@mrsuperinfo : Rome is in the gold belt itself. You would need to start researching (type in Georgia Gold Belt) specific streams etc., to start mining it. Good luck!
I was using this method on an ancient river in Punjabi (Pakistan) and on the first turn found a gold nugget which was valued at $400 been doing this for about a week now and made about $2300 lol this is better then working I've not turned up for work some folks are getting suspicious on my activities, I've been saying I go fishing. lol
Do you get permission from the land owner for prospecting? Can you prospect on public rivers? What would you suggest for a NC boy just getting in to gold prospecting? I have researched the area and it is rich with gold around here... some of the places are on public land and some on private. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
@billman2112 : Yes (to both questions), ownership of the ground in the East can be difficult to ascertain in many places, but public ground is generally open to prospecting (simple methods - don't bring in a backhoe, etc.) I generally urge everyone to start slow - a pan and a sluice - maybe that gold-n-sand pump or something similar, and see if you can find gold first. A stream sluice may be all that is needed after that (one of the most and cheapest methods of all time). Very best of luck!
@flagold Thank you very much. Are state owned lands considered public? By the way, your videos are GREAT! I just bought a "bazooka prospector" sluice. Thanks again mate!
Awesome, I have the opportunity to get on some old sites this Summer and your video just gave me the knowledge to prepare the tools I will need! I thank you sir!
@kungfumike1984 : not true. The river needs to cut through gold bearing material to be productive. This means it can have gold above it tumbling down, or cutting through another channel that has gold, or cutting through a vein directly (some other situations as well). The rivers here in Florida and S. Ga contain no gold as they cut through sediments, rather than mountainous ground (as in N. Ga.). Best of luck to you!
Which light is better for finding diamonds and rubies a 375nm bulb or a 390nm bulb? I noticed the mag-light type has the 375nm bulbs but some others have 390nm
@777dingo : It won't make any difference in ability to detect. Both these bulbs are still within the long wave curve of UV which is what you want to detect natural stones (short-wave for synthetic). The 390 bulbs may be an attempt to increase brightness in the smaller lights as they don't have nearly as many bulbs as the big mag-light.
@777dingo : there are a couple at my website in the treasure section, (treasuresites com) I would recommend the maglite variety as it is the most powerful of the three I have (I have a small one, a lantern type, and the mag). Good luck!
@turgeo2004 : I am using a Whites GMT (dedicated gold prospecting detector). Don't get this if you're contemplating looking for coins or any other kind of detecting but gold prospecting. A suitable top of the line detector that does it all is the Whites MXT, and the new Garrett AT Pro does the same. A great choice for a general purpose detector (coins/jewelry) is the Garrett Ace 150/250/350. You can compare prices of all these by clicking the link and go to the metal detecting equipment.
@flagold k thanks. its confusing for a first timer as to what type to get since there are so many different types, i plan on using one for gold, silver and coins. thanks for the info.
hey thanks for the advice before my trip the other day.. unfortunately the airline sent our equipment to the wrong city and the trip was a complete disaster. haha! I'm not giving up though.. while I still have the whites xlt, I was wondering if I could go find some abandoned gold mines that aren't on the map and run the detector over the waste debris? I tried to go to your site and see if you had anything listed but it's not loading. Do you know of any in the states surrounding utah?
@scalejetdotnet : the site is up, was doing maintenance earlier today. Searching tailings piles is at the heart of metal detecting. There are many mines in the states surrounding Utah, numbering in the 10's of thousands. I would not go in them, but searching the tailings is a proven method.
@flagold hey thanks so much you are so awesome thanks for replying and helping out! I see that you used to operate airliners..did you happen to see my vid? I make scale RC airliners if you happen to be into that. cheers
@scalejetdotnet : great job on the 757! - I was on the design team (battery systems) of the 757 & 767 series in 79/80. Best of luck in your adventures.
@flagold oh, what were you using to shine on the rubies and diamond? Also, do you know about long wave and short wave UV lights? I read that the short is better, but more dangerous to the eye...any info on that?
Oh yeah, one major issue about the mining laws is that at this time, it is interpreted that the 1872 law superceded the 1866 law, and the 1866 law is null and void. However, this is not the case, and the 1872 law is an extension/revision of the 1866 law.
@ds1919ds1919 : I bought 2 lights from "X" . . . years ago, a dive light converted to UV, and a mag (3 battery) light (both are excellent), but I don't know the source anymore. If you go to my website (the link) I have a couple of UV lights there, the thing to do is click them, then see what Amazon throws up in the "people who bought also bought" and roam around to find what all is in that category. You may find ones like mine and be able to trace the mfg. - Mag light is the way to go IMO.
I have a old Garrett TR Discriminator,and i was wondering if it is worthless or can set it up and use it as you have,it has discrimination , sensitivity, tuning metal to null.
@ruckus1972: it can still be used for coins and the like, but for this kind of prospecting you really need the newer tools to do an adequate job. Best of luck!
Thanks for all the info it's a great help. I was looking at your site w ww treasuresites com and you don't seem to list a supplier of the "hand sluices". Did you make it yourself?
The sluice pictured at the site is a simple exploration sluice (you probably got to the old page - go back and reload and it will come up + more), the one in the film is a Keene A52. Great sluice, but heavy. The Jobe "Yellowjacket" is another metal sluice similar to the A52 if you want to go aluminum.
We need more of these. One great place to mine is at the gem and jewelry shows, where the fakers are still there and they try and bilk the public so they can travel and live in million dollar houses at the same time. Few are giving good prices much less honest! The competition is so horrible, that people that KNOW what they are doing would have to get in with secret cameras. They are scared to death of CAMERAS! Claiming artists rights to privacy! Ridiculous! I wanted a pic of a pretty necklace
Matt you need your own TV show. You act like one of us instead of being all puffed up and self empressed. Good work again al always. Do you know anything about gravity dredges?
Hi.. Last night, i watched your finding gold series. Definitely inspirational and full of great and useful information. THANKS! keep it up. i do have questions about legalities though. you're supposed to "stake a claim" right? how does that work typically?
You have the option of staking a claim, or not (testing). By far, most do not. If you want to stake a mineral claim on a piece of ground, contact the Bureau of Land Management nearest you and get the mineral claims package (free) and simply follow the directions enclosed. You send them the location of the ground, the required fee, and file the claim with the clerk of the county the ground is in. It is time consuming but certainly not hard to do. Very best of luck to you!
Would you need high frequency gold detector to detect the black sands or could a regular frequency detector be made to work. I use a sluice and looks like a good way to go. I haven't much experience with detectors. Thanks You
Yes, the lower frequency detectors will buzz on black sand. What you could do is find an old Garrett CXII or CXI series detector (or equivalent) that have meters instead of digital readouts and use no discrimination to trace the sands.
I was wondering to what depths the dectector would pick up flakes or pinheadsiaze nuuggets. And are there any detectors for less money that have the high frequencys that would be useful. Thank You
Probably the lowest cost, highest freq gold detector (VLF) that can be purchased for less money is the Gold Bug II which also happens to be the best one, in my opinion. Not especially user friendly at first (has a learning curve), but it is by far the best of the VLF equipment for small gold (in a strictly on/off unit).
The end is more spectacular than the gems! that is a winning guitar riff. Excellent video explaining stringers of quartz as well. 5* from a rocky mountain miner.
Both. Some use a winch on a Jeep with poor cable, many ways to get hurt winching (not just with boulders). There are boulder slings that you should look into getting/making for the winching process. Good luck!
hey matt I live near saettle do you think moving big boulders near bedrock at the head of a bar with a come along and or a lock and tackle would be profitable?
