Glenn in CO

Here's my guess:

Here's my two cent worth, if a technology existed where a detector could detect deeper than a PI and identify a target with decent accuracy under any severe type ground and trash conditions a manufacturer could probably sell it in the $5000-$7500 range. They are many people out there that have existing or potential sites they could hunt and recoup the cost of the detector in a short time depending on type of "treasure" they going after. In the quote above the example of people buying a $10,000 detector shows that there are people out that will buy a detector in that price range just because they can without the worry or consideration if they ever recoup the cost of the detector. If you enjoy what you are doing and you have the money the price isn't going to be a problem. People with tighter budgets, any detector I believe over the $ 2500 range will be somewhat cautious in making that purchase. People causally involved in the past time probably wouldn't purchase a detector over the $700 range and that's why the market share of detector production is I believe is focus on. It would be very interesting to know how may people who have purchase a GPZ since its introduction and have at least recoup the cost of the detector. I believe many out there that have purchase a GPZ and have productive areas to hunt you probably or will recoup the cost of the detector. I guess the question is how much will that detector will cost, can the serious detectorists be able to afford it or not. In my case if the number of detectors I and my wife have now and in the past, we weren't really considering the cost of enjoying our past time.

I have four external hard drives and use them to store different data and some duplicate data. I take enormous amounts of photos and that takes up a lot of hard drive space. Plus I get delete happy once in awhile and accidently erase of file I shouldn't have. Plus a hard drive can go at any time, thus the reason for more than one hard drive. Today's prices on external hard is very low cost, especially around the Christmas holidays. There is some free software available to monitor the health of your hard drives if one is concern about the status on them. I also use a free software called Cobian Backup 11 Gravity for a backup software and it gives a person several different ways of backing up data either manually or automatically. Cobian Backup supports 4 types of tasks: Full backups: Every single file in the source will be copied or compressed. If you are overwriting, every file will be replaced. If Overwrite is unchecked, you will have several copies of the same source. Incremental - The program will check if the source has been changed from the last backup. If there is no need to copy the file, it will be skipped, saving backup time. The incremental procedure checks the Archive bit attribute of the file. You may want to manually reset the attribute to force a full backup: use the "Set the archive attributes" on the Task menu. Differential: The program will check if the source has been changed from the last FULL backup. If there is no need to copy the file, it will be skipped, saving backup time. The differential procedure checks the Archive bit attribute of the file. You may want to manually reset the attribute to force a full backup: use the "Set the archive attributes" on the Task menu. Dummy task: This backup doesn't need a source or a destination. It is useful to use the task just as an scheduler to execute applications, close services, reboot the computer, etc. When we take a trip we leave all photos on the storage cards and backup that data on a laptop when needed, then when we get home transfer that data to the desktop and external hard drives. I'm not comfortable yet backing up anything I believe is important to me on the cloud.

Thanks! Steve for the additional information. When I found the specimens I thought for sure I had meteorites and reading through the information you provided I wasn't the only out thinking they had the real thing. Unfortunately in the area where I live I will probably find more. The best thing that came out of this is the knowledge that a person gains through the process of finding the answer to the question. The help from people on this forum makes this forum one of the best out there whether they are a novice or seasoned detectorists.

I took both specimens yesterday to the Colorado School of Mines and had Bruce Geller who is the Museum Director for identification and you were both correct, they were not meteorites. The specimens were identified as ferromanganese. Ferromanganese is used as a deoxidizer for steel production. Thanks again for your help!

Both, my wife have been together 45+ years coin, relic, nugget hunt most of the time. When she wants to take a break I will go alone and keep in contact either by 2-way radios or cell phone. Nugget or relic hunting I'm also carry a gun just in case of any trouble that may arise. No problem hunting alone as long as some type of communication is available when you need to summon help if needed. I know this wasn't asked, but if I had trouble and died for some health condition I figure I went doing what I enjoyed one of things the most.

I will take both specimens to the Colorado School of Mines and see what they say, Thank you Lunk and Dave for your advise and help. I will keep you updated.

I ground off the pointed end, what do you experts think? I found another one and it is three times as large and reads between a nickel and a zinc penny.

