Who Finds The Most Gold - Beach Hunters Or Prospectors?

[Gerry in Idaho]

Very good question -  jewelry gold vs natural gold.

I'm more fortune than most since I enjoy both styles of detecting.  Being a dealer (tax write off for educational purposes) allows me the opportunity to take crazy vacations to warm water climates during the winter months of Idaho (my home state) and chase gold jewelry.

As a Western states Gold Belt region detectorist, the majority of my gold recovered is natural Au and all with a metal detector.  No panning, sluicing, dredging...just swinging a detector and YES my recovery is usually 3 to 5X the weight of gold jewelry.

Now, I have also been fortunate enough to be at a great producing beach immediately after a storm. I must say, those very rare occurrences can be extremely rewarding as well.  A buddy and I did a week hunt one winter and came back with over 7 oz of gold and platinum.  We don't even count the sterling stuff, but it does look nice.

I feel if you are after gold of any kind, then look around and take advantage of your location.  If you don't live close to natural gold bearing areas we have out West, then gold jewelry should be your focus.  Get a good quality VLF detector with great discriminator that has selectable notch discrimination and preferred adjustable tone ID, then learn it, study it, test it and learn it more.

Yes there is still plenty to find, but Steve did bring up a great point.  My recently trips down south has me finding more Tungsten and Steel than Gold.  This is just the change of times and not looking good for future beach hunts..but I need a tax write off anyway, so you know I'll go.

 

[KD0CAC]

Too many variables and terms in the question - prospector = someone looking for a place to mine 😉

Many good replies , where a person is & goes .

So we have to assume [ always trouble ] only metal detecting - not mining - that starts doing volume / equipment , so a more involved question limited to DETECTING either natural gold or manmade ?

No way to compare , in a real sense - to totalling separate things with the only thing in common is metal detector .

Hell , I know of someone that refines mostly stuff his wife gets at garage sales , dollar stores and has trained her how to evaluate jewelry , silverware etc. and scrap from jewelers between the 2 of them & working with jewelers , he has stated $30,000  a month .

The last couple of yrs. + doing electronics repair , I started recovering valuable metals from electronics , limiting that to just gold & silver [ I also get cash from copper , aluminum , stainless ect. ] is more than general detecting , but that is because of most of the time just in the metro area of St. Paul & Minneapolis , no natural gold to bother looking for - glacial deposits , most of the beaches have replaced sand with grass - bummer , and less & less gold in electronics .

But still prospecting all of the above - trying to get away from FIAT MONEY 😉

 

[Norvic]

5 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Wow that`s a jewelry "Hand of Faith" find.

[mn90403]

I find more on the beach now.