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First Gold Basin Trip, Nov30 To Dec2


Dutchman4

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Had my SDC out for the first time this season (2 nuggs) since I got the 6000 this spring.  Unfortunately the first trip out was also my last hunt this season.  Had a blast with the SDC and as usual it ran nice and smooth, doesn't go nuts when jets fly over or when you set it down, don't have to noise cancel constantly, etc.  I'd forgotten how nice it was to hear a nice constant stable threshold...? I run the 5x10 Coiltek and that makes the SDC handle a bit better and easier to PP with.

Don't get me wrong as I love the 6000 and have seen what it's capable of but it seems I'm always fighting with the wild beast in some sort of way?  It's got me deeper gold and a few nuggs (exactly 100 now for the 6000) but it was really nice to bust out the SDC and just enjoy the hunt without noise cancels, emi swings, threshold swings, etc.

Had my SDC up for sale awhile back but I think I'll hang on to it for those days that my brain just doesn't feel up to a wild day with the 6 but more of an enjoyable relaxing casual hunt.  It was really nice to use it again.  

You'll like that SDC, especially in hot ground, built like a battleship, somewhat ill handling and lacks a little bit in depth, gets the tiny gold, simple machine.  External speaker isn't very loud so you'll want to keep headphones handy if it's windy out. The 10x5 coiltek is a real nice addition although spendy....

jmo's

 

 

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Thanks for all the replies guys.

I downloaded a Geology and Gold mineralization USGS report for Gold Basin and lost basin.  I used that to pick two spots to hunt, one north of Gold Hill Mine and one south of Golden Rule Peak.  Both areas had exposed quartz veins and pieces of iron stained quartz spread about.  The ground phase readings on my Gold Bug Pro were in the range of 82 to 84, typical of other gold fields.  I found very few trash targets once away from roads so that was a nice change.  It either means there was very little trash (bullets and fragments) to begin with or it has all been cleaned out by metal detectorists.  The area south of Golden Rule Peak has lots of dig holes so it looks like it has been pounded hard for many years.  Not too many hot rocks in this area so I used my GB-Pro with the DP coil.  The few hot rocks I did find had the typical boing sound and after digging a few, to see what they looked like, I stopped digging those.  I did not find any nuggets but still recovered about a dozen bullets or associated copper/lead fragments, some very small, so it tells me that the GB-Pro was doing its usual job.

On the last day I hunted another spot closer to Senator Peak (old volcano?) and many more hot rocks there so I used the SDC 2300 there.  Also no nuggets but again recovered bullets and fragments.  I am 5'10" - 150 lbs and the SDC is pretty heavy compared to the GB-Pro.  I might look into buying or making a Hip Stick, like I did for the ATX when I had that years ago.

Before I did any hunting I did some testing with the SDC-2300 by burying some targets in the ground at gold basin.  I have BB size and #8 lead shot test targets.  The SDC-2300 and the GB-Pro+DP coil saw the BB lead shot at about the same depth of 4 inches.  The SDC-2300 did not detect the #8 bird shot at any depth while the GP-Pro+DP coil sees it at about 1.5 inches.  I also have a small gold nugget for testing purposes.  The SDC-2300 did not detect the gold nugget at any depth while the GP-Pro+DP coil sees it at about 1 inch.  I dont have a scale so I dont know the weight of the test nugget.  I have attached a picture of the test nugget on a dime.  I read that the SDC-2300 is known for finding small gold so I it is not clear to me what the term "small gold" means.  I just want to be able to determine if my SDC-2300 is just as sensitive as all the others or if it has a defect.

So the restart of my detecting adventures are still the same as previous years, with no gold found, but I want to learn more  about how to find areas that have gold.  I like to think that I have the right tools and methods so I need to find ground that can yield.  My goal has always been to get to a level where I am able to at least find a few nuggets on each outing.  I like getting out in nature and desert camping but if you swing all day and for years on end without finding any nuggets then that become a big skunk to kill.  I have discussed my dilemma with other detectorists in the field and they have all told me that as long as I'm finding small bird shot then my equipment and techniques are good and it is just a matter of getting the coil over gold.

 

Test_Nugget1.jpg

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I'm up at Gold Basin now for another 1-2 week stint. I was told this morning that a newbie with a Gpx 4500 just found a four ounce nugget up here a few days ago. I think I am going to need a longer lower shaft for my 5000 when running that 25"NF DDX coil. Everything on me was setting it off. Even my glasses.

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I heard the same thing when I was there but the story kept changing.  The first guy that mentioned it said it was a 1 oz nugget.  The next guy said it was 2 oz.  I asked if any of them had seen it and both said no.  So now it is 4 oz.  Gota love those expanding nuggets.

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