Lookin For Advice For Gold Basin In Arizona

[rob baum 5]

I bought a house in meadview about 4 years ago.  Every couple months when I go there I try to get over to gold basin to do some detecting or drywashing.  It took me a couple years to find my first nugget out there and its been a couple of years since then and I havent found another.  I swing an SDC and I've read people have done pretty good out there with that model.  I find plenty of lead and boot tacks a inch or two down but not much deeper than that.   What settings are people using out there?  How deep down are people finding the gold?  Would I be better off with a  different model that can go deeper?  I'm not very confident in my abilities since I learned this machine on my own and have only found 2 pieces in the 4 years and dozens of times I've used it.  Any advice would be appreciated. 

[afreakofnature 599]

Crank that SDC up to 4 and if you can handle the noise 5.  Threshold at 3 or 4.  Ground Balance and away you go!  Listen for repeatables even if they are faint.  I found gold near the surface to 4 inches out in GB and I only went once!  The secret is to go further and farther than anyone else.

[jasong 2,961]

Bury test nuggets and test the settings out to see what works best at edge of detection as well as normal depths. Then see exactly how deep you can hit each size nugget and how the settings change the target response. Now you know on your own exactly what settings to run in the ground/area you specifically work and you also have a feel for how deep you are detecting rather than guessing.

Next look at the ground you are detecting and ask yourself if that ground matches the capabilities of your machine which you just observed. That's what determines if you have the right tool for the job. You make that determination, not a forum member.

Understand your environment, understand the gold, and understand your machine you have. Personally. Then you can determine if you need to change something.

I can't tell you how many GPZ owners I've run into in GB who are running in Difficult and low gains because they read someone say it on a forum in some other part of the country or world, and will not be convinced to sway from that advice. That's $8000 right into the garbage can IMO. The key is understanding your machine and your environment first, then figuring out what you need to do better, then upgrading if you really need it.

I would never spend many $thousands on a detector without already knowing I can find many oz'es of gold though myself. That's the first step in my book. If you are only finding 1 or 2 nuggets with an SDC, then more expensive detector is not going to create more nuggets for you if they aren't there to begin with.

[geof_junk 1,876]

Some good advice above. Gold does move and spread out a lot in some ground. The trick is to cover a lot of ground correctly at the required speed. Have a look at this post, but start near known gold finds.  

.....Nugget Spread....

[Gerry in Idaho 5,046]

Rob,  I can easily see from your post and only finding 2 nuggets in 4 years at a known gold producing site, you need some hands on Field Training from an Expert who knows the SDC-2300.  Education and Quality Field Training is not cheap, but well worth it as you'll have it for the rest of your detecting career. 

Here is what most people do and a big mistake.  They purchase a higher dollar detector thinking that is the solution to them being successful.  No Sir, I don't feel so.  Yes it will help, but 2 nuggets in 4 yrs with a top performing detector proves my point, you don't know what your doing with it.

My 1st time to Gold Basin, I showed up on a bus with 30 other Minelab dealers.  I did not even take a detector, then handed me one and after 4 hours, I had 4 nuggets.  I'd never been there before.  Guess how many nuggets were found by the 30 Minelab dealers?  A total of 5 and I found 4 of the 5.

Why is that someone can hand me a gold detector in an area I have never detected before and I find gold?  I know gold detectors, I train on gold detectors, I sleep with gold detectors.

Here's what's so funny about this story.  I had 20+ yrs of detecting experience when I purchased my 1st gold detector.  3 detectors and 2 yrs later I still had not found any gold, but yet I was a 20 yrs detector veteran (who was dam good at coin/relic/jewelry hunting).

I finally paid $100 for a half day seminar for a Nugget Detecting Expert.  The following weekend I went out and found 14 nuggets in 13 hours of hunting.

That's when I learned so many people who own gold detectors are actually missing and walking over more than what they are finding.  If you are in a know gold producing area, it's there, but you need to learn how to find it.

Your options are to keep trying trying, more trips, wear tear, flat tires, wasted gas and frustration for who knows how long??? Or pay an expert to plug in with you and your detector and teach you the ropes.

Good luck in your pursuit and if you want to speed up your knowledge/success, I can provide one of my Field Staff who is in AZ, a day in the field with you.  Again, it's not cheap, but sure is fun when you can find gold most days you go out and realizing gold is $1800 to $2000 an ounce.  He's in AZ right now and if interested call me.  www.gerrysdetectors.com

 

 

[oneguy 1,049]

Almost seems like you just haven't been able to get the coil over some gold?  Can't find it if it's not there. Only thing I can add is do your noise cancel, ground balance, sens on 3-4 (if threshold remains stable), coil as close to soil as possible and nice slow even 3-4 second coil sweep from side to side, dig any/all change in threshold tone.  Persistance, patience, tenacity and get that coil over some gold!!!!!.......(it'll happen)

good luck

[rob baum 5]

"Bury test nuggets and test the settings out to see what works best at edge of detection as well as normal depths. Then see exactly how deep you can hit each size nugget and how the settings change the target response. Now you know on your own exactly what settings to run in the ground/area you specifically work and you also have a feel for how deep you are detecting rather than guessing."

 

thanks Jasong,  that's some good advice.  i usually bring a test nugget and just throw it on top of the ground to listen to it.  i think next time i will just bury it at different depths and spend my time learning the soil and trying different settings instead of doing the guessing game.

  

 

 

 

[rob baum 5]

" I can easily see from your post and only finding 2 nuggets in 4 years at a known gold producing site, you need some hands on Field Training from an Expert who knows the SDC-2300.  Education and Quality Field Training is not cheap, but well worth it as you'll have it for the rest of your detecting career. 

Here is what most people do and a big mistake.  They purchase a higher dollar detector thinking that is the solution to them being successful.  No Sir, I don't feel so.  Yes it will help, but 2 nuggets in 4 yrs with a top performing detector proves my point, you don't know what your doing with it."

 

Gerry i agree.   i could definitely use some professional training and i don't mind paying for it.  i started with a xterra-705, i never really learned that machine when it came to gold because of where i was detecting in Ca most of the time it was so noisy due to the ground that it just wasn't fun.  I bought the SDC a year later as an impulse buy at a gold show due to it handling the mineralized ground but i never had anyone except for videos on you-tube show me how to use it.  theirs not to many prospectors around me that use metal detectors due to the gold being small, the one's that due mainly use the gold monster.  if i can find some more time to spend in AZ other than a weekend every couple of months i will definitely call you to hire one of your field staff to train me.

[rob baum 5]

"Almost seems like you just haven't been able to get the coil over some gold?  Can't find it if it's not there. Only thing I can add is do your noise cancel, ground balance, sens on 3-4 (if threshold remains stable), coil as close to soil as possible and nice slow even 3-4 second coil sweep from side to side, dig any/all change in threshold tone.  Persistance, patience, tenacity and get that coil over some gold!!!!!.......(it'll happen)"

 

oneguy, that's for sure i wont find it if its not there.  since i haven't had a whole lot of luck i tend to wonder if it is there and i'm not yet skilled enough.  I definitely have persistence and patience, sometimes i have to do a little dry washing or panning to see the yellow stuff to get me excited again.

[wltdwiz 108]

rob

ive used a sdc 2300 at the basin with good success

coil on the ground /set your sensitivity at 4

go slow

hunt the drywash piles & recent digs

feel free to give me a ring & ill try to help you

928-715-5324

in in golden valley

walt