Do Modern Detectors see into Rock and Quartz?

[resilientg]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this and trying to get some info so that i can figure out what machine to buy and how and where to start playing.

The area that i intend to start in is in some wet and dry creek beds, and surrounding valleys in Northern Queensland.

So my first question is i know that gold has been found in different locations in the surrounding area (within 5 klm radius of my chosen site), but when i have walked the areas that i would like to start in its covered in heaps of granite and quartz etc.

So do detectors actually see into solid objects like stone or crystal etc? And if so to what sort of depth?

What I'm trying to do is to determine do i have to scan over the rocks etc, or move all of them out of the way to get to the bottom of the creek beds etc.

Sorry if this seems like a vague question, hopefully the questions will get better as i learn

Thanks in advance,

Matthew

 

[garnethawkins]

Hey Matthew, as i discovered today a detector has absolutely no problem detecting past alot of rocks etc UNLESS the rock contains alot of iron.
Ps Im using a garrett AT gold, incredible depth on the thing, dug a pull tab about a metre deep

 

[Jon]

Yes they do, no probs. Have found quite a few species of gold in quartz over the years as well as gold in ironstone. Also nuggets under large rocks as well. The Minelab PI's have no problems with gold in ironstone. I got a 5 gram bit once under a rock that was about 10 inches thick just showing on the surface with the nugget a couple of inches under that in the clay.

 

[R_G_Bargy]

This is a piece of quartz and ironstone that had a couple of grams of gold totally hidden inside. I broke it in half to reveal what was giving the signal. Hopefully you can see the gold in the circled areas. It was found with a minelab 4500 with a 16" NF mono coil at about 6" deep.

 

[Tassie Daz]

So does that mean we may potentially discard rocks as "hot rocks" but they may potentially contain GOLD. If that's the case that makes almost every rock a possibility to be split in two. Or am I missing something here. I too, am very new to this whole game.

 

[R_G_Bargy]

If I get a signal from a rock that shows quartz, ironstone or conglomerate, I will break it open if I cant see any colour showing. If it's a hot rock all the pieces will give some sort of response. If there is gold present it will usually end up in just 1 or maybe 2(if you totaled the rock)of the pieces. It always pays to check out everything, especially when first starting out.

 

[Jon]

Best I got in ironstone was 7 oz's of gold. Hardly any was showing. I check anything that makes a signal. A mate of mine when he started out in the VLF glory days used to throw the ironstone hotrocks away. He was detecting a spot with a mate and they got dozens of them and threw them to the side of the diggings when they did. They got plenty of nuggets but reckoned the hotrocks were just that, hotrocks. A week later his mate called in to see him and showed him a hotrock, ironstone, that had gold showing. He said to my mate that they better go back and check the hotrocks they turfed at the other spot. They did and picked up several ounces of gold inside ironstone hotties that they had discarded.

 

[Goldtarget]

Digging an old post here, pity i didn't go through the archives sooner....although it might have have been in vain i didn't even think to smash ironstone, the hotrocks.....Hmmm found a few and i guessed the old timers where good at what they did and tossed them...looks like I'll be out there again!

 

[Ben78]

Ps Im using a garrett AT gold, incredible depth on the thing, dug a pull tab about a metre deep

Not a chance that this actually happened. No detector currently made will detect a pull tab a metre deep.

 

[BumbleB]

Ps Im using a garrett AT gold, incredible depth on the thing, dug a pull tab about a metre deep

Not a chance that this actually happened. No detector currently made will detect a pull tab a metre deep.

Why not??
The larger coils- 18" or 20+" apparently reach down way beyond 1 meter.

 

[nuggetino]

Doesn't ground type play a huge part in detection depth of an item. Seen some pretty small items detected at an incredible depth on the beach.

 

[kawman]

It will not be long before you guys will be able to detect gold in a chinamans teeth on the other side of the world...

 

[kleinman98]

It will not be long before you guys will be able to detect gold in a chinamans teeth on the other side of the world...

Well I am pulling out chinese tent pegs at 1/2mtr+ So there must be some chinese missing some tent pegs.

 

[Ben78]

Why not??
The larger coils- 18" or 20+" apparently reach down way beyond 1 meter.