How much should I file off? Say a area about the size of a fingernail. Open to any suggestions.

Here are some new pictures and Fred I tried the super magnet and there was no attraction to it. I didn't put the magnet on a string though. Try Steve's "How to Enlarge Photos's" for a better look see.

Weighs 69 Grams, reads below nickel on Metal Detector, does not stick to a magnet. Thanks for any help!

For I and my wife the answer would be " Yes", whether it is nugget hunting, relic, beach or coin hunting we enjoy the thrill of the hunt and being outdoors. We have been at this hobby or sport whatever you want to call it for over thirty plus years and still get excited when we find a nice nugget, coin or relic. It's not what the item we find is how much it is worth, but the experience, enjoyment and sometimes heartbreak you encounter while detecting. I could care less if gold was $16.00 an oz., when you find a nugget or gold specimen to me that's unique. Percentage of people that are successful in finding gold by any means is not that great, but the challenge and reward are well worth it. It brings a smile to my face every time I find a nugget big or small. The reward is looking back and cherishing and sharing the memories and saying " Yep, I did That!"

Thanks! Steve. I have different sizes and types of wire gold specimens that I have found and you are welcome anytime to get together in the future.

Steve, here is one example I found of the type of wire gold that a PI will not detect. The mass of wires is about the size of a fifty cent coin with only a portion exposed in the picture. The GMT will give a very strong audio response while a PI cannot detect it. Here are before (when I found it) and after (some cleaning in acid) pictures:

"The GPZ truly is more a super VLF than a PI detector." That is a very interesting statement. So would a GPZ 7000 with a smaller coil have the potential to find sub-grain and possibly porous and wire type gold? How much of a smaller coil size that would be practical and still maintain deep seeking qualities? Is there engineer with Minelab that could develop a coil that would detect porous and wire type gold? If the GPZ 7000 is more like a super VLF type of a detector I would think that this would be possible. I appreciate any thoughts you may have on this.

We tried the SDC 2300 and had the same results. We tried the TDI with a small 7.5 Dual Field coils and still cannot detect that type of gold, but we haven't had the opportunity to try the GPZ 7000. The other thing I failed to mention is the area has a abundance of nails which makes using a PI a little less attractive, but finding a nice gold specimen that a VLF would miss would be a trade off I could deal with.

We are using the White's GMT. The area we hunt is mostly mild ground with hot rocks that will give a overload signal on the detector. I believe the Gold Bug 2 would do as well or maybe even better because of it's high operating frequency. Some of this type of crystalline gold specimens we find becomes invisible when using a PI detector. It would be great if a PI detector or some new technology would be able to detect this type of gold as it would open up the area we are hunting in because of the increase in depth and manage the hot rocks better.

Most of the type gold we find is the porous (crystalline) and wire specimens. We sampled several types of gold that range in size and weight with a ATX and the ATX would not detect the specimens. Your best bet would be if you have a sample or samples of the type of gold you are looking for and test them with the detector you are interested in before making a large investment. Usually at GPAA shows or large competition hunts you will find the latest detectors that dealers have to offer.

I agree with Steve, that is magnetite. Here is a some magnetite found near Badger Flats that we found last year that wasn't water worn. We used a magnet to find the specimens.

I and my wife met Bill at Gold Basin this last October and was helpful with tips on detecting and places or areas to hunt. Bill is one of the nicest and most friendliest people you could ever meet. I believe he stays at the local RV park in Meadview, AZ. for a few months every year.

Very informative and one could employ your methods when determining a potential site for relic hunting, beach hunting or even nugget hunting, etc. Also great input on how you use current technology in researching a potential site. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Keith! I follow you on another forum, you got an impressive resume of finds and detector knowledge.

Outstanding! You prove that your patience and persistence has paid off and there is still many great finds that can be found. I hope the streak continues for you in 2017.

Very nice find!

My wife and I were hunting a early 1900's coal camp in southern Colorado this last year and I found this item. At first I didn't know what it was so I did a little research and found out it was a nameplate for a billiards table. Can you image how that billiards table got there and the stories it would tell. This was a first for me. What are some of your unusual finds?