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X-Terra 70 Prospecting - 2 HD DD Coils on Small Specimen - Pics & TIDs

N

nero_design

New member
[attachment 80308 QuartzGoldTarget.jpg]
TARGET: This is the Gold-Quartz nugget Specimen with scale/ruler. It was buried half an inch below typical ironstone based gravel on the actual Goldfields near Sofala and was placed there deliberately for this experiment. This soil is considered extremely mineralized. It contains hematite, ironstone, quartz and other mineral based gravel.
DETAILS: 2.8 gram specimen nugget (2.1 grams of gold, half a gram of quartz).


[attachment 80311 X-70_5x10_TID.jpg]
These are the target values for the X-Terra 70 using the Elliptical 5x10" DD HF Coil

This coil was less sensitive to the nugget and had to be placed almost onto the soil to detect it. But the signal was strongest in Prospecting Mode rather the Coin/Relic Mode and the TID results were quite varied depending on how the target was approached. In order to retrieve a numerical value, I had to switch to the less sensitive Coin & Relic Mode. But then the results surprised me: NOTE that from one direction, NO target was detected. Now the X-70 is valued for it's ability to detect small gold in trashy areas so I thought it would be interesting to see how the results would compare between the two coils. I have recorded each number as it was displayed. Approaching the target from found different directions and weeping over a target three times from each approach produced 3 different TID numbers which are shown in the images above. The X-Terra 70 manual recommends approaching all targets a second time from a 45
 
Nice work on the testing and graphics.:thumbup:

The following is from a post I made two years ago using the HF concentric. Casually looking at the pendant one would think that this is an easy target to find. And it would be in air or neutral soil, but mix in some minerals?

"There was ice out on one side of a lake I frequent today, so I took a vacation day to visit a campground beach that I hit twice last fall and has been worked over by others.

My aim today was to go after gold only with the HF coil on the X70. Therefore I set up an acceptance window from (-)2 up to (+)28 initially on Pattern 2 in Coins mode. I also wanted to give the prospecting mode a go for trying to hit gold chains.

Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I set sensitivity to 30 today. The sand plus rocky bottom GB'd at 8 to 9 with hot rocks thrown in that will GB in the 50's. The hot rocks will ID high coin tone, and pinpoint, just to make it interesting.

About an hour in I located the 14K(585) gold pendant. This was a tough target to pull out, as it air tests at (+)2 from any angle, and once laid back on top of the sand gave the following readings when swinging over it. A (+)2 25% of the time, a (-)2 50% of the time, and a (-)4 25% of the time. Without a VDI this would be a tough target to recover, lest digging a good deal of iron."

[attachment 80314 mom.jpg]

Here is a photo of what the exposed rocks/gravel look like, appears similar to your gravel mix.

[attachment 80313 Soft.jpg]

HH
BarnacleBill
 
Jeepers BB!

You've just confirmed my worst nightmare! I can confirm that I've left a large number of targets undug simply because the TID was jumping about
like it does when I detect a horseshoe or a nail. Usually it's junk. I've only been digging positive signals (above ZERO) when Prospecting but I'm thinking this might have been be a bad choice.

I usually pass on anything reading -8 by default... and even a few -6 targets. They probably were junk too. But you've got me wondering.

I DID pick up on a strong signal under a tree on the goldfields last week which my friend believed was probably a nail or some fence wire. But this target was giving me positives at +6 +4 +22 etc .... I told him if he dug it out he could keep it. But he's too lazy and chose to leave it there.
He does baffle me sometimes by using the target signal (in pinpoint mode) as the exact place to sink the end of his pick in the first strike into the soil. He hasn't found anything himself yet. He's still using some sort of generic detector too. I am waiting for him to run up to me with a priceless nugget embedded on the end of his pick and excitedly ask me how much I think it's worth. That's usually the first thing out of his mouth when he sees a nugget or a picture of one. Sometimes it's VERY painful watching him work the earth. He's just as likely to find good gold by luck alone as get bitten by a snake.

I now wonder if I should get back and try digging those elusive and mysterious signals out?
 
BTW
I forgot to ask, what kid of snakes am I liable to find in
the desert outback. Looks like you were in some hilly grass country.

Wish I could remember the name of the Hostel I was at 20 years back,
but I stopped off in Westeren Australia,and satyed in a Hostel that was
surrounded by desert outback. I remember hearing that
a few month earlier a young fellow was out with a metal detector and found
a nugget that netted him $5.000 Australian dollars. Of course back then
I wasn't into MDing so I never asked what kind of detector was useing.

20 years ago, what kind of detectors might they have been useing?

