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A Discombobulated Prospecting Tale The following is a recollection about a prospecting trip, encounters with wildlife, including an unidentified large creature. Since our story is firmly entrenched in wilderness prospecting environs, we’ll scatter some of our more photogenic native silver and other photos at appropriate intervals throughout the text. These happenings occurred over less than a twelve-hour period many years ago. Let's move on to our tale… please read this as a campfire story. “There’s a long, long time of waiting Until my dreams all come true… Till the day when I’ll be going Down that long, long trail with you.” The origins of our tale begin some years ago, with my annual autumn prospecting trip into the northeastern part of Ontario renowned for its silver production. The area represents a small part of a vast, heavily forested wilderness perched on the sprawling Precambrian Shield. Away from the small towns and villages, and widely scattered farms and rural homesteads, there exists a largely uninterrupted way of life in the more remote areas. There are uncounted miles of lonely country backroads, overgrown tracks leading to abandoned mining camps, innumerable rough timber lanes, and a virtually infinite tangle of winding trails that reach deeply into the distant boreal forests. The region is largely supported by forestry, tourism, and mining. It is rich in nearly every mineral one can imagine, but especially of gold and silver, and the base metals. It attracts an annual autumn migration of hunters, fishermen, mineral collectors, and other adventurers seeking the beckoning, companionable solitude of the remote wilderness. The photo below depicts a former minesite located in the immediate area, where documented in 1924, two prospectors claim to have sighted the highly elusive Sasquatch, sometimes referred to as the Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas. Our journey back in time so many long years ago, finds us contentedly settled into a perfectly routine, bright morning following a highly interesting prospecting sojourn the previous day. That day I had made the companionable acquaintance of two staff members from Michigan State University. They had recently arrived in a magnificent motorhome to search for precious silver and other minerals with their assortment of metal detectors. Their silver prospecting had been unsuccessful thus far, but undiminished in their enthusiasm, they were eager to explore for old relics and antique glassware. I suggested some promising abandoned homestead sites in the woods, and we made further plans to share some morning tea, view my silver recoveries, and make some detecting plans for the day. In preparation for the visit, I arose early that morning, performed the usual perfunctory personal ablutions, and stepped lightly from the camper to prepare a hungry outdoorsman’s breakfast at the picnic table. That normally means bacon and eggs fried on the fretful propane gas stove conveniently located beneath the wide, foul-weather canopy. Now for the benefit of urban dwellers not fully appreciating such matters, I submit there is no more tantalizing scent that permeates the woodland aisles as solicitously to a ravenously hungry wayfarer than that of sizzling bacon in the frying pan. Thus to my dismay but not surprise upon returning from the camper with some handy utensils, I abruptly came face-to-face with a wayfarer in the form of a decidedly stout blackbear immediately across the table from me. Well… we both rather casually glanced at one another for some several seconds, which is a long time really… in what could only be described as a mutually earnest attempt to evaluate exactly just what the other's full intentions and possible capabilities might be. The issue at hand of course, was possession of the steaming breakfast now lying sumptuously before us, a seeming impasse that would brook no compromise. Allowing that I was a man of action, a trait not one whit diminished by the present circumstances, and fully aware that a brand-spanking-new container of "Bear Guard" resided within my trusty backpack just inside the camper doorway, I promptly retired indoors to retrieve this potent pest serum. In the twinkling of an eye the bear spray was in my hand, safety mechanism removed, and finger on the trigger. Brimming with confidence that no small victory was easily within my grasp, I took careful aim… and well, how could one possibly miss? Meanwhile, my uninvited, immobile guest had remained quietly composed and altogether civil in his demeanor, and I regret to relate, with rather sad, supplicating eyes fixed with unblinking steadiness on mine. But doggedly immune to sympathy for any but myself …at that particular moment that is… the trigger was released without the least regret. And quicker than thought, a plume of debilitating chemical spray tracked unfailingly straight for the bear’s nose. But even quicker still, my new acquaintance ducked his head and sidestepped, indeed shrugging off the main thrust of my carefully conspired offensive as if it were inconsequential. And there was a further complication insofar as I had signally failed to consider the oncoming breeze. Almost as quickly as the implications occurred to me, I succumbed to the bear-spray fumes, abandoned breakfast in panicky confusion, blindly retreating back into the camper’s safety. Subsequent to a half-hour convalescence of teary-eyed, spasmodic coughing and retching, I regained some semblance of normal breathing and cardiac composure. Ready to face the inevitable, I set forth to resume the contest, only to find my breakfast charred, and amiable new companion unmoved and indifferent to my enterprise thus far. I reviewed the alternatives carefully as things now stood. Breakfast was no longer a matter of dispute to me at least. But I could not simply hand it over either. The park brochures unequivocally admonished the reader not to feed the bears and I did enjoy the repute of being an experienced outdoorsman. More, my tentative little friend had demonstrated remarkable forbearance by not taking advantage of my temporary lapse. And worse, he fixed me with unwavering, sad appealing eyes, conveying eternal gratitude and sacrifice for my sake, if only he might sample the frying pan’s tasty scraps. I began to feel shame at my own indignant, confrontational behavior towards this unobtrusive creature. But company was coming for tea, and in short order we would be leaving camp for the day. My new friend could not be left alone near camp. Long story short, I sidled over to my truck and spent an exasperating hour or so chasing this mangy, obstinate competitor from camp and hopefully from the park. Now, fully appreciating the desperate craftiness I faced with this shrewd adversary, I arranged for the Ministry of Natural Resources to set a bear trap nearby, later in the day. Content with this strategic maneuver, and in the afterglow of glad relief as can only be savored with successful, decisive conquest of brute strength by infinitely resourceful cunning, my recently arrived companions of the previous day and I enjoyed morning tea, and merrily hit the treasure trail. Feeling secure any remaining camp contingency was suitably addressed, I for one had no more care in the world than the wispy, white cirrus clouds scurrying across the blue heavens above. Late evening of that day found me alone at a remote site, deep in the wilderness and far removed from the welcoming lights of civilization. As had become habit over many years, darkness… rebuked only by a slim sliver of veiled moonlight known affectionately to livestock thieves as a Rustler's Moon… found me still rock hunting. The recovery of a promising target signal preoccupied my thoughts and effort. I’ve never been able to abandon a good signal and never will, regardless of circumstances. Finally, after exhaustive prying and digging, I packed my prize into the backpack and reluctantly hiked uphill to a wide bench where my truck was parked. With nothing more profound on my mind than entertaining thoughts of tasty pork and beans for dinner over a hot fire, I stored my equipment and backpack into the back of the truck and made ready to return to camp. It happened so quickly, it was shocking, and there was no time to think. Throwing the transmission into reverse, I did what I always do from long habit… I looked into the interior rear view mirror. You might easily imagine my startled reaction to see two enormously elevated large glowing eyes, illuminated only by my reverse lights…fixedly gazing into the mirror directly into mine. There was no sound, no contact with the truck. In a furious snit of energy that would have garnered surprised favor from my boss back at the office, I quickly swung my Jeep around… a credit to my youthful driving instructor, could he only have witnessed that splendid three-point turn. My lights immediately filled the misty gloom to reveal…nothing. The creature had vanished into thin air, certainly not an impossible feat, but most unlikely. It was wide, open space on that bench, and I could not understand how the creature had disappeared so quickly. With the desire to leave the scene waning quickly, I drove some thirty yards downhill on the overgrown track and stopped. I jumped out of the truck with my high powered flashlight at the ready, and began a systematic exploration of the nearby woods, always staying within easy retreat to the vehicle’s safety. The remaining foliage of innumerable aspen and tag alders interfered with a close scrutiny and I did not dare to go further afield. Yet, short of the distant forlorn cry of a loon, I could not see or hear anything unusual to disturb the evening’s tranquillity. Dismayed, I returned to the truck and cautiously resumed my way down the dark, abandoned track, crossed a tumbling wide brook at the bottom end of the lake to finally gain firm footing on the opposite shore, and headed for camp completely lost in thought. Some three-quarters of an hour later I arrived back at the campsite looking forward to lighting a blazing fire and enjoying a steaming mug of tea before dinner. At such times, subsequent to a highly startling experience, it is unsettling to realize that no “sixth” sense had alerted me to the possible danger of a nearby large creature out at the remote minesite. A creature that apparently was aware of my activities, and perhaps observing or even stalking me for some length of time. Yet as I jumped out of my truck at camp, that sixth sense came abruptly to the fore. The evening sky had given way to gloomy scuttling clouds, the wind had sharply risen to rustle fallen leaves, sighing fitfully through the treetops. Have you ever stumbled in the darkness of night into an unseen wall or obstacle that brought you up short? The moment I stepped away from my truck such an overwhelming foreboding sense came over me that I stood stock still, peering into the thick darkness in some vague attempt to comprehend the sharp, uneasy feeling. Now then, let it be clear that I am not one given to fears of the dark or superstitious nonsense. I never look over my shoulder dreading the sight of some phantom specter, not ever. But my instincts were alerted, as I stood there motionless, considering possibilities. Grabbing my flashlight, I treaded slowly towards the camper. There seemed to be no indication of… CLANG!!!! The unmistakable, hard contact of heavy steel. Relocating my boots in a fit of unbounded fright and quickly retying them with an uncompromising knot, I cautiously probed around the far corner of the camper. For the second time in less than an hour, the steady beams of two blazing lanterns gleamed directly back into my eyes from the depths of darkness. For securely locked inside an MNR bear trap, placed strategically behind and immediately adjacent to my camper by far-sighted government employees, was a rather large bear. At the moment he was huddled in cringing fear at the rear of the cage. ‘And so you should be’ I swaggered with surging, buoyant relief. Early the next morning, in the face of a steady driving rain, all thoughts of rockhunting were dismissed for the day. I hurriedly wolfed down breakfast, nodded a cheerful farewell to my erstwhile caged companion of the night, and lit out for the minesite. On arrival, I carefully looked for, but could not see any tracks. I felt certain that somewhere in the soft slag-sand substrate, there should have been some evidence of tracks despite the rain. Certainly a moose or large bear on hind legs could be the only credible suspects with regard to the enormously elevated set of eyes that had glared into my rear-view mirror the previous night. But I looked for tracks or any other evidence in vain. Deflated and somewhat incredulous, I retraced my way back to the nearest country backroad where, as chance would dictate, I abruptly encountered my acquaintances from Michigan. I described the event at the minesite to them, whereupon one individual opened his briefcase, retrieved some stapled papers and handed them to me. A fully documented account from 1924 of a Sasquatch sighting in the very same local. The article revealed that two prospectors arose from their fireside breakfast to observe an enormous man-like creature disappearing into the nearby forest. Their estimate was on the order of eight feet or so, a wild-looking hairy biped. In those times such creatures were not nearly so widely known or celebrated in the mainstream media. That factor alone doubtless lends more credibility to the report. Was meeting these two men again at that time and place mere coincidence? Did they have some other reason for visiting the area in addition to their relic, bottle and silver hunting? There was no question they had purposely brought the prepared Sasquatch information. You might ask in retrospect why I did not see the creature’s outline in my reverse lights. My answer is that my full attention was immediately drawn to those two blazing eyes. It was all so quick and unexpected. In retrospect, I regard this event simply as an encounter with an unknown creature. Only the illusive Sasquatch of the deep wilderness, given that he exists, could have the sharp intelligence to outwit me with regard to his timely, quick disappearance. The removal of tracks was too clever indeed, but at the same time there is no support for the notion that any other wildlife in existence could possess the means or forethought. A tale is never complete without a postscript. Despite the passage of many years, I have not been able to relinquish the memory of the bear with the terribly sad, pleading eyes. Call me a hopeless romantic. I later learned that berry production was very poor that season, doubtless resulting in higher bear mortality rates. Could I revisit those moments, if I thought there was any chance my uninvited guest would sit down at the table, mind his manners and otherwise behave, I would now gladly serve up my charred breakfast scraps were it only possible. But alas, time moves relentlessly forward, leaving only fading memories of scenarios we can never retrieve. Many years later, on a beautiful, clear evening in the silvery radiance of full moonlight washing down over all the old familiar places, I revisited that particular site ostensibly to collect some pyrrhotite samples. But the truth is that I was contemplating that vivid memory from so many years ago. It was no fun getting back in there at night after the long passage of time. I spent a pleasant few hours in observation, over sandwiches and coffee, then departed, crossing the old stream-bed perhaps for a last time. The beavers seem to have abandoned the spot and massive washouts appear imminent. Think what you will, but that concludes our prospecting tale. Whether by design or chaos, we live on a tiny planet in a small, inconsequential solar system located on the outer fringe of the Milky Way. Life for most of us is nothing more or less than a twisty maze of circumstances and events that frequently generate no reasonable or satisfactory explanation for the odd happenstances of our existence. Happy Holidays everyone… all the very best to you in the forthcoming New Year. Jim. Edited / Photo Revised December 2017

