Mineral prospecting

[josephusminimus]

Since there's a hobbies on the road forum there probably ought to be something on it referring to gold and mineral prospecting.&nbsp; Evidently a number of forum users have done some of it, and others might sometime.<br /><br />Searching the forums it appears there have been two threads posted on the matter in the past:<br /><br /><a class="thread_title" title="Noticed that highdesertranger and willy mentioned they were prospectors on another thread and thought I'd ask about the gold mining claims available..." href="/post/Gold-prospecting-5789727?highlight=gold"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Gold</strong> prospecting</span></a>, <a class="thread_title" title="Unlike the Hoffams on &quot;Goldrush Alaska&quot;, there are still a lot of places where panning for gold will not only be a lot of fun but may be..." href="/post/Theres-Gold-In-Them-Thar-Hills!-5589990?highlight=gold"><span style="color: #000000;">There's <strong>Gold</strong> In Them Thar Hills!</span></a>

 

[Willy]

A metal detector and a gold pan are the 2 basics. Get the right detector and you can also look for coins/relics/jewelry.

 

[josephusminimus]

Designed to go beneath a downspout for a roof gutter to prevent&nbsp;the soil from eroding.<br /><img src="http://sofarfromheavendotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/pan-sluicebox-double-duty-1.jpg" alt="" /><br />Cheap, durable, packs easily and does enough else to justify having along.<br /><br /><img src="http://sofarfromheavendotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/pan-sluicebox-double-duty-2.jpg" alt="" /><br />With a bit of practice it doubles as a gold pan as good as most, and a mini-sluicebox if you have some streamflow.&nbsp; A person can come to prefer it over the store-bought, single purpose plastic gold pan if only because of the versatility.<br /><br />Also serves well as a scrub board for washing clothing.<br /><br />I bought two of these in a thrift store about 15 years ago for a dollar each.

 

[josephusminimus]

A metal detector and a gold pan are the 2 basics. Get the right detector and you can also look for coins/relics/jewelry.

<br /><br />In a pinch a person can avoid the metal detector part and pick up with a pan all the small stuff the metal detector would have missed.&nbsp; Learning to read a channel isn't difficult and the knowledge weighs less and isn't so bulky as the average metal detector.

 

[Willy]

A metal detector and a gold pan are the 2 basics. Get the right detector and you can also look for coins/relics/jewelry.

<br /><br />In a pinch a person can avoid the metal detector part and pick up with a pan all the small stuff the metal detector would have missed.&nbsp; Learning to read a channel isn't difficult and the knowledge weighs less and isn't so bulky as the average metal detector.

<br /><br />&nbsp;Well, that depends on the kind of prospecting a person does. I do a lot of nugget hunting (back's kinda wrecked and panning= massive pain) and a pan, while capable of finding nuggets, would require a truly massive amount of materiel to be moved. Finding one nugget, even though small (and I've found up to a 2 oz one detecting) is often a whole lot less effort than panning the equivalent amount. Also, at least with one of my detectors, I'm able to follow black sand deposits without having to dig them up. Another thing to keep in mind is that, where one finds a nugget, there's often a bunch of smaller gold located in the same vicinity.. which can then be panned out.<br />&nbsp;One scenario I often posit is one where a person can be hand panning in a location, with a nugget the size of a cabbage 3' away and 2' down. If he/she doesn't actually dig it out, it would not be found, whereas, with a detector, it would literally blow yer ears off (DIG ME! DIG ME!).. and all without having to move a mountain of overburden first. I've found some pretty large nuggets in and under the arctic tundra (chipping at permafrost sux) that wouldn't be practical to find were one to try just using a pan.<br />&nbsp;Another valid use of a detector is for detecting tailing piles for nuggets that either didn't make it through the grizzly (too large), or slickplated through the rifflebox. Both endeavors aren't suited to panning. Down in Az , we found rather a few nuggets detecting drywasher tailing piles (both sides, cuz they sometimes tried to run damp material).&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

 

[josephusminimus]

Good points all, Willie.&nbsp; I'm probably just rationalizing because my hearing's so lousy I have a lot of difficulty with the metal detector noises.&nbsp; But I'll confess I'm not blessed with physical pain panning, so it's easier for me to like doing it.&nbsp; Always a pleasure seeing what's trapped down there after everything washes down.

 

[Willy]

&nbsp;Fisher used to make a little light that plugged into the headphone jack for those with bad hearing. It would also probably be pretty easy to set up a vibrating attachment (like cellphones and some pinpointers) that would plug in. Nice thing about the vibrating one is that, aside from leaving the eyes free, it could also convey signal intensity.

 

[gojo]

Yeah, I been metal detecting for 30+ years. I own two Whites land metal detectors and one Fishers under water detectors. My wife just got interested in it about 5 years now. I took her to a near by lake and she found two gold wedding bands. Now she's crazy about it. If you don't mind digging trash, you'll find gold jewelry. Reason is, gold isn't as good of a conductor as copper and silver. I enjoy it, it's a lot of fun. Now I been thinking about gold panning. Been doing a lot of research on it. Just bot Garrett's Gold Panning Kit. <br />Now we'll have to hit west.

 

[josephusminimus]

&nbsp;Fisher used to make a little light that plugged into the headphone jack for those with bad hearing. It would also probably be pretty easy to set up a vibrating attachment (like cellphones and some pinpointers) that would plug in. Nice thing about the vibrating one is that, aside from leaving the eyes free, it could also convey signal intensity.

