Goldseeker5000

Got another 3 pieces yesterday. It is paying off for me to test the depth to caliche. I have found if it is too shallow, there is alot of trash and I don't have any luck finding gold for the most part, there was one exception. But what I am trying to do is find caliche around a foot deep. Maybe an inch or two shallower or a few inches deeper and I am running on auto 1. If I find something then I will back it down to around 7 and then again down to 5-3 depending on how queit the threshold is. My thinking is at this depth range, alot of detectors must be missing this gold for multiple reasons and the 6000 has no problems seeing it no matter how coarse, crystaline and delicate the piece of gold is. I think the 6000 is better on depth than alot of people are giving it credit for. If you have one and do not have the 17" mono coil then you should call up Chris, Rob, Gerry, Bill or Doc and get one. It is able to be swung all day without a Bungie strap and in my opinion it is easier to pinpoint with than the 11". I have an article coming out in April on this strategy with the test hole process in ICMJ. I have managed to go off in multiple directions and search for and test the slopes and ridges with the depth and when it is what I want, I am finding gold. If I go shallower, most of the time I will get skunked.

MSC, I have spent a few months at Gold Basin and a few weeks at Meadview, and the gold take in my honest opinion is Meadview is better. You will also have better luck by far if you have a 4 Wheeler. I am finding gold more often, more consistently in Meadview, and the gold is bigger as well on some pieces. I got one or two since these pictures were taken four days ago. Meadview is better. Join the Gold Searchers of Southern Nevada and go on their claims.

I like it! It would be nice to have a better quality shaft for the 6000.

I got 4 more bits of gold the last few days and then the weather turned ugly with high winds starting Sunday evening and yesterday my camp kitchen tent finally had enough of the constant battering from the wind. It has been 25-35 mph winds with gusts up to and over 50 mph. I went into town to mail a book and when I was gone the center pole went through the top of the rainfly. I just had a feeling while I was gone that it was going to give up the ghost. Most everything on my two tables is on the ground including my stove. It is an utter mess under the rain fly. The wind was strong enough to pull 18" long steel stakes out of the ground yesterday. I made dinner last night with a propane torch and that worked out well. I think I can sew it up and reenforce it spot where it punched through with canvas. I have sewing needles for this type of senario and I will use 30lb test spider wire for the thread. I just have to wait until Wednesday or Thursday when the wind and rain are done and over. I really hate wind. I will get pics of the gold when this sideliner is over.

Chris, that is funny about the cow. I have had a cow ransack my camp before as well. I thought it was a bear that did it until I woke up the next morning in my suburban and the vehicle was shaking back and forth. I heard breathing outside the window and looked up to see a black Angus cow breathing against the window. Lol.  She ended up hanging around my camp that morning even walking under my tarp in my camp kitchen area  looking for anything she could eat. She licked all the hamburger grease off of the propane grill and drank all the dirty, soapy dish water in a small tub I had on the ground for washing dishes. She ate 8 oats and honey granola bars, 3 cans of V8 juice, and a water bottle full of NO Explode energy drink.  Glad you were able to get out and get some good gold. Being able to get out and find some gold and camping out was probably some good medicine for your mind and body. Good for you. Find some more.

Well I got another one today, just the one. So far since I have been here I have gotten a little over 9 grams.

Call Nikki at the Detector Center in Pennsylvania, I bought a quick track button without the handle from them 1-814-283-4270 . They do all the repairs for Minelab here in the States. They stock alot of Gpx and Minelab parts.

mn90403, I do too. But keep in mind. This gold here is not really replenishable like in some other areas and it is dispursed haphazardly. The caliche is a foot down and in some areas, slightly less or more. I now know the 6 has no problem reaching it on sensitivity of 1 and I will go back over it one more time when the wind is not blowing loudly to listen for faint signals but all gold I got here is very audiable, even the tiny one I got here. There comes a point in areas here sooner than other places that the gold just stops coming. This is just my assessment. I am looking forward to running the 5000 with the 25" on deeper ground to caliche, here. That coil does suck to swing.