Hi Gerry… I prefer to hunt alone because it is both more enjoyable and successful for me. Occasionally I happen across a temporary hunting partner, but try to avoid any issues by comporting myself in a casual manner regardless of what is or isn’t found. But if that partner isn’t doing well, and should I happen across a productive patch, then I will bring it to his attention and invite him to search it too. One cannot do otherwise and feel happy about it. That said, my wife of some 45+ years has been my part-time prospecting partner for three plus decades. I guess it goes without saying that I don’t piss her off while we’re out prospecting. I’m too well trained to do such a stupid thing. There are consequences for everything we do, so I prefer to wait until we return home before provoking her. But in the field, I make every possible effort to ensure that she enjoys her visits with me when I’m rockhunting in northeastern Ontario’s silver country for the duration of each autumn. Her interest certainly is not nearly on a par with mine, but she does like to find quality native silver specimens re: possessing good character. She has no particular inclination to find an outstanding large silver sample… obviously the stuff that motivates me… and so it’s a simple task to direct her to productive sites where small silver exists in reasonably accessible quantity. Of course we search together at such times to ensure that any difficulties she may experience, or questions about various minerals she encounters, are quickly answered or resolved. She’s a great partner, we’ve traveled extensively in pursuit of this hobby, particularly into the silverfields as noted, and more recently into Quebec’s Laurentian Mountains. Our memories are replete with exploring wilderness areas, electronic prospecting for silver ores or floats, and otherwise searching for non-detectable minerals in Ontario’s renowned Bancroft area. We’ve shared infinite companionable moments by blazing campfires on cool, starry autumn evenings, typically discussing our plans for the next day or evaluating ores over steaming hot coffee. Depicted below is a commonplace example of her many small native silver recoveries, found during our most recent field trip. We had been scraping away some hillslope tailings and alternately scanning the fresh surfaces with both an F75 / MXT equipped with 10” elliptical coils while operating in true motion all-metal modes. I had been working just around a bend and thinking about calling it quits for the day because twilight was stealing upon us, and a swirling snowstorm was swiftly advancing across the lake toward us. My partner stepped around the tailings, with a rather pleased smile over her latest silver recovery held out for me to see. I love the soft gleam of high purity native silver embedded in creamy white calcite, so I took the photo despite it being freshly dug and covered in wet dirt. Well, I guess that’s about it for now. Thankyou for your recent contributions to this forum Gerry, we do hope that we will see more from you in the future. It’s all good. Jim.

