Pin Pointer For Placer?

[Hard Prospector]

Always had my doubts about these things for placer work. I mean; bed rock cracks, under boulders or just a quick pass through in screened material before it being sluiced or drywashed. Usually I reach for my trusty GB2 for such applications. Always thought the pin pointers are better left for the parks?  Perhaps I should be more open minded........?

[phrunt]

I often use mine for bedrock cracks which is why I've always been on the hot pursuit of a very sensitive pinpointer, they're invaluable in finding gold inside rock, sometimes we have cracks that can't even be seen like they've healed over so we are left smashing up schist to try find the gold, the detector knows its there but can't narrow it down so you're left smashing up a lot of rock to try find this little 0.03 of a gram nugget, very difficult task, with the pinpointer being able to narrow down right where the gold is can be invaluable and means you only have to break up a small portion of rock.  

Another instance is when you're smashing rock on a cliff edge, you can't be aggressive as the gold can go by by over the edge, so the pinpointer narrowing it down really helps.

The best for the task I think are the Sphinx 03 (near impossible to buy), Whites TRX (also near impossible to buy), Garrett Pro Pointer AT, keep in mind it's only sensitive on the side of the tip to small targets so this can cause problems when trying to locate targets in bedrock cracks, and the XP Mi-4/6 which are not quite as sensitive as the others listed above but is very stable and is quite good on the tip.  

The new Minelab Pro-Find 40 maybe a viable alternative as the PRo-Find 35 was reasonable except for stability and quality problems, and with its boosted sensitivity over the 35 it may well be able to match the Garrett and XP for small target sensitivity.

The Sphinx 03 and Whites TRX are the most sensitive to small targets although the Whites is a bit unstable when sensitivity is on highest and also doesn't handle bad ground as well as the others.

[Hard Prospector]

Thanks phrunt, appreciate the in depth reply.  Heard some good things about the Garrett Pro Pointer (also heard the Minelab pointers were not so great).  When I was in Anchorage, went to AMDS and  talked to a guy who worked there named Dustin. He really seemed to know his stuff and liked the Garrett pointer for a quick spin through his screened material before sluicing or high banking.

BTW; if ever in Anchorage, you gotta make a stop at AMDS.  This place is the "Bass Pro Shops" of mining and prospecting supplies. Very knowledgeable and friendly staff as well.  

[Valens Legacy]

2 hours ago, phrunt said:

I often use mine for bedrock cracks which is why I've always been on the hot pursuit of a very sensitive pinpointer

How many pointers do you have now as I guess you have several of them just hanging in your closet. Did you ever get your battery holder for them made?

[jasong]

9 hours ago, Hard Prospector said:

Always had my doubts about these things for placer work. I mean; bed rock cracks, under boulders or just a quick pass through in screened material before it being sluiced or drywashed. Usually I reach for my trusty GB2 for such applications. Always thought the pin pointers are better left for the parks?  Perhaps I should be more open minded........?

For most of those applications, if you already have a GB2 out with you, my guess is it's probably better than a pinpointer with the exception of maybe very tight or hard to reach places. 

Pinpointers while detecting with a machine like the GPZ are useful, for me at least, because I can keep it strapped to my shoulder and easily access it, it's not very practical to keep a GB2 strapped to me and quickly deploy it too. If it were, I'd do that instead of a pinpointer. It'd also interfere with the GPZ a lot more. If you are just doing placer work, none of that is an issue. 

Whatever saves you time/work though. I save 5-10 minutes per hole with a pinpointer in places with lots of rock chiseling, or in places where I'm using a big coil and going really deep, and can dig a smaller hole using the pointer. In most those cases, I usually feel a GB2 would help better, but it's not really feasible to carry it around like a pinpointer can be. 

[Rob Allison]

Hey Hardrock,

   I have tried many pinpointers over the years specific to digging nuggets from a location or crack after detecting the target.  For years I have used the Garrett AT Pinpointer for this very task, worked great for nuggets about 1/4 to 1/2 gram and up on bedrock.  You will not get a ton of depth unless the nugget is very large, but a Pinpointer at times, on certain targets can save time and potentially eliminate you from damaging the piece of gold by picking away vigorously.  

I have a ton of the new Minelab Pro-Find 40's in stock, but haven't personally tested it again the Garrett or every tried to Pinpoint nuggets with it.  

Pinpointers are convenient to have at times and can be easily stored in a side pouch, lanyard or backpack.  

Hope this helps a  bit,

Rob

[snakejim]

12 hours ago, Hard Prospector said:

Always had my doubts about these things for placer work. I mean; bed rock cracks, under boulders or just a quick pass through in screened material before it being sluiced or drywashed. Usually I reach for my trusty GB2 for such applications. Always thought the pin pointers are better left for the parks?  Perhaps I should be more open minded........?

I use one of these and it can pick up gold that you can hardly see. http://falconmetaldetectors.com/

[Hard Prospector]

4 hours ago, snakejim said:

I use one of these and it can pick up gold that you can hardly see. http://falconmetaldetectors.com/

Falcons are very useful in generally dry conditions (have 2) but if that thing gets wet its done

Thanks for the reply Jim

[Aureous]

Dont forget the Treasure Mate PP by Tesoro, if you can find one: 

 

[Gerry in Idaho]

I carry and use my Garrett AT Carrot on most of my Tailing hunts.  It's so hard to dig a hole in loose piles of rocks without the sides collapsing and filling the hole again.  The pointer is great at trying to isolate the correct rock (specimen) without the hole sliding in.  Also, many of those rocks look the same, so having the pointer to speed up the process of isolation is great.

Another use for Pinpointer - When using a bigger PI or GPZ sometimes those holes get quite big and deep.  Having a pointer to help narrow down where the nugget is, will speed up recover and also help from it getting damaged from the end of my pic.  Who wants to find a nice 1/2 oz gold nugget and see a fresh new gouge in the gold from the pick?  Also, those deeper holes, the coil is hard to get into the hole and the pointer is great for that.

Trying to carry a big powerful detector and an extra smaller VLF detector is really tough.  Having a small compact pointer to wear on the hip or in your pouch is much easier.

Good luck.