Andyy

Too funny. I thought of that and decided i couldnt be that cruel even if they deserved it. Or could i ..... . But seriously, only post pics with snip it or other screen capture software.

14 years

Well now that is interesting. I did not realize there were two types. I was unlucky enough to pick the type that did not work with the GM1000.

When I post a picture, I use screen capture. Then you should be able to right click the picture and check the properties are gone.

Strange. I would not expect there to be much cyanide treatment with dredge tailings. But what do I know. Definitely check to see if the mines nearby had "FreeMilling" gold and you should be good. Also look for "High Grade Ore". Or just look at the tailings to spy free gold. I have a recent post where I ran across an old hard rock mine with quartz tailings and there was some obvious gold visible. Later we crushed pieces and there was gold inside. (and a good amount of it) You need a good detector for the really small stuff. Sounds like you're going big :) Also, in case you haven't already done so, do a search on detecting mine tailings. You will get some very good articles that detail how to attack those dredge piles. Other than that ... what Paul said

Well I am guessing that people just didn't know what they were looking at. That and the fact that it is so far far away hidden in the between.

Thank you, Glenn. That is sort of what I was thinking. Smaller pile must have been the high grade stuff they crushed and would attempt to haul out the bulk of it on mules. But man those larger piles are menacing. Too much trash for the ZED so I will likely come back with the GM1000, and work those larger piles a few inches at a time. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and they will have missed some gold that was out of sight to them. What I can tell you is the pieces that had gold were just sprinkled. But if I get lucky, one of those 3 or 4 monster piles may have some high grade ore with some gold hidden inside. It just takes a good plan and a lot of dedication to find out if I am correct. They NEVER get it all

Hello all. I have a bit of a strange question which may or may not belong in the detecting section ... Recently I ran across a hardrock mine (this is in the western United States by the way) in which there were several drifts cut into the mountain above each other (assuming I have my terminology correct). Outside of each of the horizontal shafts were two piles of ore (with quartz and visible gold in some of it). One pile always seemed to have been classified or crushed to less than an inch while the other pile (usually much larger-approx 15' high) was 3-4 inches in size. It was in the larger pile that I typically saw the small gold. This was obviously an old operation and there were many hundereds of old rusted out cans outside of the mine at the bottom of the mountain. I was wondering if anyone could describe (in general) the typical operation the old timers would run to extract their gold which typically results in two piles nearby each horizontal shaft? These piles are hundreds of feet up on the hillside. In this case it seems like they have left a lot of gold. I am sure I could crush and pan a lot of ore but I am primarily interested in detecting these piles for the slightly larger stuff that may have missed their well trained eyes. But to properly metal detect such piles, I would like to get an idea of the basic steps these miners were taking with these piles. I appreciate any input.

I still think Garmin has a unit that will do everything you require. I use the Garmin Montana 680t. It's a little pricey but there is a lot it can do. Do your research. Do you want to download images, mining claim corners... etc? Some do better than others. Do you want to quickly download images from Birdsey (similar to what google maps shows?). There are many options. How big of a screen do you want? Really take your time. But always bring spare batteries and a compass just in case. Technology is great when it works. When it doesn't, have backups.

I agree with Mitchel. Hardest part is pinpointing. The smallest I found with the ZED wouldn't even measure on my scale, which will read hundredths of a gram. But the only way I found to pinpoint these was to use the advice someone gave me on this forum: Once you move it in the pile, grab a fist full of dirt where you think it is at. Check the pile with the ZED to see if it's still on the ground. If it's in your hand, poor it over the area of the coil until you hear it. Then lightly blow the dirt away. The little tiger should be there smiling at you. :)

This new LR2000 is really starting to get on my nerves. Still can't find a darn thing with it. Last two nights it seems to have been useless.

