Yukon Gold + GMT???

[gemhunter]

Has any one used the GMT up in Yukon, Canada?
If you have, what size gold did you find? How did GMT react to mineralized ground & hot rocks?

Maybe I should ask if any one has used the GMT near the American/ Canadian border, near Dawson City, on the American side of course!


Any comments welcome. icon_study

Thanks
David

 

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[gemhunter]

WOW, didn't think you guys down there got so excited over us Canucks up here.
Steady big fella, don't fall off your rocker eh!

 

[Willy]

I was up in the Arctic nuggethunting and the thing is, it all depends on where you are up there. The mineralization in one area might be extreme enough to shut down a high freq. VLF.. and in another area you could run it at max. Check out to see if they have the equivalent of Mtonline up there and pull up the layer that shows the intensity of mineralization in the area you intend to hunt. Another good detector for searching up there (aside from a PI) is the White's MXT. It can handle some truly nasty ground and find surprisingly small gold. ..Willy.

 

[gemhunter]

Thanks Willy, Ive already put a deposit on the GMT, I can't afford a PI at this time! I tried my GTI 2500 last year, but was very difficult, heard good things about the GMT, so I thought I would try it out near Dawson/Whitehorse. Was wondering if any one else tried the GMT up that way.

 

[Willy]

I'm sure they have. The GMT is a fine gold detector and I doubt that you'll be disappointed. Don't be afraid to turn down the sensitivity if the ground gets too bad. You'd be doing yourself a favor by learnig to run it in Hypersat with the sens. maxed out. Things sound different with the SAT cranked that high and it really helps in bad ground. Also, the ground tracking REALLY helps to calm the detector down when there's a lot of discrete mineralization to be found. ..Willy.

 

[gemhunter]

Well I've been out of the loop for a while, we had a house fire(arson), then had a small stroke, they said I was over stressed... been a nightmare that just never seemed to end. I,m alright now & the wife & I will be moving to a warmer climate, looking forward to detecting/rockhounding again( most year round, not just 3months, long winters suck!).
So a quick update on the GMT used in Yukon. Was definitely a learning experience, hot rock were not an issue, but the iron magnetite that is predominate in the Carmacks- Dawson area, was a huge problem!
In Dawson city ( mostly historical site) I was told is not legal to detect. I went on top of the Dome, situated above the City, has an iron magnetic plate under foot & the VLF detectors like the GMT & Garrett 2500, are totally useless. These detectors scream at you, nothing you do will tune them to stabilize the units!
We went to a claim 2 hrs in the mountains from Carmacks, the 2 Johnson brothers have been mining for many years on this claim, they were very gracious to my buddy & I, they aloud us to pan & detect for a whole day. I panned out some flour gold & found a small clunker, the GMT was useless & the miners told us that other also tried to detect, with no success. They said most of the Yukon has this iron magnetic host material!

The beauty of the Yukon is unsurpassed, very mountainous wild country, I highly recommend going there & I would conclude that it could be one of the final frontiers on planet Earth!
I put in a few picks; on top of the Dome looking down on Dawson City, mountain scenery, I think they called this # 4 dredge(one of the last big dredges to operate, is about 15-20KM southwest of Dawson & diamond tooth Gertie s gambling hall, still active in the summer months.

Well learning these things before we went may have saved me some $$$$, but I still think the GMT will still have its use yet!
I have since then learnt some things about the PI machines, so with the little cash I do have & best bang for the buck I purchased a Garrett Infinium LS, so I'm hoping to give it a good try out this summer in South BC Canada.

Will post about my Infinium adventures another day. Got some moving to do!

I hope this helps a few out there who are thinking about detecting for gold in the Yukon, Canada, if I had to choose a detector for the North, I would buy a PI = pulse induction unit for gold, would have saved me hours of frustration!

Happy hunting

David

 

[63bkpkr]

Hello Gemhunter,
Thank you for your post especially for the follow up of what happened and why, very informative! I've owned a GMT for several years and use it in the Sierras of Northern California and have found a little gold with it and plan to find even more. Good Success with both of your machines and do please keep us updated with your prospecting and details about using your detectors.
63bkpkr

 

[minerjoe]

That is one hell of a dredge! Thanks, we had a smaller one like that here in town till the tore it apart. sad.

 

[gemhunter]

Thanks, but sorry about the lrg pics, will scale r down next time.

