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Here's a few pics of some gold found with my gpx 5000. Everything was found around the goldfields of Western Australia and everything bar the big specie has been found since December 2016. the big specie ended up crushing out to 13.5oz of gold

I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to go do a little detecting between storms so I pushed the Jeep out of the shed, aired up the leaky tire, topped off the brake fluid and rolled it down the driveway and got it started. I tossed in the GPZ and off I went. Then came back for my pick. Our rainfall here is now about 250% above normal and I came to a mud hole where there has never been one before. I eased the Jeep in, not knowing how deep it might be, and the left side sunk in past the floor board. I would have been ok but I hadn't yet turned my hubs in. I crawled out over the hood and turned the right hub in but since the jeep was listing about 35 degrees to starboard the down hill side was a different story. Needless to say I slid off of the hood head first into the mud pit. As I traveled on around the North side of the mountain I started encountering snow drifts and I finally came to one that slightly detained me but after about an hours worth of digging with my pick I was on my way. And then went back and got my pick. I arrived at where I normally park and started wading through the snow to the gulch that I wanted to detect in. This gulch is quite deep with vertical sides and normally runs very little water. Not this year. It looked like a major contributor to the problems at the Oroville dam. I figured that if I was careful I could stay on top of the boulders and work my way down the gulch and detect the freshly scoured bedrock between the snow drifts. That worked for about two steps. I wound up wading in snow melt water up past my knees. The sun and the temperature were both going down fast but I started finding little nuggets one after another. My fingers, toes and brain were becoming numb so I knew it was time to quit but I did find 7 nuggets for just over 3dwt. I got to thinking about all my friends at Detector Prospector. All you wimps that go to Arizona, Florida and southern California deserts for the winter. And the ones that are at home watching TV and sitting at their computers and those that are south of the equator that have no challenges whatsoever when nugget hunting. YOU ARE ALL CRAZY! In fact,as soon as this storm is over I going right back! to get my pick. Foot Note: Chris Ralph has posted a photo of a pretty nugget he found between the storms. He may exempt himself from my harsh judgement.

Amyone on the Forums have any drone experience yet? just wondering.....This guy does. Enjoy! Cheers, ig

I realize things have been a bit wet underfoot on the West Coast but here in central Victoria I have been in a real drought. I have been finding point oners but yesterday I got one over 1 gram. The 7000 with 14" coil I got this at the limit of the detector using JP`s conservative settings. It was 12 or 14" deep in very hard ground and goes a whopping 1.7 grams Dave

Norm- Good on you for getting out and braving the elements. I hope you had Luther with you to help keep warm at night in the event if the Jeep got stuck. I'll have you know that while detecting a "Tot Lot" the other day I had some bark get stuck in my shoe and that totally ruined my hunt! strick

Idaho Gold, I have just started getting into using a drone for prospecting... Here is a small example of finding some good bedrock using my drone... Dave

Prior threads on the subject: Drone Survey Is there anyone on here that use a Drone to survey the area you plan on nugget hunting are coin hunting? I was thinking about getting one to look over land that has a lot of trees that could have... Drones For Aerial Reconnaissance You guys have great Google Earth coverage down here. It is nearly useless in Alaska and I would have been thrilled to have this alternative. As it was I was lucky enough to have a father with an... Video - Drones For Gold Prospecting I wish they had been a bit more adventurous with distance from base camp with this but it gives at least an idea of the possibilities.... Drones Who's going to be the first to use a drone scout up that wash that you'd love to hike up but crap it's warm your old it's nearly vertical geewhiz I still like to have a look!

So...your bark was worse than your frost bite? Sorry, I got to get out soon!

Klunker, the other evening I was out lounging under the awning of my RV watching an Arizona sunset. Between sips of a chilled, fruit based cocktail I thought of my old friend far and away to the North. As I languidly stirred my beverage with a little umbrella I realized that your travails are of your own manufacture and therefore unworthy of intruding on my enjoyment of this idyllic locale. With that subject settled I went back to thinking only of myself.....

