Prospecting & Detecting
My Lucky Month of March
June 2013 by Harry Pitman
My wife Maureen and I spend part of our winter season in the Quartzsite, Arizona area. One fine March morning, we left our RV camping area at approximately 10am in search of that elusive yellow metal with our metal detectors.
How Far Has That Gold Traveled?
Let’s examine why your placer gold looks the way it does and what you can tell about its journey based upon its appearance.
Pros and Cons of Big Detector Coils
Years later I returned with a new detector with a smaller coil and detector technology more sensitive to smaller nuggets. I found my first nugget within five minutes. I had a second five minutes after that.
The Summer of ‘81
When it was all setup and running, you had everything coming off the dredge riffles into the boil box. At the hole section, some of the water got sucked down and pulled a lot of black sand and over heavies…
Deep Nuggets From The Strange Little Patch
I began detecting at the bottom of the gully and started making my way upstream. About mid-way there was a nice, flat stretch for about ten feet.
A Break in the Weather
Back at the entry point of the mine, we took turns slowly crawling down the slope leading into the mine portal with our metal detectors, hard hats and flashlights. The mine was hand dug and is about 75 yards long.
Achieving Accurate Metal Detector Discrimination
Your odds of going home with gold will be higher using the discrimination mode, even if you might have misread one of the targets you rejected.
Which Nugget Detector Should I Get?
The most commonly asked question in metal detecting is, “Which metal detector should I get?” People worry a lot about not getting the right machine. They do not want to waste their money and their time with the wrong metal detector.
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The Bawl Mill
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• Gold Rush in the Congo—Part II
• A Journey Into the Silver Peak Range
• Ancient River Channels of Trinity County
• Which Nugget Detector Should I Get?
• Liberty and the Phoenix Mine
• Confluence Placers
• Spanish Gold Ledge Still Producing Gold
• Nevada Mining Tax Cap Repeal Clears Committee
• Melman on Gold & Silver
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