Under Water Gold Prospecting

[phrunt]

They're just on Amazon, only made of hardened steel with a coating to prevent rust but I only use in fresh water anyway and I've had no problems.

Thanks for the hemostats idea Lanny, I'll look into getting some.

[jasong]

The first gold specific detector I bought was to detect bedrock cracks in my dredge holes after seeing the "Golden Optimist" (Leonard) post about it on a river I was also working at the time. I never had any luck with detecting gold nuggets in rivers myself though. A blaster nozzle + dredge nozzle always worked much quicker. 

There is nothing quite like the solitude underwater combined with the ASMR-like clinking and clanging sounds of gravel going up a dredge nozzle, watching layers get removed and occasionally seeing a flake or nugget exposed that you can just pluck up with your fingers, cleaning down to bedrock. It'd be the most relaxing thing I could imagine if it wasn't simultaneously the hardest work I've ever done.

[Bear]

The bedrock where I dredge is a quartz Muscovite schist that weathers to a inplace clay from frost shattering.  You can dredge quite always into it so I take at least a foot and then check it with my SDC.  I have gotten signals and dredged deeper to find little nuggets which I wrote a little bit about on here.

 

Last year my SDC did leak.  I always clean and check the seal but it was an older model purchased in 2015.  I had to send it in for repair.  

[Steve Herschbach]

I’ve detected in creeks with detectors and mask and snorkel. My general observation is it’s way easier to find gold with a detector via normal means. Target recovery can be difficult in fast moving water, and more after than not I got a bullet or fishing sinker for the effort.

I did always think while dredging, that using a detector to locate nail/ferrous concentrations, might work to lead my dredge to deposits of smaller gold, that would otherwise be invisible to detectors.

[MSC]

Have you seen Gerry’s and his friends underwater finds with SDC’s?

If something has value, it goes in Gerry's mouth.