My Gold Nugget Hunting Arsenal Is Now Complete

[Dutchman4]

I started my nugget hunting adventures a little over 3 years ago by buying a GPX6000 and found my first tiny nugget on the second day of using it.  I have found many nuggets with it since ranging in size from 0.023g to 19.6g and I continue to be amazed at how sensitive this machine is on small gold as well as larger gold at moderate depths.  I found 4 patches last year that I have since cleaned out with my 6000 and wondered if there was deeper gold still hiding there. 

I did a dig and detect operation in a small area on the most productive of the four patches and recovered 40+ more nuggets layering down to bedrock.  I used the 6000 for this operation and it worked very well since I could layer down 3 to 4 inches at a time without fear of discarding any nuggets into the discard pile.  It was back breaking work but it payed off.

I then decided it was time to acquire a PI that was capable of greater depth on 1g+ nuggets over the 6000+NF 12x7 coil.  I first purchased a GP3000 that came with an old NF 17x11 mono coil and although it did have improved depth I still was not satisfied with the overall performance limitations of this machine using mono coils in variable levels of ground mineralization.  I listed it in the classifieds and Gerry (dealer in ID) offered to trade a new EQ800 for it and when he also offered to include the 6" coil with it, I accepted.  I figured adding a good all around multi purpose VLF to the arsenal couldn't hurt so I thank Gerry for convincing me.  Next a GPX4000 popped up for sale on the classifieds, at a very good price, so I jumped on that and was quite satisfied with the performance of the machine since I now had a smooth timing available for running medium to large mono coils in hot ground but learned quickly that the Sensitive-Smooth timing had limited depth capabilities.  I sold the 4000 and set my sights in a 4500 since a 5000 was a bit more than I wanted to pay.  But then a fellow prospector friend of mine alerted me to a 5000 that another friend was selling.  The seller allowed me to evaluated it first before buying it.  I took it to the Dale district for testing on an area with very hot ground, including iron stone as well, and it performed very well with the NF Evo 15 Round coil just for the sheer fact of having the additional timings available.  I contacted my friend Reese (GoldSeeker5000) for advice on timings and settings on the 5000 for larger/deeper gold since he is quite knowledgeable on the subject. 

Armed with the 5000+NF Evo 15 Round coil and the settings info from Reese, I recently went back to the area with the four patches and went over them again very slow and methodically.  The first 3 patches did not yield any additional gold for me but I was also limited to mostly using the Fine-Gold timing since Normal, Sensitive-Extra and Sharp timings were just too noisy on the ground there even with reduced gain settings.  The fourth patch had milder ground and I was able to use Sensitive-Extra the majority of the time as well as Sharp some of the time.  I spent the first part of the day digging deeply buried ferrous trash items at impressive depths.  I recovered a 1.5 inch round iron washer at around 24 inches and was glad to have a pin-pointer for the final part of the dig.  I took a break for lunch and to recover from digging massive craters all morning.  After lunch I resumed detecting and got a signal under a bush that wasn't great but worth investigating.  I cut back the bush so I could get more than just the edge of the coil over the target and the signal became strong and repeatable.  I got the target in range of the pin-pointer and to my surprise it was a good sized lump of gold this time instead of trash.  It is an interesting nugget that is not solid but not a specimen either.  It weighs 14g and is second in size to the 19.6g nugget that I have found so far.  It was around 14" deep which may not sound that deep but it was first heard with just the edge of the coil due to being limited by the bush. 

So in conclusion I now have the big gun added to my arsenal for deeper gold.  The Sensitive-Extra timing appeared to handle the ground better than Normal timing which contradicts the Minelab timing chart.  The NF Evo 15 coil is still very sensitive to small targets and it still hears small steel birdshot near the surface which surprises me.    

[Drillerdave]

Very nice Ceril. You’re going real good at becoming a seasoned nuggethunter. 

[RONS DETECTORS MINELAB]

Great Job Ceril,

The 5000 sure can show it’s worth quickly when used on old patches like that one.

24” on a washer is sure deep, so you are getting the settings right 😀

 

[TheDeepseeker]

Well done Ceril, that is a beautiful looking nugget 👍

[beatup]

good on you

[Northeast]

That is a beautiful nugget, well done.

When you used the 6000 on these areas were you using the stock 11” coil or another of the smallish aftermarket coils?  

This interests me that 5000s continue to pull deeper targets from ground that has been detected with a 6000.  I’ve seen comments that a 6000 is as deep as all the previous GPXs.  So, is the difference here that the older models really are deeper, or is it the size of the coils being used on the older GPX’s where it makes sense that a 15” coil should hear deeper targets than the 6000s stock 11” coil?  

[Dutchman4]

57 minutes ago, Northeast said:

That is a beautiful nugget, well done.

When you used the 6000 on these areas were you using the stock 11” coil or another of the smallish aftermarket coils?  

This interests me that 5000s continue to pull deeper targets from ground that has been detected with a 6000.  I’ve seen comments that a 6000 is as deep as all the previous GPXs.  So, is the difference here that the older models really are deeper, or is it the size of the coils being used on the older GPX’s where it makes sense that a 15” coil should hear deeper targets than the 6000s stock 11” coil?  

I use the NF 12x7 Exceed coil all the time now.  My testing shows the stock 11 has a small depth advantage but the NF appears to be more stable so in the end I prefer the NF coil and also its ability to get into tight spaces.  In the case of this nugget the proximity of the bush would have meant that only the tip of the NF coil would have gone over it and that part of the coil is very depth limited vs the center of the coil so I'm confident it would not have heard it.  On the other hand you continue to see large deep gold found once in a while by the 6000 but in the end I think it boils down to the fact that larger coils, and especially round mono coils, are going to have a significant depth advantage over smaller coils.  The NF Evo series of coils appear to be quite an impressive technology to me.  Reese does very well using the NF Evo 19 on his 5000 but then again he has to do well since he makes a living at it.  The Evo 15 I think is a great do it all coil since it retains impressive sensitivity on even small gold at depth and certainly can achieve great depth on the bigger stuff.

I will add that it is unfortunate that Nugget Finder appears to have stopped producing the larger Evo series coils and I am lucky to have sourced one from Gerry before they were all gone. 

[s.young]

Congrats on your finds & love your write up as I have a 15'' NF Evo thanks to Ron,lol. & a 5000. Now I just need to move somewhere that has gold so I can get out hunting more than a few weeks a year on vacation.

[Northeast]

2 hours ago, Dutchman4 said:

I think it boils down to the fact that larger coils, and especially round mono coils, are going to have a significant depth advantage over smaller coils

Yes, that’s my gut feel too. It is the coil rather than the detector that is yielding these deeper targets.  

2 hours ago, Dutchman4 said:

The Evo 15 I think is a great do it all coil

Agree, and what I’m running 90% of the time on my 5000.