2 More Days With The SDC 2300: 52 Nuggets And 8.8 Grams

[Rick Watkins]

You guys have been doing very well with 2300' i see, have you used gold bugs near them working in same area, they shouldn't talk to each other should they? Been nice seeing everyones hunt results and feedback

this season, hoping to get on a hunt in oct. In Nev. Ourselves before desert is white and frozen.

[Reno Chris]

Is this a patch that you see yourself spending some considerable time on, or is it just more or less something to fall back on if you have a dry spell and need a gold fix?

The patch Steve and I were working on is pretty well beat up, though I am sure there is at least some left. I still think some of the workings located above where we dug the nuggets still need more detecting. A friend who borrowed my SDC found one up there in the time since Steve was last up there detecting with me. The search for the source is a low priority thing, but I will likely devote a day or two to it in the future.

I guess what I'm trying to convey is that you basically took your DW concentrates, classified them down, then panned them out and that's what we're seeing.

Yep. In fact as the DW unit has its own classifier in the feed hopper, I didn't need to classify the cons, I just panned them out. There was very little fines, but there was some.

have you used gold bugs near them working in same area

I used one with a gold bug Pro (new gold bug) and there was no cross talk unless you were right next to each other. We tried digging a target I found with the SDC (it was gold) and as we were standing at the same spot, could not have both the GB and the SDC on at the same time. (that was done with Scott Harn of ICMJ, not Steve).

[Bearkat]

Very good Chris! I just got my SDC 2300 the other day and let me tell ya, I do like this new Minelab, my fave Minelab so far of all their models! This is one cool new machine... Doing some testing and hunting with it today and will get some video cause I know you all love them!, Lol

Here is a pic of my 2014 gold so far...12.3 oz's! And a pic on my last day on the Rogue River about to move the dredge up river a half mile, with jet propulsion, for the taking it out. 

[Reno Chris]

Congrats Bearkat on the nice dredge gold.

So I will ask Azblackbird's question: Where are all the fines? (like minus 30 mesh) All in a black sand bucket somewhere?

I didn't get much fines as I was dry washing, and dry washers just don't do all that great on recovering real small (like minus 30 mesh) gold - but dredges properly set up do a lot better.

Not fully sure I am ready for the videos, but I am interested in your thoughts on the SDC 2300.

[fredmason]

Nice WORK, Chris...drywashing is too much for me but the gold is really pretty.

Mark Hyde of Gold Prospecting Australia is speaking highly of the success his clients are having with the SDC...

Simply everyone is raving about it's abilities...and ease of use.

fred

[Reno Chris]

Fred, that dry washing is good exercise. If a fat old guy like me can do it, you wouldn't have any problems.

The SDC is turning some heads - and Minelab is keeping up with their tradition of cutting edge detectors.

[fredmason]

Oh I could doit , just toooooo lazy...by the way, i am fat and a little older-64 and 1/2 and counting...I hope you, me and Steve can get together soon...or later

 

fred

[Bearkat]

Chris, on this particular spot of the Rogue River, which is only a mile down stream from where the gold is actually formed, there is not much 30 mesh gold or smaller. So the smallest I classified is 20 mesh. In the picture the vials are minus 20 mesh gold, plus 20 mesh, and plus 8 mesh gold. If there is 30 mesh or smaller it is in the vials. About 10 miles down river or even on the Applegate River 20 miles away I classified down to 50 mesh because the need was there.

As far as the SDC2300 - Just got home from some intial test and am very suprised at the small gold capability of this machine, even in hot dirt. Very crisp and clear signals. Got no video yet as the 2300 batts died (forgot to charge). So my test were cut short. I had my ATX along also and tested the same nuggets right on top of bedrock along side hotter dirt that was attached to the bedrock. I had to re-ground balance the ATX when coming to this dirt (w 8" mono coil, not so much with the 10x12 DD) but the SDC2300 just purred right along when changing ground conditions. The ATX lost a little sensitivity on the smallest nugget

(.13 grm/2.1 gn) when re-ground balancing but still got it in the hotter dirt. The ATX went from getting it on the bedrock at 1.5 inches to about 3/4 inch after ground balancing to the hotter soil. The 2300 got it better on both. 

So far it looks like the cut off point on the ATX is right at .1 gram, maybe a tad smaller if someone is on their game detecting, and the cut off point on the 2300 is less than that - no solid figure yet except for Steve's 0.045 gram piece. But a bit crisper and deeper on the tiniest (- .1 gram).... The ATX seems deeper overall on larger stuff a gram and up - not by much, but an inch or 2 depending on size of target, size of coil and soil type. 

Really like the new Minelab - can't believe I said that, Lol. 

Alan

[Reno Chris]

I have a couple pieces at 0.03 grams that I have detected with the SDC and weighed on a very accurate scale. At the place I am working, the ATX can hear the gold if its large enough, but it also sees hundreds of hot rocks and falses on roots and rocks, making it much slower and more difficult to use at that location. Small chunks of magnetite, oxidized pyrite cubes and other high iron rocks are common in the gravels.