Gold Catcher

Thanks, Mitchel. I will educate myself more to know what to look for. The link is helpful. God only knows how many meteorites I have already discounted as hot rocks without knowing....

PS: just got word that there is a huge backorder and according to the distributor only very few will come to the US in the foreseable future

Thanks for the report, JP. The better performance with saturation and EMI are two key features that I am looking for, so this is good to know. Reduced weight is of course a bonus, together with the quality seal "Aussie made" and long track record of coil excellence 🙂 I am on the waiting list for the NF12 and will for sure get the smaller coils as well, once available. Happy new year! GC

I do it religiously. Hipstick and swing arm works magic for me and this is the only way I can apply comfortable and strict coil control with the "beast" for many hours. I never use the GPZ without this combination. I use a camelback (Ambush or HAWG) for my hipstick attachment/hydration/storage. The only problem: the pick needs to be in the holster when I am searching for a target (I need a third arm!). That can be a bit heavy on the belt over time. But it's a small price to pay. That being said, like with everything else, this is just my personal setup and what works for me might not work for others. I used the Pro-Swing harness for a while but it makes me uncomfortable, clumsy and sweaty while digging, especially in the heat. Also, I can't easily put a hydration pack on top of the harness without killing my mobility completely.

I have fantastic memories with my daughter who I used to take all the time for detecting trips (when she was 8-14). She loved the Barstow and Randsburg area, but also Big Bear. I found my very first nugget together with her up in Holcomb Valley. I will have it put on a neckless and give it to her on her 18th birthday. These shared memories are worth so much more than all the gold I would ever find.

Amazing JP! I am glad I was off 😁🤑

Whoever is the closest should get the nugget 😁😁

In any case, an absolute ripper! Could there be more of it around? It might not be a loner 🤑

Thanks. I think the question is whether you can use the density of quartz all the time, as in the spread sheet. I suspect that if the host rock is not quartz, then the formula might not be accurate. The formula I used determines the specific gravity of the specimen regardless of what the host rock is. Let's see how much JP gets at the end 🙂

🤑I hope the right answer is yours

3 Results. How we know who is right? 🙂

Archimedis Principle Mass of object - apparent mass when submerged = density of water x volume of object 125.8g - 100.3 g = 1.0 g/cm3 * volume object > Volume object = 25.5 cm3 Density: mass of object/volume of object >Density: 125.8 g / 25.5 cm3 = 4.93 g / cm3 Density gold: 19.3 g / cm3 Max gold content: (Density object/density gold) x weight object > Max gold content: (4.93 / 19.3)* 125.8 g = 0.26*125.8 = 32.13 ???

I come up with 32.2 g max possible gold content....🤔

I know it sounds odd, but my best finds have been usually towards the end of the day. Could be purely coincidental. 🙂

Congratulations, JP! It is always an inspiration to read/see your reports. Merry Christmas!

Great summary. I wonder though how no threshold at all would work for a high end detector. For the GM I see that, but not for a high end PI or ZVT. In my view, those faint threshold variations, sometimes barely audible and up for the operator's "interpretation", are what gives these detectors (and their operators) a performance edge, especially in situations where other detectors would not pick up anything.

It's not all trash though what you find there. Here are some representative small nuggets from that area.

I could not agree more. Some people claim to distinguish trash from gold just by the sound. I am not on that level and don't think it is a reliable way since so many factors influence the target sound. This was a smooth symmetrical low/high, as you would expect it from deeper gold. Oh well, that's why I have such a huge drum of trash 🙂

Thanks! I have to admit, I am no expert in anything else that isn't gold, so I assumed that it must be from a longer time ago. This whole area is prone for flush flooding and it is part of a tributary to the American River. The fact that I had to hammer it open for the crevice to be revealed means that it had to have sneaked in there by a different way. The bedrock is foliated with cracks in other areas, so I am sure it got in that way. Good to know though that the SDC picked it up through the rock. And it is Motherlode country, so you never know what's hiding 🙂

No you are right! Just googled it and they were founded in 2012. Even more amazing how it got in there. Thanks!

Here a story that I am sure all of you have had plenty of. Some days ago, I was hiking in a river canyon and checked the bedrock side walls with my SDC. Then, after several hours checking, I got a really good signal from one of the rocks that was part of a larger bedrock formation on the ground. The coil in the pic is at the location with the strongest signal. The rock was super hard and I could not chip anything off with my pick. So, a couple of days later I hiked down again to the rock, armed with all my equipment and a heavy rock hammer. I worked on the rock for 4 hours. I was pounding it really hard and the signal got stronger and stronger, despite getting only about 2-3 inches deep. I was completely exhausted and with a bloody thumb (no big deal). I was just to give up for the day, as finally on the bottom of the rock a bigger piece broke loose. To my surprise, a crevice opened underneath that wasn't visible before. I put my pin pointer all the way in and got a signal. So, I started digging for another hour. Finally, I was able to reach the target with a long crevice tool, while lying flat on my stomach in the mud. It turned out to be a screw cap!! I first thought from the 40's or 50's, but actually, it turned out to be much more recent (post message note, Thanks, GoldTree! )The Rock was completely sealed and I had to hammer it open. I have no idea how it got underneath there. But it's all good, I'm at peace (for) now.

I am actually thinking about bringing the drum to a jeweler and have the whole metal garbage molten to make "jewelry" out of it. Perhaps a bracelet or neckless (more like 1000's of them...). A reminder of all the sweat I lost in the desert and mountains.

I have a small box with all my nuggets and a large drum with all the garbage I find. I call the drum the "drum of tears"

IMHO, the SDC is as good with small gold as the GB2 or GM1000, especially with the SP01 combo. And yes, where I hunt the soil is highly mineralized (Motherlode). Especially with the ultramafic Serpentine outcroppings that are part of the Motherlode belt. However, the worst soil I have encountered in some areas of the Mojave desert in Southern CA. Some of these areas are so rich in iron that the compass doesn't even work (magnetite, iron-rich basalt, iron ore, etc..). Go figure....

Rarely, can't remember the last time.