Jim Hemmingway

Very handsome nuggets Dave… beautiful stuff… congratulations. Jim.

A sensible overview… your views reflect my own about the hobby. If I couldn't get away for my yearly extended autumn prospecting trip to northern Ontario, I can't imagine what I'd do. For me, this hobby has never had the least thing to do with economics, at least in the sense that I've never sold any gold or silver finds in an attempt to recover costs. My interest is entirely about enjoying life as I see fit. Thankyou for sharing your thoughts. Jim.

Those are remarkable wildlife shots... hope you used a good strong zoom lens. Yes it will be good to get home… long distance travel without the convenience of a hard trailer is something less than ideal. But all things considered, its been a good successful trip, and it seems travel does agree with you. Stay safe and happy trails to Reno… Jim.

That is just great Steve, and so are the photos. I know the country from Fort St. John, on down to Hudson Hope, and Chetwynd. I’ve been out there on the Peace River camping just down the road from Hudson Hope on three separate trips over the years. The last trip was a quick stopover on my way to Atlin… a two-month round trip. The Peace is a mighty river, of course the Bennett Dam has been there quite awhile now… if I could have found work in my field as a fish & wildlife biologist, I would have stayed permanently. Banff and Jasper are really worth the drive if you have the time and inclination. Last time I drove through Jasper near the end of August it was snowing with an inch or so on the ground. By the time I hit Calgary the temps were in the middle 70’s… beautiful upland, foothill country. Jim.

Glad you took the time to have another look around... Jim.

Hi Gold Seeker… I suggested planting some nuggets because of the practical convenience. What you suggest would be ideal, but might not be so convenient during an outing to locate some naturally occurring nuggets of a size and depth that challenge the deepseeking capabilities of both detectors. I agree with you that best detection depths can be had over undisturbed ground targets, and this is generally acknowledged in the hobby and by manufacturers. But that does not prevent us from conducting valid and expedient side-by-side relative detection depth comparisons over disturbed ground targets. Detection depths are reduced to some extent and we know it, but that condition exists for both detectors being tested. Regardless, at a given depth, either a unit will detect a target or it won’t detect it. I doubt anyone would disagree that goldfield conditions cannot be duplicated in a test plot. It is also true that nugget detection depth in prospecting country is subject to many factors that differ from one target to the next and from one area to another. Metal detecting variables such as soil type and structure, iron mineral magnetic susceptibilities, moisture content, target profile to the coil, nugget size, shape, structure, amount and type of impurities… all impact a detector’s ultimate “real life” detection depth for any specific nugget. And that’s aside from detector settings, coil type and size, and operator proficiency. In any case, I think it is generally accepted in the hobby that how a detector performs in one area may vary from what can be expected at a different location. You emphasize the importance of gold nugget halo formation and doubtless such exists in some soils as a result of whatever is alloyed with the gold leaching into the adjacent soil matrix. But aside from rusted iron halos (a form of maghemite that enhances those signals) there is no evidence to suggest that molecular deposition of non-ferrous metals into the surrounding soil is sufficient to support eddy currents at a strength required to return a detectable signal. There is a potential for non-ferrous residues to chemically interact with a soil’s iron constituents that could, if anything, possibly enhance a target signal… a highly variable process in different soil conditions that similarly seems unlikely to be a significant factor. Even in a tightly controlled benchtest it is difficult enough to acquire any signal from barely visible non-ferrous particulates, let alone from a source at the molecular level. Other explanations regarding disturbed ground target depth reductions vs undisturbed ground targets are at least as credible as the halo theory. These include the disruption to both a soil’s conductive structure (electrical continuity) and to the natural magnetic fraction of a soil. At present however, we are left to guess at which of these alternative explanations lies closest to actual fact. Jim.

Mike… I understand that you would prefer more definitive information, but it’s still early yet to expect to see much on the forums. How much credibility you can attach to the information your see and read on forums is questionable. Any depth / sensitivity tests would necessarily have to be done over highly mineralized ground to provide meaningful indications. I believe you will personally have to look into this as suggested above, whether through a buddy or a dealer, to ensure testing is conducted in a suitable manner, such that you can get a reasonable indication to the extent that the SDC 2300 might improve your field resutls. When contemplating spending several thousands of dollars for a detector, it is certainly worth the effort to ensure you are comfortable with the transaction. Good luck with your decision-making Mike… Jim.

No worries Steve... take all the time you need to prospect the area to your full satisfaction... you may never return again. Good luck. Jim.

