GotAU?

That’s a great reference, Good photos too. Death Valley has so many great examples of this stuff to see, every geology class I’ve taken have always included field trips there and I recognize some of the stops there. If one really wants to delve into this, there’s a great Geomorphology book available on the web in PDF version. New editions of the book are available to buy but the 2nd and 3rd editions are available from several links online. Just search for “Fundamentals of Geomorphology by Richard John Huggett PDF”

Geomorphology also affects the size and distribution of gold and alluvium in a stream channel, especially by the size of its watershed and the degree of its slope. Wineglass valleys form by cutting into very steep slopes, often along steep fault scarps. They have narrow and very steep alluvial fans at their base, and a steep funnel shaped valley above it at the head, and are subject to high velocity flows with poorly sorted materials when it rains. Wineglass valleys may possibly be good places to prospect if access is good as the alluvium is poorly sorted and any gold and other heavy materials is more evenly mixed in, whereas those large alluvial fans that spread out almost flat across a valley from large washes are formed by lower velocity flows of well sorted alluvial materials with larger heavier materials, including gold nuggets becoming more deeply deposited first, and the fines deposited further downslope.

Simon, have you seen this video I recorded showing the EMI response results between a GPX 6000 mono and DD Minelab coil under powerlines as well? I wonder what caused the difference between ours? Just another bad coil? I was recording with an iPhone and that didn’t seem to bother it at all, even with the mono when I’m out away from powerlines and talking on it. What type of phone were you using to record it, have you tested that possible variable?

If gold price goes that much higher making large scale mining profitable in lower grade areas, clubs with significantly good claim holdings are going to really get squeezed in by speculators looking for claimable land- it’s starting to happen in the Springer District of the Randsburg area and in the El Paso Mountains of California right now. I saw a lot of new posts that looked like they were related to a geological drilling survey that someone posted recently in the area, and several were within existing club claims.

Naw, he’s much closer to Antartica than we are! 😁 How old are the gold deposits in NZ, Simon?

After seeing fill-ups go well over $100 here in California for a Tacoma (just a 20 gallon tank), we’ve started staying more local for our weekend recreational trips, and for longer ones will just be taking the truck with camping gear only and leaving our RV trailer at home more often.

There is definitely a pulse with a Zed, albeit a very fast one- you can hear it when it’s transmitting next to a radio antenna, especially AM radios.

Im trying to mix MDing with family life right now too, but as my friends know it is a rare time when I can go with them, especially on weekdays. No bother, my wife and daughter love to go rockhounding and camping now and then so we tend to do both when we can get out together. Once our last fledgling leaves the nest (or gets booted out of it), I will be out a lot more! 😀

Like it, a small dust pan - it would pair up well with a small whisk broom too.

As mentioned earlier, I think the gold trap would make a great sampling scoop, wet or dry. It also may be especially good for capturing very fine gold. I think it’s a great idea for someone who wants to travel light and get a lot of samples over a lot of terrain.

Very interesting setups on the videos, thanks for sharing them. I worked with a UXO team (unexploded ordinance) at a job site where they were using a plastic sled with a long linear sensor array for detecting shells as small as 50mm at depths of at least a foot, even though it was about 3-feet off the ground to clear shrubs as the sled rolled along. They had the system tied into a GPS unit on the quad to map out the hits, then the guys with hand held GPS units remotely tied into the one on the sled would walk in with Schonstedt magnetic detectors, shovels and disruptors (charges) to follow and pop the live targets as they went. The sled looked similar to the one shown for meteorites but it was not always towed, they also pushed it as they wanted to detect ordinance before driving over it with the quad.

I don’t get it- are you saying happy life happy wife for spending 60 days away from home? Why didn’t I think of that?!🤔 It seems like you’re already found the secret to successful prospecting on the El Paso’s, that Eq has treated you well!

Doc designs and sells great stuff! I really like his covers, but even though my G-Spot scoop works very well for bullets, even with the smallest fragments, it never has held any gold. I think it is broken or something.😉

Aw, you cleaned it up for the PI’s to play, thanks!!😁😉 Good try today and I have to commend you on your efforts, with all the hard work you’ve put into prospecting those Mtns you deserved to find those nuggets! I’m looking forward to the day we can go together, just take good care in the meantime and good wishes for a speedy knee recovery! -Anthony

Cool idea Doc, sorry it wasn’t a EMI mask, just give me credit if you ever make one! So I have a money pit right now we’re fixing up and maybe the Gold Pit can help with that some day. When are you planning on distribution?

Yeah, the advertising possibilities would be great, “sponsored by detector prospector.com” and so on. It can also have a printed scale of concentric circles on part of the sticker where you put your nugget in the center and it shows how big it is for your photos. We could also sell a Aussie version which has a smaller scale to enhance the bragging factor! 😜

There’s not enough likes up there ^^^! If it’s the wrong answer I am stealing the idea! 😉

The DREAM Doc’s Relaxing EMI Attenuation Mask

@Rikki not a diamond, sapphire or any other type of crystal- but keep looking! Also get this guide to minerals and rocks, we used it in my beginning geology class and it is really helpful for identifying rock and minerals the field: Simon & Schuster's Guide to Rocks & Minerals https://a.co/d/36PyOWu

If you collected it in Central California, it looks like radiolarian chert from the Fransican formation.

In addition to date purchased as JP mentioned, amount of use would be also be an important factor for a poll like this. I have only owned mine for a couple months, but decided to wait to answer the poll until after I have had more time using it.

All I want for XMas is a 10x5 DD! 😉

Would’a, could’,. should’a! Yeah, except for its size and bit of extra weight, that 14” is awesome. It is really stable in the hot rock areas I went through, including around basalt and other types of hot rocks.

That does work with the DD in volcanics, I used mine in the El Paso’s like that as well. Hope to see smaller versions of the 14” soon! @Andyy - don’t be too quick to write off volcanic fields for detecting, especially if they are old and eroded and you see river worn rocks and gravels mixed in with them. There are many places where a volcanic flow once covered river canyons filled with gold-bearing alluvial placer deposits, e,g., the Table Mountains near Angel’s Camp in the mother lode country. As the old igneous volcanic rock erodes into boulders, the softer underlaying auriferous deposits become daylighted. So the gravels and sands seen around the volcanic boulders in GC’s photo may have been there first before volcanic activity covered them up.

Another reason to like the 14” DD- it can open up places with powerlines where fewer people could detect before: