Detector Finds From Tailing Piles & Hand Placer Digs

[Gerry in Idaho]

I was called by a successful client old pupil of mine and he was telling me to start a new thread as I had posted this to a recent post.  Only reason I even wrote the reply was one of the forum members had asked the questions.  I realize there are many states, counties, areas and minerals in the USA and not all tailing piles are the same.  But in all honestly, I've probably hiked of while swinging more than most of you and in many different areas.  Heck I even wrote an article many years back in a magazine (when they existed) about how I hunt such piles.  Not sure where it is, but many new machines I've tried since then and I still come up with the same conclusion.  So here goes and I hope others will chime in with their experiences.   Heck, I even know of a few of you who have found your biggest gold with a certain detector, even though you had a bigger one...and yes you also took our 3 Days Field Training.  Hopefully some of you newer folks will learn from this and who knows, maybe an old salty member may as well.

The majority of my bigger gold finds have come from tailing piles.  I've detected dredge and hand placer digging piles in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Nevada with success.  If I were to hunt California, Arizona and Wyoming tailing piles, I'd do what I've learned in the 30 years of chasing bigger gold and do what I usually do, I'd run Discriminating VLF's and find even more.  Yes I have used PI's and even ZED with Success at such locations, but I run out of energy much sooner, as shovel heads at 3 1/2 feet are Ball Breakers, grease buckets over 4' are heart attaches.  Here's the funny thing about the bigger machines. I've yet to actually find a bigger chunk of gold beyond the depths of my VLF's capabilities.  I'm sure it has been done by someone, but my Success speaks for itself.

I run into folks in the field on occasion and they swear up and down, those said sites can be PI'd.  OK, then why is my VLF Success 10X of theirs????  Sometimes a little Success with a PI in tailing does not mean that's the best way to do it.  Problem is, some folks are happy with a little bit of Success and too hard headed to learn and or teach themselves a new style.  OK with me, as I'll keep doing what works for me and they can keep doing what works for them.

Not all tailing piles are the same and many are not even in good size gold nugget/specimen country.  Many folks forget this fact.  In many of the tailing I detect, the highly mineralized soils have already been removed, so the VLF's capabilities are optimal which = a closer performance comparison of said VLF vs PI.  Again, different parts of the country in the US, the piles vary.  It's just that in the regions and states I've detected tailing piles, I've been able to get best results with the Discriminating VLFs.

- A lighter and faster VLF detector can be used for longer periods of time

- The Iron ID VLF's save time in identifying ferrous and non ferrous targets.

- Today's newer discriminating VLF's with target Identification can be taken a step above and helps me separate the nonferrous targets and saves me more time not having to dig certain non ferrous targets.

- In many tailing piles, the mineralized dirt has been removed and performance of VLF vs PI is not as big a difference.

- Very important and not mentioned by most.  Invisible gold - It's out there in way more places than most realize, but you don't know as your detector can't see it.  Many older PI detectors and even a couple current models can not see or will respond to such gold.  I have numerous multi ounces pieces a VLF responds to and bigger detectors can't or do it but not as well at a depth as the VLF.

I love detecting tailing & hand work placer piles.  I highly recommend to those who have not done so to try it and be open minded when doing so.  There is no right or wrong way, but do what seems to work for you.

If you have a bigger PI or ZED and don't own a VLF, I know you're missing gold and in some areas, you could be missing the best gold.  No sales pitch, just what I have learned from being in the field for many years.  Heck I couldn't believe my own eyes when I 1st witnessed this 25+ yrs ago.  Now I take a big machine and VLF everywhere I go

Here's some pics of finds with a variety of detectors that I have been successful with and all were from old workings.

[MSC]

Really nice gold Gerry, I miss your usual display style. Continued good hunting. 

[oldmancoyote1]

Very nice!  

Do you prefer a standard coil (say a 9" elliptical coil) or a larger coil (say a  13" x 15" double D) on your VLF when detecting dredging piles?

[dig4gold]

Hi Gerry. You have truly found some stunning pieces. It is a credit to you. I must have missed the ones stuck in your gob.😂

Would you still rate the MXT 300 for detecting bucket dredge tailings. Or would the Nox 800 be a better bet with the larger coil?

Cheers

D4G

[Glenn in CO]

6 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

- Very important and not mentioned by most.  Invisible gold - It's out there in way more places than most realize, but you don't know as your detector can't see it.  Many older PI detectors and even a couple current models can not see or will respond to such gold.  I have numerous multi ounces pieces a VLF responds to and bigger detectors can't or do it but not as well at a depth as the VLF.