Good idea, the vibration thing.&nbsp; If my old Fisher Gold Bug had had it I might have kept it and got enough use out of it to be glad.

 

[Willy]

I've had/tried a whole pike of detectors over the years and I've always come back to the white's MXT. It's about the best VLF detector out there when it comes to handling tough grounded, at the same time, being really sensitive to small gold. I've found piles of the stuff with it and, when recommending an overall detector for prospecting and coin/ring/relic hunting, it's my choice.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp; Aside from that, I'm pretty excited about the white's TDI pulse induction detector I picked up about a month ago. Talk about a monster! Goes deeper than I want to dig at times and his a unique tone ID system. Thing 'bout it though is it's not an 'automatic' kinda unit and requires a fair amount of user savvy host up properly.

 

[gojo]

I been using White's since 73. Back then, I Bot a 66TR Gold Master, sold it at a garage sale about 15 years ago. In 1986 Bot a Coinmaster 6000/Di and I still use it. In my opinion I think that's the best metal detector White's made. If you look on ebay you'll see what they still go for.&nbsp; That detector paid itself of. In 96 bot a Fishers Aquanaut 1280X, I take this one to the beaches, usually right after holidays. This one finds all my rings and its my favorite at the present time. I been taking it to the coast and Canyon Lake north of San Antonio. It's very clear water, about the last 6 years Texas had drought and the water in Canyon had been down about 13 ft. All we been finding lately over there bunch junk coins, seems like it finds better targets when there's water.<br />Couple years ago I bot a White's Matrix M6, I don't use it all that much......<br /><br /><br />

 

[Willy]

&nbsp;I tried an M6, but prefer the MXT.. the MXT Pro at present. Simple to use, but sophisticated is my mantra now. The ground I hunt is soooo heavily mineralized that TID is all over the place and notching w. or without fancy screens is pointless. Minimal to no disc. and play it by ear is the way to go here. I kinda envy those guys with easy ground and accurate TID, but the flip side of the coin sees me bagging that much more loot.. which other TH'ers just pass over.

 

[highdesertranger]

hobby h*ll no.&nbsp; i prospect to make money.&nbsp; prospecting is nature's lotto.&nbsp; support mining. remember every modern convenience we have was grown or mined.&nbsp; i dredge, highbank, drywash, pan, sluice, and metal detect and i do it to find gold not to pass the time.&nbsp; highdesertranger

 

[gojo]

And? &nbsp; &nbsp; Maybe you can tell some stories and give some info about prospecting for gold. That's one trade I'd like to learn. BTW I'm a farm boy, I like to work hard. My dreams is to hit west in a van or maybe a small rv. That's why I'm here to learn the trades. You're never too old to learn....<br /><br /><br />Most businesses started from Hobbies........

 

[josephusminimus]

And? &nbsp; &nbsp; Maybe you can tell some stories and give some info about prospecting for gold. That's one trade I'd like to learn. BTW I'm a farm boy, I like to work hard. My dreams is to hit west in a van or maybe a small rv. That's why I'm here to learn the trades. You're never too old to learn....<br /><br /><br />Most businesses started from Hobbies........

<br /><br />That should be interesting.

 

[gojo]

joseph... you would think there would be a lot of gold prospectors around here, because of all the free time, especially during the winter months. I know there's gold in Arizona. That's one of my dreams, buy a van or a small rv and live in it for about 3 months. I'm getting to an age where I'm about ready to sell everything and take it easy. I like some of the rv stories here. If I enjoy living mobile, may decide to do it permanently.<br /><br />I would love to hear couple expert gold prospectors in a discussion. I know there's gold in them there hills, lol..........

 

[josephusminimus]

A number of the members here have done some prospecting.&nbsp; You might be right - some might be experts.

 

[VanGirl]

Yes some of us have a lot of experience in prospecting for minerals. I work for world&rsquo;s largest publicly traded copper producer. I have a couple of claims of my own in the desert southwest. <br /><br />AZ is not the only place to search for gold. North Carolina had the first gold rush in the US. NC also has Silver, Rubies, Satires and other gems. Georgia also has gold. So, go to youtube.com and learn all you can and buy yourself a good gold pan and gold metal detector.<br /><br />FYI - I don't consider myself an expert. I love prospecting. I have fun and make a small profit.

 

[gojo]

Hi, thanks for the reply. Question; Isn't the gold metal detector, just a TR detector? I remember back when I had my gold master 66 TR, it would find mineral. On my White's 6000 Di, there's 4 setting, one being TR Disc. It can be used like the old gold master I had. I always tell friends the 6000 Di is four metal detectors in one. The TR setting, will get targets very deep and you don't has to swing.<br /><br />Yeah, I read about the East being the first gold rush area.<br />I like the west, don't think it would be quiet as crowded. <br />I also been interested in buying gold claim, I read you should do a lot of research before attacking this one.<br /><br />I would of went to youtube.com long time ago, but my computer been having problem and it keeps giving error codes. I would of had photos, problems problems. Have a good day.....

 

[gojo]

Guess I shouldn't of use the word (expert).<br /><br />How about experience.<br /><br />Or done it, a few times?<br /><br />Anything......