 

[Gork]

Well I've been out of the loop for a while, we had a house fire(arson), then had a small stroke, they said I was over stressed... been a nightmare that just never seemed to end. I,m alright now & the wife & I will be moving to a warmer climate, looking forward to detecting/rockhounding again( most year round, not just 3months, long winters suck!).
So a quick update on the GMT used in Yukon. Was definitely a learning experience, hot rock were not an issue, but the iron magnetite that is predominate in the Carmacks- Dawson area, was a huge problem!
In Dawson city ( mostly historical site) I was told is not legal to detect. I went on top of the Dome, situated above the City, has an iron magnetic plate under foot & the VLF detectors like the GMT & Garrett 2500, are totally useless. These detectors scream at you, nothing you do will tune them to stabilize the units!
We went to a claim 2 hrs in the mountains from Carmacks, the 2 Johnson brothers have been mining for many years on this claim, they were very gracious to my buddy & I, they aloud us to pan & detect for a whole day. I panned out some flour gold & found a small clunker, the GMT was useless & the miners told us that other also tried to detect, with no success. They said most of the Yukon has this iron magnetic host material!

The beauty of the Yukon is unsurpassed, very mountainous wild country, I highly recommend going there & I would conclude that it could be one of the final frontiers on planet Earth!
I put in a few picks; on top of the Dome looking down on Dawson City, mountain scenery, I think they called this # 4 dredge(one of the last big dredges to operate, is about 15-20KM southwest of Dawson & diamond tooth Gertie s gambling hall, still active in the summer months.

Well learning these things before we went may have saved me some $$$$, but I still think the GMT will still have its use yet!
I have since then learnt some things about the PI machines, so with the little cash I do have & best bang for the buck I purchased a Garrett Infinium LS, so I'm hoping to give it a good try out this summer in South BC Canada.

Will post about my Infinium adventures another day. Got some moving to do!

I hope this helps a few out there who are thinking about detecting for gold in the Yukon, Canada, if I had to choose a detector for the North, I would buy a PI = pulse induction unit for gold, would have saved me hours of frustration!

Happy hunting

David

I have been mining in the Klondike for about thirty-four years. I will be returning to my claims on Hunker Creek in about three weeks.
Although I mined with heavy equipment and made money at it, I used a metal detector to help in prospecting my claims. There is no set rule for iron mineralized ground in the Klondike and its impedance to using a metal detector. I have seen claims with almost no hematite and magnetite. My claims contain a higher percentage of iron minerals than most. But, in using a metal detector to help define the pay streak I have found over sixty ounces of gold with many nuggets, some as large as 2 1/2 ounces.
I found many of these with an old blunderbuss of an 1982 model Garretts ADS II. I now have a better detector. I have found two very important points to be made for finding gold with a metal detector in the Klondike. Although it is important to have a good metal detector, it is more important to put yourself in a place where there is gold to be found. If you do this, even an older less sophisticated detector will work.
In the more iron mineralized zones of my pay streak, I found that when it interferes with the detector I simply detune it to the point where it will find the gold. I would lose some depth by doing this, but at least I would find some gold.
For those going to the Klondike, there are number of rules to follow. First, almost every place I can think of is under claim, so you are at the benevolence of the minors there. Second, you will only find gold where some miner has already opened up the pay streak. The old pay streaks are under ten to 100 feet of frozen overburden. If your an American citizen it will be illegal for you to mine for gold there without the proper paperwork. I am an American and have to get this paperwork every year.

 

[gemhunter]

You're right about claims, the Dawson area was totally staked for 15 or so square miles! The claim we were on was by permission, we had one good day there & the miners aloud us to pan or detect. With the GMT & detecting at a cut out level about 15 ft. the unit could not tune out highly mineralized ground. The miners also told us that they had several others try detectors & theirs also couldn't stabilize the detectors, I'm assuming none of the other were using PI detectors.

I've heard that mining laws are changing every years, whether your a US citizen or other, the Yukon Gov. has very strict policies for dredging. Miners, like the ones we met, let tourist have fun for the day, while others would frown on people snooping around!

We were traveling the Yukon & were limited for time, some day I may get back up there. Whether a person is detecting or not, I would still highly recommend a trip to this frontier.

