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Detecting Micro Nuggets with the Gold Bug 2

S

steve herschbach

New member
Hi,

Got a new story with photos up at http://www.akmining.com/mine/jour162.htm Check it out. It shows what an amazing detector the Gold Bug 2 is.

Steve Herschbach
 
Hi Steve;

Sometimes I feel a bit "groupy" following you from site to site and post to post...again, I digress.

When I had a GB2 it was ALWAYS a guarantee to find a bit or two...I counted over 500 tiny nuggets to get my first oz of gold using the GB1 and GB2...by far the majority were found with the GB2 and the 6 inch-e coil working where many had been before, or behind drywashers...

Every little nuglet was a huge thrill!!!

Fred
 
Good story Steve. About 7 years ago I found a small hydralic pit, about half an acre, close to Redding, CA. I found a hot little area about 10-12 feet wide and no more than 5 feet high (slope). I took several nice little pieces and decided to let my wife come back and hunt it.

Well, after putting her on it, she took 50 pieces the first Saturday, and 48 pieces the next Saturday. Over a period of time she took over 300 pieces from that small spot. Several were 1+ dwt.

The biggest problem I had was she wouldn't give my GB2 back. I had to buy her one of her own.
Ron
 
Hi,

Absolutely. I've owned most of the Goldmaster series and currently have a GMT. It is the only detector that can give the Gold Bug 2 a run for the money.

Steve Herschbach
 
The Gold Bugs come into their own when looking for very small pieces or low grade specimems.

This is particularly relevant if you are looking for the possible indication of reefs in an area. A GB is more likely to to do the job than a Minelab machine in this case.

GB's are not that flash in hot ground such as that in various parts of Aus. And gold is usually associated with the mineralisation one associates with such hot conditions.

The best all round detectors are Minelab SD/GP machines. If you can afford to purchase both then that would be an ideal scenario, and I know blokes who do exactly that.
 
Hi Dave,

Not to be argumentative, but your statement "The best all round detectors are Minelab SD/GP machines" is true only in specific areas. The entire world is not Australia.

At the location where I did my little outing I will find gold all day long with a Gold Bug 2 and you will be lucky to find anything at all with a GPX-4500. Unlike Oz, we have places in the US with lots of small gold and little mineralization. IB units are the rule in many places.

But I do agree with you. I have a GPX-4500 and if I had to own just one nugget detector that would be it. Luckily, I own several nugget detectors and so can choose what I think will serve best for any particular occasion. I think a good PI and a good IB unit are essential for the serious prospector.

Steve Herschbach
 
I will get rid of my GB II when I get rid of my guns.My GB II will always find gold for me in gold country, but I use my Minelab for deep ,larger gold. I use my GB II for checking the old hard rock mines on our gold claims and it still will find those small stringers that has thin ribbons of gold in them. I found a 44 lb slab of quartz with gold in it and the Minelab would bearly give a sound on it. The GB II sounded off like there was an ounce nugget under it.
 
Me too, the Gold Bug will find float and gold bearing ore in old dumps that a PI wont even know is there. I found a hand full of small quartz last week, , mortared and panned them, over one troy Oz.
 
4500 running sens xtra, high gain, coiltek 6", sure does give a good vlf a run for its money on the small stuff though and definately bridgs the gap or should say narrows it significantly. Took one over a dump that had been smacked to death with Bugs, Goldmasters, Terra's, all previous SD'S Gp's and filled both pockets with species. All containing tiny and spongy gold.
 
I dont see there being any real difference in our positions to be honest.

I know when I first started detecting around Rockhampton in central Queensland I had a Minelab 17000 which was next to useless on the hot ground of my goldfield. It got myself an SD2000 Mod and never looked back.

Yet Darwin Dave and Patches, both vastly experienced professional prospectors and miners swear by the Gold Bugs and similar machines as they are primarily looking for reef deposits and these machines are better for the job than the SD/GT series.