You had a double picker (lost your pick twice). So many things on your mind you forgot to take pictures for us? I want the one when you slid off the hood ... Great writing. Mitchel

I gave up on my drone because it was too much work to pack around and all the mods I had to make to get good distance kept breaking. But that new Mavic Pro looks pretty sweet. It packs down to nothing and gets great range out of the box, I'm waiting for a price drop and thinking about getting one for work in the mountains the summer where hiking would take too long. The thing I wonder is if you can point the camera straight down so you can make custom aerial maps, that was the thing I really liked doing with the P2 but the stitching software won't work if the camera isn't straight down and some gimbals stop at like -170 degrees or something.

Well Norm, not wanting to be subjected to your harsh judgement, I submit for your approval this monster 4 grain gold nugget I found two weeks ago while out doing some detector testing. However, I drove to a dry and relatively warm location with no snow, and found the nugget within short walking distance of my truck. Your adventure sounds more, well, adventury, and you found more gold. Good going!

14k at a baseball field .found three junk rings since then .you have to dig the junk to get the good stuff.

Hey Jason.... The new drones are pretty easy to carry, that DJI Mavic looks awesome, and can be carried in a backpack, and has a line of sight range of 4-5 miles. The drone Im using is a Yuneek q500 , and has a 4k camera that moves, and has a range of 1-2 miles line of sight. If I spot something interesting on a hard to get to location, top of hill, ect.. they will be handy. I am also going to use it this summer while out fishing off the coast of San Diego looking for floating kelp patties, where the tuna love to hang out. I ran into a guy out in BFE out near Alamo, NV. while hunting for meteorites, and he was using a drone with a Thermal camera, hunting for caves on the side of some limestone cliffs.

Minelab Is showing demo units at the GPAA gold shows. So if you're going to the Phoenix show in about a month you will be able to see one there. Plenty of information on the new detector will be available in not too much longer.

Numerous dealers are taking orders at USD$799.00, not just one or two, but a lot of them, so I have to believe this is what they have been told is the "sell price" by Minelab. They are also quoting shipping dates of April 2017. My serious advice to everyone - be calm. What you have is pre-release information, and details are promised in the next week or two. You can't get a machine until April at the earliest. So sit back and relax. I promise whatever gets posted on this forum is by and large the earliest confirmed accurate information you can get, though some dealers do now and then jump the gun and post things before they are supposed to. I do not, ever, so that might mean having to wait a bit longer here to get the straight scoop. Once you see it here however you can pretty much take it to the bank. Honestly though, if you just look at the control panel and read what has been stated about the Minelab Gold Monster 1000 so far, I doubt there is much room for a lot of extra super duper secret information. This is not a complicated metal detector.

Klunker, I have been out almost twenty times even in the freezing rain and sleet. I did how not learn that a quad should have good tires and be in good repair. I took two sunny days to put on new tires and do a full tune up. I've only been forgetting things for almost two years. It's also how long I've been detecting. Maybe we should get together and go bowling! John

Gentlemen i had the opportunity to see the v4 in action remotely via Viber on a cell phone and it was good fun i saw a few differences in the audio response and the 2.5 reactivity is really a plus my mate did the demo with a v3.2 9" coil and a deus and a V4 9" HF coil.The high frequency get you few extras cms and the XY line are also easy to understand.He compare on the same target all the detector available in the shop and none could get the coin at 22cm in highly mineralised soil(coin was an old french 10 centimes) https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces3.html Also he has the coil 1 week on loan from his boss so i should feed you with more infos soon Have a nice week end RR

Hello Sajuu, In highly mineralized ground, try these settings; Gold Mode: High YieldGround Type: DifficultSensitivity: 15Ground Balance Mode: AutoVolume: 15Threshold Level: 35Threshold Pitch: 25Audio Smoothing: HighVolume Limit: 3 You may also have to reduce the sensitivity if the ground is severe. Good luck to you!

