Glenn in CO

Hey Steve, Not to pry but what is the topic of the book you are writing?

Enjoyed the question and answer about Steve Herschbach with Dick Stout and a lot of great stories past and present. I liked the one about Goose Lake and Elderberry Park in 1972. Check it out at: https://stoutstandards.wordpress.com/2019/10/25/a-qa-with-detectorist-prospector-steve-herschbach/

Outstanding specimens, you are very fortunate to have access to areas that produce these type of specimens. Thanks! again for the additional photographs and information.

Great article and photographs! Could you show a close up of the dendritic silver/calcite specimen? Do you have areas that have silver in wire form? Thanks again for a great read!

I totally agree with you Steve about the misinformation White's is telling customers from the customer service representative at the factory and what they are advertising. Doesn't really give you a lot a faith of what you would actually be getting if you bought one today. I guess White's doesn't want us to worry about the technical side of the new product offering, they just want you to believe you will like it no matter what they say. Maybe Steve Howard will chime in. I have a regular TDI big box and I have found more older coins and relics than any VLF detector I have used in the past or any VLF that is available today. The TDI does have limitations, but you can cherry pick deep coins that VLF detectors cannot detect. It takes awhile for a person to understand and use the TDI, but like any other learning curve you encounter with any detector once you master it capabilities, this TDI in my opinion is amazing.

Chuck, I think White's should hire you as their new sales/marketing manager. Don't let them low ball you on compensation though!

In my opinion I don't see the threads as negative, I see them as missed opportunities for White's introducing new products by limited information and details. Can't buy a new coil design without buying the whole detector package? I want to see White's stay in the game and become a leader or stiff competition in the metal detector industry. Who knows maybe this is their new way to "hype" new products or marketing strategy. We will see!

Sure wish Minelab would make a small coil for the GPZ and to see how it would react to the crystalline wire and leaf gold we find here in Colorado. If the small coil worked it would be like hunting virgin ground.

“ This compact detector weighs only 3.5 pounds with its waterproof 12” Spider Search Coil, which offers deep detection depth. Other accessory coils are also available.” Is White's going to keep it a secret what the new 8"x14" Dual Field will weigh on the TDI SL?

My copy says Copyright 1992, Fifth Printing 2000 Copies, Revised 1994. The book measures 8.25" x 11.25". Jim apparently had several different type of editions and revisions. Interesting!

I have vol 3 Follow the Drywashers, the nuggetshooters bible... fifth edition. Jim signed it "search systematically" and it is 240 pages. Larry Sallee "Zip Zip" is another good read.

Apparently they made a mistake and forgot to add this: OOPS! The previous e-mail left out this important info! As an Introductory Offer, the TDI High-Q is packed with a FREE 7.5" Dual Field Coil! That's an addl. value of $249.95!

Does anyone know any information on the new coil for the TDI SL and if the coil will be available separately? TDI SL is now ... TDI Hi-Q A new high performance coil design for added depth - in two options TAN Part Number: 800-0334-Hi-Q CAMO 800-0334-Camo MSRP: $1199.95 MAP: $1099.00

Thanks! Gerry, I and my wife started panning and high banking this area in 1985. When White's came out with the Goldmaster in 1990 and we started detecting the area it was amazing what the miners left in the tailing piles. Every year since 1990 we have gotten gold and have come away with some outstanding finds. We are working with some mineral dealers now and in the process of selling the gold specimens. As time permits I will post pictures of the past gold specimen we have found.

Sorry to hear what happened, I hope you can recover most of the stuff you lost and I can't imagine how much of pain in the butt it will be dealing with the outcome no matter how good or bad it is. I hope they catch the bastards! You take the time to share your knowledge with the videos you make and people still want to take advantage of you and people wonder why most prospectors are leery of sharing their sites with anyone. Keep us posted on how everything turns out!

