Menu
What's new
Find's Treasure Forums

Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!

You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.

Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.

Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.

Click here to register!

Need Support Help?

Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you

Changed email? Forgot to update your account with new email address? Need assistance with something else?, click here to go to Find's Support Form and fill out the form.

Depth on gold nuggets

Yep - you can pick up copies of "Gold, Gem & Treasure" from
www.arizonaoutback.com.

BT's article on nugget hunting with the X70 is in the March 2007 issue starting on page 6. I have the article in front of me and it's quite an interesting read.

I know the smallest gold he found was 1/40th of a gram! About the size of a dot made by a ballpoint pen, which demonstrates how sensitive the X70 can be.

The main settings he used most of the time were:
-18.5kHz coil elliptical DD
-Prospecting mode
-Sensitivity = 30
-Iron Mask = 1
-Auto tracking ON

cheers,
rob
 
How in the world can you find something that small, even in an air test, let alone with ground noise????

Lord knows I'm not a prospector, and would probably be run off the gold fields for cursing, but I'm just having a hard time getting my mind around 1/40th of a gram. And it's not just a technical question of whether the machine can respond to something this small.

So let's go about it in a methodical manner.

1. First what type of response in an air test with what kind of settings?

2. Next, I just can't imagine in even the most inert ground with it sitting on the surface that you could hear this target. How do you distinguish between mineral noise and a tiny target like this? Is it the sharpness(speed) of the response?

3. The next question deals with patience. I've used the Prospecting Mode in a limited fashion for wading. There are places that I feel I could stand still for an hour, not moving, and still continue to recover all sorts of tiny bits, aluminum, lead, earring backs etc etc. It can get really boring and tedious. How fast are you moving along the surface to find something 1/40th gram in size? And how much trash are you finding?

Lastly your findings lead me to believe that gold stud earrings could be found in prospecting mode even though I've not had much success in that area. One of the problems I know I face is not so much what would be considered "hot ground", but rapidly changing ground. Putting the X70 in GB mode and moving the coil a foot sounds like machine gun fire.

I hope to gain a little knowledge from your experience.

HH
BarnacleBill
 
Yeah. It is a brilliant article. I read it last night. Comes with a photo of the above mentioned nugget; Enlarged, so that you can see it. What was the magnification that you used on the lense BT?:lol: I can just make it out on the end of your pointer finger. Guess you won't be photographing that one on the coil.:rofl:
Mick Evans.
 
From the article by BT in GG&T (March 2007 issue), it is definitely one-fortieth of a gram (=1/40th), NOT one fourteenth! (Mick - have another read :)).

The caption for the photo says it, the article says it, there is no scope for misunderstanding this (unless the author himself (BT) got it wrong). I can believe it looking at the size of the nugget in the photo - it's tiny. BT said he received a faint yet 'zippy' signal on this specimen - he described it as a 'dot' of gold. He found it in orange clay and isolated it by picking up minute amounts between his forefinger and thumb.


Here is a tip from the article: (to quote BT)
BT said:
"Here's a tip for when things get really changeable and the Auto Tracking seems slow. Simply press the track button twice, which will take you out of Auto into fixed and back into Auto again, while at the same time pumping the coil. This will initiate Fast Auto track for the first few seconds after it is engaged. I must add the Fast Auto track is just that, 'fast', so make sure the coil is moving as you do it."

cheers guys
rob

Not all those who wander are lost
 
Hello Mick,

Iv'e now read the article & seen the photo of the tiny nugget on BTs finger, its a lot smaller then a fourteenth of a gram.

I'm sure BT will be along soon to confirm this.

Bobby.
 
Mick in Dubbo...

I am new to the XT-70 but have done some gold detecting over the years with other machines. My interest is getting up to speed with
the XT-70. As you know it is different. I have only had it a few days and have not taken out to the goldfields.

The local area gold is small... most is only a few grains in size.

I hope that B.T continues to post... This will certainly get your heart pumping to get out to your local gold fields and try finding
placer.
 
Sorry about that. I must need glasses so that I can read the fine print; and the Electron microscope, so that I can see the Gold!:rofl:
Mick Evans.
 
Hi Rob
It looks like I'm having a bad day at reading. I'm Even addressing my corrections to the wrong person. Mistakes on mistakes. Shame on me.:wacko:
Mick Evans.
 
Yeah. He writes good articles and posts. I'm just in the process of going over some recent articles written about the X-T 70 used in the Gold fields (from Gold Gem & Treasure). I passed over them in more recent times, due to some bug bears in my unit, disheartening me from using it.
Argyle wrote a post on here a month or so ago about using the X-T30 with the 10 and a half inch DD coil on the Gold fields in Vic. He indicated that he used the sensitivity adjustment to allow him to operate in the mineralised conditions. He had some success with it too. Not bad for a machine that is not designed for the gold fields.
I live only 70kms from Stuart Town and the Burrendong area. It used to be wall to wall gold in that area back in the gold rush days. The local guys don't find too much down there these days. Also, directly to the south of here, is the Peak Hill Gold Fields. Possibly better opportunities down that way as it has seen less detector activity. One Thing that BT mentioned in one of his articles, is that the X-T70 is hitting what looks like a different type of gold than the PI machines tend to hit. The mind boggles at the possibilities.(Not trying to hold BT up on any sort of pedestal. Just relaying what I've read and been fascinated by it).
Mick Evans.
 
Hello again Mick,

Its hard to beleave your eyes on a nugget of this size, Iv'e never known of one smaller.

Maybe BT should name it ?
Got any ideas :)

Bobby.
P.S. is it for sale BT ?
 
I goto a MD dealer who always tells me that he dislikes dealing with those gold hunters who take the fun out this fantastic hobby and expect to make a quick buck with the latest greatest detectors all the while nitpicking on this and that.

With all of the technology that he has at his disposal, guess what he detects with faithfully...a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV. He knows his machine like the back of his hand and has always been successful with it.

The moral to the story is that it isn't necessarily the tool that you use, it is how well you know that tool that makes one successful. BT sounds like one such person and I think we all love to hear his wisdom and share with us his finds.

Chill out and enjoy this great hobby...it is not all wealth and riches that we all seek, rather the thrill of finding something lost or hard found.

cheers...Brissietex
 
I hope B.T keeps on sharing his knowledge. Also all of the others who
post "good stuff" on using the X-Terra's.
 
HELLO, ARE YOU IN ARIZONA?
I LIVE IN GLENDALE AND JUST GOT AN X-70.
WOULD LIKE TO E-MAIL OR TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top