In the past couple of days, I have seen drone videos of the Bruneau river running across Idaho highway 51, just south of Jordan Valley, Idaho, a main route south through McDermitt, Nevada, then on to Winnemucca. I am not sure if the water there has receded yet, as much north-south commerce use that highway. I probably have already posted this somewhere here recently, but hey, I'm getting old! As an aside, the last time I saw the Rye Patch reservoir full, I crossed the Humboldt River, which fills the Rye Patch Reservoir on what is called the Callahan Bridge, just west out of Imlay Nevada. The high water at that time was pushing against the concrete bridge, and some water had already began to run across the road, it appeared. The good news was, there was evidence that a road grader had created a small dirt berm to help keep the water from further damaging the approach to the bridge... I was not to be denied, and gave my truck the gas, and me and my little rv trailer took the chance and successfully crossed the mighty Humboldt!

I have enjoyed reading this thread. Can you use a hand operated pump like Allen Trees uses on his rockers?

surely you jest with you 'no challenges south of the equator' comment ? even the bloody mozzies down here will lay you up for months let alone the fact I'll be swinging in 115 degree heat next week ..... Yeah the fun never stops ????

The Impact will operate at any one of three different frequencies (selectable frequency), not all three at once (multi frequency). Unfortunately the ad copy is referring to the machine as a multi frequency machine, which is going to cause confusion. Sadly, there is no exact agreement on the use of these terms and how they are applied. The V3i can operate at any one of three frequencies OR all three at once. It along with the White's VX3 are fairly unique in having that capability.

After last Friday today was a bit of a let down with only 1 grain.... The sand looked good but the freshet just wasn't up to it and ground sluicing is not the most efficient method to work.. But it's what we got in oregon since we can't run any power on the beach.... Not even an electric bilge pump recirculator unless we are above the grass line aka mean high tide line.and that just isn't practical o this beach. I would have been better off to have hauled the sand in my gorilla cart and setup the sluice in the creek 100 yards away.

I sent an email inquiry to Minelab and got this response: “Yes it does. Minelab will be releasing further product details about this within the next couple of weeks.”

Klunker, you chose poorly. Like Steve, I selected a location well below the snow line. I had to walk maybe 100 yards to my nugget (also roughly 4 grains). I walked around a bunch after that and dug a bunch of lead, but no more gold. It was muddy in spots, but I locked my hubs. You did pretty good on the gold though.

Hi Gary, The published weights of the Nokta FORS detectors are understated at 3.9 lbs in their brochures, etc. I have weighed the FORS units with stock 11" x 7" coils and rechargeable batteries installed on my postal scales and they weigh 4.3 lbs. I have also weighed the Nokta Impact with batteries and 11" x 7" DD coil and they also weigh 4.3 lbs. I usually round up however and on reviewing my notes the Nokta Impact weighs exactly 4 lbs 4.2 ounces and the Nokta FORS CoRe and FORS Gold weigh 4 lbs 6 ounces, so the Impact is slightly lighter. I find the angle and grip on the Impact to be superior to the FORS models. The FORS handles are canted forward more and the position of the trigger under your index finger makes it hard to get a full grip on the handle. No problem on the Impact. All the black box Goldmasters ran at 50 kHz or 48 kHz on the GMT. You must be thinking of the original Fisher Gold Bug at 19 kHz. I never actually indicated the Impact "falls short" on the kHz. Gold Bug Pro 19 kHz. White's MXT 14 kHz. Garrett AT Gold 18 kHz. Nokta FORS Gold + 19 kHz. Nokta Impact - 20 kHz max with 14 kHz and 5 kHz options. It simply cannot be expected to match the GMT at 48 kHz, Gold Racer at 56 kHz, or GB2 at 71 kHz. What I was trying to express is that the Impact "falls in line" with all the other mid-frequency "do-it-all" detectors and is not a true dedicated prospecting detector like the GMT or Gold Bug 2 or the new Minelab GM1000 at 45 kHz. That said I see no problem finding gold as small as a grain in the field with the Impact employing the small coil at 20 kHz. Gold less than a grain, not so much.