Hi Jin… yes I fully agree with you that it is nice to have your wife along for the prospecting trips. I can tell you frankly that most of our friends, workmates, and neighbors have no real interest in pursuing hobbies or other interests in the great outdoors. I think that the likelihood of persuading our spouses to accompany us on such trips is greatly enhanced if we explain to them that there will be opportunities for them to indulge some of their interests too. Even after 45 years of marriage, I have to remind myself that girls are different from us, and their interests do travel along other lines that are equally important to them. So it is a good idea to plan ahead to ensure that they have such opportunities. For example it could be making provisions to include a (clothing, antiques or whatever) shopping excursion or whatever interests her, and to ensure that her books, knitting, or whatever else she prefers, are packed safely into the camper for her use. Our wives will enjoy accompanying us all the more, and will appreciate that we’ve made the extra effort to accommodate them and ensure they can be clean and comfortable. It’s a win-win scenario. I also like the idea of letting her find a gold nugget even if you have to plant one at a shallow depth. Once they’ve had that success, they may find that in addition to the alluring gold nugget, that they have enjoyed a sense of individual accomplishment too. We can never be quite sure just what aspect of the hunt might capture their interest. Also, perhaps developing some rudimentary knowledge about local mineralogy (pretty rocks) may be all that’s required for the next small step to metamorphose her into a genuinely interested hobbyist. But of course Jin, if none of the above works, well there’s no worries. The unconditional affection and loyalty of a good dog can amply supply most of our companionship requirements. Moreover, there is a great deal to be said for heading to the outback and enjoying some uninterrupted, relaxing solitude. It’s all good. Thanks for taking some time to share in this discussion. I like your ideas, and wish you every success with your future prospecting adventures. Hopefully we’ll interact here again soon. Attached below as an afterthought are some silver examples my wife and I have found while working together at one time or another over the years... Jim.