This is so true in the area I and my wife prospect for gold specimens on tailing piles here in Colorado. We have tried many different types of PI detectors in the past on none will detect the gold specimens we find with a VLF detector. We were hoping the Garrett Axiom would be able to detect this type of gold and this last spring met with Rusty Curry with Garrett to see if the Axiom offered some promise. Unfortunately the Axiom wasn't able to detect the gold specimens, even using the different types of coils they had to offer. We are hoping someday a PI detector will be produced by somebody that can detect these type of gold specimens, as there are certain areas where we are plagued with hot rocks and minerialzation and a VLF detector is basically useless.

Here is a .67 Gram wiregold specimen that a PI detector will not detect:

 

[strick]

"- In mold tailing piles, the mineralized dirt has been removed and performance of VLF vs PI is not as big a difference."

Love that first picture...Ive never heard this term and I'd like to learn that a "mold Tailing pile" is ? 

great write up gerry

strick 

[Rick N. MI]

Very impressive finds.

[Gerry in Idaho]

11 hours ago, oldmancoyote1 said:

Very nice!  

Do you prefer a standard coil (say a 9" elliptical coil) or a larger coil (say a  13" x 15" double D) on your VLF when detecting dredging piles?

Thanks for asking a very important question.  As you view some of the pics, you'll see my coil size and selection varies based on the detector used.  When running the older GP and GPX series with some Iron Identification, one must have a DD coil and the detector set up accordingly.  I really like the 10" Ellip DD in some of the rough terrain areas and also the lighter coil on those bigger heavy machines is more manageable.

When running VLF detectors in such sites I'm swinging the stock size coils as I'm not really interested in tiny bits and pickers.  Back in the day on a Fisher GB-2, Tesoro LST, White's Gold Master series, I used stock 10" Ellip and larger 14" Ellip.  With MXT series the 950 coils and or even 12" round.  When newer Fisher GB came out and after some testing, I liked the 11" Semi Ellip. spoked coil.  Then came the X-Terra series by Minelab and my testing provided me best results with the stock 9" round Concentric coil in the 18 kHz and if really rough terrain the 10" Ellip DD in same 18kHz.  After that was the Equinox series and boy did the EQ-800 with stock 11" round coil and extreme light weight really get it done.  I even used the larger 12x15 in a couple areas that had produced a few bigger pieces and managed to squeeze out one more sandwich of gold.

Below for my big mouth fans...

 

Below pic was found with NOX-800 and 12x15" coil.

 

The Manticore and coil size.  No option yet, just a bunch of BS teasing us.  Yes, I have used Manti with success and the 11" round DD is fine and will be more preferred coil.  Eventually, I'll step up a size for a select few areas...but at the rate things are going, it will probably be next year before I get to swing one as winter is setting in around my closer sites in ID, NV and Eastern OR.

As for the GPZ-7000, I used the stock 14x13" coil but only in a few select sites as there is no Iron ID.  Same with the newer GPX-6000, the stock 11" round is just fine.

With the newest of the big boy detectors, the Pulse Induction Garrett Axiom and it's variable capabilities and coil options is ideal for a variety of such style of detecting tailings/diggings.  It has Iron ID capabilities the 6000 and 7000 do not.  Plus, the Axiom's advanced PI technology does better on many kinds of specimens and invisible gold many other PI's miss.  My own style of detecting and the size of gold I'm chasing with the Axiom at such sites, I've been swinging the 12x13" MONO coil.

One piece of advice for those who prefer to use a big deep detector, be sure to have a good VLF with target identification capabilities nearby.  Doing so will save you so much time and energy.

Realize what is different about me than most.  I don't really like chasing small gold, unless that's the only gold remaining in the area.  When you have dug up a couple trophies, it's tough to step back to small again.  Yes, I know there's more small gold than big and that's exactly why when my Field Staff and I do training, we teach most to use smaller coils as they provide better results for the majority of what's left.

Always varying scenarios and choices out there and not 1 way, 1 machine or 1 coil is best for everything.  Options in different detectors and coil selections allows me to find more heavy metal.

 

[YubaJ]

Gerry,

            What frequency(s) were you using with the Nox 800 for the tailings piles?

[cobill]

@Gerry in Idaho wrote this Silver & Gold edition W&ET magazine article back in 2009 and there is lots of good info in it.

Bill

PlacerDigsWE&T.pdf