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By Steve Herschbach
It has certainly been a busy year for me so far, with not as much detecting time as I would like. Still, I have been getting out a little and thought it was time to share a few photos.
My first couple bits were found with the Minelab Gold Monster 1000 on some scouting runs. I am liking this detector as a grab and go unit for checking areas out quickly. I am not trying to hunt for max performance but instead looking to cover a lot of ground quickly to check things out. I have learned the GM1000 auto sensitivity actually suits me well for this. I just fire up the detector in all metal mode, full volume, and start with auto sensitivity set at Auto+1. Then I just start swinging. If noise intrudes (usually in salt areas) I will back down to Auto+0 (there are just two Auto settings available Auto and Auto+1).
Once the GM1000 gets out and about people will no doubt note the Auto settings are not the hottest. Which is why I like them. The GM1000 is a super hot machine already, so I am looking more for stability than anything else, and know it will pop hard on any small nuggets I get over. If I were pounding a patch hard I would use manual sensitivity and push it high, but that would introduce noise and require very careful hunting. For me however the GM1000 serves best as a light weight quick and dirty way to check new areas - just grab and go.
I posted previously about finding a nugget using Auto sensitivity which is where I learned how useful the setting is. Here are two more small nuggets located using Auto+1. Both nuggets banged hard, one at maybe an inch and the other at about three inches. I am not trying to promote or to push the use of this setting, I am simply reporting what I am doing and you can decide for yourself if it is useful for you.
0.1 gram and 0.4 gram nuggets found with Minelab Gold Monster 1000 running in Auto+1 sensitivity
I did finally get a GPZ 19 coil for my GPZ 7000 and it was time to give it a go. I tried one area I had hunted before in case a larger deeper nugget was lurking. My first lesson with the GPZ 19 was not how large and deep a nugget it can find but how small and shallow! The only thing I had missed and left to find was this less than 0.1 gram nugget. It was practically on the surface and so gave a small warble when it got close to the coil winding. I was surprised and impressed the coil can find gold this small.
The next location is one I scouted with the GM1000 and found the 0.4 gram nugget. The spot got my interest so I went back with the GPZ 7000 and 14" coil to hunt it. Turns out it was a nice little patch with some chunky gold! The ground was deep so I mounted up the GPZ19 and hunted it again. I did come up with one nugget I missed before, whether from sloppy detecting or just a little too deep I do not know. It was a little 1.2 grammer at around a foot down. I continued hunting outside my area and came up with another at 1.3 grams.
GPZ19 Nuggets
I had removed the Minelab skid plate that came with the coil and replaced it with the closed Nugget Finder cover. I like this cover for uneven ground as it does not get hung up of rocks and sticks as much, but it does rapidly collect a pile of debris!
The coil did false if banged on a rock and would require care in rocky ground, though I was running it as hot as ever so that contributes to it. I usually hunt grassy and sagebrush country and it does well here just gliding on the grass, though if the grass is deep it will ride up on it above the ground. Still, the larger size gave me this feeling that I had a little extra insurance in that regard and so I used it to hunt over low brush where it might reveal nuggets hidden when others went around the brush. False signals from banging a rock aside I do think the coil actually runs a bit smoother with my Insanely Hot settings. The GPZ19 is slightly too heavy for me for general use in hilly terrain and too large for a lot of the sagebrush areas. It is just the ticket however for covering large open terrain and that is where it will see the most use with me in the future, or for pounding old deep patches. The extra pound was not quite as bad as I was expecting and in flatter ground just my regular bungee setup sufficed. I did try out the Hipstick though and think it a better option for long hours with this coil.
Well, lots of info there I hope people can get some use out of. It's always nice to be out prospecting whether or not I find any gold - but gold does help! 24 grams or about 3/4 ounce with largest nugget 4.5 grams or just shy of three pennyweight.
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By PhaseTech
Sorry about the title, I couldn't help myself with all the monster talk .
This video is a bit of detector vs big coil comparison on a decent sized bit of trash (unfortunately).
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By Steve Herschbach
Interesting. This new Youtube channel popped up recently for somebody calling themselves X Coils
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQEHSSBIdi5fWH26IS12v4A
It appears to be Russian? and they appear to be working on coils for the GPZ. Here is a peek at the 12" x 10". Personally, that's a bit too similar to the stock coil to interest me - I would rather see a 10" x 8". Still, it's interesting that somebody has managed to make some coils that might work on the GPZ without blowing it up. This is one detector that I will have to let others gamble with first on this sort of thing but I knew you would all find it interesting.
They also are showing a 16" round coil....