Absolutely. Big boulders at the head of a bar usually means big gold (as long as you're finding the bar is holding gold). Be extremely cautious in moving boulders, probably more dredgers killed doing that than any other operation.
Im going to georgia ,labor day weekend . Of course now you cant pan on the national forest land at all. Ill be in Dahlonega,GA . Is there any places I can go without being on someones land ....Please help . Its a family trip and we would really like to find a picker or better.
As far as I know, you are still able to do non motorized prospecting in Ga. Right behind (in fact on the WalMart property) there were a lot of pickers found in Dahlonega. Due to the state regulation stopping dredging in California (which even the USFS at the moment won't enforce) there is a lot of rumors going that all prospecting is disallowed everywhere, etc., etc. Good luck and have fun in Dahlonega!
will the dector your using find small flake , and is it worth it as much of what we find in my are of michigan is small flake . And can you give me directior on what to use and where to go and price ,as i dont want soend to much being new and inexperienced
Your videos are amazing , Is there a site you have for further info . i live in michigan , and there are alot of commercial gold mines up here( in the UP of michigan ) . But i want to learn how to find gold myself . Do you know of anyplaces in michigan . ? Do you ever do outings with others?
Some of the forum members at golddredger(dot)com are from Michigan. You might get some info there, I don't have any site specific information on Michigan. Some of the forum members have frequent outings and I attend occasionally as I can (Douglas Creek, Wyoming and the Arkansas River in Colorado, etc.). The very best of luck to you in pursuing this fantastic hobby/avocation.
tnx matt ur helping me alot i got a question i have found an abandoned gold mine and searched around and found a large tailings pile as to my research found out that 20% of gold out of this mine had been lost in the tailings the mine had crushed everythings into a fine sand so there is no nuggets or pickers just fine flakes or dust whats my best solution for retrieval for such a large quantity of tailings
Others are probably more qualified to chime in here, since I don't recover down to dust unless as a by product. You might want to look at some of the gold beach boxes they use in Alaska. This is a sluice without riffles, so the sands can separate without water flow interruption of riffles keeping the gold suspended (all you have is a box with spaghetti carpet in it that drops the flour onto carpet underneath. This might be a way you could run a volume of material.
Buchanan, Georgia. The belt going through Georgia/N. Alabama/NorthCarolina/S.Carolina still produces lots of gold and it has not been worked with modern (suction dredge) methods or huge bucketline dredges (some the size of ships (Western US). For the most part, the Eastern gold was hand methods from the 1700's to 1840's and little done since.
Thanks for the great videos. I recently started sluicing in Azusa canyon, CA.. Not much luck. I seem to recover a lot of flour gold (maybe pyrite?) It seems to just float on top of my recovered material. Is there a way to remove the flour gold from the rest of the material? Thanks
Matt-excellent video series and many thanx. Generally, what are the laws concerning panning/dredging int he various states. How about federal or stae lands--any site that details them on the internet? How wide does a stream have to be to still count as publicly accessible?
Just about every state is different now. Wyoming requires no permit for 3" and under dredges, and many Eastern states don't have much on the books at all. Plug DEQ dredging regulations and "prospecting" in with a search of the target state usually gets one in the ballpark. No real width on the streams. Best of luck in your prospecting!
Great videos Matt! Lots of info for a new comer to prospecting like myself. I have a garrett ace 250 that I got to learn with. Do you think that I may be able to use it with my sluice box like you showed in this video, or is it just not sensitive enough for finding gold and black sand?
I doubt that it will be sensitive enough. The Ace 250 operates at 6.5 KHZ which is great for coins and larger objects deep. That said, go ahead and try it, I was told a Garrett Sea Hunter was totally inappropriate for finding gold in a bar, that it wouldn't discriminate, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah, and it did just fine in leading me to 6 pounds of gold. You will have to think differently and use the meter to read metals (not 25¢, 10¢, etc.) and use a small coil if possible. Good luck!
Thanks for the info Matt! I will try it and see what happens. And if you ever decide to do a video on finding gold in Alaska, let me know. I'd love to tag along.
You could lay out a pattern of where the GBII was getting concentrated hits and figure things out from that too, although having a screen to read makes things much easier. The GBII comes in handy in small streams where you mark individual hits and vacuum them up with a small dredge (I used a little 2" Proline).
These are excellent videos, and I thank you for them. I will start looking it prospecting myself. Any knowledge about good places in Canada, Ontario province?
Thanks i think GMT is probably more versitle. Will be checking some maps and creeks here in the San Bernardino mountains close by. Later up north when i travel to Nevada & Oregon.
I noticed you used 4 different classifiers. What sizes are you using? There are eight sizes. I dont want to buy eight so....? Also would you recomend the GMT detector for gold or gold bug 2 or...? thanks.
You actually only need 3 for sluicing: 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and you can simply go 1/2 to 1/4. The GMT gives a reading that is easily understandable for black sands, the GBII will simply detect individual targets so if you're looking for a spot for sluicing or the dredge (hot spots in a bar) the GMT would be more appropriate amongst the two detectors. Good luck!
: ) I see you use a white GMT, I also have one, i ether dont know how to use it right or its not as good as a cheap one i use... On it it says the higher the number the more minerals iron etc ... and lower would be gold, do you have any pointers for the GMT, I have found the use of the MXT was easier. I enjoy your videos, keep up the passion, : )
Here's what I do with it: use the small "Shooter DD" coil (probably the best tip), set it up with fast track for ground (pump it up and down a couple times), Gain: try to se above the pre-set (depends on hot ground), Sat: turn up till you get a sharp zip sound, Audio Boost: on. That said, if you've got a detector you're finding gold with - might want to just stick with it, doesn't matter the name on it or cost, if you've figured it out and can get on a paystreak, that is great! Good luck!
Thank you for taking the time to answer my comment. Will give that a try tomorrow : ). If your ever in CA area will show you a trick that will make u do a back flip, better seen in person. Have a magical week!
They are $80 to $100 depending on the manufacture. Keene Engineering, Jobe (Yellowjacket), and a number of others make them. If there are any books on NS I could or should add to treasuresites (the book section of my main website) let me know.
What kind of laws do you need to observe when dredging a river or stream. I have panned a lot of locations but sometimes dont feal comfortable doing it because of some law I might be infringing on.
You are in luck in Wyoming as they have changed the law this year to no permit at all needed for dredging with 3" or below. A 3" Proline (non-plugging jet) will move as much material as the old Keene 4"s would and is great for that area (I don't sell them BTW).
The main thing is to look for (up to date) mining claim signs. No signs, out of date, etc., it's clear. Much more property available than most think (in fact, massive amounts of it).
Hi! I was watching your videos and they are great.I found gold ,well I guess,i would you like to ask you to see my pictures and see if you can help me how to separate it from the dirt and melt ir.sorry about my english ,i speak spanish.I think I found a lot of gold flakes(I´m not sure).Could you help me???
The gold nugget detectors I use (have) are: Fisher Gold Bug II (for small flakes - the best for this), Whites GMT (2nd best for small gold and traces concentrations), Garrett Infinium (completely waterproof - pulse, not appropriate for flakes, but will find #2 sized eraser gold and jewelry at extreme depth (2-3 feet on some targets), Minelab 2200D - great pulse unit and very accurate, Whites MXT traces black sands, and is still useful for small(ish) gold. Examples at my main page. Good luck!
