mn90403

He was a money lender. There is no indication that he was killed in a robbery. People here will kill you for a buck ... are you going to keep your dollar bills hidden to avoid being put to death?

Is Vermont subject to a mining law like that of 1872? Let's keep the one that protects us in the West. Mitchel

Fred was a good 'poster' for you to read some of his past posts. His years of hunting and knowledge is greater than mine. He references some good guys who have written. One book and writer you should add to your list is Chris Ralph (Fred said ICMJ so you will see him there). He has written a book 'Fists Full Of Gold' which is kind of a modern encyclopedia on the subject. I would generally agree with your assumptions. My departure with them would be involving plate tectonics and your assumption that all gold would make it to the ocean. Plate tectonics is the elephant in the room. It will push everything around including ancient rivers, ocean beds and lakes which were once at the end of the streams. Gold on the west coast is heavily dependent upon that and the volcanic activity associated with it. Here is a page which describes some of the specific forces that determine recoverable placer gold (with and without a metal detector). http://www.goldrushnuggets.com/tyofgopl.html You've opened a subject that I think the old timers knew more about than we do today. We are just following them as Jim Straight says: 'Follow the dry washers' in the desert. We all follow the miners elsewhere for the gold they missed and their relics. Good prospecting to you wherever you go. Mitchel

Well written. Thanks for sharing the story. A hunt is not over until it is over. Mitchel

Merton doesn't usually let someone out-find him. I'd like a picture of his face ... It would be like mine when Lu out-finds me ... little boy pout. Good job Strick. WTG Lisa. Mitchel

That is what I tried to say Fred ... don't need it for 3030 and 7000 but those headphones fit OVER my ears. I want to check with them and see if I can use them or another product with a regular adapter. Their transmitter is dongled onto your detector and the headphones don't have a plug. I need to plug some of their headphones into the 10 or 12 as you say. Mitchel

Great job of finding the place!

Good on you guys who get trash from the beaches. I pick up all glass and all my metal finds and some plastic and paper. When out today I run across the same guys on the beach that don't even have a pouch. You follow them and all their metal trash is thrown about after they sometimes leave their holes open. They have a PI and dig everything. The only sense that makes to me is that they are not wasting their time to fill a hole. They only want the good stuff and that is all they will keep. (Damn courtesy, politeness or safety!) I'm glad others make a 'show' of being a garbage collector. That is better for all of us ... happy trash collectors. Mitchel

Lucky, Good job again. You are right. The best discrimination is digging the target. Mitchel

I have gone to the office since it is local to me and tried on the over the ear model. Those are very comfortable but I am not using them in the field yet. I will want to use them with the 2300. I don't know how to use them with the 7000 or 3030 which is already wireless. They are trying hard to find a niche and I'll encourage them to meet more of the local detectorists and learn from us.

George Soros wins big on his gold bet.

Merton ... it is Rob's Beach Erosion topic and Performance of Small Coils by Roughwater.

I like bobbie pins on the ocean beaches. It means lots of people (girls) have been there in the past and were concerned about their hair. When they care about that they wear jewelry! I don't dig them with the 3030 but when I was hunting with the 5000 on the beach it was one after one after one. And once in a while a good score! The guy I know who finds more good stuff than any other still digs big holes at the beach and lots of them but he uses a Surfmaster PI. I'm not that strong. Mitchel

Biological indicators can and can't be present for gold deposits. It is all a matter of percentage and perception. How many times is an indicator right and how many times is it wrong? We hunt in an area in southern California that has a yellow flower. The flower is not everywhere but it is on about half of the land. This flower is said to grow (only or best --- depending upon the prospector) where there is iron/ironstone. (It is easy to see when it blooms after a rain.) Where there is ironstone there can be gold. There can also be gold that has moved from these areas. Not all ironstone areas have gold. Much of the area has been pushed and natural soils have been modified. Should one only hunt where you find these yellow flowers? Is there a better chance of finding gold where you find these yellow flowers? One thing for sure ... gold is where you find it. If you are a hunter who only hunts when he sees the yellow flowers then that is your biological indicator. Go for it. You will be leaving all the other gold for someone else. You mentioned the trees. Maybe the tree grows better when it has a deep soil. Maybe an area of deep soil will hold gold that has moved in and settled there. If it is a gold vein source of gold it may be just a coincidence or the gold vein has been hidden all of these years by gravel covering it. There may be a successful pattern out there following a biological indicator. It may be better or worse than other methods. Most successful gold prospectors have one thing in common and that is that they spend a lot of time at it. I on the other hand have been lucky! Mitchel

I hunted Meeks Bay a couple of years ago and I didn't find much but I was not diving ... just wading in that cold, cold water.