Hey Mitchel, how about you whoop me up some of those maps for Arizona. LOL. That is some good info you put together, there. Andy

I brought this up to the Minelab rep. that was at the Nugget Shooter outing in Arizona. Her answer to me was that a small coil was definitely a possibility but also noted (as Steve mentioned) that they have been very busy with the Equinox and Gold Monster. My bet is that once things simmer down, we may start to hear about more development on this. My concern is if they will actually make it small enough. 11" rounds are still big. If an elliptical can be made, this would be more applicable to more environments.

Great find, Luke!

I started with the 705 and did not like it at all. I had a lot of difficulty on many types of ground in Arizona. Much of the shallow ground I have gone over with the 705, I later found gold with the GPX 5000. I definitely was not an expert on the 705 machine but I studied everything I could on it. But take my opinion with a grain of salt. It was the first machine I ever used. But it misses A LOT of shallow gold.

Well, it is worth a shot. I think page 2 of your link explains a lot. It also tells how to use a mono to remedy the situation with alternate headphones. I am going to try this using a 1/4" socket mono to 1/8" male stereo adapter. This should get the sleeve connection that I am missing. I will follow up on the result.

Reg - admittedly there is a little more ground balancing to start with on the ZED when compared with the GPX. But I only find any of that necessary when in a very new area. (and many times not even then) Most times I will just turn it on and go with just the usual GPX pump (and no button push). With the improvement I have had in moving from the GPX to the GPZ, putting a ferrite down once in a great while is well worth it.

Yep. That is what I've heard. Stereo cord alone will not do it.

Northeast, now that you mention it, I do remember someone who used to tape their ferrite in the way you mentioned. If I recall correctly, it cut down on EMI. I never tried it myself. I thought it was mentioned on Rob's forum a while back.

My apologies if this has been covered. I did some searches and did not find answers to the question. I have a GPZ with headphones (Sun Ray Pros) and would like to use these on my new Gold Monster 1000. I have tried the typical stereo conversion cable and it still did not work. By not work, I mean the sound stays on speaker. It did not work for Sun Rays or Black Widows headphones. But of course, the original GM1000 headphones *do* work. But we all know how cheesy those are. So far, the only solution I have heard involves opening up the headphones and making permanent modifications. Has anyone else been successful at this? (see my attempted conversion cable below..)

The ground balance is always averaging (unless you have it set to manual GB mode). If I set it next to my pick for a while or on one patch of hotter ground, it will add this data into the averaging. Remember, if you run the GPZ for 2 hrs, it is not going to keep all of that data. It will record a certain time period or algorithm and scrap the rest. Your goal is to ensure it has the best data in that loop. That is why I put my detector in manual mode when I set it off to the side. But if your ground mineralization does not vary much, you will likely not notice a difference by setting it off to the side and keeping it in automatic GB mode. You can read a lot about the ground balance procedure by doing some searches on here. There is much to read. Some of the information was moved to another link, however. I only use the button when I am in areas with different mineralization (for example if the new area has more black sand or red rock ..etc.) Hope that helps. There are many who will have explained this far better than me in past threads.

I've never done that. If I am going to set it down, I do a quick flip over to manual. I do not want it to keep averaging and removing old data.

Not part of the thread, but I did talk to Debbie about a small coil for the GPZ. Her comment is that the smaller coil is definitely not ruled out. But with the 19" coil release and the GM1000 release, Equinox... etc., Minelab has been busy. Also, she restated that it will take some clever engineering as you still have to fit a lot of wire into the small coil. But she's saying "we have a chance". :p

Norvic's version is extremely short. I think you would lose some sensitivity with electronics this close to the coil. But maybe not.

I've been tossing around Steve's idea of using the the GM1000 (5" coil)with the shaft adapter to drastically shorten for use pin pointing. But I know this detector is very sensitive on the small stuff and was wondering if anyone has had issues with the detector circuitry setting off the coil. I have mine on a 2.5' broomstick and don't notice much difference. But it is difficult to tell.