Awesome videos Matt... I just finished watching 1-5. I'm curious about something: suppose I and some friends are willing and able to trek long distances for days at a time to largely inaccessible places.... perhaps even requiring repelling. Is it reasonable to assume we could find some really great spots? Going deep into the wilderness for up to 2 weeks at a time is something I love and once I start gold prospecting I assume I should use this to my advantage? :)
Ive been using my sluice for a while now in Utah and am about to purchase a metal detector. There is a lot of fin to micro fine gold here in the river i work. My question is how much fine gold does it take to register on a metal detector?
You might want to go to the forum at golddredger (dot) com and look for somebody named "Mad Jack" or something like that. A Maine prospector that is doing really good (with pictures of nuggets (big ones). Might want to register, contact him, and go from there. Good luck!
I picked up a gmt with the smaller coil but it seemd to be weak in locating gold. I purchased some smaller flakes and unless I am with in a inch or two of the coil it doesnt seem to pick it up. I tried testing in the air same response even after switching to manual ground balance. Any suggestions?
I would go to the Whites site, watch all the videos and pay particular attention to the one on "ground balance." If you want the ultimate in depth with a VLF a ground balance slightly positive in "manual" will give it. All the dedicated gold detectors now are very good (from any mfg.) -- but air tests are extremely erratic with any of them. There is also the possibility you're simply in ground to hot for a VLF to operate effectively. Good luck!
Yes, it is very thorough (you can put a scoop of concentrates in, go to lunch, and it will still be working gold out when you return). It is one of the very best you can buy (some commercial operations have used them). The drawback: slow.
I went out exploring today and stopped off at a camp ground next the Boulder river here in Montana. Down by the river's edge I noticed hundreds of shiny flakes that looked like gold flakes on the sandy shores line. Could these possibly be gold flakes that the water has sort of rippled to the shore line as if it was a panning effect? I brought home a 5 gal. bucket of these samples but have not worked them yet.
Unlikely, gold is 19 times heavier than other materials and usually will be at the bottom of the (black) sand, etc. If the flakes shatter, they're mica or the like.
Thanks for all your tips Matt, very cool stuff. I just ordered the "DD" Shooter coil for my MXT. Can you explain just a bit about what a "Hot Rock" is. I found one the other day and it seems kinda like a piece of lead.
A "hot rock" is simply a rock with a piece of solid iron or magnetite in it, or any other large piece of unwanted material that overloads the detector or makes it beep. A gold nugget is a "hot rock" we want. A piece of iron ore is a "hot rock" we don't. Just that simple.
Great stuff Matt!!!! I've learned alot from just a few of your videos as I am a beginner. I live in some very rich gold country here in central Montana and am surrounded by many old mining areas and ghost towns. I just bought a Whites MXT. Would you recommend using the DD Shooter coil with the MXT and would it give similar results as to using the GMT? I appreciate any feedback you may have.
You will need the shooter ("DD") coil to prospect with the MXT. The larger coil simply covers to much black sand (hot rocks, etc.) to be effective. The MXT is operating at 14 khz, about the right freq to find a decent sized piece of gold (cut a 22 bullet in half and practice listening for it and setting your machine to find it). The GMT (and Fisher Goldbug II) are operating at 60-74kHZ and beep little slivers of gold almost to small to see (and many would say to even hunt for). Good luck!
Continued: once you get that coil, try turning he SAT all the way down, and turn the GAIN up as high as you can (all the way if possible) and practice with your 22 bullet. Then put it in relic mode and note it gives a high tone for the bullet (or gold) and a low tone for iron. You can nugget shoot with it in this way.
Hello, Could you recommend what size classifiers to use. Seems like 1/2,1/4,1/8,1/20 is a good start. Also noticed your classifiers seem to fit nicely in the bucket. I have seen many brands. Trying to avoid the poorer quality units. any suggestions on brands to look at.
That's the sizes to use for gold. Some go down to 50 mesh, but I lose patience with micro-dot stuff. The ones I'm using are from Keene Engineering (they have a website). Feed stores also have screens. Good luck!
HI! great video. i just tried panning for the first time, and im now thinking about getting more into it. My dad lives by Olympia Washington, and my mom lives in the northern coast range of Oregon. Is their any gold by those areas? Even if its just a little bit?
I am using the "DD Shooter" coil. It is a coil you must use to find raw (nugget or flake) gold reliably with the GMT or MXT (each has a separate "DD Shooter" coil) metal detectors or to trace the black sands with accuracy.
Seems like a good routine is metal detect 1rst then, classify then sluice,then spiral wheel,balance of processed sands from spiral wheel put through a blue bowl? I am wondering if I have the idea right. To speed up the process a Dredge would substitute the sluice correct?
Is there a disadvantage for the smaller dredges besides volume? I am planning for a one man operation. Also regarding hand sluices Jobe vs Keene any difference in quality noted?
Yep, you've got it right as far as I'm concerned. Some eliminate the spiral wheel and pan their concentrates, but the spiral wheel has so many uses (gems) that I use it. For each inch of hose size, you double material moved with a dredge, so yes, volume is the key, and when using a dredge (looking for bulk gold) volume is the key. The largest size an individual in pristine shape can work all day is 5" (day in day out). Anything larger and you have to work less or have more people helping.
Thx for answering our questions.Have you used a rotopan?Is there a disadvantage over using one verses a sluice.Speaking of sluices Would it better to get a longer sluice? does the length add to the retrieval rate? I noticed in your videos you have used several detectors.Infinium, gmt are there substantial differences in findings due to frequency,pulse vs vlf models.
Also are there plans available to make a suction tube like used in your video, or some place to buy one.
I have not used a Rotopan yet. A longer sluice gives more riffles for more materials to drop out. The longer sluice is also the same one used in many highbanker combinations. The pulse detectors are impervious to mineralized soil but need a big target to "see" while the vlf units are extremely sensitive to any size gold but heavy mineralization can quickly cut depth to a mere few inches (to not usable at all). The Infinium and Minelab pulse units are nugget machines for areas of big gold.
flaggold, I am a newbe and wonder what type of metal detector would you start with? also Since we are traveling from Washington state to tennessee to relocate for health reasons I was hoping to try my hand at finding some gold along the way. Are there any areas in lowere wester oregon and norhern California that one can search and not interfere with other claims also what type of screens do you suggest using. Also I knoticed you use a sluice box what size would you recommend/.
The Keene A-52 is pretty much the standard hand sluice, many copies are around. Yes, there are more areas unclaimed than claimed, just look for claim signs, they should have markers with a paper if they are up to date (unfortunately few take old claim signs down so you have to read the date). The Whites MXT is probably the best all around detector I have come across, you will need the small "DD" shooter coil to detect gold. The Garrett Infinium is excellent but far harder to use.
Is there anywhere that sells the classifiers for a more reasonable price? It seems most sell in the $22-25 range. Would the GMT be a better gold machine. Verses the MXT or is it the coil that makes the difference?
You can go to a feed store and get them and save some money. All they are is grain classifiers. The GMT runs at 60 khz and will see very small gold, it is strictly a gold machine. The MXT runs at a lower khz (close to 20 if I remember right) so it takes a larger size piece for it to see. The smaller coil is needed on either one to make them extremely sensitive to smaller gold. A GMT will sound off on a #6-8 birdshot and an MXT will sound off on a BB (in general). Practice with .22 bullets.
