Nugget Readout Number on Gold Bug Pro

[Cabin Fever]

Hi.

I bought a couple of gold nuggets from a guy that needed some cash. Out of curiosity and I guess peace of mind I ran them over the coil of my Gold Bug Pro. One came in around the low 50s like the rest of my nuggets I have found but the 6.6 gram solid nugget came in from 68 to 72. Is that a little high for gold?

Thinking its because its bigger than any nuggets I have found in the past. The other nugget I bought is 6 grams and comes in at 52 but it is not solid. It is more of a crystalline type nugget. Very pretty.

[Steve Herschbach]

In theory on the Gold Bugs a numeric reading of 40 and higher is non-ferrous. The reality unfortunately is small gold or deep gold in highly iron mineralized ground can have the numbers skewed much lower. The detector is seeing the iron content of the ground along with the gold signal and the iron overwhelms the gold signal. Gold can read at least as low as 30 and possibly even lower.

The bigger the nugget and the purer the gold, the higher the reading. I have seen very large multi-ounce nuggets read like an aluminum can. So your readings are not unusual at all.

[Cabin Fever]

Thanks Steve.

I was just getting a little paranoid about the fake gold nuggets I read about online.

It looks good and feels good but after that higher ID number then I have seen on my

Gold bug in the past my imagination started to take off.

[Shasta gold hunter]

In open air tests I have seen nuggets read from high 30s to low 80s. Also have seen the number adjust as you scratch away soil on nuggets in the ground. Found some when you might consider not digging because its likely trash, but it comes up as you go. Good luck all!

[IDdesertman]

Hey Cabin Fever,

 

I wrote one of those articles on my website about those gold plated copper nuggets. They are a lot less common than they were a few years ago, but I'm sure there are still some making the rounds out there. On one as big as 6 grams like yours, I think you would notice the odd size/weight difference... they kind of look realistic, but the weight difference is really noticable if you have handled a lot of gold.