I think your question has been addressed as far as possible on a forum. Chris has indicated that there are highly mineralized / hotrock areas where this unit will improve small gold detection over a VLF unit in such conditions. The X-Terra’s versatility, comparably lighter weight, and lower price are secondary considerations if it doesn’t get the job done to your satisfaction. By comparison, the SDC 2300 is more a niche instrument… but it is designed to deal with higher mineralization / hotrocks while improving the detection of small gold, character gold, and gold specie compared to other PI units currently on the market. In addition to the comments above, I suggest you contact a reputable dealer such as either Rob Allison’s Detectors at 623.362.1459 (office) 602.909.9008 (cell) or Arizona Outback at 1-928-777-0267. Discuss your concerns and see if you can get a side-by-side demonstration of these units over some planted targets at one their instruction outings. This ought to help you decide whether or not the SDC 2300 looks like a worthwhile acquisition for what you are doing. Jim.

Hi Ray… your F-19 ground phase scale seems to be very similar to my F75 scale at least with respect to the upper non-conductive ferrite section where both magnetite and hematite ores normally reside. I wouldn’t expect to see much or anything on the Fe3O4 bar graph readout… hematite does not exert much magnetic susceptibility and has little effect on metal detector performance compared to magnetite. Jim.

Hello Steve… I think you've done very well considering that detecting for much more elusive deep, large gold has been your main focus, and generally that the area has likely been detected a good deal in the past by yourself and many others. In recent years my best finds were made near the close of two-month autumn trips. We’ll keep our fingers crossed hoping the best possible results are still ahead for you. Good luck... Jim.

Good to get an update Steve, it’s too bad about all the wet weather… let’s hope that trend comes to an abrupt halt soon. I also hope the strategy behind using the 25” coil pays off for you… it’s certainly true that one big nugget at depth can be a tripmaker if such a piece is found. I’ve done it often enough at sites where I’m confident about the potential, and usually with good success, but there’ve been some disappointments. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope you have some success soon. I’ll be absent from the forum for awhile, the wife and me are leaving in a few days for the north country camping with the grandkids, long walks down forest trails, fun at the beach… and a bit of water detecting. Good luck... Jim.

Thanks to both of you for providing a reasonable perspective on the SDC 2300’s capabilities. Jim.

Hi Chris… congratulations on those really beautiful nuggets, and thanks for an excellent report about your observations using this unit. I understand that these nuggets were recovered in a nasty hotrock area. Could you also describe generally at what sort of depth range they were detected, and do you feel a GPX equipped with a Sadie coil would have detected them? A week or so ago Gary Schafer from Minelab was on American Digger's Relic Roundup call-in show discussing the new SDC 2300 at this link http://en.1000mikes.com/app/archiveEntry.xhtml?archiveEntryId=323405 He commented that the SDC 2300 was capable of up to 60% GPX 5000 depth capability. He didn’t quantify that observation with specifics as to nugget size, ground mineralizations, or GPX timings, etc. Are you able to offer any clarification to his statement based on your experience with this unit? He also mentioned that during testing in Australia, the SDC 2300 detected both a .02 gram (0.3 grain) and .a 05 gram (0.77 grain) gold nugget at four to five inches depth. It is difficult to imagine any detector locating a tiny 0.3 grain nugget at a depth approaching five inches. Jim.

Hi Chuck… interesting idea you have about the SDC 2300, and it very well may be the case… in the absence of factual information, we can certainly speculate... I don’t know squat about metal detector electronics / software applications, but I’ll play devil’s advocate by suggesting the coil is not the limiting factor at all. But rather the electronics… for example, the pulse delay setting is a chief factor governing the coil size that can be used on a PI unit. Figure that Minelab has reduced the pulse delay below 10us (standard to the White’s TDI series) to achieve improved small gold sensitivity… hence necessitating a reduced coil size. I think the 8” loop was selected by Minelab as an optimal size / shape to work glove-in-hand with the electronics (including minimal pulse delay) to produce the desired results. Perhaps that’s the technical reason the coil is hardwired. Now if that technical solution fits with marketing objectives as suggested above, and it certainly does seem to… great for Minelab… a win-win scenario. Jim.

I've done both routes to the Atlin area Steve and enjoyed the scenery either way. Smithers is beautiful, great skiing almost right in town. Always told the wife that if we ever move west, that's the place for me. Thanks for the update, look forward to more when you can do so... Jim.