I and my wife have the Jimmy Sierra GMT's and our backup Goldmaster 4 is a body mount. Here's a picture of me detecting with the GMT and I'm using a body harness that also holds my Falcon Gold probe that I use for pinpointing. Here also a link to Steve H. GMT custom body mount: https://www.detectorprospector.com/magazine/steves-guides/whites-goldmaster-gmt-rebuild/

The White's 24k sounds like it would be a good choice for the crystalline gold that we detect for. We are accustomed to using the GMT for such a long time with great success it's hard to change and try newer technology. The GMT's we use are body mounts and it make it easier for detecting the steep tailing piles, plus we are not getting any younger. We may try a White's 24k and see if there is a huge difference or not. Good Luck with your new detector!

The area we hunt tailing piles in Colorado has its fair share of tiny bird shot. Usually find a half dozen or more each trip. They sound just like the type of gold we are looking for.

Sorry, I have been out of town and just got back today. In my opinion I would not use a MXT for detecting wire, leaf and crystalline gold. You would have limited success with a MXT because of the lower frequency and would be better off with a higher frequency VLF detector with a frequency of 40 kHz and above. A high frequency VLF detector with some iron discrimination would be a plus if you are working tailing piles. A quality set of headphones are just as important as a good VLF detector and learning to recognize and hear the extremely faint signals as most of this type of gold is going to be very small.

Hi jasong, For some reason the PI detectors cannot detect the wire and spongy gold specimens very well, but the PI's do ok with the leaf gold specimens. The area were we hunt the ground is somewhat mild, so the VLF's are the detectors that we like to use. It is small world when you out in the middle of no where and you meet somebody you know.

Hi Chuck, The area we are hunting in sometimes gets an afternoon rain shower every day in the summer. We have been prospecting and detecting there since the mid-1980's and encountered a few lighting and thunderstorms, but usually they are brief and don't last to long. One year I and my wife were up on the mountain side and normal build up clouds started forming and she radio me that it was not looking to good and we should leave. I gave her my usual answer that it will be gone in about 15 minutes and we would be detecting again. Well I guess I was wrong this time because it started to down pour and lighting like we have never seen before. Apparently it had rained 4 inches or more in a hour and the lighting was relentless. She had left to return to where our side by side was parked and was screaming over the radio that she wanted out of there. I was stuck up on the mountain side and was hunkered down because of lighting, rain and hail and I wasn't about to move and become a target for the lighting. We didn't detect again until the following day as we needed a little time to recuperate from that ordeal. Now when we see a storm building, we get off the mountain.

The tailing piles near Leadville produced some very nice specimens. John Vivian and Glenn Godat did very well in that area with some outstanding gold and silver specimens.

Hi phrunt, Another nickname they call that type of gold is a bird nest.

The host rock was dissolve by hydrofluoric acid, unfortunately I didn't keep an eye on it while cleaning or I would have left a little rock to help stabilize the specimen. There was a smaller piece and a few wires that did not remain intact and may or may not held all together if I would have left some of the host rock. It can be handled but it’s somewhat delicate. Some of the wire gold specimens I found are more rigid and can be handled without a problem. Leaving some host rock in my opinion makes the wire gold specimen a little more interesting to look at. The gold specimens pictured were ones that I had found and I was using a GMT with the standard coil. The other gold specimen found was a leaf type variety and my friend was using a NOX 800. The others in the group were not as lucky in finding one. Interesting one of the guys had brought a GPX 4500 and could not detect the wire gold specimen, but all of the others who were using a VLF type detector could detect the wire gold specimen. Here is another wire gold specimen I found in the past in which I left a little of the host rock and limonite (before and after pictures):

Dealing with some family issues me, my wife and a group of friends finally made a trip to the central Colorado mountain’s to search for gold specimens on tailing piles that have been productive in the past. Part of the group this was their first time using a detector searching for gold specimens. After a brief overview of the history and different areas to search, we spent some time setting up the different types of detectors to achieve the best results. We then took off in different directions with some partnering up with others for additional instruction. It didn’t take long for the 10,000+ foot altitude to begin taking its toll and the steep terrain limiting the area they wish to search as everyone was cautious for their well-being while detecting. The group detected for three days and four specimens were found. Here are a few pics showing the wire and leaf gold specimens as found and then cleaned: Close up of the largest gold specimens: Couple of us detecting on the tailing piles: