The nugget sat there in plain sight, though it was covered in dirt, while hundreds of people had passed that way every day.

These are entry-level machines designed with gold prospecting in mind and with the ability to handle mineralized ground and see nuggets of a grain or so in size, perhaps smaller.

The metal is expensive, not because it is rare but because of the expense to produce and work it. The minerals mined for titanium are all oxides, unlike many base metals that are mostly mined as sulfide minerals.

The old report I read indicated all they ever did was dig some trenches and take samples. It sounded to me like a good place to take my metal detector...