Prospecting Anthills...

vic910

Bronze Member
Mar 14, 2005
1,097
10
Orlando, FL
All I know is when I swing my MD over an ant hill-----they go nuts! They start pouring out of that hill like there was a fire! LOL

vicki
 

silverswede

Hero Member
Dec 12, 2005
791
7
Pinehurst. Idaho
Detector(s) used
Minelab SOVEREIGN XS-2a PRO
My guess is that being the ant hill is made of small pebbles from underground that a prospector could pan or drywash the material to sample for gold. Sure would pee off those ants though.
 

M

mchamby

Guest
I'm sure glad we don't have ant hills that size around here. :o ::) :)
I do know that a good way to see if there was Indian camps or activity in an area around here is to look at woodchuck holes. You go through the dirt they brought to the surface and look for soil coloration changes or chips.
Mchamby
 

DigEmAll

Hero Member
Aug 29, 2005
933
72
Eastern UP, Michigan
Out here in AZ we have the big black carpenter ant that will clear a six foot circle in your yard of EVERYTHING in a couple days. I have seen these ant hills, when left alone get to be a foot or more high and the size of that circle over teh period of a year or two. They excavate rocks about the size of BB's to make their hills out of. If you happened to be in gold country, it'll tell you what is a foot or so under the ground there. So...

Running your machine over an ant hill to see if there is small gold nuggets in the immediate area might let you find something.

Not a bad idea.

Digging in an active ant hill.

Bad idea.
 

OP
OP
G

guest

Jr. Member
Apr 17, 2005
22
0
Detector(s) used
VX3
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
TNX a lot for the replies! :D 8)


DigEmAll said:
Out here in AZ we have the big black carpenter ant that will clear a six foot circle in your yard of EVERYTHING in a couple days. I have seen these ant hills, when left alone get to be a foot or more high and the size of that circle over teh period of a year or two. They excavate rocks about the size of BB's to make their hills out of. If you happened to be in gold country, it'll tell you what is a foot or so under the ground there. So...

Running your machine over an ant hill to see if there is small gold nuggets in the immediate area might let you find something.

Not a bad idea.

Digging in an active ant hill.

Bad idea.

How long will a period for those anthills last till they?re abandoned?

Another thing would be...will a detector be enough to get some nuggets or has it to be some special like a nugget-machine or have I to do gold panning at least...??
 

DigEmAll

Hero Member
Aug 29, 2005
933
72
Eastern UP, Michigan
Vito said:
TNX a lot for the replies! :D 8)


DigEmAll said:
Out here in AZ we have the big black carpenter ant that will clear a six foot circle in your yard of EVERYTHING in a couple days. I have seen these ant hills, when left alone get to be a foot or more high and the size of that circle over teh period of a year or two. They excavate rocks about the size of BB's to make their hills out of. If you happened to be in gold country, it'll tell you what is a foot or so under the ground there. So...

Running your machine over an ant hill to see if there is small gold nuggets in the immediate area might let you find something.

Not a bad idea.

Digging in an active ant hill.

Bad idea.

How long will a period for those anthills last till they?re abandoned?

Another thing would be...will a detector be enough to get some nuggets or has it to be some special like a nugget-machine or have I to do gold panning at least...??

How long until they are abandoned.... Well, that depends on how much ant poison you put on 'em! I have a couple that I CAN NOT get rid of. Two years in a row... loads of poison. They would simply be gone for a month and then, right back at it. So, to answer your question, I don't really know, I haven't successfully made them abandon one yet. As for needing a special machine, My Garrett 2500 will pick up a nugget about the size of a #6 shot pretty easily, but I never really tried to find one.
 

lou423

Hero Member
Dec 14, 2005
505
8
S.W. Tennessee
Detector(s) used
Tesoro. Minelab. Fisher.
I once poured a large bottle of water inside the hole of an ant's nest , i guess they all drown as i never saw ants comming out again...
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Discussions

Top