Gold Catcher

Oh that sucks! I hope this did not happen in the middle of nowhere. Good luck with the GPZ. Btw, try out the swing arm. It makes all the difference for coil control and detector handling in general. I use it all the time without exception. I keep the clamp low on the shaft close to the coil.

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

lead is gold

Then I am rich!! 🙂

I stick to JP's mantra: full range of motion swing (but slow) and strict coil control. The full range of motion coil swing has actually helped me greatly and I always try to remind myself of doing that. I have missed targets by not allowing the coil to sample enough ground to make the target stand out. Shallow targets give often a high/low response with double dip, whereas deep targets often give a low/high response with some lead time, meaning that the coil could already have passed the target) a the response is being generated. It's a SuperD, so the highest sensitivity are the two vertical lines on the coil (where the two receive D-loops are)

And once they figure out how to discriminate lead from gold they can set the price for the machine to whatever dollar value they want and not worry about sales....

I wonder how the 3D visualization, that they have for the military applications, would work on those tiny 0.05 g nuggets that you can barely even hear? Unless of course you hunt in Au and shoot for those monster nuggets that we always see here on the pics. 🙂 Perhaps the word "Geo" refers more to better ground sensing as Simon points out. But we shall see. I still think some sort of discrimination, like a supercharged version of the GM iron meter, would go a very long way and that you can use at your discretion. This would differentiate to the SDC and GPZ. Perhaps for this purpose the Geosense technology could be supportive. This would open up the use of a high end gold machine in super trashy ground, something right now only the GM can do with limited reach. In areas where tens of thousands of miners worked for decades a useful iron probability meter on a high end gold machine would surely come in handy.

Interesting. I wonder how long it will take to come out with a gold detector version. I suppose the 2300 will then be discontinued. 

Stunning!!

Guys, just thought to share these excellent brief rock tutorials. 

The Rock cycle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2BKjELzhfU

Igneous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjyF-te4lQI&t=170s

Metamorphic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUydPhIaQQU&t=435s

Sedimentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3eR19ZfBqE&t=471s

9 hours ago, phrunt said:

That's some nice gold, I can only imagine how much gold there is to still be found as detectors improve at bad ground handling, as in our mild soils here we run in normal all the time and targets can be found in normal that are completely invisible in difficult.   There must be so much missed gold with current technology in OZ.   I guess that's what Minelab will be working on with the GPZ 8000.

It shows you how versatile the GPZ is and how it can deliver results in so extremely different ground conditions. Here in the Motherlode country HY/difficult gives the best results (at least for me) as in normal mode faint deep targets are missed due to high mineralized soil response that masks anything deeper than about 3-5 inch. If I run in HY/normal I only pick up shallow small gold. But as always, not one method fits all. I have not heard much about the extra deep mode though. Even with the 19 inch general/difficult seems to work best. I wonder if anywhere else in the world so much gold can be found as what JP is showing here. A very inspirational thread!

Thanks, JP! Amazing gold and amazing operator! Every GPZ owner on this forum should be greatful for your detailed explanations and advice!

Incredible! Out of curiosity, is HY/difficult your right away setting in this ground, or do you try normal always first before switching? Thanks

49 minutes ago, Jim_Alaska said:

Not so in Siskiyou County California. Our Sherriff told me that just being in the woods, away from people is enough reason to carry a gun. He said that no law officer would bother you for that.

Thanks, good to know. The best would be to check with the local authorities. From what I heard, the "tolerance level" varies from county to county based on the local sheriff. The question is in what trouble you might actually get really into if you ever had to use it (god forbid). CA gun laws are super strict.

1 hour ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

So I ask you folks, show the rest of us your Treasure Porn that kept you dreamin, drooling and -master swinging.

Awesome, Gerry!! These timeless magazines are worth the gold they are describing. No, I won't show you what magazines I had under my bed....🤪

I personally had no luck with the Bates. Poor quality and cracked after 2 months. Perhaps it was a lemon. But it really all depends what you do with them. On flat terrain they are a acceptable, but when you hike into steep rocky canyons you need something more solid

Good luck for you out there. Might be worthwhile to have an associate with you at all times.