 

[Gork]

You're right about claims, the Dawson area was totally staked for 15 or so square miles! The claim we were on was by permission, we had one good day there & the miners aloud us to pan or detect. With the GMT & detecting at a cut out level about 15 ft. the unit could not tune out highly mineralized ground. The miners also told us that they had several others try detectors & theirs also couldn't stabilize the detectors, I'm assuming none of the other were using PI detectors.

I've heard that mining laws are changing every years, whether your a US citizen or other, the Yukon Gov. has very strict policies for dredging. Miners, like the ones we met, let tourist have fun for the day, while others would frown on people snooping around!

We were traveling the Yukon & were limited for time, some day I may get back up there. Whether a person is detecting or not, I would still highly recommend a trip to this frontier.

I will be returning to my Klondike claims in about a week. There will be many wandering around the Klondike creeks looking for a situation. They often stop up to my place on the right fork of Hunker Creek. Most times they go away long-faced as it is not that easy to find a situation. There is a lot of gold in the Klondike but the myth of easy riches prevails. It is only a few that have the patience, know-how, and sometimes luck to succeed. This is why I asked the director of the "Gold Rush" show if he knew what "prospecting" was. They don't have a clue and this is why they failed.
Those that do persist and are good detectives sometimes wind up with excellent situations. One of the largest obstacles is for those that have done a little weekend mining and try to apply their knowledge to the type of "making a living" mining in the Klondike. Some come there not expecting more than a little taste of what it is all about. Gemhunter was one of these and was lucky to find a miner who was hospitable enough to give him a little taste of what it is all about.
A fellow just below me, on the right fork, allowed a French writer and his girlfriend to use his old cabin and pan on his claim that he had cat-mined in the 1980s. This was extremely rich ground and he was producing eleven ounces an hour in the 1980s. Of course, a certain amount of gold was lost and was in the tailings. I saw him and his girlfriend pan seven ounces in three days. Although this was an exceptional situation it can happen. But it points out that those who go there on a short term vacation are dependent on the benevolence of the miners. It is sometimes annoying to the Klondikers that some of these will actually criticize their mining methods and especially the construction of their sluice boxes. This is rather obnoxious for a guest to do.
There are many areas open for staking. There are many side creeks on Hunker Creek that are unclaimed. But these have been prospected for many years and what gold they may have contained has been washed out eons ago.
There is an order to the rules of succeeding in the Klondike. The most successful way is to find a situation is by doing your own prospecting although it is the most time consuming, difficult, and requires a certain amount of detective work and expertise.
One strike against you is to lease ground. You will be paying at least 10% off the top. Another is to buy claims. This is very chancy without verifying the gold content of the claims and then you have to add the cost you paid for the claims to the recovery expenses. Although these add a layer of chance in your success, it can be successful if done right.
In my thirty-four years experience in the Klondike, I estimate (conservatively) that at least 90% go bankrupt.

 

[gemhunter]

There is a lot of gold in the Klondike but the myth of easy riches prevails. It is only a few that have the patience, know-how, and sometimes luck to succeed.
There is an order to the rules of succeeding in the Klondike. The most successful way is to find a situation is by doing your own prospecting although it is the most time consuming, difficult, and requires a certain amount of detective work and expertise.
One strike against you is to lease ground. You will be paying at least 10% off the top. Another is to buy claims. This is very chancy without verifying the gold content of the claims and then you have to add the cost you paid for the claims to the recovery expenses. Although these add a layer of chance in your success, it can be successful if done right.
In my thirty-four years experience in the Klondike, I estimate (conservatively) that at least 90% go bankrupt.

Well said Gork, I had panned on an occasional hit & miss scenario, however when I was on the claim I spent a good part of the day panning. Well I can say I now have a great respect for the old Klondiker's who hiked the hills & mountains, with no roads, no mosquito repellent, hard back breaking WORK!

That 90% estimate is probable pretty accurate, in 1983 i was in Dawson City where I met & spoke with an old timer who in Dawson at the end of the gold rush. He told me that he seen hundreds of men selling all they had, just to by a boat ticket back to civilization, he told me very few men actually found enough gold to survive on.
Gork, again you're right about the claims, we checked out a few that were open claim & found zippo, nada, If a person know how survive in the wild & are in excellent shape/WELL PREPARED, then a person could hike into DEEP Mountain ranges & maybe find something new! If any one does, I would love to here the adventure!