Hi Jin… I enjoyed reading your post because it expresses my lifelong inclination to include my wife and family in my prospecting adventures. I’ve enjoyed a good deal of success in doing so for over 30 years now. Of course this is just one example of many endeavors where I’ve always been responsible for the guidance and stewardship pertaining to all things family related. So I guess I’m saying thankyou for sharing your thoughts and feelings in that regard. Below, just for the heck of it, I’ve included a few photos of my lifelong prospecting partner in winter camping scenes. She’s a very astute metal detectorist with an impressive history of silver recoveries here in Ontario, and the best of companions in all weathers. As depicted below, it seems that we invariably find ourselves in early winter conditions because we are always reluctant to pack-up and leave our North Country prospecting environs. So thankyou Jin, and congratulations on acquiring your new camper and Jeep, I’m sure these will encourage your wife. And who knows… we all were once newcomers to the hobby… just maybe she’ll eventually become a dyed-in-the-wool prospector.

Hi Steve and Everyone,.. We never hear about forum members detecting tellurides. I think I’ve seen one such questionable claim in 10 years of reading forums and pertinent literature. There isn’t much information available about detecting tellurides. I did a TreasureNet search and found several references, and examined a few reports, for example Jim Straight’s Prospecting Eluvial Placers with a Metal Detector, and Charles Garrett’s Modern Electronic Prospecting. All these references to this subject suggest without exception that tellurides are not detectable in the field. I’ve never detected a telluride such as sylvanite, or several others with silver present as a constituent, in Ontario’s silver country, and therefore I don’t have a sample to test. So I cannot speak directly to this subject although there must be experienced people who visit this forum who could step forward with direct, firsthand information on this subject. But meanwhile, let me tell you what I think… Tellurides are similar to sulfides and are generally grouped with them in mineralogical texts. A gold telluride such as calaverite is not an alloy or amalgam of gold and tellurium, but rather it occurs as a result of a chemical reaction, creating a distinctly new chemical compound. Both gold and tellurium are chemically altered insofar as there is an electron exchange in their respective atomic structures. That means that the gold (and whatever amount of silver is present) and tellurium are not dissolved or mixed-in together, and I might add that such compounds, for example calaverite, certainly cannot be described as a metal. It is not a metal, but rather it is a telluride, not all that different from what we describe as sulfides. In a practical prospecting context, one could anticipate that gold (and / or silver dominate) tellurides are either non-conductive or at most possibly a marginally conductive substance, perhaps similar to common iron pyrites that in practical terms is pretty much non-detectable in a prospecting field environment. The fact that both gold and particularly silver are excellent conductors does not necessarily influence a chemical compound’s detectability. For example, in my area we have a very prevalent silver sulfide called acanthite, depicted below, which is comprised of 87% silver. And yet it is not a field detectable substance. We do find it occasionally, but only when there is native silver present in an acanthite sample hence generating a detectable signal. Jim.

I won’t prattle on extensively about it Jen, but yes the Infinium is quite adequate to scan for larger silver generally. Its usage depends on the anticipated target size, trash levels, substrate magnetic susceptible iron mineralizations, and the absence of pyrrhotite in quantity… a conductive hotrock that PI and VLF units see very well. Particularly when equipped with larger coils Infinium will penetrate more highly mineralized substrates to significantly greater depths than will VLF units, and mostly ignore iron-mineralized non-conductive hotrocks that occur here. The audio signal ID can be used to eliminate digging some of the larger or elongated iron that reads as ‘high conductive’ in reverse discrimination. That strategy costs me rarely encountered native silver that target IDs above the “silver dime” level, but it’s a very reasonable trade-off. So while the Infinium is inadequate for pursuing gold compared to today’s Minelab offerings, it does possess some redeeming features for this application. As to silver depths, I’m already digging down a long ways in compacted hardrock tailings for what we consider to be small stuff as illustrated below, and several feet depth for occasional larger targets. That’s about all I’m willing to do short of trenching productive ground to obviously access much greater depths. Otherwise, when trenching or sinking a testhole I stick with a mid-range prospecting-capable VLF unit such as an F75 or MXT. In some areas as depicted below where a structural diversity of small native silver nuggets existed in quantity, I utilized both types of units for general scanning. Thanks for asking Jen… following your posts indicate that you have been quite successful in recent months. That’s fantastic, and let’s hope that success continues for you into the future. Jim. PS: John those are really beautiful photos, so thankyou kindly for posting them. The desert possesses a uniquely rugged beauty, but there is no denying the awesome majesty of New Zealand’s scenic mountains and lakes.

