HardPack

Check out the Garrett Direct outlet if you are interested in their metal detectors.

The current sale ends on March 18th, a Garrett Axiom has a $599 and the Goldmaster 24K has a $ 100 Lucky discount.

Keep in mind new detector release rumors have it that April 1st is Garrett’s 60th BD. 

Check the DP Forum’s Detector Database on page 2,  has the Garrett 24K specs plus rechargeable batteries & charger.

More from the same 1893 article “ Pocket Mining”:

” The pocket-belts, or streaks of formation, which are prolific in pockets, are mostly porphyry or of a porphyritic or quartz-porphyry nature running parallel with the slate, granite, lime, etc.”

” …at the point where the pocket occurs, is generally largely composed of lime (calcite), iron, copper or manganese.”

“ …a pocket without lime (calcite), iron, copper, lead and sulfur has not yet been found. They are always present in free or decomposed pockets. They may not always occur in the same form, but they are generally in a chloride or metallic state. These five minerals are the key to the pocket and what cause the pocket to form.”  With gold as the sixth.

On 7/24/2018 at 1:45 PM, oldmancoyote1 said:

like to hear more about the occurrence of pocket gold deposits adjacent to serpentine/ultra magic rocks

The article “ Pocket Mining” originally published in the Mining and Scientific Press in July/August 1893 under the pseudonym Alex Quartz. The article covers the area from Fresno, California north to Douglas County, Oregon. The chemistry is similar to the description in your first post. This is the only information found in the article regarding crossings at serpentine contacts:

” They (pockets ?) occur on small stringers of quartz not over a half inch in width and often not more than six or eight feet in length, and generally cut through soft, yellow porphyry. The best free pockets are always found in the porphyry or on or near the contact with the porphyry and serpentine. The most of this class of pockets when laid bare are very deceiving to the eye, for the reason that little or no gold is visible, it being coated and concealed by iron oxide, manganese, etc.” 

Been reviewing this older “gold pocket mining” post that other members may find informative.   

3 hours ago, strick said:

they use solar energy to charge the carbon blocks

thermophotovoltaic (TPV) technology …could this be the future metal detecting portable recharge-ability? Noticed the company is located in Sunnyvale, back in the 1950/60’s that place was a kid paradise. Ended my career in the newspaper business selling yesterday’s newspaper at the Lockheed main gate. 😃

In school we had a shop teacher teaching us how to build a motor that converted dc to ac. The input and output terminals were connected to separate graphite rods dug from a 12v batteries. We all stood in a semicircle holding hands with the individuals at each end holding one of the graphite rods. When the teacher connected the 12vdc to this armature contraption we immediately discovered the true meaning of positive to negative current flow. How I forgot that graphite conducts electricity occurred at this exact moment. The muscle contraction damn near broke our forearm bones. The good old days when kids were kids and shop teachers were parolees.🤯

Detected a site miles from any known source of EMI, the nearest road was three miles away. The rock formation was mica schist with horizontal bands of quartz. Used all factory pre sets on the EXQ 900, in gold 1 mode, noise cancelled, turned off the auto ground tracking, ground balanced the detector then set sensitivity with CT Nox 10x5 coil close to the ground. Sensitivity at 11 or lower the constant chatter stopped. Eventually moved the sensitivity up to 15, the chatter would subside enough to use while the coil was in motion. Bumped the coil into rocks multiple times to check for possible coil knock, don’t think this is the case. Experimented with field 1 with the save results. Dug all targets, found enough small pieces of lead to indicate the coil was functioning. My guess is the CT Nox 10x5 mounted on the EQX 900 is just more sensitive & noiser than the two stock coils. Time & targets will tell.

On 3/7/2024 at 1:00 PM, carl c said:

unless youve already been brainwashed by minelab

Let’s see the original post was dated December 10, 2021 so that would equal to Christmas Past 2021, Christmas Past 2022 and Christmas Past 2023. I realize Santa and I have not always maintained the best of relations but it obvious you have gained access to the rankings on the Santa priority list. Tell me where exactly do I rank on Santa’s  list for Christmas Future or any other Santa listings. While you are at it could you find the TID for coal. Thanks for the advice.

For snow depth comparison added March 8, 2024 photo to the original February 23rd post. Another winter storm is inbound.

Also you might want to check out “Myron Cook” a geologist on youtube. 

“The Field Guide to Geology”, David Lambert will provide a shorten overview of the geologic processes. A college or university level “used” text book of “physical geology” will go into more detail & depth. There is a “Roadside Geology of New York” which will allow some specific hands on exploring. A good handbook such as Smithsonian Nature Guide “Rocks and Minerals”, R.L Bonewitz will help in the field. Have fun….

At the elevation of 7,200 feet the Central Sierras south of Lake Tahoe received 56 inches of snowfall from the last storm system exceeding 100% of average water content statewide for March 4th equating to normal stream runoff. However, the current foothill rainfall totals are below 70% of the annual average resulting in lower ground water levels and reduced summer stream flows.

amended: As of March 4th, 2024 statewide snow pack is 104% of average water content; the Tuolumne and Stanislaus watersheds are 87% water content for the water year starting on October 1st, 2023. Current snow depths: Yosemite Hwy 120 Tioga Pass elv. 9,945ft =122 inches, Hwy 108 Sonora Pass elv. 9,624ft =86 inches; Hwy 4 Ebbetts Pass elv. 8,736ft = 96 inches. During the storm the highest wind speed over the Sierra Nevada summits measured 190 mph.

