metal detector

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Hi Jerry.  I hang around Ashworth's Forum as "Harold in Fl".
  We nearly had the land deal in CR, that Ken was working on. What a sweet deal THAT would have been. :
  There is a place, in the Pacific, where the women use the PVC pipe as a "scope" and pick up nuggets with a stick and candle wax. I been trying to get down there with Ken and go to the area. Since my Retirement went Bust, I have to hustle again to try to catch up.
  
  Diz, if there is bedrock, every crack in it has the potential for catching gold. I have watched the "Gold Fever" show. I know, it's a ruse of sorts, but, when they get a signal, and scratch and scrape up to 10" deep and then pick out flat pieces of gold, THAT looks real.
  You need to find the right spot. Every place isn't a good place. If you found gold with that detector, you are well on yer way to success.
  Was the gold pretty well beaten up, rounded and flat, or was it kinda chunky and rough, and had little spike thingy's on it. ???
  That will determine how close to the source you are.
  Root wads of trees that have been washed out, are good places to use the detector. The gold hangs in the root hairs. You might use yer pan and beat around in the roots and then pan out the droppings. Also, detect around roots and stump holes, That would be undisturbed ground, never having been checked before, by prospectors.

  I can't stress this enough, Go to the library and search for info from the 1850's to 1940's. Look for info that pertains to your area. That will greatly assist you in where to look, rather than just wander aimlessly, hoping to get a signal.
  The best time to work the way you did, is, during low water periods. ANY time might work, but, easier working conditions are MUCH better.

   When ya get proficient, I will take ya where this one came from.



  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[biziedizie]

  K the gold was smooth but yet rough with no shine to it, kinda reminded me of miniture driftwood but really small.
  I never thought about the trees that lay around the creek but I will see what I can find.I called Kevin late lastnight and he's on for Friday, he even will have his own pan that he's gonna borrow.
  Todays a goofy day as my kid has sports day, yeah you heard it right sports day in Sept :D Then he has soccer practice but there's a library at his school and it's a big one so I might find something there.
  About other prospectors does it mean that just cause they've been there that there's no gold???
  Been looking on the web for a club or something but I can't find nutting : Not good with this surfing stuff :P

   Steve

  Oh yeah another big green mill moved to the area yesterday, wonder what his plans are.
  

[Fla._Deadheader]

 DIZZZZ ??? ???  You KNOW there is gold there

  IF it was prospected, the old timers never checked UNDER the trees, unless they were partially washed out.
  Check yer library for KNOWN gold activity, years ago.  Was there a "local" rush, are there mines in the area, Do you live in a spot where no-one bothered checking???  THAT is what ya wanna get the library lady to help ya with.

  You should dig around in yer "other stuff" pile and see if ya have a piece of PVC schedule 40, 2" or 2½" or 3" pipe, about 24-30 inches long. Get a reducer coupling and reduce down to 1" or so. That does NOT get glued on the pipe. Ya wanna take it off to dump out the sand-gravel. Get a "Cap" to fit the pipe. Make the plunger outta whatever it takes to make "suction". Yer kids raggedy ole Nerf Ball will do. It wants to slide up and down, but, NOT be loose. Sandwich it between 2 washers and put the handle out through the "cap". Do NOT glue that on either. CHECK the PHOTO I posted. That thing will become one of yer best prospecting tools.
  REread the post by Jerry, about them corrugated pipes and such. They are "Natural" riffles. They could be full of fines, IF nobody else is dippin into yer stock  :D :D :D

  A smaller loop will be better, too. You can get it into tight places better than the one you have.
  Check along the banks for cracks in bedrock, or, around boulders. It's easier to dig where the water ain't.  Think like a nugget; if I wanted to hide, where would I go???  IT WORKS   ;D ;D