GB_Amateur… yes those must be the two books I suggested above, although the covers have changed since my copies were bought several decades ago. My simplified version is 128 pages, and it is my everyday, keep-it-in-my-knapsack companion that I often refer to when on rockhunting trips. More detail can be had from the larger volume back at camp, incidentally my copy is 317 pages so evidently it has been enlarged. Merton if you’ve read Jules Verne, particularly Mysterious Island, you’ll find the same chemical / mineral terminology usage dating from the late 1800s… sometimes it is difficult to determine just exactly what material he has in mind. So I understand your frustration. My goal is try to retain an understanding of the fundamentals for mineral identification and to learn rock and mineral associations in areas that specifically interest me. Even that is a pretty tall order considering the diversity of minerals in central, eastern Ontario… specifically the renowned Bancroft area where most of the known minerals do occur. Steve’s ‘chloride’ explanation for the mining of silver chloride is excellent and in line with your post above. Otherwise, the term 'chloride' refers to a chlorine atom that has taken an additional electron from another element such as sodium (for example ionically bonded table salt NaCl) and added it to completely fill its outer electron orbital path to become a stabilized chloride ‘anion’ that now obviously possesses an overall negative charge (Cl-1 ). Of course in silver bearing areas where chlorine is present, the product could very well be cerargyrite… a silver chloride that you referred to above. Jim.

Bird of prey sitting on a stump (or boulder). Jim. PS: I have a similar-looking specie comprised of silver / calcite that I think of as my "eagle" as shown below.

Your Minelab native silver article was an enjoyable read Chris, as was your instructive native silver thread started here a short while ago. Frankly I've never paid much attention to pricing, but yes it is shocking to me to learn what even dealers will pay for material that I can't be bothered bringing home. I recently posted an article to TreasureNet entitled Recreational Prospecting in the Silverfields of Northeastern Ontario at http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detecting-gold/525046-recreational-prospecting-silverfields-northeastern-ontario.html should you have any interest or spare time. Emphasis is placed on effectively searching abandoned minesite tailings disposal areas characterized by an overabundance of iron and other miscellaneous modern waste materials while employing VLF units. References to F75 and the White's MXT are frequent in regard to discussions about features and their usages in such environs. That's it for now, your ideas interest me... good luck with your tentative plans. Jim.

Hello Rod… the attached links describe a bit of my experience scanning for native silver with this unit. The primarily diabase substrates here are inundated with an endless variety of large and small iron debris, conductive pyrrhotitic rocks that produce a wonderful PI signal, and of course miscellaneous modern trash. The Infinium is not deepseeking compared to the Minelab offerings, but does offer an advantage with larger coils over VLF units in these ferromagnetic minerals. It possesses some iron handling capability, an important attribute in northeastern Ontario’s silverfields, and that is described in detail in both reports linked below. In the TDI report, bypass the TDI information and go to the section pertinent to Infinium for a quick, definitive summary. The Infinium report will give you my assessment of the DD coils with respect to depth / sensitivity, and relative iron handling ability. Our silver is generally much larger than the gold posted to forums, and either the 14” mono or 8” mono are quite serviceable. If searching for gold, utilize the 8” mono for improved depth / sensitivity to smaller targets compared to the 14” coils… as detailed in the Infinium report. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/canada/223207-garrett-infinium-ls-silverfields-ontario-revised-february-2011-a.html http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/canada/223432-whites-tdi-pro-silver-rock-country-infinium-comparison-february-2011-a.html Jim.

I enjoy viewing the natural gold, silver, or other minerals that forum members find. I doubt with most photo contributors that it has much or anything to do with boasting, but rather it is the fun and enjoyment of sharing your recoveries and experience with everyone. Natural specimen photos and scenery shots are a great way to illustrate posts, provide encouragement to fellow hobbyists… especially the newcomers, and photos doubtless enhance overall readership interest. It seems to me that the circumstances surrounding this fellows demise has little or no relationship to what we do on this forum. If you can’t share your discoveries here with similarly interested hobbyists, then where can you? Jim.