Cabin Fever has struck another NorCal miner.... I would never be out in that jeep in inclement weather..... ( unless I lost my pick)

The XY is most beneficial to coin shooters/ring finders in trashy parks IMO. Which is a welcomed improvement. Yes, I know it was there before but its implemented far better now. I'm sure it's still not as good at identification as an FBS machine but then again nothing is. I wouldn't expect relic hunters or gold prospectors to use XY.

Norm, This wet Winter, I've sat home thinking about all the places I'd rather be! And I'm still sitting here today, lol. Great story Rick

Nokta Impact (with optional 7" x 4" DD coil) next to Makro Gold Racer Nokta/Makro Gold Racer & Nokta/Makro Impact metal detectors with small coils I would not characterize myself as a true tester of the Nokta Impact on the level of Tom Dankowski or others. I did however receive a late version prototype about 30 days ago to do a last minute check of the system. Unfortunately weather has been at record bad levels in my area and it has been difficult to put in the time on the unit it deserves. It is a relatively complex detector compared to most, with many different settings to experiment with. It has several unique features, one of the most important perhaps to potential early buyers being the ability to update the firmware over the internet. This does remove much of the risk inherent in buying early and holds out the promise of possible tweaks and improvements to come. My focus being gold prospecting I can say that while the Nokta Impact is a very capable machine for gold prospecting it will not match the Makro Gold Racer for sensitivity to smaller gold. It is closer to the Nokta Fors Gold+ in that regard. Performance on gram plus gold is on par with other machines in the 13 - 20 kHz class, though the ability to drop to 5 kHz may provide some benefits in the worst ground on large nuggets, much like is seen with the 6.4 kHz mode on the Eureka Gold. The Nokta Impact is a very intriguing metal detector, much like owning several different machines in one. The 99 tone mode has a VCO response more like one might expect of the DEUS than other full tone models, like my DFX. The Gen mode is quite unique being a threshold based all metal mode with a dual tone disc mode layered over it, what is referred to as a mixed mode. Wireless headphone capability (2.4 Ghz lag free) is built-in but headphones will be optional. Physically the unit is a well balanced 4.26 pounds with a straight shaft, molded post style grip. The cable is enclosed in the rod assembly for snag free operation and a clean look. The 7" x 4" DD coil is a real sweet option for trashy locations. There is a more that I will comment on later when I have time. For now rest assured this is a true flagship detector that can run head to head with the best that any other manufacturer has to offer. In my opinion it signals Nokta/Makro arrival as a true top-tier contender. Look at two of the so-called Big 5, Tesoro and Garrett, and show me anything remotely like this machine.

Hi all, finally got to take me new GPZ out for its Maiden run. To my girlfriend and her daughters out with me, but had to promise to take them to see the snow in the mtns after. I hit a wash I had found a couple of specks with my GMT, but struck out with my ATX. In 5 minutes I had my first signal, a sub gram specie at about 6 or 7 in. A few moments later hit another subject gram piece. A few minutes later dug up a 2+ grammer. Then I was notified by my girlfriend that the kids were cold and wanted to leave. Lol that was quick but I was happy with 3.5 grams for the day. Better than I had been doing. The next day was to be a more serious day detecting. Met up with my buddy Dave and headed out to a new area. Walked a few washes for nothing then got a high pitched signal. Dug up what may be a small meteorite. I don't have a picture but Dave might. Then found the tiniest speci with the smallest speck of gold visible. Wow! the power of the GPZ. After basically striking out Dave and I decided to head back to and area we had done ok. Which happens to be near the wash from yesterday. So I got right back into it and was back on the gold. I have to say this was the first true patch I had found. Tried to radio Dave and tell him how I was doing, but he was out of range. When I got up to about ten nuggets I got a call from Dave and he said he had no luck. So I told him there was still 40 or 50 yards left of this was. Told him to start at the top and we'd meet in the middle. He even picked up a couple I missed. I ended up with 20 nuggets for the day, and Dave got 9. Best day ever detecting. 13.6grams for the day 17grams for the 2 days. I'm on a quest to pay for my GPZ and 17 grams takes out a big chunk. Completely amazed at the power of that detector. I'm sure there is still some gold left in that patch. Can't wait to get back. Chris

I'm not sure what it is, is it like a series of jigs and grease sluices or something? I'm just gonna go low tech and look for topographical depressions, blue ground, and chromian diopsides/pyrope in the pan.