  If there was activity years ago, you will find square nails, boot tacks, partial tin cans, and other stuff the old timers threw away. PAY ATTENTION. Look for evidence. You MAY find more than ya think.
  Gold is about 10 times HEAVIER than LEAD. THINK DEEP, ON THE BOTTOM, deep in crevices. That's where you get the good payoff.
  When ya get back there, study the creek bank. Try to imagine the creek when it is FLOODING, not just high. THAT will wash out new "float", or flood gold.
  Try to find an area where the creek is narrow. Right below that narrow place, as the creek widens out, the gold drops out, AS SOON AS it clears the narrows. I mean IMMEDIATELY as it clears the narrows.
  Got enough info for now, so, go get 'em, Tiger

[biziedizie]

  Fla I'm starting to print this thread off as it's got alot of info in it  I was going to make the PVC thing today but wayyy to many things to do today with my kid and I just got home.
   Never did get to the library, very long story but I hope to get there on Mon.
  Will be getting a late start in the morning, like leaving about 10:00 and back early as Kevin has to pick his son up around 5 pm. We wanted to leave earlier but with all this crap going behind the farm I have some people to talk to, ie the idiots that trashed our fence line today and if our animals get out there will be hell to pay.
  We will have a digi cam with us but it's a piece of crap but it will be sunny so the pics should turn out all right, like the pics of the creek and what not.
  Bringing 2 pans and shovels and small hand held picks and I'm thinking about concentrating on 4 square feet at a time and digging deep, hope this works.
  Your detailed info has been great and I thank you

    Steve

[biziedizie]

  On Thurs. night I dropped by Kevin's late to grab a cd from his daughter and as there were a few people there I stuck around for a few (2) beers then I left. I asked Kevin if he was still up to going gold searching in the morning and he said  " Ohhhh yeah with a glow on his face" :D
  Well the next morning he calls and asks me what time it is??? Seems that he went out later that night with everyone and proceeded to get hammered. ;D So I asked him if he was still up to it and he said yes. 8)
  K he shows up and says that we need to make 2 stops before we hit the ferry, I say fine let's just get going. So we go and get gas then we go to the next stop and I'm thinking "Where's the next stop???" Well the next stop is the beer store as he's soooo hungover . :D
  After him driving like a maniac we finally get to the ferry and it's a 2 sailing wait so we sit there and Kevin gets out of the car then hops back in and I hear PSSSTTT, a fresh beer is now open :D .
  I'm thinking to myself "Oh great this will be a fun day" Anyways 2 beers later and a boat ride we get to the creek.
  We had to climb down the side of a cliff to get to the creek of this new spot and it was a bit tricky as it was wet and slippery. Kevin brought his cooler full of beer and I brought my knapsack with the essentials ie: water, food, emergency stuff.
  I started to look for gold with the m/d and Kevin cracked a beer. 8) I spent the first half hour searching in the water with no luck and then out of the blue Kevin says " Hey why don't you look by that tree that's been on the ground for years" Sure what the hell I will look over there. Well sure enough by the base of this tree that's been down for years the m/d starts going nuts and the shovels start digging. 8)
  Kevin who's now half cut start's giving orders " Place that sand in that pile, place that other sand in the other pile" I'm thinking that the booze has kicked in but I see this look in his eyes. I ask him about the different piles of sand and he explains that there's different types of sand, white sand and black sand. I ask him about the sand and he tells me that the white sand is easy to find gold in because the gold settles better and the black sand is heavy and it's a bitch to pan the gold. :P
  After a little bit of panning and digging I ask Kevin how he knows so much about gold panning. : Well he went on to explain that he spent a few years off and on in the Yukon prospecting when him and Tammy weren't getting along. This was a time where I was living in Toronto and I never knew what the 2 of them were doing. See what you gotta understand is that I've known Kevin since I was 14 and I really thought that I knew this guy but in all reality I don't. Kinda strange how life is isn't it??? We all go our separate ways thinking that we will all do the same things but when we meet up down the road we've all change in different but excellent ways.
  Anyways back to the gold, we did find flakes of gold but not the elusive nuggets that I want. Fla I thought like a nugget and even thought about chick Mc nuggets but didn't find a nugget.  :D
  Kevin showed me the proper way to use a pan and I asked him why he didn't show me this the other day and he said "If I tell you everything how are you going to learn???"
  One thing that I did learn is that I need one of them PVC looky things as the water blurrs my vision.
  We ended up sitting on boulders at the end of the day and just spent the time listenening to the sounds of the creek and for dam near an hour we said next to nothing and that's when I realized what friendship is all about.




