Fevered

Running water all year, and the creek dictates the level of water table. Benches higher that the creek a typically not saturated.

Incredible forum Steve. An immense thank you for your time and expertise. Your response is perfect especially since presents more questions to reflect on. You're dead right about the importance of panning. It's the essence and heart of prospecting - whatever your mineral of choice. I'm always amazed at some of miners that show up here asking if I can run their cleanups on my table. After table, their inexperience with the pan become all too evident. Furthermore, the knowledge gained while panning doesn't only lay in the gold or lack thereof. The presence of associated minerals and rocks, and their orientation, (direction of mobilization) offer more layers of information for the keen prospector. The placer gold particle size distribution on this lease is, 50% = 0.1-0.3g; 30% = 0.3-0.7g; 10% = 0.7-1.5g; and 10% = dust. The ratio of silver to gold is, 30:1. The magnetite count is immediately notable and visually impressive prior to excavation. This brings me to the flip side of, if gold distribution and size are too close to the "undetectable" margin, can the "ID" data from said detectors provide sufficient confidence to its operator to delineate magnetite concentrations and their potential as a pathfinders? One more question, are Jasper, Garnets, and native Silver considered hot? Perhaps there's a standard list/link of what's hot and what's not? Thank you Tim

Hello and thank you - large, for the excellent information. This is pretty exciting for someone who's sighting in on his first detector. I've followed countless threads here and on Tom's forum, and was about to buy a Gold Bug Pro. With experience and a few ounces gained, the intention is to add a gpz or gpx to the quiver. My first detector will be a complementary tool for my placer mine. I hope to qualify and outline pay-streaks in succession with stripping ops. If the detector in question can also help in prospecting some nearby quartz veins, that would rock. Regional geology appears hot, but my definition of hot is no doubt different than a detectorist's. Volcanics, greanstone, pyrite, pyrotite, arseno, tetrathedrite..., and magnetics scattered here and there. With this in mind, would the Gold Racer be a more appropriate tool than the Gold Bug Pro? Tim