I am new to detecting and gold prospecting and have opportunity to prospect in a quartz environment which has historically produced gold. I am not yet up to the traditional 100 hours time on my metal detector and the prospecting site is a journey away. I have been practicing in my back yard getting familiar with a Whites MXT Pro. I also have access to a Gold Bug Pro although I have not yet spent much time on it.
I have some test garden Qs.
1) Would I be able to simulate the quartz environment I'm prospecting in with a test garden of silica sand?
The ground reading on my MXT pro varies from -50s to -80s at the prospecting site.
2) As an alternative to siiica sand, what about construction Quartz flagstone? Would I be able to simulate the quartz environment better than silica sand with this? My intuition is no, the air voids between pieces would just make unnaturally discontinuous permeability.
3) Is the hassle/benefit of building a silica sand (or quartz flagstone) test garden worthwhile relative to just using my native backyard soil?
I'd like to have a better feel for what size gold target I could find at what depth in the quartz environment. Not at all sure how well what I do in my backyard correlates to the real environment in this regard. Let's say the answer to 1 (or 2) is "yes". Is the build worth the hassle? ($ not too big an issue for me, yet no one wants to waste time or $) Should I just get used to what the controls do in the backyard and go prospect and learn more about the environment IN the environment?
Test Garden Design Questions
in Metal Detector Advice & Comparisons
Posted
I am new to detecting and gold prospecting and have opportunity to prospect in a quartz environment which has historically produced gold. I am not yet up to the traditional 100 hours time on my metal detector and the prospecting site is a journey away. I have been practicing in my back yard getting familiar with a Whites MXT Pro. I also have access to a Gold Bug Pro although I have not yet spent much time on it.
I have some test garden Qs.
1) Would I be able to simulate the quartz environment I'm prospecting in with a test garden of silica sand?
The ground reading on my MXT pro varies from -50s to -80s at the prospecting site.
2) As an alternative to siiica sand, what about construction Quartz flagstone? Would I be able to simulate the quartz environment better than silica sand with this? My intuition is no, the air voids between pieces would just make unnaturally discontinuous permeability.
3) Is the hassle/benefit of building a silica sand (or quartz flagstone) test garden worthwhile relative to just using my native backyard soil?
I'd like to have a better feel for what size gold target I could find at what depth in the quartz environment. Not at all sure how well what I do in my backyard correlates to the real environment in this regard. Let's say the answer to 1 (or 2) is "yes". Is the build worth the hassle? ($ not too big an issue for me, yet no one wants to waste time or $) Should I just get used to what the controls do in the backyard and go prospect and learn more about the environment IN the environment?