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How Do I Discriminate Junk From Gold With A Goldmaster 24k?


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I am new to gold prospecting and nugget hunting and just recently purchased a new Goldmaster 24k.  To learn more about this endeavor I have been reading as much as possible on this and other forums.  I have read comments on this forum that one advantage of the VLF detector is its ability to discriminate between gold and junk in areas of past or historic mining activity.  And I have also read that the conductivity of gold will vary depending upon its purity.  At the risk of sounding dumb and having missed the obvious, my question is this:  How do I use the VLF to discriminate, find gold and avoid the trash in a trashy area that may have iron scrap, bird shot, empty 22 shell casings, aluminum foil and other modern and old trash?  Thank you to all of you in advance for your patience and help.

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The numbers displayed on the GM 24k when swinging over targets are probability estimates of ferrous or non ferrous targets. The lower numbers are usually iron or small non-ferrous targets (like small gold or aluminum/lead trash) that are having their conductive qualities shifted into the iron probability range due to mineralization or masking. Also, on any VLF detector rusting, cracked iron objects will be difficult to categorize so your detector will give ferrous and non-ferrous readings for things like rusty bent nails, barbed wire, you name it.

It is a really good idea to dig it all if possible, especially if there are shallower and larger ferrous or aluminum targets near the surface that could partially or totally mask smaller gold targets near them.

I agree with Jim and when I used my 24K I would discriminate in the iron range only if the ground noise/hot rocks were too much for the 24K's ground balance abilities.

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I bought my White's 24K from Jim McCulloch and even though ti have owned a several White's and Fishers over the years one of the best thing I did was get Jim's book : Advanced Nugget Shooting with the Goldmaster 24K "

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