I use it to grid with. After I am done detecting the size box I have laid out and I am confident I have left no more pieces of gold, I will then walk to each corner and log a pin into my OnXHunt app. OnX will show you moving with a blue dot. When I am at each corner and apply the four pins, I will then connect each corner with a distance line and save it under section searched. This way I never go back over any ground I already hunted. 

These might be better pics.

I got one more today 10-15 minutes into detecting, 8 ft from the last one. I used an entire spool of surveyors twine to box off a grid and it was on the second swing row in line with the last on the top edge of the ridge of the wash.

I have 25-50 mph winds to hunt in today. Fun fun.

I just want to let everyone know that I am not able to make it to the Quartzite Gold Show. Finances are sadly preventing it. 

Machineman, you seem to be doing things right. You are getting the gold. Are you testing with using all timings and search modes? Each timing will give you better results for the type of gold you are searching for, whether it is small deep gold or small shallow gold, deep large gold, high mineralization, low mineralization, hotrock infested areas etc., Play with each setting and even make a small card with your results to refer back too. Also each nugget you find, when you find it write it down on a notepad so the info is fresh in your mind to refer back too. This will help you learn the strengths and weaknesses of your 4500. I too have been surprised by the 5000 not hitting on certain types of gold, but this is why we all have backup detectors to hit on all types of gold, ie PI's and VLF's. Try testing in deep mode if the 4500 has that setting like the 5000 does. Also  if you have a questionable signal, slow down to a snail pace to try and strengthen it and or increase the gain temporarily to determine the target signal. Remember to layer (rake) the gravels back and detect each layer. You might want to look into getting yourself a Nugget Finder Sadie coil 6x8 mono. Very sensitive to small gold. It is a must have coil. Do you have my book? https://goldseekeradventures.com

GotAU, it is an interesting rig. I have more plans for the evolution of this rig. It is a one of a kind for sure.

Cascade Steven, that is ok. We will meet up another day maybe in summer for info on Skarns.

MSC, thanks, glad you like it.

Lunk, look forward to seeing you there.

Dig it, look forward to seeing you there. 

I'm at Gold Basin now. I've been here since October and I'll tell you it is tough getting onto gold here with a detector. I have detected in many, many washes from the level near the helicopter refueling pad all the way to the Mica mine and into the hills to the west, north and south and it is very tough to get over a nugget now. I talked with a friend here who has done very well at Gold Basin in years past with his 7000 and he says it is getting really tough to get over gold in GB with it as well. I know many spots where big gold, 1-5 ouncers have been found through inside advice and no luck. I have only found 12 nuggets at GB since October and I am hunting it every week. All the advice I was given got me nothing but skunk. All my nuggets I got there were retrieved by going back to what I talk about in my book. I met a fellow Montanan up there and we are teaming up to find and get onto gold. He has been there for three to four weeks and hunting every day and he has found nothing, not even one tiny dink of a nugget. But I am not giving up. I will be here till some time in March and I intend to find something bigger than a half gram. Of the twelve nuggets I got, two were found on slopes, the remaining 10 were found in the bottom of the washes on caliche or down deep in the bedrock. None were found on the flat ridges. So with what I have learned so far here is if you want to find gold here, you have to hunt areas where the caliche and bedrock is exposed and remove gravels surrounding the exposed areas. This is what I will be doing starting tomorrow. You are going to have to dig to expose more untouched bedrock and caliche. The good nuggets I am seeing come out of here are from dry washers digging down to bedrock or caliche and then detecting it and then dry washing it. You will undoubtedly face many days of skunks at GB but don't let it get you down. Dig in and get ready for a fight to get to the gold. Think outside the box and get creative, but you will need to dig. The only places I will be detecting are where I come across bedrock and caliche and I pull gold out, then I will dig the sides of the wash out about two feet into the sides and down to bedrock. I will also remove gravels on bedrock in the middle of the wash if less than 1 3/4 feet down. I've tried this with deeper material and it is alot of work. I intend to hike and only detect where the washes have bedrock and or caliche exposed, period. If the washes don't then I move on to the next and then the next without detecting. All the advice I have gotten is great but I always end up back in the bottoms where there is bedrock and caliche and this is the only place I am having any degree of success. You can give me a call if you like AZ Goldman.406-309-1009 