Hello Tom… I hope but doubt you’ll remember some of our exchanges on this subject back on Steve’s AMDS Adventure Forum. I asked you then and do so again… do you understand the source of power that moves your gadgetry when you are map dowsing for minerals? It doesn’t move itself, and is certainly not moved by you. When you dabble in the supernatural, there could be possible risks or consequences, but I doubt that you really care. I also doubt that is the case in this instance. I’d prefer to assure you that you saw some local young woman taking her dog for a walk. Her attire is irrelevant, shorty shorts don’t suggest that she’s either a ghost or a loosey goosey dancehall floozy. It implies that she prefers to be comfortable in the warm weather. That three-inch square case that was pointed at you may have contained a derringer or small container of pepper spray, and these possibilities certainly repudiate any notion that you were dealing with anything but mortal flesh. Moreover, the sounds of the tumbling brook would help to sufficiently mask her arrival behind you or in leaving, especially if she remained on a pathway. Be glad that she wasn't a pack of feral dogs on the hunt. On several occasions I’ve experienced the power that moves dowsing rods. Most recently in my work life, we asked about the location of a landfill site discharge pipe. The engineer produced two aluminum dowsing rods and promptly located the pipe. I asked to try the rods, and sure enough they both turned to the outside to line up perfectly over the buried pipe. I’ve dowsed for graphite and felt the wood twigs arch so strongly down that they could have easily snapped. It is easy to imagine how dowsing could be intriguing and addictive. Incidentally, I have those aluminum rods as a gift to this day but only use them for bottle probing at old cabin sites when out prospecting silver in northern Ontario. Regardless of your religious beliefs or otherwise, as a resource on the subject, certainly references are made to spirits throughout the pages of the Bible. Those references are not terribly flattering. A knowledgeable, rational individual would not willingly invite them into the house for any reason. Unless your map dowsing technique has encouraged you in the hobby and resulted in some satisfactory mineral finds, why not at least supplement them with some basic research? Perhaps arrive at the research area and then go to dowsing for specific places to investigate. This modus operandi might save you any further questionable experiences when alone in the bush. Jim. PS: You described that blue crystal years ago on the AMDS forum, and I mentioned the hexagonal crystal structure could indicate tourmaline… a commonplace occurrence in Maine.

Chris… has it occurred to you that we could apply your above statement to many of the questions asked on these forums. Have you considered that some forum members admire or even trust you as an unequivocal knowledge source whose advice is their first preference? Sure, we can simply Google such questions and dismiss any effort at forum discussion. But without questions, these forums would pretty much cease to function or even exist. Tom didn’t ask 1000 questions but rather a simple few questions that require no study or work from you. The answers are equally simple, and I’ve answered them below. You might anticipate that initiating a “show and tell” thread where you present information is likely to generate questions. If you are not prepared to responsibly deal with that possibility, then perhaps you should reserve your presentations for the magazine fraternity, where no questions need be answered. Tom… Muriatic acid is a generic term for various strengths of Hydrochloric (HCl) acid. In Ontario over the years, HCl acid strength has varied from 19% up to 37%, is priced accordingly, and is available at pool supply shops, Canadian Tire, Home Depot and other hardware related outlets. At times I use it extensively for treating naturally occurring silver ores, as exemplified in the photo below. Muriatic acid will help loosen and certainly doesn’t hurt with cleaning dirt from our silver specimens. Gold shouldn’t be any different. The soil here is primarily a brown clay loam pretty much dominated by brown goethite iron mineralization, and is very reactive to even light concentrations of muriatic acid. Whether that holds true for the more oxidized red soils you refer to is beyond my experience. I’d also suggest looking into an ultrasonic cleaner, and variety of suitable dental type picks as an option. Muriatic acid can be used as it comes straight from the bottle, but I prefer to dilute initially to one part acid added to two or three parts water to clean dirt and calcite residues from natural silver. More fragile specimens call for much weaker acid concentrations, on rare occasions I’ve even used vinegar… a weak acetic acid. More water dilution slows down the reaction, and permits more control over the procedure. Ensure your personal safety and wear protective gloves, and face splash-guard (or at least approved safety glasses) as a minimum when handling acid solutions. Jim.

Steve this has been suggested to me over the years, and I've read a few accounts on the forums. "The way Fe3O4 (or equivalent) is measured internally in different machines, is different, so it's hard to generalize what it'll do on metal targets. On some machines on some targets and in some soils it can be an aid in identifying flat or rusty iron." That is a direct quote taken from an email to me from a chief design engineer in El Paso who certainly ought to know. My F75 Fe3O4 meter will respond to rusted iron in the ground conditions here, but it will respond similarly over some perfectly good, rich silver ores in situ. When seeking more information about a suspect target, I use the groundgrab feature prior to disturbing the soil. Pinpoint the target, enable the groundgrab and pump the coil no more than four or five times. That's plenty, so don't force the issue. Observe the ground phase / GB readout. In this area a sharp reduction from typical operating values of around GB86 to more conductive GB values... for example say low GB40s... is a clear indication of either rusted iron (maghemite formation in surrounding matrix), predominantly colbaltite ores (arsenic rich) that may or not possibly contain some negligible amount of native silver, or niccolite... a commonplace nickel arsenide in this area.. but our typical dollar-size nickel ores tend to generate comparatively less conductive values in the GB50s. Jim.

Hi Fred… the point I was trying to convey above is that at least in this prospecting application, things are fairly healthy for consistently successful hunters, and likewise regarding specimen market values. It does pay to be selective about where and how a product is marketed. There is much less surface detectable silver to be found nowadays certainly, but the surface pickings weren’t all that great when I entered the hobby some 30 years ago. The “electronic prospecting rush” was pretty much over by that time in this area, and yet I’m well acquainted with several top hunters who currently supplement their income nicely by marketing silver largely outside Ontario. All the very best with your prospecting season Fred, I'm heading to the north country within a few days and will be absent from the forums for several months. Good luck and good hunting. Jim.

