. NO gold is worth dying for . Ive passed up on some remote honey holes that looked like they've never seen a detector. But had to keep walking (banging my head) because they were just way too hairy for me. I then go and find where they dumped their waste rock . (evil grin )

 

[Ca70]

Neo' I tend to avoid the immediate area around Chinese diggings . They were so efficient and meticulous ,they didnt leave much behind. I like rock piles, I dont like hand stacked rocks and rock walls for nuggets. Although stacked rock walls are known to sometimes hold forgotten or abandoned treasures. I have stumbled upon this twice. These are good areas for a relic detector too.

 

[Ca70]

Link' I love the MD20 . it's a niche device. but it serves that niche very well. It finds very ,very small metallic objects. The thing I didnt elaborate on is .. After drilling into rock media I catch the drillings in a container ( a pan doesnt work, well a flat sided vessel fits more flush to the wall .) I then run the MD20 over the contents and / or pan them out if I have water handy. If the sample hole "pans out" ill mark the hole with green paint to come back later . I then go and take more sample holes.

These places still scare me , and thats the way I like it. All it takes is one softball size rock just a couple feet over your head to really ruin your day. Let alone a slab the size of your hood . They let go without out any notice. Ive seen it . BTW I do wear a hard hat and cap lamp, and I try to not do this alone . Im trained in Rescue systems and confined space rescue which may give me a bit more respect for these things. I see teenagers sometimes poking around these open holes in shorts and flip flops and I gotta shake my head . They have no idea .

I dont want to be a kill joy but you gotta know what you're in for if the situation goes "sideways". I have little ones too and that has to be foremost. NO gold is worth dying for . Ive passed up on some remote honey holes that looked like they've never seen a detector. But had to keep walking (banging my head) because they were just way too hairy for me. I then go and find where they dumped their waste rock . (evil grin )

I dont want to hi-jack this thread talking about dangerous drifts. ill stay on the subject at hand .

 

[Ca70]

Back to pinpointers... Others I really like to use are the SUN -RAY for my MXT, and the Coiltek for my Minelab GP. The Sun Ray fits nicely on the shaft of the MXT and works great. (These dont go in your pocket they are actually plugged into the machines .) The Coiltek works real well in mineralized ground since its paired with the Minelab. But , the cord is real long, it is too awkward to keep on the detector full time. add a large Mono coil and its like swinging a Fridge on a stick .I dont have any experience with the new pocket Minelab or Garrett pinpointers but I hear they work nicely.





Shaft mounted Sun Ray on MXT.







Coiltek for GP

 

[Ca70]

The Sun Ray and Coiltek units do not detect sub grain size peices of gold like the MD20 does. Its in a different league, and serves a different pupose for me. hope this helps.

 

[Ca70]

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