GPX 6000 Continues To Amaze Me: Small Gold In A Fairly Deep Hole

[Gold Catcher]

I went for a little weekend trip back to the Mojave desert, and spend this afternoon at one of my favorite places. The landscape is just breath taking, and makes me forget the busy life that I am usually having. Prospecting to me is much more than just finding gold (or not...). It is like being in a meditative retreat, where I can just enjoy the beauty of nature and disconnect from the day to day routine.

I went back to one of my favorite places, and after several lead pieces and bird shots I heard an extremely faint warbly signal which caught my interest. The signal could have easily been overheard had I not swung really slow. My settings were treshold on, manual max, difficult (in the video I say 13 but I think max is more like 10 clicks). I started to dig and to my surprise the target turned out to be rather deep, next to a buried hot rock. It was a small flat 0.15 grammer at about 13 inch depth. I was stunned to find such a small piece at this depth, and with a rather small coil. This once more shows the excellent performance of the 6000 for small gold, even at depth. 

 

[mn90403]

Thanks for the video.  That is a good combo.

[Norvic]

All excited/sidetracked with the E1500 I initially missed this thread, the 6K has got a big boost from the aftermarket coils, I`ve been equally amazed with depth I`m getting out of the small coiltek. Vid too.... good stuff. I haven`t used the 6K this year yet... tis bad... no

[brogansown]

GC - Thanks for the video & photo and for getting us excited again for what we hope will be the best season yet.  Well, we all hope so!  I too, am amazed at the 6000's sensitivity.  Best machine yet.

 

[Gold Catcher]

I got two more this morning, both in between 2-4 inch depth. One is really tiny. I am usually a dig-it-all guy. However, there are times where I use my ears to deceide if I dig or not. This works in particular well when you know the area, the type of gold and depth, and the nature of the trash. For instance, the area where I have been has tons of BBs and very little iron trash. The gold is generally small and at greater than 2-3 inch depth. Most shallow BBs give a loud sharp zip type signal, whereas the gold gives a more rounded smooth signal. And if it is deeper, only a faint warble. Based on that information and the knowledge what to expect, you can totally use your ears to deceide if you dig or not. If it is a sharp loud zip signal dont't bother. If it is a somewhat mellower signal, then scrape about 2 inch off (love my Hermit pick). If the signal is gone, it was likely a buried BB. If the signal persists then dig and recover. Assuming you know your area well, this works exceedingly well and I can highly recomend it. In comparison, VLF IDs at depth > 3 inch for small nuggets are not working at all (at least not in my experience), and hence with a VLF you are in the dark, if it would even detect the small nugget at all. So, assuming you know the area, the PI target ID exists and can work well and is totally free. You are born with it 😉.

GC

 

[beatup]

good on you gold catcher

[phrunt]

The 6000 screams on pellets very close to the coil, and quickly loses that, even an inch from the pellet they often become mellow soft targets especially the lead pellets, the steel type hold their signal a lot deeper, the target strength dies off dramatically on lead pellets, so it can be used as a form of pellet discrimination as long as the pellets are relatively fresh ones on the surface.  Once they're have time to sink down in soils a bit all bets are off.

Congratulations on the gold.   The little guy is a nice flat bit, should get good target strength on that one.

[Gold Ryder]

57 minutes ago, phrunt said:

The 6000 screams on pellets very close to the coil, and quickly loses that, even an inch from the pellet they often become mellow soft targets especially the lead pellets, the steel type hold their signal a lot deeper, the target strength dies off dramatically on lead pellets, so it can be used as a form of pellet discrimination as long as the pellets are relatively fresh ones on the surface.  Once they're have time to sink down in soils a bit all bets are off.

Congratulations on the gold.   The little guy is a nice flat bit, should get good target strength on that one.

Damn Phrunt, I wish you would tell that to my 6000,  mine loves down at least to 3 or 4" and the old buckshot sometimes deeper than that.  That being said after a couple thousand Im getting pretty good at hearing their softer peak.  Dont mean Im not digging the pesky little bastards though. 

[phrunt]

39 minutes ago, Gold Ryder said:

Damn Phrunt, I wish you would tell that to my 6000,  mine loves down at least to 3 or 4" and the old buckshot sometimes deeper than that.  That being said after a couple thousand Im getting pretty good at hearing their softer peak.  Dont mean Im not digging the pesky little bastards though. 

yep, it comes down to the pellet size and what they're made of, in other words as they vary so much as does gold, it's always a massive gamble.

[Skookum]

On 2/17/2024 at 8:18 PM, Gold Catcher said:

The landscape is just breath taking, and makes me forget the busy life that I am usually having. Prospecting to me is much more than just finding gold (or not...). It is like being in a meditative retreat, where I can just enjoy the beauty of nature and disconnect from the day to day routine.

Well said. A great quote.