     Steve

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Two things. If you were getting signals and finding flakes, they had better be good sized one's OR, ya didn't capture the targets the detector sounded off on.  Didja remember that the loop will detect UP also???  If you were detecting under the root wad, the targets might still be in the roots   : ;D
  Second, I haven't done much panning. I can do it pretty well, but, not a lot of sperence.
   The white or blonde sand is the lighter weight stuff. Gold is HEAVY. You should have panned the black sand, (hematite, iron oxide stuff). THAT'S where the gold goes. It takes a little longer to pan out, but, that's the paydirt.
  You could always take the black sand home and pan it there, with Devon.
  The next trip, I would go looking for an area that just "LOOKS" like a gold catcher. Enough time and you will learn to "read" the creek.

[biziedizie]

  Fla the detector was going off above the sand that had lots of little flakes in it. I took 2 or 3 flakes and set them aside to see if the detector would go off and it didn't, seems that there has to be a bunch of them. I played with the controls big time yesterday and I found it interesting how the fine tune thing works. I still can't get the desrcim thing to work, like there's certain rocks that will set it off and I can't set the m/d so that it won't beep :P
  The black sand was a pain to pan but that's where the most gold was, the white sand was easy to pan but less gold. Dumb question but does the black sand set the m'd off with the iron??? Maybe that's why it was beeping so much. : Did we just get lucky???
  Good idea about bringing the sand back home 8) Never thought about that : Gonna do that as it will give me more time to play with it and I can re-pan the stuff and learn.
  K I have everything to build the looking tube so that's on the agenda today and I was thinking about building 2 of them like a short one and a taller one.

    Steve
  

[jerry-m]

Hey Steve , Good going there on the flakes and black sand... To find gold you almost always have to have black sand and the more the better... As Fla. said the m/d signal is the same going up into the air above the search coil as it is going down into the ground... The tree roots must contain some sort of metal, maybe gold, maybe just some old junk metal, But you need to find out for sure... I don;t know if we need to get into hot rocks( rocks that cause a m/d to sound off) just yet, but you will run into these often... There are books that will explain this as well as help you learn more about prospecting with a metal detector.... Garrett m/d puts out some of the best books on treasure hunting...  Also there is what is called a classifier (a pan like a gold pan or a box made from wood boards with hardware cloth for a bottom) with about 1/2 inch openings or larger... You dump your shove full of rocks and gravel into the classifier and sift The smaller contents into your gold pan for panning... Of course always check the larger rocks before throwing them away... Anyway I just want to say a word of caution  about keeping what you are doing pretty quite around where you live and work... There is always someone trying to prevent those of us that have a life from enjoying it  8) 8)   Just my 2 cents, Jerry

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Diz, think back to an earlier post. Detectors work on MASS. Picture a hollow tennis ball, made of iron. Now, think of an iron ball the same size that is solid iron. The solid ball will sound off MUCH louder AND deeper. Gold is the same, only, difficult to detect with an inexpensive machine such as yours.
  You really have an exceptional machine. I would bet that 10 more, just like yours would barely sound off over what you are finding.
  Jerry hit on "hot rocks". I will let him splain about them. He sounds very knowledgable about gold and detectors.

