wanderer

This all started because i read Steves comparison of the Garret atx to the GPZ 5000.  I was figuring a small nuggets at a gram or less but it is all relative. So why doesn't some one build a  machine that alternates the Gate open close time the way phoenix describes it   cycle on and off  or even better do both simultaneously.  I mean we can build build computers that calculate millions of  data bites is fractions of seconds. We are already bulding robots  that can run  jump walk and move boxes ( see boston robotics and think terminator). is it really that hard?

Maybe this is a dumb question  wit regard to PI machines  why is that one machine will excel at small nuggets but can't do so well on bigger nuggets.,  Doesn't make sense to me.  It would seem logical that iit can find small stuff  big stuff should be easy?

being a total newb I don't even own a detector yet!  but this thread concerns me.  I want to do the right thing  and not high grade  or trespass. IT seems to me just logic and common sense that if you go to the trouble of buying a claim you have  a duty  to protect it. why would you not post signs, contact info etc. 

 The desert is a pretty wide open place.  It is not like there are section lines . even on  the maps that do contain section lines the scales  usually 1:24000  are to large to pick  out  landmarks in wide flat  spaces. roads and other man made feature change over time,  so how could you tell where you are   besides an accurate GPS  which are as expensive for an accurate one as a detector.

So even doing all the research and  upfront work you could easily get mislocated in that type of terrain.  For all of those reasons it seems that  legit  claim owners should post  boundaries.

Am i  missing something? 

I have decided to purchase the 705. For the money  I don't think it can be beat. It sounds like it will work with an dallow me learn more as I get better.  I probably could have  gone for a PI but  they are 2 to 4 xs more and my wifes transmission just went out.  That is where the real gold is.

15 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

GOLD AND SILVER IN OREGON by Howard C. Brooks and Len Ramp 1968
Bulletin 61 STATE OF OREGON DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND MINERAL INDUSTRIES

Mining in Idaho 1985 Idaho State Historical Society

Gold Camps & Silver Cities by Merle W. Wells 1983
Bulletin 22 Idaho Department of Lands Bureau of Mines and Geology

I would operate under the assumption that all mining areas are mineralized soil areas.

That is pretty much what I thought   Which is why I am trying to figure my options and leaning towards a pi machine.  I have a line on an xterra 705 I know it is vlf   It it has the smaller coil.  Just not sure if it will work in. Highly militarized soil but it is better than nothing.   

As for nuggets  perhaps. I am clueless but I always that that all gold starts out as lode gold  or is geothermal or intrusive through eart process.   Then as  the earth is eroded away it winds up in streams as placer gold.  But inbetween it is moving down hill slowly and in pieces as nuggets ? 

I have a couple of those books and will get the others ASAP.  

So if I don’t find a good deal on a pi.  Is the 705; worth  getting ?  Waiting isn’t an option.  

In the us.  The reason I ask is all of the pi seem the 2000ish.  I am in California will be looking for nuggets of any size.  In what I think will be highly mineralized rock.   I am trying to determine a budget.   

What are some of the least expensive pi machines? Can used ones be found?

I am going out on my first detecting trip I think I'll be using an xterra 705.  The area I am interested in  is south western idaho generlly around  silver city the war eagle mine  and a few other spots up there> I still have alot to do in terms of research  and permission.   I t looks promising , rugged and well who knows?   Does anyone know if this  is what you would call a mineralized soil area?   I may drive on over to  the Jordan valley area of oregon as well.    any knowledge on this location?

Thanks in advance.

I would like to know what exactly is minerlaization,   What kind of minerals? are they all iron based or mafic?  what about  other things?   I am considering the purchase of my first  detector and looking at a used  xterra 705.  I know that  VLF are limited in heavy minerlized soils/Rocks  so I am trying to find wha th elimits of this detector would be.  I plan mainly to hunt for gold nuggets > while I would like a  PI I don't see any that re reasonably priced for a first detector.   What thoughts do you have?