I got out to do a little metal detector prospecting in California yesterday, and got my first nugget of 2017. I've not done any prospecting for months and this was the first time I'd been out prospecting this year. It's been a rough past few months. Some of you may know why, my mom passed away a couple weeks ago. So I decided this would be a good time for me to get away and to take my dad as well for a short day trip to get away from things for a few hours. It was tough to get over the hill into California even on a sunny dry day - I80 westbound has been closed most of the last few days and they were diverting westbound car traffic at Hwy 20 and holding westbound trucks at the state line. A small section of a hill just east of Alta is just sliding down on the freeway like toothpaste. Caltrans clears off what flows onto the road and then more flows down. We were also in a stop and go traffic jam from mogul - just west of Reno - to nearly the state line as NDOT did emergency repairs on the Nevada side. However, once I made it in, it was a beautiful sunny day. In the gold country, I could see the rivers are all running high and water is flowing down every little drainage. I saw a lot of little mud and rock slides and places where erosion has done damage to the roadways. It was also very green in the lower elevations of the gold country as all the grass and little plants are springing to life. It's still full on winter here around Reno. I-80 west is finally open this morning, but the next round of storms arrives tomorrow (Thursday). I dug a lot of little bullet frags and bird shot, but it was great just to get out and stretch my legs. I think the little nugget I dug was about my 5th target. It weighs 0.2 grams. Not much but it is gold and now I have something in my bottle for 2017. Gotta start somewhere!

Mr. Hawkeye. Sir. The actual source for boot nails is Plumas County, California where they occur naturally both in volcanic lava vents and in widespread alluvial deposits as the result of massive extrusions and explosive eruptions. Some boot nail deposits were so rich that, during the gold rush, they were mined and shipped throughout Plumas County and used frivolously by the gold rush era miners. To this very day boot nails can still be found by metal detectorists while searching for gold nuggets.

Congrats on the new detector, and finds Chris. That sure was a good day, and I think that patch has many more buried, need to get a small dozer out there :). I confirmed Chris's meteorite, by cutting a window into it, so congrats on the gold n meteorite. I've been nugget/ meteorite detecting with Minelabs since I first got a sd2200 back in 2003, and haven't come close to your skill and determination, It came natural to you...Sorry but here is a bad pic I made with phone of Chris's meteorite find, need to get one of those macro cameras for good close up pics...

Nice! The GMk will be a versatile machine.

Update I took Steve's advice. Talked to my dealer, then Minelab service. Minelab service (Kelleyco) said it should be treated as an out of box failure. I then called my dealer back with to info I had. He then called Minelab Americas. Between my dealer and Minelab, my defective detector is on its way back and a new one on its way back to me tomorrow. Minelab is paying the freight both ways. I am happy to say, I think I have a great dealer and Minelab made it happen. Norm

I would have added a hot rock discriminator

With 45kHz operating freq., some sort of auto ground compensation and a "probability of gold" indication, it's quite similar to the GMT in concept, except for external manual comtrol possibilities and - of course - the extra weight that "old timers" like Steve want!! Lol

The gold mining district near Pahrump is more commonly known as the Johnnie District. It is mostly hard rock, but has some good placer too.

Full hour episode published September 2016. "Meteorite Hunters: Just Give us Some Space!" is a full length documentary that follows treasure hunters (team Dirt Fishin America's Dr.Tones and Pickhead) around the country in search of priceless space rocks. The team meets up with world famous meteorite hunter Geoff Notkin to learn how to find meteorites before they set out in search for a meteorite of their own. Metal detectors, magnets and all sorts of adventure.

Stick with "tips and tricks" that are backed by Science, I think you'll find you're more successful.