Flyrock

No. 1 for us most of the time. Going to old holes later in the day (if some are nearby), last hour or even after dinner for fuel money with the SDC - depending on what we found patch hunting during the day?

Hard Rock Mining for me.

Our first pour for 2017 - 10 Oz ( 5 x 2 Oz buttons). Use Hobos method. (few other lumps as well!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsdsaSntkzU

Hi all

Fantastic information here. Re: Covering Ground Vs Going For Depth

My wife and I are semi-pro prospectors and I exclusively use the covering ground method (patch hunting), while my wife does a bit of both.

I have put in 1150 hours coil-time in this last season with my 4500 and the new elite 18" coil, only dropping down to the 14" for chaining a new patch. My wife swings a 5000 with a 14" elite coil, dropping down to a 11" elite when we are chaining. (she has put in approx. 900 hrs this year).

We will be buying an SDC 2300 for next season.

We spent 7 months in the West Australian bush, 5 of those months alongside our friends/partners who swing (he) 7000 and she 5000 with 11" minelab.

My wife has found 3 times the amount of pieces than I, although I have just over double the weight.

Many, many comparisons of undug targets have been done between the 4500/18" elite and the 7000/14".

Some targets can be heard by one machine and not the other. Its an approx. 60%/40% split in favour of the 7000/14".

Our friends do more cleaning up/going for depth than patch hunting.

We ended up with 63 Oz, they 32 Oz.

Hope this helps with the discussion.

Cheers

Phil