Au4Gold2

Happy Birthday.....I will give that a try next time.

I had a shop, sold prospecting supplies and such...many would come in and ask questions. But the ones that stand out the most, not many but a few were the "Rock Heads. " They  would come in with a new rock every other week, month , year....saying theirs gold in it. I was polite thinking perhaps new blood and I will answer their questions, teach them. After spending half an hour or so explaining theirs no gold in ..the sample rock they brought in the  " rock head " left still not believing me. I told them start placer mining..get a pan and you will learn to recognize gold, easy to do, just about any stream in my area has bit of gold in it. But no.....most are in some trans state  the more they stare at the " Rock " the more gold is in it....lol  

Nice Eagle C button.....those a cool to find.

So true.....location, location and perseverance. Few weeks ago dug out a 5.5 gram nugget with my Tesoro silver U max....used disc and dug good signals only. First 15 minutes of the hunt.... 

DeathRay,

Yup....reminds me of a local boy here in my area...still uses the old Vsat Whites goldmaster....and finds loads of gold.....he knows it like his own appendages.

Yes they are a pain, the target sound of tin can be ragged...but dang I have had sounds I thought were for sure tin...and I dug it out and it ended up a nice shallow nugget. Just the other day...I was diggin trash all day and was ready to call it done and I got the same old loud and obnoxious in your face tin sound and as I struck my pick into the red dirt at first swing out came out a thumbnail leaf gold piece!! I think I am going to experiment with the vdi numbers and some tin and see where it locks in or hovers around compared to other non ferrous targets. It is not a sure thing... but when I get tired at the end of day..may switch to " do I dig or not that maybe tin target.

Many of the top brand detecting manufacturers offering vdi number displays to narrow down the identification of various targets. Those vdi numbers or specific target identity  numbers allow us decide weather or not we choose to dig that specific target. Has anyone found the best way to identify tin from other non ferrous targets? In my experience with disc modes primarily using the mxt I recall most iron targets will grunt and give you a negative number. Non ferrous....copper, brass , gold , a low to med number and silver up in the high 80's. I find tin to be the most troublesome of all metals, it's pretty easy to eliminate most iron targets such as nails, small wires and other odd ferrous objects in disc modes when hunting gold, but pieces of tin. I am just wondering which detector out their today would give us the best tin target id...

Thanks Steve I totally understand your view. My last vlf was the MXT E series and I found it simple and adequate for my relic hunting needs. Since than I acquired a Minelab PI and sold my MXT to a friend of mine....should have kept it.... :) So it's been a while since my vlf days and since than all these new vlf have come out. The only reason I ask is I was not sure if the new ones would give me an edge on this particular job.hunting lots of tailing piles than lets say the MXT. Like your aware of...here in the Sierras there's a lot of ferrous junk, so its nice to have an option on those days you just get tired of diggin it all. I do like the two tone and also vdi numbers. I do appreciate your advice.

Sounds great Steve (Makro Racer display as described here)....if your a computer programmer and like buttons.... :) I am just a simple nuggethunter.  It's coming down real soon for me to pick the one vlf out of all these new ones that have been coming out last few years. My ole 4500 is my primary and has served me well, but lately my sites and opportunities to hunt gold have got me endless massive tailings piles stretching miles. I am finding the PI a bit heavy and a need for a vlf to be more effective and speed things up so I am  not digging ferrous so much. My two choices as of today.....ForsGold+ or the Makro Racer....I would love some advice from those who like simplicity but a very effective on tailings...if you were to choose which detector would you pick for this specific job ? 

Yup, those old relics can be worth some dough ! Very nice finds......love relics...but stuck on gold these days.....but the ole relic bug keeps on whispering to me.... :) If you get any eagle buttons with the d dragoons are pretty rare make sure you don't toss em...

They are all very nice......congrats on the big one. Persistence pays!

That's cool.....coins are always an unexpected surprise for me when nuggethunting. 

Nice to see a company create it's product line....you don't see that very often. Best part is the service is great and products superb!

Those pesky tin cans we all never cleaned completely up out of the hole....hmmmmmm...makes me sick to think about it...

Nevada1616,

This was one of my reasons to post on the ratios....I wanted people like yourself starting out in nuggethunting not to give up as we are all digging those pesky bits of iron and aluminum and lead. Its part of the job, cant have one without the other. The main thing is put yourself in a known gold region and hunt where the ole timers dug gold. Their methods were crude but effective for their time as their was a lot more gold in that ground. They did not get it all....most of my gold finds are on the very spot they walked on, I know as I find tons of tiny boot tacks! So as you gain more experience you will eventually find your first nugget....and with every nugget you will add to you knowledge and gain  confidence, it's a catch 22 confidence is gained with success, the more success you have the more confidant you will be, and your ratio of ferrous to gold will decrease. Good Hunting !!

I actually love the look of this machine, looks tough and very resistant to the elements. I do prefer the knobs...this detector just looks like a full time workaholic! Would compliment a PI....and I have to admit...just love the red and green lights... Glad I waited !

I have never upgraded but if Minelab does come out with a machine that does disc iron out , I am upgrading for the pure and simple reason of life's to short to dig trash. Lead on the other hand has its purposes  

Boulder Dash,

Great ratio.....those sites are nice when you find them.

So many new coils, so , so many choices !!  

Yes, trash is  part of the job ! Won't know whats their unless you dig it....and in the last few weeks I can surely confidently say the disc mode is NOT a sure thing...I generally run disc until I find my first and second piece...than I dig all. And than hit it with different coils for shallow and deep targets.  Found three nuggets  today and a 1833 Providence Rhode Island hard times token !  Good day indeed.... :) You gotta luv it.

Like one of my hunting buds said to me once, " if their trash, theirs gold left," especially if your in a well know mining area. So  when I start getting a bit negative by digging trash but know for a fact what type and size gold was found in the area I continue following the principles and push on and keep on working the site. Every time I do that the gold seems to show its bright face. RR, you are right about coin hunting. As I recall when I used to hunt coins at my local beaches and swim holes I would always come home with a few bucks worth of change.Yes their was some trash, pull tabs and such..but you always came out with some silver and copper, and on occasion a earring or charm, not always gold but still fun to find. The richer the dirt the more trash, those guys ate as they worked and discarded the cans all over the place. 

Not that many of us keep record of this but it would be interesting to hear the number of trash finds to gold finds on your average day hunt. I know their are many variables as of site location and such, but for me it's been around 40-60 trash targets which includes lead and ferrous items to one single nugget. Regardless of sites in my area....that's the range for me. I try to disc out the obvious, but for safety I do dig questionable sounds. On another topic a heads up as far as disc on the 4500 Minelabs. I set mine at a pretty aggressive setting of 7. I have found that lead bullets will at times disc out, but they do have that distinct low tone ..so be careful !!  Gold will also give of a warbally tone, not like a dic or tone break but some may mistake it as trash so dig it. When in question, dig....happy hunting to you all.....

Wow Rick !! Those are nice looking pieces....chevron? Congrats on your specimen nuggs.

Join the club, did the same this week !! Broke the gpx handle with ground button yesterday, today I  slipped and tried to use the detector as a cane, but did the twist on me and cracked on the bottom near coil ears. So it's a ching ching week for repairs. I am sure I would feel different if I just bought a zed and the quality of the rod is inferior in relations to the price of the detector. 

That's a great half a day! Nice pictures Ray....Looks like the ZED is working out for you.