Minelab CTX 3030 Finds 2.5 Ounce Gold Nugget!

[Steve Herschbach]

Ron Swenson (Ron(CA) on some forums) and friends are coin and relic hunters in California. Ron uses a Minelab CTX 3030 and while hunting an old cabin site recently made an amazing find - a 2.5 ounce gold nugget! Many of us who search for gold do not make finds like this and these guys have made several accidentally while coin and relic hunting. It raises the question of how many nuggets are hiding around old campsites and old cabin sites, overlooked because the trash keeps regular nugget hunters away. It shows the need for a good discriminating VLF and also the need to get patient and hunt the trash from time to time. The CTX 3030 is more known for its coin, jewelry, and relic hunting capability but can of course also find gold nuggets. I would rate its ground handling capability as being merely adequate but its trash handling capability as top notch. Machines more the norm in the nugget hunting world up to the task are any of the multi use models, Garrett AT Gold, Fisher Gold Bug Pro or F75, Minelab X-Terra 705 (or CTX!), Tesoro Lobo, or White's MXT variants.

Ron does also look for gold and when doing so uses a Gold Bug Pro or GPX 5000.

Enjoy the video. You rarely get to see a nugget like this uncovered. Dude!

[Shelton]

Thank you Steve.

[Steve Herschbach]

An earlier 4 ounce find by Mark:

And the video that started it all seven months ago:

[Ridge Runner]

Thanks Steve

  It's good to see the big gold is still out there to be found. If I'd find something that big my heart would stop but I'd die with a smile on my face.

  Best of all to the finders and their show & tell.

Chuck Anders

[Ron (CA)]

Hey Steve,  Thanks for the plug!!

You are 100% correct and even though we say we are relic hunting we hold the same theory you stated: that these bigger nuggets still lie buried because the nugget hunters don't fight that much iron with the PI machines.

While relic hunting it is still in our minds that a big nugget could be hiding and this one hit just like the last two  bigger nuggets I found with the CTX.  Most of our sites are mining camp sites and they were camping right on the gold while they looked for it, so it makes sense that some gold is in the heavy iron.  We have actually headed out with "nugget hunting" as or objective with the CTX and have had some success on  smaller nuggets as well.

The first nugget was a bit of a fluke as we were not looking for gold at all and it just popped out and really freaked me out as it was the biggest piece of gold I had ever found, but now when we get a deep 39/40 signal we kind of start visualizing a big nugget.    We are wrong 99.5% of the time but makes the dig pretty exciting even when it is a bullet or a rivet!!

Thanks again for posting the video.  I do nugget hunt with a 5000 but not a full time nugget guy, but I joined your forum and hopefully I will be able to post some more gold in the future.  Well, I know I have at least one more post in the future!!

Ron (CA)

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for joining the forum and posting. Most of the people here are nugget hunters and will no doubt have questions about how the CTX works for you on gold. I really, really like my CTX but so far have only really used it for park and water hunting. I did finally get out for a couple hours on a late 1800's California site for a brief go coin hunting but just dug melted aluminum. My big goal is a gold coin since I have never found one and so sites with habitation in the 1800's in California is a big target for me. From Reno the Mother Lode country is just a couple hours away. I really am a newbie when it comes to hunting old cabin sites and town sites and have already decided the CTX suits me better than the Gold Bug Pro for that type of hunting. The Bug has a good reputation for hunting in iron but it is just a bit too busy for me. The CTX is better behaved.

The site you are on would be ranked as world class for nugget hunting at this point. It is getting very hard to find locations that give up not just one but multiple large nuggets, especially stuff in the 2-4 ounce range. One thing for sure - I like that California gold! Nice solid pieces you are finding and much higher purity than what I am used to in Alaska.

[deathray]

Would like to say you make the best damn videos too Ron!Seriously, very well done bud! Cant wait for the next episode!!

[Jim_Alaska]

I've never had the good fortune to find anything of value at old mining sites, but I still like to try.

When I was still in Alaska someone told me that old mining cabin sites are good too. He specifically mentioned to not forget about the cabin itself. Like under any floor boards, or even the dirt floor itself.

He was careful to mention that many times those old timers hid their gold until they could sell it. One place he mentioned I had never thought of. He said be sure to detect the logs themselves, especially the bottom one. Some old timers would chisel a square hole in a log, hide their stash, the plug the hole up again. Some just dug under the bottom log and burried it there. I always make it a point to detect the cabin itslef carefully.

I have never found gold or other valuables in this manner myself. But one time while trapping I parked the sled and stepped down into a little creek to make a set. There was a large spruce tree on the bank and when I turned around I found a square hole had been cut into the base of that tree. The hole was open and nothing inside, but I am sure that something was put in it at one time.

Anyway, just for what it's worth. You might just get lucky.

[Ron (CA)]

Thanks for sharing--you simply never know!!  My buddy once found a large cent under a corner stone on a foundation.  The stone was pretty big so it obviously was put there on purpose.

 

I was lucky to find a coin purse a miner had buried during the gold rush!  

 

Gotta love this hobby!

[Steve Kiesel]

My buddy and I were prospecting in Eastern Oregon several years ago near Sumpter.  We were wandering around an old gold camp where all the buildings had caved in.  He noticed a large piece of linoleum in the corner of this one building.  For some reason he lifted it up, and underneath was a 1884 Morgan silver Dollar.  It had been there for so long it left an impression on the under side of the linoleum.  There was an old bed spring near by, so we figured someone long ago put it under their bed for safe keeping.