Is the UV torch at the end of the clip a Longwave or Shortwave one? Also how safe is it? I've been told that you should take care of your eyes when using UV lamps. Nice series by the way. When's the next one coming?!
when you used the metal detector to mark the stream with stakes, was the mineralized soil (black sands) to the left or right of those stakes? you used the term "inside" which I'm having trouble visualizing.
Thanks Matt, I believe I get it now. For the MXT and GMT White's talks about the mineralization meter but I've never seen anyone use it to locate black sand deposits, everyone's always busy beeping for nuggets, coins, jewelry, relics, etc. I'm going to give this method a try and see how well it works. Thanks for taking the time to film, edit, process, and upload these great series. I've watched nearly all your videos. You've lived a very commendable and enviable life. Keep up the good work.
The meter is simply a decimal count -- and it will read as you go along 80 83 78 etc. Theoretically when you find the line of black sand, to the downside (low side) when the number drops off suddenly 86 86 86 78 . . . that should be the actual gold line (solid gold will read in the 30 range). To the upside of the black sand line, should theoretically be heavy gems (garnet, sapphire, etc.) and up from there in specific gravity layers you'd eventually get to lighter gems (diamond, etc.)
I very much like the GMT. Like a Goldbug II though, it is specialized equipment only for prospecting. The "black sands" feature is extremely useful in tracing out a bar and it is almost as sensitive (runs only 10 khz less) as the GBII. The MXT is also excellent, but takes a bigger piece of gold to see, running at 14khz (the GMT is 60+ (GBII 70+). With the MXT you can coin and relic shoot (not so the GMT (realistically). I use all the detectors and the GMT is definitely right in the top.
Hey Matt, some really excellent videos you've been putting out. I enjoy learning from what I'm sure is decades worth of experience. Best of luck in your recovery, take it slow and steady with moderate exercise/weight lifting and you'll be back in gold fields of CA by summer.
That was fun and interesting, thanks!
msvoner 2 weeks ago in playlist More videos from flagold
So which one of you fellers is the traveling man?
hankdog001 3 months ago
where are you
logancoolguy 4 months ago
@logancoolguy : Buchanan Georgia.
flagold 4 months ago
@flagold What kind of detector is that.
mcgator51 1 month ago
Is there gold in the rivers close to rome ga? NSE or west?
mrsuperinfo 6 months ago
@mrsuperinfo : Rome is in the gold belt itself. You would need to start researching (type in Georgia Gold Belt) specific streams etc., to start mining it. Good luck!
flagold 6 months ago
cool guitar ending...very helpful information.
Diggin4Metal 6 months ago
I was using this method on an ancient river in Punjabi (Pakistan) and on the first turn found a gold nugget which was valued at $400 been doing this for about a week now and made about $2300 lol this is better then working I've not turned up for work some folks are getting suspicious on my activities, I've been saying I go fishing. lol
AakirX 6 months ago
Could you show us how and where you find diamonds and rubies at night with uv light!!!!
TheLori4u 6 months ago
@TheLori4u that is brilliant..
pcaso100 6 months ago
Do you get permission from the land owner for prospecting? Can you prospect on public rivers? What would you suggest for a NC boy just getting in to gold prospecting? I have researched the area and it is rich with gold around here... some of the places are on public land and some on private. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
billman2112 9 months ago
@billman2112 : Yes (to both questions), ownership of the ground in the East can be difficult to ascertain in many places, but public ground is generally open to prospecting (simple methods - don't bring in a backhoe, etc.) I generally urge everyone to start slow - a pan and a sluice - maybe that gold-n-sand pump or something similar, and see if you can find gold first. A stream sluice may be all that is needed after that (one of the most and cheapest methods of all time). Very best of luck!
flagold 9 months ago
@flagold Thank you very much. Are state owned lands considered public? By the way, your videos are GREAT! I just bought a "bazooka prospector" sluice. Thanks again mate!
billman2112 9 months ago
Awesome, I have the opportunity to get on some old sites this Summer and your video just gave me the knowledge to prepare the tools I will need! I thank you sir!
GrizzlyGroundswell 11 months ago
oops, dont think my post went in.... is it true u can find gold in any creek or river no matter what the location?>
kungfumike1984 1 year ago
@kungfumike1984 : not true. The river needs to cut through gold bearing material to be productive. This means it can have gold above it tumbling down, or cutting through another channel that has gold, or cutting through a vein directly (some other situations as well). The rivers here in Florida and S. Ga contain no gold as they cut through sediments, rather than mountainous ground (as in N. Ga.). Best of luck to you!
flagold 1 year ago
is it true u can find gold in any creek or river no matter what location? i live in Georgia and visit Helen Ga whenever i can.
kungfumike1984 1 year ago
Which light is better for finding diamonds and rubies a 375nm bulb or a 390nm bulb? I noticed the mag-light type has the 375nm bulbs but some others have 390nm
777dingo 1 year ago
@777dingo : It won't make any difference in ability to detect. Both these bulbs are still within the long wave curve of UV which is what you want to detect natural stones (short-wave for synthetic). The 390 bulbs may be an attempt to increase brightness in the smaller lights as they don't have nearly as many bulbs as the big mag-light.
flagold 1 year ago
Very good information, you are a good teacher! Where can I buy one of those lights?
777dingo 1 year ago
@777dingo : there are a couple at my website in the treasure section, (treasuresites com) I would recommend the maglite variety as it is the most powerful of the three I have (I have a small one, a lantern type, and the mag). Good luck!
flagold 1 year ago
@flagold thanks, your website has alot of neat stuff!
777dingo 1 year ago
Very informative video - thank you!
highcap56 1 year ago
what kind of metal detector you using, im planning on getting one, dont know what kind to look for, or what brand.
turgeo2004 1 year ago
@turgeo2004 : I am using a Whites GMT (dedicated gold prospecting detector). Don't get this if you're contemplating looking for coins or any other kind of detecting but gold prospecting. A suitable top of the line detector that does it all is the Whites MXT, and the new Garrett AT Pro does the same. A great choice for a general purpose detector (coins/jewelry) is the Garrett Ace 150/250/350. You can compare prices of all these by clicking the link and go to the metal detecting equipment.
flagold 1 year ago
@flagold k thanks. its confusing for a first timer as to what type to get since there are so many different types, i plan on using one for gold, silver and coins. thanks for the info.
turgeo2004 1 year ago
hey thanks for the advice before my trip the other day.. unfortunately the airline sent our equipment to the wrong city and the trip was a complete disaster. haha! I'm not giving up though.. while I still have the whites xlt, I was wondering if I could go find some abandoned gold mines that aren't on the map and run the detector over the waste debris? I tried to go to your site and see if you had anything listed but it's not loading. Do you know of any in the states surrounding utah?
scalejetdotnet 1 year ago
@scalejetdotnet : the site is up, was doing maintenance earlier today. Searching tailings piles is at the heart of metal detecting. There are many mines in the states surrounding Utah, numbering in the 10's of thousands. I would not go in them, but searching the tailings is a proven method.
flagold 1 year ago
@flagold hey thanks so much you are so awesome thanks for replying and helping out! I see that you used to operate airliners..did you happen to see my vid? I make scale RC airliners if you happen to be into that. cheers
scalejetdotnet 1 year ago
@scalejetdotnet : great job on the 757! - I was on the design team (battery systems) of the 757 & 767 series in 79/80. Best of luck in your adventures.
flagold 1 year ago
i bought a keene sluice but it didnt' have a keene sticker on it... its the a51a super mini.... no handle either =P
9DragonMaster 1 year ago
@9DragonMaster : The Keene I'm using in the film is the A52.
flagold 1 year ago
@flagold i just bought a A51A to go backpacking with into the crack of this mountains ass, for the coming rainfall =D
9DragonMaster 1 year ago
Where can i get one of them tubes that you used on the river? What are they called?
