gollum

Thanks everyone for the advice. I used to be a Minelab Fanboy LOL, but have since gotten less label conscious. I've had eight or nine ML in the last twenty or so years, and only went to other brands for things ML didn't have (Fisher Gemini 3 Two-Box, Fisher Magnetometer, etc). I've also owned a couple of White's (GM4B, and V/SAT). The reason I am budgeting myself on this is because I REALLY want to see what's going to happen with the Fisher Impulse Terra (or whatever they wind up calling it). Carl says maybe this year or early next. I have the greatest respect for Eric Foster, and have tried to find a decent old Goldmaster 5B for years, but since this new Impulse is based on that same detector, I want to see what happens with it. Although...............this has happened before. I didn't want to drop a load on a GPX because the all new, hotter than hot, super silky, ultra detector ...........THE PULSE DEVIL was just around the corner! No really! Just around the corner. Here it comes......ooooops, sorry, manufacturing problems. OOoopps, ROHS issues. HMMMM shipping issues. Two years later......NEVER MIND! HAHAHA I trust Carl though, so we'll see. Thanks - Mike

Okay. I see that Ismael is the Perth Dealer for QED. Do you know if he is associated with the company? I like Ismael a lot, and he knew about everything there was to know about the Minelab SD Series machines. If he was part of the design team, I KNOW the QED is a gold beast! Mike

I'm just looking at all my choices in the $1k-$1.5K area for prospecting. My old SD2000 regularly outperformed much more modern detectors, but after so many years of using it, I knew most of its tricks. My Gold Bug II is a master of everything small and shallow. The only issues I ever had with the SD was that I almost needed a caravan to drag everything out necessary for use. If the Nox8 or Monster will do EVERYTHING a GPExtreme will, my question is answered, as I like to pack in my detectors to remote areas, and not have to carry them along with me.

With most detectors, the choice is simple: A modern vlf detector is typically superior to an older vlf detector. With the advent of multiple frequencies, better software filtering, more exact displays, better technology. That's not my question. I had a Minelab SD2000 I bought new. I had done every one of Ismael's Mods. It found lots of gold over the years. It was stolen about four years ago. I miss it and all its "Idiosyncrasies". LOL Since then, I have gotten a few other detectors. Gold Bug II, a Schiebel MIMID PI Detector, GM4B, GM V/Sat. I have been looking at getting either an Equinox 800 or a Gold Monster (I almost exclusively prospect). While being bored and scrolling through random Ebay Ads, I began to wonder whether I should go with the Equinox, Monster...............or...............maybe a GPExtreme. For a few hundred more, I can get a powerful PI Gold Machine with modern batteries and multiple coils. There are also a crapload of available coils specific to different terrains. THOUGHTS? Best - Mike

I would also recommend a book by Erle Stanley Gardner (yes, the Perry Mason Erle Stanley Gardner) called "Hunting Lost Mines by Helicopter". A lot of adventures in Baja with Choral Pepper, her husband, and Gardner. Great read. Mike

I have a small horn spoon I carry with me all the time when I am out prospecting. The one I have used for years is about half the size of the one in the second pic. Since I can carry it in my pocket, I don't have to dig it out of my pack. It can dig things out of tight places. Because the size is small, washing out fines is easy and very quick. Basically, all you have to do is sweep away everything down close to bedrock. Then scrape out gaps with the spoon. You can wash it with less than half a cup of water. When I find a little color, I get out a bigger pan. It's not rocket science. HAHAHA Mike

HHHMMMMMMMMMM? "Not really a drinker" yet has an avatar with two Bud Cans and a pair of panties. Sounds like a drinker to meeeeeee! But I'm no expert. HAHAHA Mike

Is the Minelab Ferrite Ring any different from the myriad of Ferrite Rings/Toroid Coils on ebay for $2 - $5? Mike

Aside from the Lost Peg Leg, those cliffs you see are a couple of hundred feet deep alluvial runoff from a combination of the Fish Creek and Santa Rosa Mountains. In the bottoms of all those chasms are tons and tons of rocks. They are all rounded river rocks. Tells me that SOMEWHERE down there is a LOT of gold that flowed down towards The Salton Sink. Someone had the bright idea at some point to work this gravel. They only dug down about 2 feet on top of one hill, but they made a BIIIIIIIIG pile of rocks (and I am 6'4")! Mike

I have a couple of pics of some. When I get home, I will post a couple. Don't let that dampen your wick! Just because that part of the story is bogus, the main part is not. A lot of documented verification of much of the story. Mike

Tortuga, Unfortunately, the whole story about the "Peg Leg" being found in Desert Mag was all made up. Magazine sales had been slow and they needed something to perk things up. It worked. The only reason I know is because a friend interviewed someone that worked at the mag, who spilled all the beans. Look carefully, and you can see the black spray paint on the guy's wrist in the picture! HAHAHA On the other hand, the story about Thomas L. "Peg Leg" Smith is about 95% likely true. He originally thought the nuggets were copper when he first started picking them up on that butte. He didn't find out till after he got to L.A. that they were gold. He spent the next twenty or so years looking for that middle of three buttes somewhere South West of The Salton Sea. I know where some have been found in that area (a few different places). I have seen a couple that people had in their collections. Authentic PegLeg Black Gold Nuggets are not coated with Desert Varnish (windblown Manganese, Iron, and Clay). They are black due to the oxidation of the approximately 10%-15% copper content of the gold. I have looked on and off for those nuggets for over twenty years. I have scoured the desert and mountains areas from Calexico to In-Ko-Pah Gorge in the South, and from The Chocolate Mountains, over to the Coyote Mts, and up to the Southern Santa Rosa Mountains to the North. Even so far as to go through both the Chocolate Mountain Bombing Range and The Carrizo Impact Area. The main reason the source of PegLeg Smith's Black Gold Nuggets has yet to be found IMO because all the areas around it are very rugged, and much of the land around there is Government Administered (Anza Borrego Desert State Park, etc, etc, etc), and off limits to the public (Bombing and Impact Areas). One of the areas I spend a lot of time are The Borrego Badlands. Here are some pics. From the top at Font's Point: From below, look carefully, and you can see me. I am 6'4" and 285lbs. See how tiny I am? Not a nice place. Not much lives there. Just occasional brush, jackrabbits, and rattlesnakes. ..............and don't forget The Bombing Ranges! Mike

Its my understanding that the Sovereign GT is basically an Excalibur that is not waterproof, that makes the SGT one of the best Dry Beach Machines. A slower recovery speed just means your sweeps should be slower. Never had a Sovereign, but have had every Generation of Excalibur. Mike

You would have probably got more gold if you had remembered to swirl the water in the pan counter-clockwise, in true South of the Equator Style! Mike

Wernso, Shelton was saying that compared to the GoFind, the ATX construction was brilliant. I would have to agree, but you ARE comparing apples to strip clubs. I would safely say that a detector in the "Above $2000 Range" SHOULD be much better constructed than one that costs $199. Mike

Like Steve said. What magnetic surveys do is look for differences in Earth's Natural Magnetic fields. Such fields can be altered by large underground ore bodies, large buried caches of metal, etc. Even if the ore body or buried metal is non-magnetic. The manner in which the metal affects the Earth's Magnetic Field which surrounds it many times can determine the type of metal. Another type of determining survey is called "Ground Resistivity". Don't get fooled by 99% of the ground resistivity detectors you see for sale. Anything operated by a nine volt battery can only get good resistivity figures for about ten square feet. There are also micro-gravity meters that can see tiny changes in the Earth's Gravity caused by things underground. Lots of ways to look underground if you have the money! Mike