Jump to content

Big Nuggets - Do You Really Need A GPZ?


Recommended Posts

There has been another big nugget find in Australia - by an 81 year old grandmother! 18.85 ounces.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/03/25/07/16/victorian-grandma-finds-gold-nugget

There was the 87 oz find recently http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/711-87-ounce-gold-nugget-found-in-victoria-australia/

And the 6 pound nugget from California http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/367-monster-multi-pounder-nugget-found-in-northern-california/

Every one of these large nuggets could have been found with just about any decent metal detector made. They were all quite shallow.

The largest nugget ever found with a metal detector, the Hand of Faith, was found decades ago with a VLF. In fact, most all of the largest nuggets found with metal detectors were found decades ago with VLF detectors.

This reveals a basic reality. Yes, there are large nuggets at depth, but for various reasons in desert terrain the largest gold is often found very shallow. In the 1800s when they found new gold locations nuggets were literally just sitting around waiting to be picked up.

So while it is true new technology is producing more gold at depth, when it comes to chasing those really big monster nuggets, a surprising number being found even today are simply ones that have been missed by everyone up until now. To find one, you do not need a super detector, you need to put your coil over ground that has not yet ever seen a coil. Those expecting lots of large nuggets to appear from ground pounded by others for decades just because a new detector gets a few more inches are likely to be disappointed. It is going to happen, just not near as often as people expect.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites


To find one, you do not need a super detector, you need to put your coil over ground that has not yet ever seen a coil. Those expecting lots of large nuggets to appear from ground pounded by other for decades just because a new detector gets a few more inches are likely to be disappointed. It is going to happen, just not near as often as people expect.

 

 

This. From my experience maybe 10% of the prospectors I meet spend a significant portion of their time hitting completely new ground. It's understandable because it can be extremely frustrating to go weeks on end digging nothing but trash or hotrocks, tank after tank of gas especially if a person is just having fun on the weekend which are a lot of people. But there are still lunkers out there waiting to be found for those with the patience and a bit of pioneering spirit. And lots of gas money.  :D

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This. From my experience maybe 10% of the prospectors I meet spend a significant portion of their time hitting completely new ground. It's understandable because it can be extremely frustrating to go weeks on end digging nothing but trash or hotrocks, tank after tank of gas especially if a person is just having fun on the weekend which are a lot of people. But there are still lunkers out there waiting to be found for those with the patience and a bit of pioneering spirit. And lots of gas money:D

 

That's the story of my life. Ever since I began prospecting for gold, my main point of focus was to find those undiscovered patches and pockets that the old timers may have overlooked, or else didn't want to mess with because of the remoteness. Speaking for myself, I consider it too easy to go where everybody else has already been. Sure I could probably get a picker here and there just from following all the dig holes and drywash piles, but that's not what I'm after. I'd rather reap the rewards of finding my own. I'm either going big or going home! Thankfully, each time I go out prospecting I have a blast just riding my Rokon around and exploring the countryside... so getting skunked is no biggie. I just love riding dirt bikes and exploring new places... plain and simple! If I find any gold, then that's just icing on the cake as I'd be out riding around anyways. My problem, is I probably spend too much time riding and not enough time swinging. I need to learn to stop and smell the roses. I'm getting better though...  B)

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Probably even more gold in weight has been found by those old vlf`s back in 80`s and 90`s, than from the PI era, at the same time if the GPZ and its following detectors combined with other mod tech, GPS`s, moving map software, etc and tech savvy prospectors, than that will change. I know using such has broadened my horizons.

I doubt whether we hear of even a fraction of the large pieces that are found, ask yourself would you advertise that you have found such? Maybe once but I doubt you would twice.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nugget Bob I like your way of saying it, you are on the money. :D Nobody helps you like you can help yourself. Currently I am chasing a couple of  big Barramundis for Easter, an OZ sport fish of top eating quality and a like a big nugget much sought after in this land downunder. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We spend 90% of our time pushing into unexplored area's.

And the rest cleaning likley old area's whith new technology when it comes out.

Steve my biggest 2 piece's both large specimen's you could have detected with any detector!

My biggest piece I picked up from 1.5m away sideways to the coil!

But the tiny specs that lead to their discovery would not have been found with any detector with lower performance than a gpx4500.

Gold is heavy and big gold (over 10oz) takes a massive amount of energy to move even a short distance from its source.

Ecept if it comes from a steep hill then the weight + gravity move it very quickly down to the first trap, which is usually the bottom of the hill.

Then it moves very slowly once more, usually it just stays in the first decent trap.

We have proved this over and over again.

And as such we target these particular area's.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  I feel when all the hype of a new detector hits, more people get excited and buy. Then you end up with more people in the field for a short time. Alot ( not all ) of these finds are from people that just get caught up in the moment and luck into a find. There has been many of these finds located in areas that most guys pass over because its a area not normally hunted. 

So this leads to more finds. They probably did not need the newest and best detector, just needed a detector passed over it.

I do feel more gold will be found as better detectors are released to reach deeper and detect smaller gold nuggets. But we see this type of responce with almost every detector released, some of it is the detector, some of it is just someone finally put a detector in the right spot. I have always said to think outside the box alittle. Spend some time detecting new areas.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As all of us, i hope for the Big Nuggets but look more for undiscovered and undetected patches then just hunting the big one.  Unlike most people, i'll hit a new place and find some color and then i'll start creaming her uptill i'm feeling there's still a little left and then i'll head of to new grounds. If the place is very hard to reach and without signs of any modern mining i'll even just take those few first pieces and then hunt another new area for a few days and if unable to find another patch i'll return to the previous place and clean it out. I aim to spend the majority of my detecting time on new grounds. I previously estimated that this was a 50/50 split but shall move to 30/70 split this year with my new SDC. I have a few spots that i'm planning to hit that i doubt many detectors if any have ever been. Of course i love finding gold, and compared to the few gold detectorists up here stay very positive and hopeful. The golden Karat that i dangle drives me along.

Steve has mentioned before not detecting with people that aren't positive and i completely agree. I only hunt with one other guy sometimes but last year he was gettn pretty negative about detecting, he usually only hunts for the big nuggets and went back to panning and sluicing most of his gold. I love the guy and we've mined together many years but i will not be detecting that much with him this year. Hopefulness and a positive attitude, i believe are the keys to success.

 

"Negative energy clouds ones mind, warping perception and hindering clarity of thought and action." AjR

 

Biggest nugget i've found was only 1/4 oz but small gold aplenty.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...