We are documentary makers and have recently taken up metal detecting
SimonandColin 1 year ago
money
for gold
justinmackalot 1 year ago
hi, where do you get the ultraviolet and fourescent bulbs for the maglights?
ds1919ds1919 1 year ago
@ds1919ds1919 : I have been lucky and not needed any. If anyone knows, I'd like to know that as well. Thanks.
flagold 1 year ago
@flagold oh, what were you using to shine on the rubies and diamond? Also, do you know about long wave and short wave UV lights? I read that the short is better, but more dangerous to the eye...any info on that?
Oh yeah, one major issue about the mining laws is that at this time, it is interpreted that the 1872 law superceded the 1866 law, and the 1866 law is null and void. However, this is not the case, and the 1872 law is an extension/revision of the 1866 law.
ds1919ds1919 1 year ago
@ds1919ds1919 : I bought 2 lights from "X" . . . years ago, a dive light converted to UV, and a mag (3 battery) light (both are excellent), but I don't know the source anymore. If you go to my website (the link) I have a couple of UV lights there, the thing to do is click them, then see what Amazon throws up in the "people who bought also bought" and roam around to find what all is in that category. You may find ones like mine and be able to trace the mfg. - Mag light is the way to go IMO.
flagold 1 year ago
I like your videos but boy I sure wish the sound was a little louder in spots. ;)
2JobsStillPoorUSA 1 year ago
pfff i make 20.000 gold a day.. oh wait this isn't wow, sorry wrong channel lol
Toobiejas 1 year ago
I have a old Garrett TR Discriminator,and i was wondering if it is worthless or can set it up and use it as you have,it has discrimination , sensitivity, tuning metal to null.
ruckus1972 1 year ago
@ruckus1972: it can still be used for coins and the like, but for this kind of prospecting you really need the newer tools to do an adequate job. Best of luck!
flagold 1 year ago
Like this comment if you thought you were looking at a wow vid :)
littledude4eva 1 year ago 5
Where i georgia did you say? It is not really clear.
deturner91961 1 year ago
Hi is there any gold prospecting in Florida? other than trying to get really lucky and find a shipwreck Reale
blai745 1 year ago
solid guy. he has a good voice to listen to. good vid.
jonnebanan 1 year ago
honest and easy to listen to
good video
marktsheppard 2 years ago
can u tell me what is the best metal detector
stopthechem 2 years ago
Thanks for all the info it's a great help. I was looking at your site w ww treasuresites com and you don't seem to list a supplier of the "hand sluices". Did you make it yourself?
sengmand 2 years ago
The sluice pictured at the site is a simple exploration sluice (you probably got to the old page - go back and reload and it will come up + more), the one in the film is a Keene A52. Great sluice, but heavy. The Jobe "Yellowjacket" is another metal sluice similar to the A52 if you want to go aluminum.
flagold 2 years ago
We need more of these. One great place to mine is at the gem and jewelry shows, where the fakers are still there and they try and bilk the public so they can travel and live in million dollar houses at the same time. Few are giving good prices much less honest! The competition is so horrible, that people that KNOW what they are doing would have to get in with secret cameras. They are scared to death of CAMERAS! Claiming artists rights to privacy! Ridiculous! I wanted a pic of a pretty necklace
ouivalerie 2 years ago
Matt you need your own TV show. You act like one of us instead of being all puffed up and self empressed. Good work again al always. Do you know anything about gravity dredges?
svberry 2 years ago
Hi.. Last night, i watched your finding gold series. Definitely inspirational and full of great and useful information. THANKS! keep it up. i do have questions about legalities though. you're supposed to "stake a claim" right? how does that work typically?
mitchellberry 2 years ago
You have the option of staking a claim, or not (testing). By far, most do not. If you want to stake a mineral claim on a piece of ground, contact the Bureau of Land Management nearest you and get the mineral claims package (free) and simply follow the directions enclosed. You send them the location of the ground, the required fee, and file the claim with the clerk of the county the ground is in. It is time consuming but certainly not hard to do. Very best of luck to you!
flagold 2 years ago
Would you need high frequency gold detector to detect the black sands or could a regular frequency detector be made to work. I use a sluice and looks like a good way to go. I haven't much experience with detectors. Thanks You
pbr2424 2 years ago
Yes, the lower frequency detectors will buzz on black sand. What you could do is find an old Garrett CXII or CXI series detector (or equivalent) that have meters instead of digital readouts and use no discrimination to trace the sands.
flagold 2 years ago
I was wondering to what depths the dectector would pick up flakes or pinheadsiaze nuuggets. And are there any detectors for less money that have the high frequencys that would be useful. Thank You
pbr2424 2 years ago
Probably the lowest cost, highest freq gold detector (VLF) that can be purchased for less money is the Gold Bug II which also happens to be the best one, in my opinion. Not especially user friendly at first (has a learning curve), but it is by far the best of the VLF equipment for small gold (in a strictly on/off unit).
flagold 2 years ago
The end is more spectacular than the gems! that is a winning guitar riff. Excellent video explaining stringers of quartz as well. 5* from a rocky mountain miner.
441rider 2 years ago
wow....so informative...your a master...
B1u3Dr4g0n1 2 years ago
matt do the chains break from the come along whip back and kill dredgers? Or do they die from being crushed under water by the boulders?
bluejmc 2 years ago
Both. Some use a winch on a Jeep with poor cable, many ways to get hurt winching (not just with boulders). There are boulder slings that you should look into getting/making for the winching process. Good luck!
flagold 2 years ago
hey matt I live near saettle do you think moving big boulders near bedrock at the head of a bar with a come along and or a lock and tackle would be profitable?
bluejmc 2 years ago
Absolutely. Big boulders at the head of a bar usually means big gold (as long as you're finding the bar is holding gold). Be extremely cautious in moving boulders, probably more dredgers killed doing that than any other operation.
flagold 2 years ago
matt ,
Im going to georgia ,labor day weekend . Of course now you cant pan on the national forest land at all. Ill be in Dahlonega,GA . Is there any places I can go without being on someones land ....Please help . Its a family trip and we would really like to find a picker or better.
dsayers123 2 years ago
As far as I know, you are still able to do non motorized prospecting in Ga. Right behind (in fact on the WalMart property) there were a lot of pickers found in Dahlonega. Due to the state regulation stopping dredging in California (which even the USFS at the moment won't enforce) there is a lot of rumors going that all prospecting is disallowed everywhere, etc., etc. Good luck and have fun in Dahlonega!
flagold 2 years ago
I like this video! It is interesting what you are looking at there with the hard pack over the bed rock.