With a 20" coil on a 5000 you would detect a pull tab at a metre deep - if it was still attached to the beer can.

 

[BumbleB]

Why not??
The larger coils- 18" or 20+" apparently reach down way beyond 1 meter.

With a 20" coil on a 5000 you would detect a pull tab at a metre deep - if it was still attached to the beer can.

I run an 18" Nugget Finder coil on my 5000, & although I have never had to dig down a meter for anything (I've been close though), I would be very surprised if it didn't penetrate to that sort of depth, especially given a standard 11" mono can get to 500-600mm depth.

Well let me put it this way, if they infact can't get to that depth then I was completely mislead (lied to) by the person I bought my 5000 & 18" coil from (Andrew White- Clermont Detectors). He enfatically assured me that I would get that depth & probably more (he indicated with his hand to just under his rib cage)- when I asked how deep would the 26" (the largest one) would get he raised his hand above his head to indicate the depth of approx' 2 meters. I must admit that I was quite surprised at his indication for the 26", but he has quite a reputation within the Industry, & infact he won this years Minelab award for the best Minelab retailer (not sure what the criteria was for that though).

Now Ben78, if what you say is correct then I am very pissed!! Now before I lose my shit, I think I should get some background info' from you- where do you get your information on this from?? Are you simply speculating, or did this information come from a particular source?? If there is one thing that I CAN NOT STAND, it's being RIPPED OFF! Please enlighten me on the information that you have.

 

[jethro]

I have picked up a 1.6 grammer hidden inside a fist sized bit of ironstone. My sd 2200 said it was good so I picked it up and went & found my mate who was using a 3000 and different coil, His machine said it was rubbish Ferous signal. Anyhow we broke it open on the tailgate of my ute and out popped a fish shaped bit of gold. Very pleased with that one.

 

[Guest]

The Bigger the target the deeper you will detect it the smaller the target the more shallow you will detect it. But in saying this I did detect 6 small coat buttons 2ft deep with the 5000 and 11" mono and a jam tin lid about a meter.
Depends on coil, settings and mineralisation.

 

[BumbleB]

The Bigger the target the deeper you will detect it the smaller the target the more shallow you will detect it. But in saying this I did detect 6 small coat buttons 2ft deep with the 5000 and 11" mono and a jam tin lid about a meter.
Depends on coil, settings and mineralisation.

Yeah, personally I think Ben78 is wrong. Not sure where he gets that info' from but it doesn't make sense to me, given what I have dug up with the standard 11" mono. An extra 61% in coil size has got to equate to considerably more depth.
I'll wait to see what Ben comes back with. I may even email Nugget Finder & ask them the question.

 

[Goldpick]

There are all these references and claims of 1-2m depths being achievable with certain coils, but no reference to the actual size of the target that could be achieved at these depths. So technically the dealer may not be wrong, simply due to the fact no mention was made about what sized nugget can be picked up at the mentioned depth - a bit like saying an x-terra 705 will go down a metre, so long as there was a car body buried there.

Were those depth claims made by the dealer based on real nuggets found in real mineralised settings, in the ground, or factory based testing in perfect conditions? So you may be able to find a nugget at 1-2 metres, so long as it is pretty large.

With regards to Ben's comment, probably taken out of context, I think he was commenting on the AT Pro post supposedly finding a pull tab a metre down. So probably a reference more to the fact no VLF detector will find a pull tab at that depth unless still attached to the can, versus including PI machines. You only have to watch that You Yube clip of the guys finding that half kilo nugget a metre down with what looks to be the stock coil, to know that an even larger coil would have a good chance of getting deeper again - once again, it would all depend on the nugget size.

 

[Diggerdude]

Ben is spot on, the only way your detecting a pull tab at 1m is if it's still attached to the can. Highly unlikely to detect a nugget at that depth either unless it's 10oz+ and laying at the right angle . Anyone who tells you they are digging nuggets 1-2m is full of shit or using a dozer.

For gold in quartz a high frequency vlf detector is the best. They can detect fine disseminated gold and dust, where a PI requires a chunk to energise and produce a signal.

DD