  Black sand is "magnetically" drawn. It is, for the most part, Iron Oxide. Hematite is drawn to a magnet also. The black sand is heavy.
  Rule of thumb. Gold will nearly always be found with black sand. Black sand may NOT have gold with it.

  Books are great, but, I believe your intelligence will prevail with playing around in that creek. You are doing very good for no "Sperence". ;) :D :D :D

[Tom]

I was told by a fellow up in Dahlonega, Ga.  back in the late 40's that the black sand was titanium.  Reckon that's true?  He said that gold and titanium go hand in hand but the titanium requires lots of it and purification too.  Titanium mines also produce gold as a by-product.  "quote" not my original say-so. :D

[Fla._Deadheader]

  I suppose that is possible. When the molten stuff was squeezed into the cracks and fissures, it was a mix of lots of different elements. Different areas would have different elements.
  Supposedly, there are those that claim they can tell what area a certain color of gold came from, also different states, and countries???

  Also, sometimes the black sand IS gold, with a discoloration of Black covering it. Best way to find out, take small amounts and crush it with a mortar and pestle or a cast iron pot and an iron bar. If it cracks it's NOT gold. Gold will flatten. If that's what ya find, it can be cleaned real easy.

[biziedizie]

  Jerry thanks for the info This whole thing about metal being above the m/d has me thinking :P No matter how much sand we were pulling away the m/d kept beeping and it could have been something in the tree as it was only about 6" off the ground. Gonna have to check that next time out.
  Is there some kind of board like that the detector can't see through that I could lay on the ground to make sure that the metal is above??? I know that's a long shot but I have to ask.
  This classifier do you have a pic of one??? It sounds interesting.
  About your word of caution comment I was just talking to my friend Theresa  and she was telling me about her uncle that's a patr time prospector and he carries a gun as he's had people shoot at him  Does it really get this bad???

  Fla I'm finding that if I tune the m/d just right it goes nuts over gold but I'm very sure that I'm missing alot I can't see a cheap detector doing this well but maybe it does??? I've never tried a good one so I have nothing to compare it to. I want to find a local guy and compare to see the diff, who know's I might be sending you an order for a good one 8)
  So the black sand is what I might be picking up and not the gold??? That's kinda what I'm thinking at the moment. Black sand is heavy and so is gold and they seem to stick together in the same places as you just mentioned. Can piyrite (sp) mix in with black sand??? We did find fools gold in the white sand but that stuff seems to kinda float in the pan.
  I gotta spend some time over there talking to the old guys to find out about this creek. I know that it's really long and there's a very cool waterfall but I need to know what's happened over the years.
  My ex is going to teach at UBC next week and I will ask her if she can get me some books, she's real good at research


     Steve

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Garrett makes a classifier that looks just like the green gold pan, except there is ½" X ½" square holes in it. It fits on top of the pan. Works great if there is no quartz specimen gold around :
  Nothing will prevent overhead signals cept sperence. ;)
  There is always a chance to meet a weirdo in the woods. They would rob you, steal your equipment, including a dredge, tear up your camp, flatten yer tires, eat yer food, punch holes in gas cans. The average "weirdo" is known to most as " Enviro-nutz". There is also the occasional "REAL weirdo". A hand gun might be a wise choice. It's amazing how big the muzzle of a .22 looks, when yer looking at that little hole. : ;D ;D
  When ya find a good pocket of black sand, ya gotta check it with yer pan. DO NOT expect small gold to sound off. That may be why you were so "lucky". Read the black sand and dug small gold.
  A hand sluice might be a good bet, if the gold is small and plentiful.
  You mentioned "fool's gold" floating. So will REAL gold, believe it or not !!!!!!!
  When ya talk to the old timers, "act" : dumb :D :D :D :D

  Don't show any interest, other than just casual questions. Too many questions will dry up the info flow, or someone might hear it and work yer spots. Happens all the time.
  Can a Canuck file for a claim in BC??? ;D :D :D

  BTW, how are you payin down them CC's while yer out playin in the water ??? ??? ??? :D :D :D :D :D

[jerry-m]

Ok Guys, I going to try and post a picture... If it works I will add text on next post?????