Check out 'Age of the Earth' in the multimedia section at DrDino (dot) com - I think you will find it of great interest if you watch the whole video.
rodgerdodger5 2 years ago
will the dector your using find small flake , and is it worth it as much of what we find in my are of michigan is small flake . And can you give me directior on what to use and where to go and price ,as i dont want soend to much being new and inexperienced
dsayers123 2 years ago
Matt,
Your videos are amazing , Is there a site you have for further info . i live in michigan , and there are alot of commercial gold mines up here( in the UP of michigan ) . But i want to learn how to find gold myself . Do you know of anyplaces in michigan . ? Do you ever do outings with others?
dsayers123 2 years ago
Some of the forum members at golddredger(dot)com are from Michigan. You might get some info there, I don't have any site specific information on Michigan. Some of the forum members have frequent outings and I attend occasionally as I can (Douglas Creek, Wyoming and the Arkansas River in Colorado, etc.). The very best of luck to you in pursuing this fantastic hobby/avocation.
flagold 2 years ago
tnx matt ur helping me alot i got a question i have found an abandoned gold mine and searched around and found a large tailings pile as to my research found out that 20% of gold out of this mine had been lost in the tailings the mine had crushed everythings into a fine sand so there is no nuggets or pickers just fine flakes or dust whats my best solution for retrieval for such a large quantity of tailings
shaneo740 2 years ago
Others are probably more qualified to chime in here, since I don't recover down to dust unless as a by product. You might want to look at some of the gold beach boxes they use in Alaska. This is a sluice without riffles, so the sands can separate without water flow interruption of riffles keeping the gold suspended (all you have is a box with spaghetti carpet in it that drops the flour onto carpet underneath. This might be a way you could run a volume of material.
flagold 2 years ago
thanks alot i will look into that if anyone else has input feel free to message me
shaneo740 2 years ago
the rocks in the bank were not pounded in to the bank..those are early deposits when the river/or creek was higher
oly7071 2 years ago
the music rocked,get it. ;~^ rock stars make tons of bling
creten69 2 years ago
dude u said diamonds!!!! we chinese are good @ mining, so please tell me where this is?
ham123see 2 years ago
Buchanan, Georgia. The belt going through Georgia/N. Alabama/NorthCarolina/S.Carolina still produces lots of gold and it has not been worked with modern (suction dredge) methods or huge bucketline dredges (some the size of ships (Western US). For the most part, the Eastern gold was hand methods from the 1700's to 1840's and little done since.
flagold 2 years ago
I live in East Tennessee Pigeon Forge area would this be a good place to pan for gold??
TheHarleyhillbilly 2 years ago
if it is inn the southeastern region than most likely yes. google tenessee gold locations and there is a site that talks about it
golfingrobert 2 years ago
Nice guitar at the end. Hear that Link Wray influence...
midnightmoonshine 2 years ago
hi you,v got some graet clips.
boaraxa 2 years ago
Where to I get a UV flashlight like the one you search for gems with?
CoffeyFresh 2 years ago
Thanks for your help!
Jim A
iamfarright 2 years ago
You are most welcome. Good luck with your prospecting!
flagold 2 years ago
Anyone know how to find mining areas/ hotspots in British Columbia, Canada?
Newbskillz1 2 years ago
this is a good and all but where the heck are you gonna find a creek you can dig up or pan for without someone having property rights?
sebasstian12 2 years ago
unfortunately sluices and metal detectors are expensive, its hard to find gold with nothing but a pan :(
golfingrobert 2 years ago
Thanks for the great videos. I recently started sluicing in Azusa canyon, CA.. Not much luck. I seem to recover a lot of flour gold (maybe pyrite?) It seems to just float on top of my recovered material. Is there a way to remove the flour gold from the rest of the material? Thanks
spiel33333 2 years ago
Matt-excellent video series and many thanx. Generally, what are the laws concerning panning/dredging int he various states. How about federal or stae lands--any site that details them on the internet? How wide does a stream have to be to still count as publicly accessible?
greentowncar 2 years ago
Just about every state is different now. Wyoming requires no permit for 3" and under dredges, and many Eastern states don't have much on the books at all. Plug DEQ dredging regulations and "prospecting" in with a search of the target state usually gets one in the ballpark. No real width on the streams. Best of luck in your prospecting!
flagold 2 years ago
Great videos Matt! Lots of info for a new comer to prospecting like myself. I have a garrett ace 250 that I got to learn with. Do you think that I may be able to use it with my sluice box like you showed in this video, or is it just not sensitive enough for finding gold and black sand?
eklawok 2 years ago
I doubt that it will be sensitive enough. The Ace 250 operates at 6.5 KHZ which is great for coins and larger objects deep. That said, go ahead and try it, I was told a Garrett Sea Hunter was totally inappropriate for finding gold in a bar, that it wouldn't discriminate, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah, and it did just fine in leading me to 6 pounds of gold. You will have to think differently and use the meter to read metals (not 25¢, 10¢, etc.) and use a small coil if possible. Good luck!
flagold 2 years ago
Thanks for the info Matt! I will try it and see what happens. And if you ever decide to do a video on finding gold in Alaska, let me know. I'd love to tag along.
eklawok 2 years ago
would the gold bug 2 work?
KrookidOne 2 years ago
You could lay out a pattern of where the GBII was getting concentrated hits and figure things out from that too, although having a screen to read makes things much easier. The GBII comes in handy in small streams where you mark individual hits and vacuum them up with a small dredge (I used a little 2" Proline).
flagold 2 years ago
These are excellent videos, and I thank you for them. I will start looking it prospecting myself. Any knowledge about good places in Canada, Ontario province?
Synergistik 2 years ago
Canada has good gold. Simply plug in "placer gold locations" and Canada and they'll start tumbling out of the internet. Good luck!
flagold 2 years ago
Thanks i think GMT is probably more versitle. Will be checking some maps and creeks here in the San Bernardino mountains close by. Later up north when i travel to Nevada & Oregon.
journeyquest1 2 years ago
I noticed you used 4 different classifiers. What sizes are you using? There are eight sizes. I dont want to buy eight so....? Also would you recomend the GMT detector for gold or gold bug 2 or...? thanks.
journeyquest1 2 years ago
You actually only need 3 for sluicing: 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and you can simply go 1/2 to 1/4. The GMT gives a reading that is easily understandable for black sands, the GBII will simply detect individual targets so if you're looking for a spot for sluicing or the dredge (hot spots in a bar) the GMT would be more appropriate amongst the two detectors. Good luck!
flagold 2 years ago
Awesome video..Thanks for sharing the info with us...5 stars
TomLumpkins 3 years ago
: ) I see you use a white GMT, I also have one, i ether dont know how to use it right or its not as good as a cheap one i use... On it it says the higher the number the more minerals iron etc ... and lower would be gold, do you have any pointers for the GMT, I have found the use of the MXT was easier. I enjoy your videos, keep up the passion, : )
TheRockinCactus 3 years ago
Here's what I do with it: use the small "Shooter DD" coil (probably the best tip), set it up with fast track for ground (pump it up and down a couple times), Gain: try to se above the pre-set (depends on hot ground), Sat: turn up till you get a sharp zip sound, Audio Boost: on. That said, if you've got a detector you're finding gold with - might want to just stick with it, doesn't matter the name on it or cost, if you've figured it out and can get on a paystreak, that is great! Good luck!
flagold 3 years ago
Thank you for taking the time to answer my comment. Will give that a try tomorrow : ). If your ever in CA area will show you a trick that will make u do a back flip, better seen in person. Have a magical week!
TheRockinCactus 3 years ago
what tyope fo sluice is that?
mws123 3 years ago
Keene Engineering A-52 river sluice.
flagold 3 years ago
could you ballpark a price and a place to buy it, i will upload some videos of Nova Scotia prospecting here soon.
mws123 3 years ago
They are $80 to $100 depending on the manufacture. Keene Engineering, Jobe (Yellowjacket), and a number of others make them. If there are any books on NS I could or should add to treasuresites (the book section of my main website) let me know.
flagold 3 years ago
What kind of laws do you need to observe when dredging a river or stream. I have panned a lot of locations but sometimes dont feal comfortable doing it because of some law I might be infringing on.