Gold mining was unfortunately always married with crime. Probably not different now in some places.

Like many booming mining camps, Bodie soon earned a reputation for violence and lawlessness. Killings were sometimes daily events and robberies, stage holdups and street fights were common occurrences in the camp.

In its day, Bodie was more widely known for its lawlessness than for its riches. Of Bodie, the Reverend F.M. Warrington would describe it in 1881 as “a sea of sin, lashed by the tempests of lust and passion.”

Given Bodie’s reputation, it is perhaps not surprising that one little girl, whose family was moving to the mining town, reportedly prayed: “Goodbye God! We are going to Bodie.”

I would nominate both GPZ and SDC. Two very different machines but superb in their own ways. Shared gold medal in my view. Happy Thanksgiving all!

It depends in which state you are in. Definitely not a good idea in CA.

9 minutes ago, Glenn in CO said:

When I and my wife stayed there a few years ago at the trailer park in Meadview we met a lot of prospectors who were there for the winter. Seems like most of them were very helpful and wouldn't hesitate to give advice or areas to prospect. They also seem to look out for each other. Maybe things have changed and no longer true. We also had a great time at the Lake Havasu Gold Seekers camp which is in the Franconia area.

I think there is a big difference between folks who come there over the winter from colder states to spend some time for prospecting and desert fun, and those homeless who are mostly locals and just live out there. Not to say that all homeless are dangerous of course. 

My last "encounter" was in North Nevada desert. The guy was actually pretty nice until he found out that I am from California. Then, he got angry and accused me of being a f...ng Socialist, like everyone else in California. However, he eventually calmed down after hearing my German accent and also after I assured him that I am not in any way of form related to Nancy Pelosi (one of our state representatives). He then even offered me a beer.... 🤣

2 minutes ago, phrunt said:

The day I need to consider protecting myself in any way from other people is the day I move away.

That's exactly my mindset, Simon. Well said. The problem here is just: where to go? Most gold bearing land in the US with rich mining history is either on private land, on state owned land, or on open BLM land which can be claimed. It is the latter land, in particular in remote areas, where you see all sort of weirdos living in their tents or old campers. Encountering them can be very unpleasant and dangerous, especially with expensive detector equipment. They could put a bullet in your head and nobody would ever find out. 

4 hours ago, flakmagnet said:

I just can't bring myself to pack a weapon when the reason is because of other people. I would rather find somewhere else to go.

Well said, Dave. Bringing a weapon is no solution, and where would you even carry it with all the gear already on your belt for the detector. I often go alone in remote areas and I mostly worry about bears and mountain lions. But I guess I have to add this to my list as well. Recently, here in the Sierras a father has been shot and killed while hiking with his daughter.

So the rumor mill will go on for a while. Last thing I heard was that it is as easy to use as the GM or the SDC but more powerful. Meaning, potentially no complicated menu options ala 5000. I am actually almost as curious to see what will happen to the rest of the fleet and if there are any new updates of existing machines. Perhaps an approved NF coil assortment for the GPZ? Or an updated GM?

Great advice, as always! Thanks JP

On 5/6/2020 at 1:18 PM, Jonathan Porter said:

Pics of the last few days detecting session when I’ve been able to get out and about

Always great to read your reports and see your finds, thanks JP! Quick question: I noticed on one of your pics the cover over the Bose QuietComfort Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones. Are you using those when detecting? I have the same headphones and absolutely love them and their noise cancelling feature is superb. I just don't know if they are suitable for detecting, i.e. plugging into the SP01 with the GPZ.

Thanks!

1 hour ago, Chris Roberts said:

I found this rock years ago and had to hold on to it until I knew more about it

Looks like Volcanic Tuff to me. Take a look at the table below and the YouTube clip. This is the best overview of igneous rocks out there.