[biziedizie]

  Oh great now I gotta buy a gun, more overhead ;D Been kick boxing for years so I should be ok, if not the shovel should put a dent in someones head ;D
  With this talk of the m/d detecting things that are above it can it by any chance detect my earrings????
  I have two gold hoops in my ear and I will never take them off as they stand for something. The big one is for when I die,  I'm like a pirate, I believe that there should be enough money in that hoop to pay for my burial.
  The little one is to remind me of a child of mine that was never born and I think of that child everyday.

   Steve

[jerry-m]

Well I will have to study this picture posting thing for awhile :P

Anyhow it was a picture of a gold classifier and a plastic gold pan with the build in riffles :( :( :(  

Steve, Don't know if you can mask the downward m/d signal, Maybe a large /thick piece of rubber laid on the ground? Have never tried it, but I will try to check sunday afternoon as I have an old truck mud flap  :-/  

About the caution, I meant not to let others know what you are up to or next time when you arrive at the creek there will be elbow to elbow people and yes even someone with a gun stating, get off my claim    

I used to own a metal detector built by the same company as you'rs, but I gave it to a friend as a swap for starter repair... I have an idea about these signals you are getting but I want to think on it for awhile... Do you find much lead as in shot gun pellets or rifle bullits and other metal in your pan???

And Yes as Fla. said, don't let this metal  detecting/gold hunting get too envolved as it will grow on you worst than anything  : : :

Jerry

[biziedizie]

   Jerry we haven't found any bullets or things like that in the pan yet, thought that we would've found other metals though. There's not even junk where we go it's like no one has ever been there. I want to go up creek some more cause I know there's something up there. From where we were last is the last place that we can get to by road, the rest is by foot. From there on I have no idea where the creek goes
  What I want to do is pack up some supplies and take a few days and go up the creek and break camp, seems that this would be the best way to learn about the creek.
  With the pic posting thing if ya can't get it to work send it to me and I will try to post it. I can make that thing work sometimes ;)

  Fla I have'nt worked in the last 4 weeks, the phones aren't ringing and things have kinda gone downhill There's a building boom going on here and I can walk up the street and see all the developement going on but I can't even work for them :(  I'm not a ticketed carpenter so they can't hire me for the wages that I demand. I can be hired to be on the working end of a broom but that's kinda degrading for me.
  I go up the street and see a snot nose punk operating a bobcat and I think to myself that I could put that thing on one wheel and do doughnuts but I have to have a license to operate one now.
  It's funny how things go, years back we had 81 guys working for us and now that doesn't mean nutting.
  I gotta come up with a different plan 8)


     Steve

[Fla._Deadheader]

  If you want $50.00 an hour to work, and won't work for $20.00 an hour, how much do you take home by not working at all???
  Seems that in other threads, you were stating that you were outta the loop with Big Contractors. Maybe getting out and talking to them would get you something.
  If yer wanting to move, ya gotta have $$$ to do it with ???
  I ain't preaching, but, ??? ??? ;D ;D ;D

  We were doing remodeling in Million dollar and up houses, when we lived further south. We were NOT licensed. The pressure got to be that the City and County inspectors would knock on doors and ask for a copy of yer license.
  After doing this type work for over 20 years, if we wanted to get licensed, we had to go to school :, spend over $3000.00 for books :, and then work for a "Certified" contractor for 5 years, to be "Sponsored in" to get the license.
  We saw the writing in the concrete and started the mail order business we have.
  We branched out into Treasure Hunting, Gold Prospecting( not real active in that) and now Sawmilling and diving for $$$.
  Like the boy says, "Life is like a box of Choklit, ya never know whatcher gonna get". :D :D :D :D

[biziedizie]