MikeofWyoming 3 years ago
You are in luck in Wyoming as they have changed the law this year to no permit at all needed for dredging with 3" or below. A 3" Proline (non-plugging jet) will move as much material as the old Keene 4"s would and is great for that area (I don't sell them BTW).
The main thing is to look for (up to date) mining claim signs. No signs, out of date, etc., it's clear. Much more property available than most think (in fact, massive amounts of it).
flagold 3 years ago
Hi! I was watching your videos and they are great.I found gold ,well I guess,i would you like to ask you to see my pictures and see if you can help me how to separate it from the dirt and melt ir.sorry about my english ,i speak spanish.I think I found a lot of gold flakes(I´m not sure).Could you help me???
junika76 3 years ago
OK, sorry. Now you've described the detector: White-GMT.
GetMeThere1 3 years ago
The gold nugget detectors I use (have) are: Fisher Gold Bug II (for small flakes - the best for this), Whites GMT (2nd best for small gold and traces concentrations), Garrett Infinium (completely waterproof - pulse, not appropriate for flakes, but will find #2 sized eraser gold and jewelry at extreme depth (2-3 feet on some targets), Minelab 2200D - great pulse unit and very accurate, Whites MXT traces black sands, and is still useful for small(ish) gold. Examples at my main page. Good luck!
flagold 3 years ago
Thanks for the detailed info!
GetMeThere1 3 years ago
What detector were you using? Do have you a recommendation for an appropriate detector for this use? Thanks!
GetMeThere1 3 years ago
i like the ring , i think i may have seen a ring like that one time...behind this temple i was at....next to a sprig of acacia....
720-S.W.
masonicknight3 3 years ago
I hope you kept it, a very valuable ring indeed! Happy travels.
MM
flagold 3 years ago
Really appreciate your videos because they are so helpful so thank you sir. Steve
BluegrassRiver 3 years ago
Your welcome. Thank you.
flagold 3 years ago
Awesome videos Matt... I just finished watching 1-5. I'm curious about something: suppose I and some friends are willing and able to trek long distances for days at a time to largely inaccessible places.... perhaps even requiring repelling. Is it reasonable to assume we could find some really great spots? Going deep into the wilderness for up to 2 weeks at a time is something I love and once I start gold prospecting I assume I should use this to my advantage? :)
dougreding 3 years ago
Probably so, but don't discard the obvious spots or the easy to get to places, it's there in quantity too. Good luck!
flagold 3 years ago
Ive been using my sluice for a while now in Utah and am about to purchase a metal detector. There is a lot of fin to micro fine gold here in the river i work. My question is how much fine gold does it take to register on a metal detector?
hondadrift 3 years ago
great job guys keep it up and i hope u get RICH lol good luck
CBPnet 3 years ago
hello. i by no means am a prospecter. i live on the coast of maine, just woundering wut to
look for in my travels to maybe find a nugget.
iv found tones of fools gold in the quartz
they throw on the railroad tracks, and on
some ledges iv found minute red rubby?
lol there prolly isnt even any gold round
here is there? lol again just curius wut sighn
to look for there might be a 1 in a mill nugget.
tyvm
c2c2p1 3 years ago
You might want to go to the forum at golddredger (dot) com and look for somebody named "Mad Jack" or something like that. A Maine prospector that is doing really good (with pictures of nuggets (big ones). Might want to register, contact him, and go from there. Good luck!
flagold 3 years ago
if anyone knows of somewhere in laredo tx to metal detecting please let me know a will appreciate the information.
Regia250 3 years ago
I picked up a gmt with the smaller coil but it seemd to be weak in locating gold. I purchased some smaller flakes and unless I am with in a inch or two of the coil it doesnt seem to pick it up. I tried testing in the air same response even after switching to manual ground balance. Any suggestions?
golddetective 3 years ago
I would go to the Whites site, watch all the videos and pay particular attention to the one on "ground balance." If you want the ultimate in depth with a VLF a ground balance slightly positive in "manual" will give it. All the dedicated gold detectors now are very good (from any mfg.) -- but air tests are extremely erratic with any of them. There is also the possibility you're simply in ground to hot for a VLF to operate effectively. Good luck!
flagold 3 years ago
continued: would the Genie wheel be good for seperating gold flakes?
ScootersBasement 3 years ago
Yes, it is very thorough (you can put a scoop of concentrates in, go to lunch, and it will still be working gold out when you return). It is one of the very best you can buy (some commercial operations have used them). The drawback: slow.
flagold 3 years ago
Hi Matt, thanks for the info on "Hot Rocks"
I went out exploring today and stopped off at a camp ground next the Boulder river here in Montana. Down by the river's edge I noticed hundreds of shiny flakes that looked like gold flakes on the sandy shores line. Could these possibly be gold flakes that the water has sort of rippled to the shore line as if it was a panning effect? I brought home a 5 gal. bucket of these samples but have not worked them yet.
ScootersBasement 3 years ago
Unlikely, gold is 19 times heavier than other materials and usually will be at the bottom of the (black) sand, etc. If the flakes shatter, they're mica or the like.
flagold 3 years ago
Thanks for all your tips Matt, very cool stuff. I just ordered the "DD" Shooter coil for my MXT. Can you explain just a bit about what a "Hot Rock" is. I found one the other day and it seems kinda like a piece of lead.
ScootersBasement 3 years ago
A "hot rock" is simply a rock with a piece of solid iron or magnetite in it, or any other large piece of unwanted material that overloads the detector or makes it beep. A gold nugget is a "hot rock" we want. A piece of iron ore is a "hot rock" we don't. Just that simple.
flagold 3 years ago
Great stuff Matt!!!! I've learned alot from just a few of your videos as I am a beginner. I live in some very rich gold country here in central Montana and am surrounded by many old mining areas and ghost towns. I just bought a Whites MXT. Would you recommend using the DD Shooter coil with the MXT and would it give similar results as to using the GMT? I appreciate any feedback you may have.
Scooter
ScootersBasement 3 years ago
You will need the shooter ("DD") coil to prospect with the MXT. The larger coil simply covers to much black sand (hot rocks, etc.) to be effective. The MXT is operating at 14 khz, about the right freq to find a decent sized piece of gold (cut a 22 bullet in half and practice listening for it and setting your machine to find it). The GMT (and Fisher Goldbug II) are operating at 60-74kHZ and beep little slivers of gold almost to small to see (and many would say to even hunt for). Good luck!
flagold 3 years ago
Continued: once you get that coil, try turning he SAT all the way down, and turn the GAIN up as high as you can (all the way if possible) and practice with your 22 bullet. Then put it in relic mode and note it gives a high tone for the bullet (or gold) and a low tone for iron. You can nugget shoot with it in this way.
flagold 3 years ago
Hello, Could you recommend what size classifiers to use. Seems like 1/2,1/4,1/8,1/20 is a good start. Also noticed your classifiers seem to fit nicely in the bucket. I have seen many brands. Trying to avoid the poorer quality units. any suggestions on brands to look at.
goldfromGod 3 years ago
That's the sizes to use for gold. Some go down to 50 mesh, but I lose patience with micro-dot stuff. The ones I'm using are from Keene Engineering (they have a website). Feed stores also have screens. Good luck!
flagold 3 years ago
Great video, Clarity and overall quality is professional.
livingwaterretreat 3 years ago
HI! great video. i just tried panning for the first time, and im now thinking about getting more into it. My dad lives by Olympia Washington, and my mom lives in the northern coast range of Oregon. Is their any gold by those areas? Even if its just a little bit?