Thanks Strick.

How much 'good stuff' was there?

I agree also with Strick. Then Steve put up the Edit Frame Size. I noticed when I was out today that it was Edit Frame size as the wording. That is what I was interested in 'using' if it was helpful. So when would I need to edit a pattern? Is that just the 'accept/reject, dark/light' pattern that is left? It seems that this has nothing to do with send/receive functions of the detector. Does it make any difference what Edit Frame size is while detecting? Does the Edit Frame size have any effect on sounds? Now on to Strick's other observation. Zinc Pennies These will be the bane of metal detector companies for years to come. Until the last couple of years it has seemed 'manageable' but now it is impossible to know these sounds because they are in pieces and corroded to a point they can imitate other good objects. I have had them sound like rings, dimes, pull tabs ... all over my screen! You just can't ignore all of them. The copper pennies on the beach now get a dime or sometimes a quarter sound (high pitched). This brings up another way I use my 3030. I listen and look at the screen and never run it in numbers screen. I care if it is in the upper right (silver) or the middle-left (round/ring) or bottom (irons/steel). That is how I use the 'spectrometer' functions of the 3030 which is a graph of the numbers.

You are still getting to the ones that are left! WTG

There are two very good threads now on the CTX 3030. One function that I don't see discussed is the use of sizing . This feature was available on the Explorers and it would allow you to accept or reject targets and size them. You could make that target look bigger or smaller with sizing. Anything close would be included in that ID. This is a specific 'carve-out' which is different than the two 'modes' you can use in each program. Most of the time I hunt with the 3030 in All Metal mode (smooth only) on any of the programs. I have downloaded other programs but I am most familiar with the sounds of the coin and beach programs so I go to them no matter where I am. I have used in high iron trash the rejected iron and trash patterns by hitting the detect a second time. There are times on the beach when I switch between the different sizes. Have you other 3030 users found a useful time to change the sizing? (High trash/lots of targets maybe on smaller sizing?) Mitchel

Rob, Very nice! Waves do group like items together on a beach if given enough time, energy and tides. There are times when sand is building and other times when it is being washed away. Much of this has to do with the intervals. It is often times as important as size. Sometimes you can go to a beach and find quarters at the top and sometimes they are at the bottom and many times they are not there at all. Rings are similar but not as frequent. You did good by going back again, again and again to a beach with production and pockets. Good job. Mitchel

Steve is right of course. I have a 3030 that I use more than any other detector. Others I have are an Explorer SE Pro (still very good and close to 3030), 7000, 5000, 2300, GB Pro and White's 6000 DI Pro. Its strengths are discrimination and accurate target depth depiction. The 3 coils I have are 6, 11, 17 and as the size increases so does the depth you can find gold rings and coins. Shape is important to the 3030. It is better on man made shapes than natural shapes. It is also really good at telling you when something is iron (you can dig it if you like). Goldhound has the best information and programs on Steve's forum that I have read. His most memorable point is 'don't use a 3030 to find gold nuggets unless there is high trash!' If there is low trash then there are many better choices. That being said last year in the Yuba river I used the 11" coil because I didn't have the 6" coil and found an 18g nugget (the only one with the 3030 so far) about 3" down in clay at the edge of the water. This river had/has lots of trash and the signal I got at the nugget was 'iffy' but not iron so I kept digging at it. California Gold has the best pictures of nuggets I've ever seen found with a 3030 and he also found some nice gold coins at an old mining camp with lots of trash. The 6" coil is something I have not used much yet but its advantage to me is the size. If there is lots of big or even small trash around then the 6" will avoid some of it. I've found some coins with it but haven't used it at the beach because I want greater coverage. I have more 'fun' with the 3030 than any other detector even tho now I'd rather find a nugget. Mitchel

Whatever you do ... make sure you are able to go out detecting next week. If there is a chance of an injury greater than that ... don't do it. I had a slip and fall while detecting and my knee bent. It scared me because I have always been protective of my knees. I skied on weekend in my life and said never again because I knew it was just a matter of time on my knees. There are too many things to do without an extended recovery. Be careful out there. Mitchel

Paul, They do import nurses from many countries and if you have a sponsor it is a stay of a couple of years. I've heard on a short visa they want you to leave on time ... not a minute late. Mitchel

You go one way and he goes ANOTHER. I wouldn't want to go behind him ... or you now that JP has had you ... Let's see I also wouldn't want to go behind Patrick, Chris, Lu, Martin, Fred, Merton, Wes, Wilma, Steve, Lucky ... anyone from Australia ... but most of the places I know someone has been there before!