Ahhh Rick… what a hilarious sense of humor!!! I think that it would be interesting to apply your astute powers of observation and analytical inclination to this application in northeastern Ontario. There can be no doubt that combining our resources would prove to be a lot of fun, and heck… we might even find some worthwhile silver or related minerals!! I love to explore for potential sites, with a result that occasional good material is found as a mere happenstance. But the key is to locate deposits… and of course ultimately that leads to excavations. I see no reason why you couldn’t accompany me in a supervisory role once we partake of a few drinks at the local watering hole. My friends could comfortably transport you out to the treasure site as depicted below. I normally dig roughly two-and-a-half to three-foot deep trenches to see what gives. It’s not terribly unusual to dig to seven-foot depths or more where silver stringers continue to surface. But it’s certainly not all work and no play. I enjoy metal detecting regardless of what is found. Identifying silver distribution patterns over large areas, and predicting and investigating deep signals with either PI or VLF units is a lot of fun. And by and large... that is how we find good silver. mn90403… Mitchel… if you click on the link below, it will direct you to the first of several lengthier articles that I’ve posted over the years. These copies are stored on the “Canada” sub-forum at TreasureNet. You might wish to log into the forum as this permits you to see silver photos full-size, otherwise you must click on each photo individually to do so. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/canada/223432-white-s-tdi-pro-silver-rock-country-infinium-comparison-february-2011-a.html. The samples displayed on forums do have some relationship to bullion value, albeit in many cases that is not a terribly serious consideration to me as a potential seller. By comparison, crystalline silver or the various dendritic forms, sponge and particulate native silver, especially those in close association with related minerals… particularly the ruby silvers, for example proustite crystals… are worth many times their bullion value. Some such specimens are very ordinary in my experience, but there it is. Jim.

Hard Prospector partial quote: "the writings still on the wall. All the pieces I've detected in the last 6 months came from moving tailing piles, raking or digging BEFORE swinging, resulting in some nice finds but it took lots of work and patience. Wandering across the desert while swinging is what I enjoy most but I'm beginning to accept that to stay productive with my detector, this is what I have to do." Rob... a no BS observation that applies to my area as well. Oh sure, we can still wander about and occasionally find something worthwhile, but most such surface material is long gone. And despite occasional superlative large silver floats found in the outback, 99% of such floats are comprised of undesirable arsenides, not to mention that it is an iron-clad bitch to dig any of it in the heavy bush. I've been doing exactly what you suggest for many years and doing it successfully. I pick my sites based on firsthand sampling experienced over the years and move a lot of material as per the photo below. In this application, I feel no motivation to acquire even deeperseeking units. What I do make good use of is a strong back, good leather gloves, a sturdy pick and shovel that can get the job done as efficiently as possible. Welcome to the real world of mineral collecting, or in this instance silver collecting. Thanks Rob. Jim.

Hi Kenny… over on the Dankowski forum I see that Keith did a video on the F75 in his test plot and got surprisingly good depth on a nickel with that 10” elliptical DD coil. In terms of magnetic susceptible strength his ground is similar to mine, but there is something else about that type of ground that allows his detectors to obtain pretty decent tones on his deep, planted targets. As I mentioned above, that just won’t happen here because coins beyond five or six inches depth read as iron. I would like to try the latest model you have purchased, it sounds like it is an outstanding unit. But for prospecting / tailing searching in remote areas I have found my original F75 to be quite stable, so there hasn’t been much justification for upgrading it. In the silverfields here, the motion all-metal mode is particularly stable at maximum gain, in fact much more than is my MXT in its motion all-metal prospecting mode. While I haven’t used one, I can’t help but think that your 10” elliptical DD will be a significant improvement over the stock 11” elliptical DD for small nuggets. While the 11” elliptical DD is fine for this area where the silver is relatively large, it does lack sensitivity to small stuff. My 10” elliptical concentric markedly improves sensitivity in that regard, and the 5” round DD or especially the 6½” elliptical concentric… my favorite coil for small stuff… makes this unit very capable over sub-grainers. Don’t worry about replying to this post Kenny, my main goal here was simply to reiterate what a pleasure it has been to chat back and forth with you about this unit… thankyou for being such a good conversationalist. Good luck with your F75, we’ll be in touch I’m sure… especially if I see a future post about your F75 detecting activities. Happy Trails!!! Jim.

Hi Kenny… just another few remarks in response to your findings to date. The F75 discrimination modes do process ground mineral and target signals differently. Employing zero discrimination in any F75 discrimination mode to eliminate those mafic negative hotrock signals, while simultaneously acquiring the best possible discrimination mode detection depth and making good use of iron tones… is a great combination. Aside from masking issues, keep in mind that iron tones will sometimes be applied to non-ferrous targets at depth… particularly in elevated ferromagnetic substrates. Listen for any hint of regular tones and although it can be frustrating at times… try to habituate yourself to digging the weaker iron tones if you think the conditions / prospects warrant it. Nowadays I rarely use discrimination modes, unless small iron tidbits, small nails or beds of numerous hotrocks are troublesome to the point of distraction. Most of our searching is done in the motion all-metal mode for its superior sens / depth and that especially applies when compared to discrimination modes in areas of higher ground mineral magnetic strength. At most times we can ignore the negative hotrock signals as they’re easy to recognize. All other decent strength positive signals should be checked on the target ID meter, followed by a quick groundgrab and observe what happens to the ground balance readout over various targets prior to disturbing the ground with digging. All weaker signals should be investigated until satisfied about target ID, and that normally means digging the target signal… as I’m sure we all realize. We have found that ground-grabbed rusty iron invariably falls to more conductive ground phase values, some of the prevalent conductive minerals here do the same, including pyrrhotite, cobalt and niccolite. Silver free from serious contamination of these mineral types normally does not change much or at all… especially the smaller sub-gram silver, and I imagine gold responds similarly. But don’t force the issue, and by that I mean don’t pump the coil more than five times because that is more than sufficient for the internal computer to categorize the target. No technique is infallible of course, but the GROUNDGRAB / FASTGRAB feature available on modern prospecting-capable units does offer some additional target ID information. One other thing, concentric coils are more effective for this type of target evaluation because the positive signal of non-ferrous targets is more likely to remain intact after using the groundgrab feature. For detailed reading on this topic you may wish to view the last section at the link below. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/canada/328287-electronic-prospecting-silver-country-part-2-a.html As a point of interest, if you plant test targets to make relative depth comparisons, you will see distinct differences in detection depth comparing DE / PF modes to the JE mode if even minimal iron discrimination is employed. At least that is the case here, and it is a nuance you should be aware of. Any coin size non-ferrous target buried beyond five or six inches will read as iron, will invariably target ID at “14”, and that will remain the case for many years here. Under these circumstances, JE mode produces superior depth over all such targets. This nuance is something to keep in mind if searching in loose or unconsolidated tailings, or any application that involves searching disturbed ground… for example urban renewal projects where material is moved around. Otherwise I suppose the most likely alternative is to employ zero discrimination in concert with 2F iron tones… but check out those deeper iron signals… especially those that target ID at “14” that may in fact be non-ferrous. With any luck we’ll be in touch over the course of the coming months to see how things are progressing. I hope to hear that you’ve had some good results in the field… all the very best with everything. Jim.