danny9871992 3 years ago
There's gold all through those regions, you'll just have to do some research on the better areas. Good luck!
flagold 3 years ago
thanks, do you make a living prospecting/ treasure hunting?
danny9871992 3 years ago
No sir, I do a lot of different things, but some do. Good luck out there!
flagold 3 years ago
again many thank yous
you mentioned the detector you are using in this video is a 60 hertz? is this a whites gmt or ? Thanks
livingwaterretreat 3 years ago
GMT is what you see.
flagold 3 years ago
what size coil are you using on the gmt? could you tell me where to locate one. thank you for your help
livingwaterretreat 3 years ago
I am using the "DD Shooter" coil. It is a coil you must use to find raw (nugget or flake) gold reliably with the GMT or MXT (each has a separate "DD Shooter" coil) metal detectors or to trace the black sands with accuracy.
flagold 3 years ago
I got it from KellyCo.
flagold 3 years ago
Seems like a good routine is metal detect 1rst then, classify then sluice,then spiral wheel,balance of processed sands from spiral wheel put through a blue bowl? I am wondering if I have the idea right. To speed up the process a Dredge would substitute the sluice correct?
Is there a disadvantage for the smaller dredges besides volume? I am planning for a one man operation. Also regarding hand sluices Jobe vs Keene any difference in quality noted?
livingwaterretreat 3 years ago
Yep, you've got it right as far as I'm concerned. Some eliminate the spiral wheel and pan their concentrates, but the spiral wheel has so many uses (gems) that I use it. For each inch of hose size, you double material moved with a dredge, so yes, volume is the key, and when using a dredge (looking for bulk gold) volume is the key. The largest size an individual in pristine shape can work all day is 5" (day in day out). Anything larger and you have to work less or have more people helping.
flagold 3 years ago
Thx for answering our questions.Have you used a rotopan?Is there a disadvantage over using one verses a sluice.Speaking of sluices Would it better to get a longer sluice? does the length add to the retrieval rate? I noticed in your videos you have used several detectors.Infinium, gmt are there substantial differences in findings due to frequency,pulse vs vlf models.
Also are there plans available to make a suction tube like used in your video, or some place to buy one.
Again thank you
livingwaterretreat 3 years ago
I have not used a Rotopan yet. A longer sluice gives more riffles for more materials to drop out. The longer sluice is also the same one used in many highbanker combinations. The pulse detectors are impervious to mineralized soil but need a big target to "see" while the vlf units are extremely sensitive to any size gold but heavy mineralization can quickly cut depth to a mere few inches (to not usable at all). The Infinium and Minelab pulse units are nugget machines for areas of big gold.
flagold 3 years ago
flaggold, I am a newbe and wonder what type of metal detector would you start with? also Since we are traveling from Washington state to tennessee to relocate for health reasons I was hoping to try my hand at finding some gold along the way. Are there any areas in lowere wester oregon and norhern California that one can search and not interfere with other claims also what type of screens do you suggest using. Also I knoticed you use a sluice box what size would you recommend/.
livingwaterretreat 3 years ago
The Keene A-52 is pretty much the standard hand sluice, many copies are around. Yes, there are more areas unclaimed than claimed, just look for claim signs, they should have markers with a paper if they are up to date (unfortunately few take old claim signs down so you have to read the date). The Whites MXT is probably the best all around detector I have come across, you will need the small "DD" shooter coil to detect gold. The Garrett Infinium is excellent but far harder to use.
flagold 3 years ago
Thanks for the reply.
Is there anywhere that sells the classifiers for a more reasonable price? It seems most sell in the $22-25 range. Would the GMT be a better gold machine. Verses the MXT or is it the coil that makes the difference?
livingwaterretreat 3 years ago
You can go to a feed store and get them and save some money. All they are is grain classifiers. The GMT runs at 60 khz and will see very small gold, it is strictly a gold machine. The MXT runs at a lower khz (close to 20 if I remember right) so it takes a larger size piece for it to see. The smaller coil is needed on either one to make them extremely sensitive to smaller gold. A GMT will sound off on a #6-8 birdshot and an MXT will sound off on a BB (in general). Practice with .22 bullets.
flagold 3 years ago
Is the UV torch at the end of the clip a Longwave or Shortwave one? Also how safe is it? I've been told that you should take care of your eyes when using UV lamps. Nice series by the way. When's the next one coming?!
jadyason 3 years ago
when you used the metal detector to mark the stream with stakes, was the mineralized soil (black sands) to the left or right of those stakes? you used the term "inside" which I'm having trouble visualizing.
pacificcoast 3 years ago
To the right of the stakes as I'm coming towards you (or the mineralized material is on the side towards the center of the stream).
flagold 3 years ago
Thanks Matt, I believe I get it now. For the MXT and GMT White's talks about the mineralization meter but I've never seen anyone use it to locate black sand deposits, everyone's always busy beeping for nuggets, coins, jewelry, relics, etc. I'm going to give this method a try and see how well it works. Thanks for taking the time to film, edit, process, and upload these great series. I've watched nearly all your videos. You've lived a very commendable and enviable life. Keep up the good work.
pacificcoast 3 years ago
The meter is simply a decimal count -- and it will read as you go along 80 83 78 etc. Theoretically when you find the line of black sand, to the downside (low side) when the number drops off suddenly 86 86 86 78 . . . that should be the actual gold line (solid gold will read in the 30 range). To the upside of the black sand line, should theoretically be heavy gems (garnet, sapphire, etc.) and up from there in specific gravity layers you'd eventually get to lighter gems (diamond, etc.)
flagold 3 years ago
Another fine video my friend, 5 stars.
TreasureFiend 3 years ago
Matt, Great vid. How do you like that GMT? I was thinking getteng one but havent heard much about them yet being new and all.
VQ1whales 4 years ago
I very much like the GMT. Like a Goldbug II though, it is specialized equipment only for prospecting. The "black sands" feature is extremely useful in tracing out a bar and it is almost as sensitive (runs only 10 khz less) as the GBII. The MXT is also excellent, but takes a bigger piece of gold to see, running at 14khz (the GMT is 60+ (GBII 70+). With the MXT you can coin and relic shoot (not so the GMT (realistically). I use all the detectors and the GMT is definitely right in the top.
flagold 4 years ago
Thanks for the info. I am up here in livingston mt. area. Cant wait to get out soon, as I did order the GMX.
VQ1whales 4 years ago
Fascinating. Thanks.
RatkoUSA 4 years ago
Thanks for the great video Matt!
Jack H
Hallaran 4 years ago
I enjoy your videos Matt. Inevitably I always learn something new I can use in the field. Keep more coming and good hunting!
jraunm 4 years ago
Hey Matt, some really excellent videos you've been putting out. I enjoy learning from what I'm sure is decades worth of experience. Best of luck in your recovery, take it slow and steady with moderate exercise/weight lifting and you'll be back in gold fields of CA by summer.
pacificcoast 4 years ago
Thanks Matt for another great video! And its at one of my favorite spots to.
That video makes me want to load up my dredge and camping gear and head southeast to Buchanan..lol..
I always love your "how-To" videos. Thanks again Matt, and I'll talk to you soon,
David S...
blumtn 4 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Great stuff! Thanks!
patriciaon 4 years ago
Great Video, Thanks for the entertainment and education...
CharlieIrish 4 years ago
Thanks Matt for another fine, interesting video! Would have enjoyed seeing the cleanup.
Larry D
riverbender 4 years ago 2