Robert R
 
[quote robert roy]
20 years ago, what kind of detectors might they have been useing?
[/quote]

Detectors in the early 1980s used here would have been more of the early Discriminator sort.
There was the Whites Series 3/DI model 6000 which was hip mounted. I'll bet if it was a kid though,
he was probably using something less exotic. Garret were still applying for a patent to use
microprocessors in their detectors around then. Probably wasn't a Minelab either since they
only began as a functioning company in 1984. Their first detector was the Goldseeker 15000 which
was first sold in 1986. So I'll take a guess and say the kid was using some sort of Generic detector
which simply detected anything conductive capable of responding to the coil. He wouldn't have found small
gold at all with whatever he was using and therefore would have only been able to hunt for larger nuggets.
Generic Detectors in 1984-1986 would have cost between AUD$60 and $120

I imagine that a $5,000 nugget about 20 years ago would be worth quite a bit more
by todays standards! Gold was worth much less back then and so was our dollar.
I'm guessing he'd found about 10 ounces or more. Today, a 5oz nugget comes
pretty close to $5K, if not more.

To answer your other question on snakes:

Snakes in the desert that you want to avoid:
King Brown Snake (a very large version of the Common Brown snake)
Death Adder (slow to move - if at all)
Inland Taipan (only up North)
Bandy Bandy (pretty rare - attractive - related to cobras)

There's over 100 venomous snakes in Australia with only a few being capable of inflicting a menacing bite on humans.
Pythons and Green Tree Snakes are usually easily spotted and are all harmless. Don't try to pick up the Pythons
just because they're non venomous. Some of them have extremely long teeth for catching birds etc and they
tend to be very "bitey" at certain times of the year.
 
I wounder how many of those -8 and -6 readings that I did not dig last year while I was in Alaska was gold. I did dig a couple that were iron, so I did not dig any more. I think that when prospecting, you should dig everything, run a magnet in the hole and if nothing sticks to the magnet then find the target.
 
My ladies uncle has been a mad prospector for many years and has told me about the days of old when he also used a garrett deepseeker along time ago. He found some nice sized nuggets with it too :biggrin:. Enjoy!
 
does the Australian outback average in a year?? Seems like you guys have more than your fair share of nasty biters. Thanks to you, I can vicariously enjoy nugget hunting w/o keeping my sphincter puckered in fear that I might run across one in a bad mood. thanks for all of your nicely illustrated posts. It really helps pass the winter here on the frozen tundra in Nebraska, USA. Bob.
 
The most fatalities per year in Australia is an average of 10 deaths and 9 of those from last year were attributed to bee stings.
The other was a from a brown snake.
 
Bees in the air! Snakes on the ground! Sharks in the water! All can kill you! Are you sure you took up the right hobby? Maybe Missouri isn't so bad after all? :drinking:
 
Don't forget the tiny 2 inch Blue Ringed Octopus. Caught a couple last year for the camera. Second deadliest animal in the world.
First most is the Box Jellyfish... which prevents Australians living north from swimming in the sea much of the year during "Stinger Season".


For those owners with both the 6" and the Elliptical 5x10, what's your preference in the field out of the two?
 
Nero,
Don't you guys have those funnel web spiders with fangs like a snake? Do you carry anti venom with you? What about those epenephrin pens? Man, for the love of detecting - what have you got yourself into !!!! :goodnight:
 
n/t
 
Hi I am in Australia and the number of people harmed here by snakes , sharks, insects and spiders etc is probably less than a dozen people a year. considering a population of 20plus million people here. the odds are pretty slim. I bet if you look Americas natural creatures you will find we are safer here, you have man eating sharks, whitepointers etc, Grizzly bears and other bears, pumas,alligators, snakes, rattle snakes, wasps,bees, scorpions etc, probably lots more besides. I think the media do a good job of blowing things out of proportion. seeya neilo:ausflag:
 
Folks, I was just going over my notes from the test and I forgot to add one very interesting aspect of the results.

The Target was buried in typical "hot" soil but less than half an inch below the surface.
Yet the Indicator in Coin & Relic Mode showed the target to be at maximum identifiable depth (5 Arrows Deep).

This might be of interest to people who ignore targets which the detector suggests are much deeper in the ground than they really are.
 
n/t
 
Surprisingly, there are not to many deaths from snake bits. I can't remember if it is a couple of dozen, or a couple of hundred. I think that it's the former. If you want to avoid the snakes. flies eta, then hunting in the winter time is best. The snakes hibernate, and the flies are almost non existent. Same goes for the mozzies.
Mick Evans.
 
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