Gold Prospecting with a Metal Detector

Gold Prospecting with a Metal Detector 2022

Metal Detecting is a sure way to find gold. But be careful – you will not always find gold or clean out a patch if you don’t have the right technique, use the wrong detector or coil or have poor detector settings.

Here are some answers to help you understand gold detectors and detecting and the techniques you can use to clean out that hard found gold patch.

How do Metal Detectors Work – Specifically Relating to Finding Gold?

Briefly a metal detector creates an electric current in its transmit coil which creates an electromagnetic field.

This field is transmitted through the ground and it is affected by conductive elements such as metals which change the signal that is received in the receiving coil of the detector.

This change in the magnetic field is then amplified and through the control boxes and audio output equipment the signal becomes audible to the operator.

Metal Detectors Used to Find Gold

Detectors used for finding gold come in two main types. They are either VLF detectors or Pulse Induction (PI) detectors.

The VLF circuits are very sensitive to gold, but they are also sensitive to other minerals and hot rocks in the soil which can lower their effectiveness as a gold detector in the gold fields.Unfortunately these minerals are common in highly productive gold prospecting regions of the world.

The Pulse Induction detectors main strength is in ignoring the toughest ground mineral conditions and finding large gold nuggets at extreme depths.

What sort of Metal Detector do you use for Gold Prospecting

Professional prospectors consider that a top quality PI Detector is the best for the gold fields , you will need to make the decision based on what your needs for metal detecting are and the comparing metal detectors will give you criteria you can use to select a detector that you need and even provide free decision making software to help you make the right decision.

Metal Detector Coils

Search coils are vital components of metal detectors and can improve the possibility of finding something worthwhile. Every detector comes with a standard coil, but you can adapt or use additional coils for different purposes, one example being the depth of terrain you’re working on.

Smaller coils have a compact scanning area and better detection of smaller objects, due to the higher concentration of the magnetic field. Larger coils have a larger scanning area and deeper detection but can struggle with finding small items such as coins. When searching in areas with less litter, a larger coil is good for deeper treasures and covers a wider area.

Coils come in various shapes and sizes and are typically flat in construction. They usually consist of a:

• Transmit coil
• Receiver coil
• A mono-coil that works as both the transmitter and receiver coil.

It is essential to match the coil you require for the ground conditions and area that you plan to go prospecting for gold.Determining the best metal detector coil is not an easy task, since every metal detectorist has different needs that will weigh in on their decision.

How to Properly Use a Detector Find Gold

Select Your Detecting Area and Don’t Stray

Now that you have done all the hard work of research and obtained your permissions to detect for gold in the area you have chosen and arrived at the site there is a few things you need to do.

Before you even turn your detector on walk the area and select the most likely places that you think there may be gold. Be disciplined and grid the most likely areas that you have assessed there will be gold.

It is better to methodically search gold in specific area rather than wandering around in a random manner trying to find a piece of gold!

Things you might be looking for are;

• Old dry blowing heaps, old diggings, machine scraping, Leader holes in quartz or ironstone.
• Old Rubbish Dumps or old timer camps.
• Evidence of metal detecting in the past such as filled detector holes, old chaining lines, raked areas, rock piles, markers such as ribbons on trees.
• Leads dug in the side of hills or gullies.
• Reefs or outcrops of rock, quartz or ironstone.
• Spots where gravels have accumulated.

The key is to analyze the area you want to work and then metal detect the area at the places you think are best.

If you have already found gold at the area then you will simply start gridding the area from the place you last found gold.

Clear the Search Site

This is often overlooked but it is an important step to take before you put the metal detector to the ground you have chosen to detect.

It doesn’t take much time to clear the dead branches and debris from the area you want to detect and it could be the difference between getting that faint signal of a large gold nugget buried deep.

If possible rake the fragments of rock away from the area you want to detect, this will also give you an extra 60+mm of detection depth. Make sure you metal detect the rock you have raked to retrieve any gold specimens that may be in the pile.

Clear the lower branches of shrubs so you can get the metal detector right up to the trunk of the shrub or tree.

Clear away any metallic trash that you can see.

Change your coils

If you have a selection of coils for different ground types and detecting conditions and you should, after you have chained the area with one coil change to a different coil and re-chain the area.

For example if you have chained the area with a large coil then finish it off with a smaller coil which will be more sensitive to the very small bits of gold.

Observe and Record

This is frequently overlooked, but how will you know in the future where you found gold, how much you found, the terrain and geology of the area and what metal detector you used at the time.

All of this information will build up your knowledge and help you to understand the best indicators and geology for the different areas you search.

Don’t rely on memory, rely on records!

At a minimum keep records of;

• GPS coordinates of locality.
• GPS coordinates and size of each gold nugget found.
• The geology and indicators of the area the gold was found.
• The host rock the gold was found in.
• The type of gold found.
• The type of metal detector and coil used

Later on when you analyze other target areas and newer, better detectors are engineered this information will be invaluable and lead you to much more gold finds.