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By kiwijw
Hi guys, I ventured out for the day after watching the America's Cup yacht racing early in the morning our time so still had a good amount of the day ahead of me. Got to my spot which was old turned over dry gully workings high up in the hills. I have been down this gully a couple of times with the Zed before, but each time conditions have been different. Dry sunny & long lush grass growth....not too good for detecting, Dry sunny & grass growth non existent. Perfect detecting conditions except for heat & flys. Today was overcast, chilly but the ground was damp from snow fall last week but that had melted off except for way up top. So I was hoping the dampness would aid in better conductivity for deeper targets that had alluded me in the past. Trouble was the grass growth, although dying off was quite long. Should have taken the brush cutter.
You will see the humps & hollows from the old timers turning this gully over. My wagon parked up the back. Had a bit of fun getting through to this gully as the shaded sides of other gullies I had to negotiate to get here were still frozen with a bit of permafrost.
I have in the past found gold all up & down this gully. Both out of the old boys workings & turned over ground but also up on the hill sides out of the workings. Trying to find a run or lead but no joy. Just random deposits The most consistent being the gully floor the old timers turned over. Were I am parked is opposite one of the spots up on the hill side where I came across a wee patch. So I started there with the Zed. I actually started a bit further afield working my way towards the wee patch area hoping to stumble on to some thing. No luck there. Been there done that before but with the damp conditions you never know. I got to the wee patch area & really slowed down. Got a faint little hit.
The ground was gorgeous to dig. Couple of scrapes & the target had moved. Bugger....wasn't going to be of any decent size. Story of my life. Could still be a shot gun pellet yet.
But it wasn't. YE HA But look at the size of it......
I managed one more small piece with the Zed in this area but that was it for the Zed.
So I brought out the Gold Monster thinking there could be some smaller surface to near surface dwellers that the Zed wasnt zoning in on. I left the GM 1000 in Deep All Metal Mode & sensitivity on manual 10 not knowing how this would handle the damp ground conditions. It was manageable but it was a bit more touchy than if the ground were dry. I just had to be a lot more careful with my coil sweep & placement. There was a bit more falsing signals than I usually get running in 10 on the manual sensitivity but I remained in 10 to have that hot edge & an actual signal was an unmistakable hit over the falsing signals. I was rewarded.
But that too was the only bit I could wrangle out of this old patch area. So I moved on. The grass wasn't helping my cause, especially in the gully floor. I went back to the Zed battling through the grass. The grass itself wasn't too bad. It folded over quite easily with the weight of the Zeds coil without falsing but it was those longer dry stalky bits that were very stiff & wouldnt fold over. I swung the coil up on the side of a turned over pile. It was the face of a pile that I had done well on over the years with different detectors so I went carefully slow. Especially as I had those stalky bits to deal with. I got a very faint hit. Could have been a shoty pellet. You will see an old dig top right & to the right. They were both gold.
As was this one. But again...oh so small.
There isn't much bed rock in these workings but there are a couple of small stretches in the very bottom of the gully. I had found a few bits off to the edge of this bed rock with the Zed in the past. So I was keen to run the GM 1000 over it. Well bugger me.....I got a sweet strong hit. One scrape I was on the bed rock.
Chances of it being a pellet? 50/50 but if you look hard you will see a dot of gold.
If you are struggling to see it. Here you go.
The only other chance of pinging some tiny gold with the GM 1000 was on the bald areas of the dig out piles. I say tiny because I have thrashed these from back in my GP 3000 days & small coiltek 10x5 joey mono coils. & the 4500 & NF 8x6 sadie. With good results. You will see a bit of past activity on that mound in the front. You may struggle to see it but center right you will see the Gold monster. I had got a faint signal on a mound back there.
Couple of scrapes & it had moved.
And it wasn't lead.
It had been a long day, the sun was going down & temperature was dropping & the ground would be starting to freeze on the shaded sides & I had a few gullies to negotiate to get to the safety of the ribbon of tar-seal that would take me home.
All up 3 bits for the Zed,on the left, & 3 for the GM 1000 for a total of .5 of a gram The things we do.
Cheers guys.
Good luck out there
JW
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By Sourdough Scott
I've been trying for a while to get one from my dealer.I called minelab myself. They are backordered.
For as good as your detectors are. Other little things you really SUCK at. WTF Minelab. Get me a ferrite ring and make me happy.
You spend 10 K on a detector, but can't get a 10 dollar ring.
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By madhatter
Hi All
I was hoping some of you might be able to clear somethings up for me please.
When you GB,
Do you do the "walk and sweep" method and then "ferrite balance"?
or
Can you only pick one method?
IF only one method allowed, then how do you decide which one to use?
Also, is there any "list" so to speak of showing different gold modes and ground types combinations to help know what depths and sizes you are targeting?
Eg,
HY/Normal = ? Hy/Difficult = ? Hy/Severe = ?
General/Normal = ? General/Difficult = ? General/Severe = ?
ExtraDeep/Normal = ? ExtraDeep/Difficult = ? ExtraDeep/Severe = ?
I have found "info" regarding settings for large deep nuggets but what if I also wanted to check for small shallow gold?
What settings would suit small, shallow bits?
Sorry to ask so much in one go :)
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