  Someone asked me the other day if I was burnt out, I'm at the point where I think I am. I don't enjoy the construction thing any more and I really need a break. I spent the whole summer making plans to get away but that never happened :
  I need a change and that's gonna happen soon even if it means going back to school.
  This searching for gold has taking my mind off of things and that's been a good thing
  Been a bit stressed but today is a new day 8)

   Steve

[Fla._Deadheader]

  It's called "being depressed". We all get it. Some worse than others. That was the whole point of my last post. Gold huntin is fun, BUT, ya gotta dig and shovel and work in freezin water and haul stuff and , and. : :
  I will bet ya don't make $15.00 a day, doin all that work : : :D :D :D :D :D :D

[jerry-m]

Hey Steve,

I checked the rubber cover on the ground and it will not work to stop the m/d signal...  I think, since you seem to be doing fairly well you might just as well leave the m/d idle and just pan some material from a likely looking spot and see how you do... Try to dig down to bed rock or hard clay and pan that material...

I suspect that you are not getting a signal from the gold but from the black sand as I think you have already figured out... When you have the sensititivy set to Max. on some detectors a slight bumb or scrape, wet grass,etc. will set off the detector
Try backing off  about 1/2 turn and see if the detector becomes more stable... If you can find someone in your area, a club or just a good coin shooter to buddy up with and go to a park or old house place, etc and learn to use the detector in discriminate mode as well as in all metal which is whats used for gold and relichunting...  As Fla. said you have to learn to set the ground balance for the area that you detect in and this will change through the day so that you have to keep resetting the GB... Your detector might have auto ground balance so it will be automaticly balanced as you detect...  :-/

I suspect that your creek is fairly rich in that you have been able to find gold everytime you went out... Once you learn to read the creek you just might be able to do pretty good, but like Fla. said maybe only able to find $15.00a day or if you can get 1 oz a day you might be able to make it pay... :-/

A good hobby but don't quit your day job just yet... ???

Queston----Once the creeks and rivers freeze in winter there do they stay frozen untill the spring thaw? Or do they freeze and thaw out several times during the winter? Or do they keep flowing year round??????

Later,  Jerry

[biziedizie]

  I do understand the depression thing as that's what I think was happening with me  :-/ I went for a walk Sun. morning and told myself that if I don't start kicking ass and getting on the ball then it will only get worst.
  I took a 3 hr round trip to look at a job doing a basement reno and the people were real cool and after we went through everything and hashed out a price they pulled out a grand in cash for a deposit 8)
  I stopped by a restaurant that's also out in the boon docks and talked to the owner about some work that he wants done and landed that job to 8)
  On the way back the cell rang and this guy wants to look at my van that's up for sale so I told him when I would be back. Well he showed up around 6 pm and he liked what he saw and it looks like he will pick it up tonight after work. Bout time that some cash is starting to fly my way ;D
  
  Jerry the creek runs all year long and it's rare for it to ice over but when it does it's very pretty I will be working a few mins from the other end that I haven't checked out so at some point this week I will be going on a very long supply run that will include a side trip to the creek 8) ;D


     Steve

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Awright, sounds like ya had a good walk. 8) 8)
  You have lots to look forward to. Good luck 8)

  See it din't take long to start pesterin them Alaska boys :D :D :D :D :D

 They are a good bunch of guys, just a lil more testy than this laid back bunch ;) ;) ;D ;D  Don'T give away all yer info. There are SOME horror stories in those threads. Greg in BC seems real nice.  They will warm up to you pretty quickly.

[biziedizie]

  Fla I've been reading a few of them threads there and the horror stories have me kinda shocked :D Can't wait till I have my first run in with a wacko :D
  It's gonna be a long day today and when the van is gone and I'm counting the loot things will feel better
  Devon called me lastnight and made me feel like a human again 8) Can't wait till soccer practice on Thurs 8) 8)


    Steve