I will help you with what I can and you can tag along. I'm not greedy with the gold. Reese

Got to play with the Nox some more and I think it will be good 👍. Getting it figured out. You know for all the monster's short comings, I sure miss it. But, the Nox does in fact run quieter. This will be nice. What is the depth comparison between the two? Anyone have an accurate assessment of it.?

Jeff, I have not read it yet. I will try to remember to do so. I have been really focusing on the Gpx6000. 

I'm still learning the Nox 800 and so far, I am not impressed by it. I have run the X-terra 705 for both gold nuggets and coins and treasure and I ran my Monster with great success. I have issues with the Monster being it is top heavy and constantly tips over when running a scoop over coil. The handle is long which I like, but is not easily adjusted which I don't like. It would be nice to have a threshold on it. I really like that it barks out the signal on gold and all other targets. Hunting in areas that require you to be alert of hazards around you such as bears, lions and rattlesnakes, the Monster shines in this case with no headphones required. The Monster is a real Skunk Buster gold machine. Now for the Nox, I have not used it for coins and jewelry but I have for gold. I am still trying to pull a nugget out of the ground with it and this is what I definitely do not like about it. The Nox shaft seems too short for my liking and the 6" coil does not glide on the ground conforming to the contour of the ground as good as the Monster. I find I tend to get the coil caught up on rocks all the time which is ticking me off. Didn't have that problem with the Monster or any other detector. It is very light, lighter than the Monster but it doesn't feel as comfortable to swing as the Monster. The Nox handles mineralized ground way better but the response on targets is chirpy and not as sharp and definite as the Monster. I don't like this about it. I don't like the open coil design. Quite frankly it sucks. The Monster has a better coil for rough terrain and hugs the ground far better. I still have some learning to do with regards to the response time and the iron bias. I already want to sell it or trade it off for another Monster, but my girlfriend is currently using it and it is the only detector I have that she can swing because of the weight. She wants a Monster and so we may keep the Nox for underwater gold nugget hunting in Montana and a backup machine only. So I will be buying her a Monster down the road. For me the 6000 is like having a Monster on steroids and covers my bases as a skunk busting detector, I just wish there was a smaller coil. I really would like to see an 8x12 for it. If I could do it over, I would have bought another Monster when I bought the Nox. I bought the Nox to replace the Monster and the 705. So far I don't see it to be superior to either the Monster or the 705.

Well weather was bad for awhile and now it is awesome 😎 for detecting. I have been skunked for several days and that really messes t your mind and your thought process. Got a late start yesterday, headed out detecting around 2:00 pm. Worked several washes and nothing, nada, zilch. I ended up at the mouth at a wash dumping into a wash that looked familiar and it was one I found a nugget in back in November the weekend Bill Southern was up here. I noticed the rains blew out a bunch of gavels and sediments and bedrock that used to be exposed was now covered and some new bedrock was exposed. I started detecting at upper end of this buried bedrock where the new best was exposed and bam! Right off the bat the trusty 6  breaks my skunk. It was in  or ontop if the bedrock and a few scraps with a crevice to and it was out and then in my hand. Five minutes later I had another signal in the side of the wash and I kicked material down into the wash and then again and again. Now I was into the packed layer and it was still there. I knew this was going to be gold as I have only found one piece of trash in it. I got the second one on video so that will eventually be on YouTube.