Working A Big Dredge Tailing Pile, Large Coil Or Small Coil?

[Don in SoCal]

Going to spend  3 weeks in the Alaska interior.  Some time on the outskirts of Fairbanks with an Lobo ST. Would I be better served with a

10X12 DD , stock 5X10 DD or something smaller?   Maybe a Concentric?  Thanks in advance

[Hard Prospector]

When Steve see's your post I'm sure he will have some great tips to share.

[Steve Herschbach]

I would take a stock coil plus a larger coil. Big dredges were pretty good at getting the small gold so you are mainly looking for nuggets that were lost because they were too big. Think quarter ounce and larger.

If possible I would also take a backup detector. Three weeks is a long time in Alaska and a detector failure after a week would put a damper on things. Cheap insurance for a big trip. Good luck!

[Don in SoCal]

Thanks Steve,  kinda what I was thinking. Not great but I'll have the GM II with me also. I have roots in Cantwell and support in Fairbanks so just another outing. Would love to get back up on the East Fork of the Koyukuk in the late summer when the water line drops, that would be a big trip.

[Hard Prospector]

I use the GB Pro, F19 ,and F75 exclusively for prospecting trashy tailing piles for nuggets and specimens. The superior discrimination of these newer machines make tailing pile work much easier (a F75 in the classifieds right now cheap for $400.) Good luck

[californiagold]

I never really messed with tailings from the old dredges much. But my granpa and his buddy worked on a dragline dredge in shasta and trinity co. Cal. They had some interesting stories about bigger nuggets going out with the tailing rock. My grandpa and his friend tried to convince the owners of the dredge to make the trommel screen alittle bigger and invent so sort of nugget trap for the bigger nuggets on the infeed. Cause they saw some bigger nuggets go out to the tailings while operating the dragline. Ive been working on getting into some rich tailings with bigger nuggets that should be in the tailings at one particular creek in trinity co. But the owner of the land hasn't quite giving in yet. But he knew another one of the men working on the same dredge that had same stories. Only bad thing is it is also the richest place in trinity co. For rattlesnakes. Lol. Maybe someday the owner will give us a chance to see what we can make of those tailings with a d8 cat he has and our detectors.

Good luck.

[Don in SoCal]

HP,  the F19 would be my preferred tool of choice. But capital and time constraints tell me to go with what I have until I see some yellow. I just need to get up there and get some swing time in. Afterwards I'll re-assess what I've learned hands on, you're probably right on target. Thanks for your input.

[Hard Prospector]

Sounds like a fun time and good luck!

[Steve Herschbach]

The Lobo will do just fine. http://www.detectorprospector.com/steves-mining-journal/metal-detecting-gold-ganes-creek-alaska.htm

 

Use all metal mode if at all possible. If using disc mode in trashy area use no more than 1.5 - 2.0 on the disc setting. Just enough to get small ferrous to break up. Too much and you will tune out gold. You may lose a bit of depth in disc mode but beats digging a ton of junk. I like the ability to chest or belt mount the Lobo for hunting tailing piles for long hours. Just beware overstressing the cable where it meets the control box from bending and pulling too much.

 

One of my hunting buddies from back in the day, Jeff with 17 dwt nugget found with Tesoro Lobo at Ganes Creek, Alaska on 2001

[auminesweeper]

Yep I agree, But try and sneak in A Nice big concentric Coil for A Bit of Extra Depth