As you say, to have the option of both is the best case scenario.
 
Hi Dave,

You are right of course. I tend to have a knee jerk reaction against "Minelab is the best" while at the same time defending Minelab from the Minelab haters.

The darn things are just tools for the job of electronic prospecting. What works best depends on where you are and what you are trying to do. So I hang out in the middle claiming the various detectors all have their place. If they do not, people do not buy them, and they go away.

Steve Herschbach
 
Steve,

I used to take my GB2 to the tot lots while the kids played and found a lot of gold and silver jewelry before I sold it. That GB2 can sure scream out the thin stuff!
I've owned all the Goldmasters but now use the GMT and TDI primarily. Just my 2 cents, the GB2 is great on that micro sized stuff but the GMT gets way better depth and is no
slouch either!

Good post, thanks',
DsrtBpr
 
Hi,

I have a GMT also. It does give the Gold Bug 2 a run for the money on tiny gold, but has much better depth on large nuggets in mineralized ground. Plus you get the choice of automatic or maunal ground balance. All for less money. Then again I can't chest or hip mount my GMT. Both are very good units and since I can't decide which is better I have both.

Steve Herschbach
 
Two other options to look at, a Minelab Eureka Gold set at 60 kHz and a GP or GPX series with a CT Joey or Commander 5.5"x9.5" DD, CT Joey or NF 5.5"x9.5" mono, or a CT GS 6" round mono as B.T said.
 
Hi David,

Do you own those detectors, and have you tried them against the Gold Bug 2 on gold flakes weighing less than 1/10th grain? 480 grains per ounce.

Steve Herschbach
 
Hello B,T,
I have been following these sites.. but since I'am still a novice ,,What is spongy gold that's referred to
on some posts..?
So far I haven't found anything of a gold nature..only brass buckles,coins, iron pegs etc..In South OZ.
Thanks
Johnno
 
Hi,

"Sponge" or wire gold is gold either in or recently weathered from the original host rock that is full of spaces between the gold. Either rock or air spacing. Like gold chains this type of gold is hard for some detectors to find if the gold is dispersed enough. A solid chunk of gold is easier to detect.

See http://www.goldorecrystals.com/Gold_Specimens/Gold_Specimens.html for examples.

Steve Herschbach
 
Two other options to look at, a Minelab Eureka Gold set at 60 kHz and a GP or GPX series with a CT Joey or Commander 5.5x9.5" DD, CT Joey or NF 5.5x9.5" mono, or a CT GS 6" round mono as B.T said.

steve herschbach said:
Hi David, Do you own those detectors, and have you tried them against the Gold Bug 2 on gold flakes weighing less than 1/10th grain? 480 grains per ounce. Steve Herschbach
Click to expand...

Steve, no, I now have a GP 3000 with a NF 5.5x9.5" mono, X-Terra 70, and GT 16000. I had 2 original Gold Bugs years ago. If one grain is worth about $2 then 1/10th grain is worth about .20 cents. BUT I get your point, the Gold Bug 2 beats all the units(and coil combinations) mentioned above on finding the very smallest of gold

You write great articles Steve and thanks for your help, this one about a chest-hip mounted Whites GMT:
http://www.akmining.com/mine/jour135.htm
The point I am trying to make is you said that with the 6" coil the GMT is very much on par with what you expected of the Gold Bug 2 with small coil(also has a 6"), so a GMT will give a Gold Bug 2 a run for its money. The smallest you found was a .5 grain piece here. There is the best of both worlds with the GMT with both Manual and Automatic Ground Balance.

But the advantage of the Gold Bug 2 is it will probably find a little smaller-thinner gold, it's lighter-weight, more compact, and convertable to a smaller chest-hip mount configeration better than the GMT. What was wrong with the Fisher Gold Strike? Maybe someday they will make a Gold Bug 3 with both Manual and Auto GB?
 
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