Not quite sure of the question asked. If the rocks are samples from an alluvial plain the rock may have been transported from mountains located miles away. The layering in some of the rock samples of the first photo may be meta sedimentary, the darker rocks may be basalt. If you are thinking the samples are gold ore take a look at your own analysis results. If you are thinking the hydrothermal activity beneath the alluvial deposits may be related to gold deposition you may be correct. However, that would require broader core sampling and more analysis. A shallow localized epithermal deposit associated with recent volcanic activity and sulfides could be a possibility. What are the 6th & 9th photos, is that iron oxidation, an iron stained calcium carbonate deposit, hydrothermal oxidation of ironstone..

photo of ironstone

15 hours ago, Digalicious said:

In my tests, I didn't find any notable depth or speed difference between 1 and the default recovery speed of 5

Double check me here. Assuming I remember to adjust sweep speed per the recovery setting (slower/lower; faster/higher) and sweeping over the same target:
The lower the recovery speed the longer the target signal duration; the higher the recovery speed the shorter the target signal duration?

5 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Same with the iron filter. Adjust it as low as possible so those smaller nuggets aren't turned into target ID 1, 2 or 3 responses.

What do you think about setting Discrim to All Metal? I am familiar enough with the hot rocks tones to select them out by ear. I know this going to drive me nuts but after a few digs I should know if the IF setting is in the ballpark.

55 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

What size gold are you expecting to find with the Legend

The largest nugget detected (by others) was 16 grams, the cemented benches are in the gram range, in the stream gravel/cervices in the grains. In the stream sluicing is a better use of time. Come Spring/Summer the old tailing piles are headed for a raking. Here are a few samples from the drainage. The largest is 16 grains to smallest less than 2 grains. Lower right center the round piece the size of a shot pellet is 6 grains, that is what I am after with a detector.

1 hour ago, Valens Legacy said:

but be careful of water critters.

Fortunately no water moccasins in the Sierras only frigid spring runoff. I’d think a spotter on shore might be a wise move in case a bear dropped by for an afternoon dip during the heat of summer. There are a few shallow streams up here worth a sniping.

10 hours ago, JCR said:

Recovery 1 needs to be quite slow unless it's a near surface target.

I still attempting to find a balance between depth and recovery speed. I picked up on the changes in signal duration at different recovery settings. This was not the ideal location, a flash flood several years back moved and deposit an erroneous amount of material. The best bedrock low pressure area appears to be across the stream which is too high for crossing this time of year. There’s a lot of juggling to remember with these new SMF detectors, I’ll ink “sweep speed” on the back of one my hands. Thanks

1 hour ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Deus 1 from my memory, does not have an iron volume On/Off or 0 to 5 setting in Goldfield.

Maybe there is room for XP Deus improvement, the reactivity expert setting silencer is also not available with the XP Deus Goldfield mode

On 1/21/2024 at 3:11 PM, HardPack said:

run on the high EMI heavy iron trash site.

Hit the EMI claim again, at sensitivity at 24 no problem with the LG24; at sensitivity 25 -30 the coil picked up the EMI when not in motion but work just fine when sweeping. Detected a couple of 10 inch deep pieces of melted nugget shaped aluminum (size from your finger tip to first knuckle) probably melted electrical cable, boot tacks, square nails, brass, lead pellets but failed to swing over gold. The larger gold is located in off channel cemented bench gravels, only smaller and fine gold along the stream gravel bars where I was detecting, better suited for sluicing or highbanking. Found the combination of the Legend and LG24 in Goldfield mode M, stable and easy to maneuver. Worked a few crevices. There was not a lot of iron trash along the stream so set recovery at 1 or 2, Iron Filter 1 or 2, stability 3, audio gain at 3, threshold level at 12. An abundance of black sand magnetite on the pick magnet but did not notice an adverse effect on the detector/coil. Also hot rocks are not in short supply but was able eliminate with “G” ground off discrimination. Good detector/coil combo, like it. 

Here’s a link to an option I have yet to explore “gold sniping”.  

13 hours ago, Gold Dust Ernie Jr said:

micro gold I could see myself owning a 900 someday.

You may want to take a closer look at the Eqx900 reviews. Mine 900 & CT 10x5 are collecting dust waiting for a software update. The XP Deus with a HF coil may not need improvement.

Here’s a local Central Sierra Nevada 6,500 to 8,500 foot elevation snowfall forecast issued this morning February 29, 2024. Currently the Sierra snow pack water content is between 75% and 80% of average for this time of year.

“…here are the current snowfall predictions for the next few days: tonight- 17-23″, Friday 13-19″, Friday night 22-28″, Saturday 20-26″, Saturday night 14-20″, Sunday 5-9″ before the system winds down and heads East. 99-137″ is some impressive snowfall in the short duration…”

Should see the Sierra snow pack water content approach 100% of average by the end of this storm system which will translate into a normal Spring runoff. But standby there may be more on the way later in the week. 

Dug my share of reshaped aluminum nuggets, especially after a wildfire. 

Been experiencing Spring like weather for the last couple of days but that is about to change. The National Weather Service just issued a blizzard warning for the Sierra Nevada west slope for Thursday 2/29/24 through Sunday 3/3/24.

“…One to four feet of snow is forecast above 4,000 feet. Four to ten feet of snow is expected above 6,000 feet. Snowfall will range from 2 to 4 inches per hour. Winds could gust as high as thirty-five to sixty-five mph, especially on exposed ridgetops and along the crest. Widespread blowing snow will create blizzard conditions, with white-out conditions and near zero visibility. Very strong winds, combined with a heavy snow load could cause extensive tree damage and extended power outages. Wind chills as low as fifteen to twenty below zero can be expected.”

link to California Weather Watch

Be prepared, stay warm, stay safe and good luck!