Anyone swing a detector up here in B.C.?

[Willy]

I know there's just gotta be somebody who's done some nugget hunting in beeyootiful B.C. . I seem to have hunted everywhere but. My main concern is the mineralization here. Debating whether to save my pennies & buy an Infinium or get a larger DD (14"-18") for my MXT. Has anybody done a side by side comparison (PI vs. VLF or even VLF vs. VLF) on B.C. ground? Even if you've hunted w. different machines at different times the comparison would be informative. Thanx..Willy.

 

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[Willy]

No problem Lanny.
Regarding my honey hole, it's abt. 20 miles north of Coldfoot Alaska, so I'm not too worried about letting the cat out of the bag. As for the water hunting, where the water was flowing swiftly I'd often put up a tiny wing dam & angle the water away. Quite often moving a large rock would accomplish the same thing. Also, when removing a shovelful of material, stand downstream and draw it quickly towards you while lifting. This way everything is going at the same velocity and the pay stays on the shovel. I also would either do a pseudo-groundsluice or just start moving material to the side. When the target moved, I'd know where it was & then start scooping. If possible, I'd scoop onto the side of the bank (a few big shovelfulls) & then check the hole & piles. If luck was with me (and it often was), the nugget would be sitting on the bank. Quite often enough material would be moved so that a bit of rooting around in the hole would cough up the nugget. Upon seeing it I'd often say to myself "damn the cold & wet", and reach down & grab it.
Strangely enough, in many instances it was easier to hunt in the water 'cause the relative density made it easy to move quite hefty rocks & get rid of other overburden. Also, unless it had a black coating, the nugget nugget would be clean, polished & "shining like a diamond in a goat's a$$" (I just love some the expressions I pick up down south). Even if the nugget managed to catch a bit of current, it never moved too far & was easy to recover.
One thing I haven't mentioned is the shovel. I use one tat kinda looks like a posthole digger or a treeplanting shovel. Essentialy, it's not too wide so it wont catch a lot of current & has abt a 4' staff handle with a rare earth magnet on the end covered with duct tape. Before I do any serious excavating I run the magnet through, pulling out heaps of black sand and (hopefully) any iron. I'm going to modify the kick plate on it, weling on a strip of 1/2" steel along the back & down the sides for abt. 3". Pulled out of the water properly, any signifigant bits of gold will settle down close to the blade & only light crap will blow off.
Regarding the weather, I'm kinda chomping at the bit. Figure I'll have a few months to do research on B.C. and build/modify equiptment. Maybe I'll build one of the PI's whose plans are on the Geotech site. Anyway, getting sleepy..Willy.

 

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[Lanny in AB]

Thanks for the tips

Well, well Willy!

Thanks for all the tips. I can see that you've got quite the technique there--ideas I wouldn't have thought of. I mean, I'll hide behind a boulder when I'm starting a dredge hole, and I'll build a wall of rocks to protect me while I'm in the hole, but I never made the connections to metal detecting in the water. And boy do I know all about how much easier it is to move those rocks underwater!!

So, from your techniques, I can see why you need a waterproof detector now. And if the underlying bedrock is hot, you'll want a pulse machine for sure. By now I can see that an SD is not what you're looking for as the control box is not waterproof at all. Some other guys have waterproofed their coils, but there's no way that I know of to waterproof the control box, and that's the most expensive part of all.

I think I know the kind of shovel you're referring to. Are you welding the iron on the sides on the face to make more of a trap and a shelter for the shovel contents? I think you're welding a bar across the back, but I wasn't sure what you meant about the other iron.

Say, thanks again for the great ideas Willy. All the best with your research,

Lanny in AB

 

[Willy]

I plan to take a strip of steel & weld it along the back, bend it down & extend it along the sides & weld it. This will make the blade stiffer on the top 1/2 & give me that all-important "pocket". In regards to detector, you'd save an almost unbslievable amount of time by having a waterproof unit. I watched (& occasionally helped) a couple of guys up there swinging ML SD2200d's & it was nothing short of a joke. They spent at least 3/4 of thier time hooking & unhooking harnesses, bungies, batteries & carting the works to the side of the creek & back. Jim. on the other hand would just set the Garrett anywhere; in the water, on a rock, against the bank, etc. That kind of flexibility really appeals to me.
While cruising the net this afternoon I happened upon the UniProbe. They claim that a full sized coil can be hooked up to it, making for a dual purpose unit with good gold sensitivity. I'm also going to do a bit of experimenting with the MXT to see what kind of depth it can get. Really wish I had one of the new 14" Excellerator coils to test it with. Might just also break down & waterproof it..to hell with the warranty....Willy.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hey there

Hey there Willy,

Somewhere in the translation there's been a mixup. I have an SD, and I have a sweet little totally waterproof (coil, box, good quality headphones) detector. It's the Sandshark, made by Tesoro. It will easily see nuggets over a gram, and it has. It just won't see small gold, but you've given me some great ideas for nugget hunting in some streams I'm familiar with where there's nuggets that are well over a gram.

Thanks again for the tip, and don't worry, I won't be taking the SD in the water, but I will keep swinging it on extreme bedrock and soil as it's a nugget finding hound dog that can sniff the gold out in absolutely horrible conditions.

All the best Willy, and thanks again for the fresh ideas,

Lanny in AB

 

[Willy]

You're welcome.
No mixup, I was just pointing out how terribly inconvenient I observed the SD setup to be re. water hunting. The same also applies to many other detectors including my MXT. As I said before, lower the price & change the physical setup (at least waterproof the coils for god's sake) & I'd get one...Willy