Don’t Nox It Till You Try It

[tboykin]

After being sequestered with too much audio production work I was itching for a rare excursion to the goldfields of Southern Oregon. When I used to work in the metal detector industry it was great to have these outings be a part of my work, testing new machines or shooting videos. But it left little time for actual detecting and learning some basic geology. I am still dumber than most on both fronts!

I bought a GPZ and it found enough gold to just about pay itself off, but later sold it to a friend when I realized that with two young kids my outings would be separated by months, not weeks. Better for it to be used every weekend by a real miner! So I bought an Equinox 800 since I would be relegated more to dirty diapers than dirty fingernails. But could it find gold?
 

Pictured above is 1.6 grams of hard-earned Oregon gold (with the ubiquitous .22 shell casing for scale) out of a hydraulic mine. But you’ll notice the fluffy, pocket-gold nature of it. All I can say is there is a lot of interesting geology down there. And the old timers knew how to move dirt!

Since I’m a hobbyist now the gold is nice but I also take the time to enjoy the view (and some Spam for breakfast). No bears around camp but we did see a nice sow on one of the spur roads deep in the woods.

 

I was hunting side by side with my friend, who was swinging the GPZ. He found 3 small pieces also but I beat him on weight. Lucky this time.

I will say that the hot rocks and extreme soil changes were difficult, but I knew that would be the case with a VLF. Thankfully a lot of the hot rocks were volcanic so a little “boot discrimination” helped along with a selective notch and adjusting the recovery speed up when things got too noisy. The smaller piece I would not have found with these settings as the VDI rang up same as one of those little red and black hot rocks, but had a nice subtle zip that helped me separate it out from about five hot rocks in a one foot square area. That nugget comes in at about 4 grains and the GPZ couldn’t hit it even on the surface since it was so porous and has some host rock still attached.

I am torn on using the Nox in all metal or with some disc and found myself switching back and forth, going over the same ground twice. This gold was found in ground that has been detected many times by experienced hunters and took a careful ear (and often equally careful recovery since it was in clay). All gold found with the 6” coil.

[Steve Herschbach]

Welcome to Equinox nugget detecting Tom, and job well done! You may even have an edge over some VLF old timers because the Equinox requires out of box thinking with the range of options available. Gold Mode and Park 2 are great starting places for nugget hunting, both with features a person might appreciate depending on the situation. And don’t forget the beach modes as a fix for alkali ground.

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/7468-my-tips-on-nugget-detecting-with-the-minelab-equinox/

 

[Sourdough Scott]

Tom, I'm amazed you defected from Whites! Lol.  Nice job on the nuggets.

[Jeff McClendon]

Great to see that you are able to get out and have a break from daddy hood and quarantine. The Equinox 800 with 6" coil in Gold 1 or Gold 2 multi with maybe just a little rejection of -9 and -8 can hunt just about anywhere from my experience successfully. I am really glad it worked out so well for you. 

Have fun,

Jeff

[tboykin]

24 minutes ago, Sourdough Scott said:

Tom, I'm amazed you defected from Whites! Lol.  Nice job on the nuggets.

I think the 24k would have found these just as easy or maybe even easier, but I really like having one machine that can do it all.

The market is getting more and more competitive and it’ll be interesting to see what comes from Fisher and White’s to meet those challenges.

It was great working for White’s and I wish them the best.

Right now I’m waiting for a discriminating ZVT... but with two toddlers I can afford to wait. Most of you guys will be in retirement homes then, so more gold for me 😋

[Steve Herschbach]

9 minutes ago, tboykin said:

Most of you guys will be in retirement homes then, so more gold for me 😋

Sorry Tom, but we are cleaning it up now so we can pay for the retirement home. But I’ll leave a nugget for you, I promise.😉

[mn90403]

Tom,

Good hunting and I know when you get out now you cherish your time.  I certainly do.

I'm in your world and in the retirement home world at the same time.  It's been months since I've been on a nugget hunt not because of the lock down but because I'm mostly in charge of our 2.5 year old.  I love the smell of wet diapers in the morning.  haha 

I get to sneak out in the middle of the night or a couple of hours on an afternoon for a beach hunt with the 800.  I'm looking forward to the years coming up where I'll be out with my son and help him find his first nugget.  I hope he does it before he is 5 and it may be with an 800 because I don't think he will be able to handle the weight of a discriminating ZVT.

Mitchel

[tboykin]

Yes I can’t wait wait till my kids are old enough to enjoy digging. My wife is not a fan of camping or detecting so I’m hoping at least one of the kids will be into that stuff. But they may not have a choice.

[Gerry in Idaho]

That terrain is amazing looking Tom and glad to see you out there tasting a different variety of detector flavors.  Good to see you enjoying some heavy metal and Spam.  I myself enjoy it and for some reason my wife thinks it is evil.  Thanks for sharing and we need to do a hunt later this summer.

[tboykin]

8 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

Thanks for sharing and we need to do a hunt later this summer.

That would be great. I’ve been researching a few areas between Canyon City and Baker City that you might be interested in as well.

I sold my GPZ when I realized I wouldn’t be detecting as much as I’d like but when I’m in the market for a new one you’ll be my first call Gerry. Luckily it found enough gold when I had it to where it’ll be an easy time convincing the wife.