Steve… thankyou for posting a link to the revised TDI Pro article. I’ve mentioned to you in the past that I was dissatisfied with the original, but finally there was time available to update it along with my other reports. These are stored on the TNET Canada sub-forum for reference. I’m content now that everything reads as they should have initially. A good portion of the forum discussion recently has centered around a collective interest in the latest Minelab offerings with considerable emphasis on field experience to date. There is little or nothing I can contribute to those discussions, but I’m not about to unnecessarily ‘muddy’ the water with irrelevant chatter about silver hunting. The fact is that the recent ‘Abandoned Trails’ article was an incidental distraction resulting from discussions with hobbyists and friends last autumn. I had very little interest in posting that article anywhere. Usually such run-of-the-mill material gets filed in my prospecting journal and never does see the light of day. The TDI revision was a necessary PITA to finally set the record straight. Possibly down the road there will be a more suitable time for introducing a silver-related essay here. Meanwhile permit me to compliment your stewardship of this forum, you’re doing a tremendous job and the forum has attracted some of the foremost people in the hobby to its active membership. It generates some very interesting discussions at a knowledge level that cannot be matched elsewhere. Jim.

Sorry Tom, it won't be possible to be in New Hampshire at that time of year. I hope to be at the family cottage across from the Sandbanks on Prince Edward Island, and may take a break to head north to silver country in northeastern Ontario over the long Victoria Day May 24th weekend for a week or three... just depends on circumstances. Have a safe trip, please take some scenery shots, and otherwise good luck with everything!!! Jim.

Tom... congratulations on your copper nuggets, you had to work for them. Nuggets and especially copper / rock specimens I've seen from Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula have an inherently unique beauty. These command extraordinary prices at an upper peninsula rockshop. If any native silver is attached to a primarily copper / rock sample, the price escalates sharply. Glad to see you regularly posting here on the forum Tom. You've had some well-deserved success with your Indiana glacial gold... doggone it... a first-rate picker. Well done!!! Jim.

I’m really pleased to see this type of highly informative write-up Steve. Despite all the forum discussion about PI units, the vast majority of hunters encountered prospecting silver in northeastern Ontario are using VLF units. And irrespective of whether they actively participate, there’s no doubt that most do monitor this and other forums. So hopefully everyone will find your discussion related to VLF operating modes, target ID and monitoring ground mineralizations to be especially interesting and instructive. On that note allow me to say that your resourceful efforts to keep this forum diversified and interactive are certainly appreciated. Excellent work as exemplified by this latest thread … thankyou and hope to see more along these lines from time to time. Jim. PS: I think most experienced electronic prospectors would agree that one can never have too much visual information about ground mineralizations with respect to phase measurement and magnetic susceptibilities, and target ID in conjunction with audio signal nuances... particularly for those who search almost exclusively in motion all-metal modes. Better to have it and not need it than otherwise.

Yep... agree with the guys above, many thanks azblackbird. Mankind's works are as nothing, we see plenty of similar evidence up here in the silver areas. Continual changes, the forests encroaching until some of the places I hunted 30 years ago are now unrecognizable / or access is much more difficult. Jim.

Hi LipCa… this subject was on my mind while in the northland hunting silver this past autumn. Steve provides a very good description of the conditions that produce this common occurrence. With innumerable small silver samples dug each season, we experience this phenomenon repeatedly. It is nothing unusual to read about hobbyists claiming that nuggets in the ground react with a stronger signal to their PI units than those same nuggets produce once disturbed, brought to the surface, or occasionally even waved across the coil. Sometimes it is claimed that no air test signal can be had on a piece that obviously responded with a signal when in the ground. From my experience with PI units I have no doubt these variable accounts are factual. A commonplace scenario here is that a decent size piece is anticipated based on the signal strength, only to dig it and find that a perfectly good signal was produced by a high character, spongy, or small silver ore whose surface signal has lost considerable strength or nearly vanished. Occasionally the signal is lost altogether… requiring my Propointer to locate such targets. Jim.