3/14/16 Report - Most Popular Gold Detectors. 17 Pound Gold Nugget Found. Smooth Surf.

Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Here is a 17 pound gold nugget found by a Chinese herdsman.

...That gold nugget, assuming it’s at least 80% pure, would be worth 1.6 million yuan ($255,313 U.S. dollars), says Xinhua, which also points out that a 1.84 kilogram nugget was discovered in the region in 2010. Gold US:GCJ5  for April delivery was trading at $1,261 an ounce on Thursday....

Here is the link for the photo and article. 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinese-herdsman-stumbles-onto-a-17-pound-gold-nugget-2015-02-05

That isn't what I would call the most beautiful nugget.  In fact it looks odd to me.  I like delicate quartz laced nuggets.

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Here are the three most popular gold detectors from the Kellyco People's Choice Awards. The Minelab is about ten times more expensive than the Garrett AT and the White's GMT.  That is a big difference.  In my opinion the GPX should have been in the professional category with other detectors in that price range.

Gold detectors are designed for hunting gold nuggets and are designed to handle heavily mineralized ground.  As you can see from the price on the Minelab, serious nugget shooters will pay a  hefty price for a machine that will do the job.

While gold detectors are generally used for nugget shooting, some people will use them when targeting small gold jewelry.  Very often when thin gold chains are found, it isn't the chain that is detected but a charm or something on the chain.  If a gold chain is thin enough it will be almost impossible to detect with most detectors.  Some gold detectors will detect thin gold chains that other detectors will miss.

Since gold detectors can be used in challenging ground conditions such as heavily mineralized ground, they provide a lot of settings and can require ground balancing for optimal performance.  As a result they might not be the easiest detectors to adjust for optimal performance and are not a good choice for the beginning beach detectorist.

Another negative is that they can be so sensitive that they will pick up minute pieces of metal, including small bits of iron that can barely be seen by eye.  As you might imagine some beaches have so much small iron and junk that you would not want to use a gold detector like that on some beaches.

There are Treasure Coast beaches that really have a lot of tiny pieces of iron that will drive you crazy if you are accustomed to hunting in discrimination mode or hunting with a detector such as the Excalibur that will normally miss such small pieces of iron.  That is the negative side of working with so much sensitivity.  And turning up the discrimination or decreasing the sensitivity on a detector like that defeats the purpose of having so much sensitivity to begin with.

I've seen a similar Minelab (not the latest GPX model) being used on the Treasure Coast beaches, but not often.

I often use a gold detector on the Treasure Coast, but not one of the ones shown above.  These three are not water proof.  I prefer waterproof detectors for beach hunting.  You never know when an unexpected wave might hit you, and I don't want to be bothered by rain.  You also never know when you might wander into the water.

The right detector for a particular situation depends upon a variety of factors.

Even though I haven't been able to detect in areas where people usually hunt gold nuggets, I have found a few gold nuggets on Treasure Coast wreck beaches.  If you go back through the old posts you'll see some gold nuggets that were found on wreck beaches.

A Garrett AT detector came in first in both the gold and all-purpose categories.  There was a time when I didn't care for Garrett detectors, but am happy with the ones I have now.

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Don't forget that you can use the search box at the top of the blog to find old topics.

I've been thinking of activating comments in this blog but haven't gotten around to it yet.  They will be screened comments though.  I'm wouldn't be able to keep up with tons of comments.  There are simply too many posts in this blog for me to be able to keep up with that.

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The surf will be really smooth on the Treasure Coast for a couple of days.  That makes for some easy water hunting.  The wind will be first from the south and then from the west.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/8/14 Report - A Recent Treasure Coast Cut and Some Hints For Analysis. 17 Pound Gold Nugget Found.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Interesting Spot On The Treasure Coast Yesterday.

This picture makes a good illustration.  I'll use it to talk about beach analysis.

The low spot is just a touch above and to the right of the center of the picture.  That would be in the wet sand just behind the bigger rocks.

Cuts were very few and far between that day. This spot was not at all typical.

When I look at a spot like this the first thing I look for after looking at the cut is the low spot in front of the cut.  In this case, the low spot was bordered on one side by rocks.

The cut in this picture is about four feet high and maybe a little more.  As you can see the cut extends to the north a good ways.  It also extends a good ways to the south (out of the picture).

I'd take a look at the bottom of the cliff to see if it is a fresh cut or if it is a few days old and deteriorating.  Also look at the sand in front of the cut to see if the cut is filling yet, and if so, how much.  Check the firmness of the sand in front of the cut.

There are boards sticking out of the sand.  Check them to get an idea of how old they are.  In this case I was disappointed by how modern they looked.  I really should have taken a better look at them and the nails that were in them.   Nails can tell you a lot about the age of the boards.  I didn't take the time to uncover the nails.  That could have been a mistake.

Rocks can function as traps.  Both the rocks and boards can serve as markers, as they are covered and uncovered it will tell you how much sand is being added or removed.  Always take a good look at such markers.  They can provide valuable information.

In this picture you can see a bend in the beach.  Look at any cuts or dips to try to determine how they were formed.  There may be other similar places along the coast where similar cuts were formed.   I'd check other spots south of bends like this one.  Sometimes you'll get a good idea of where other cuts will occur along the coast by looking at how and where one cut was formed.

Just under the top layer of sand was a layer of course but hard packed red/brown shell sand.  You will learn to identify different types of sand and what types of items might be found in them.  That sand had been undisturbed for a good while, but the boards suggested to me that the sand had not been undisturbed as long as I first thought might have been the case when I first saw it.

Watch any spots like this over time.  They can fill or become deeper.  They can move any direction.  By watching the various markers, including boards and rocks, you should be able to tell if the dip is moving one direction or another from one day to the next.

Note when the dip was formed.  What was the wind direction at that time?

When a cut like this is formed south of an eastward bend in the beach, it would normally be a north/northeast wind.   When the wind changes there is a good chance the cut will fill again.

Any cut like this is worth checking out at least briefly.

Today we have a southeast wind.  That won't change until around Tuesday when we'll get a northeast wind again and a bit of a bump in the surf.

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Here is the kind of day you'd like to have.  A herdsman found a 17 pound gold nugget laying on the ground.   Now that is the type of eyeball find I'd love to make.

Here is the link for the whole story.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinese-herdsman-stumbles-onto-a-17-pound-gold-nugget-2015-02-05?mod=MW_story_recommended_tab

Thanks to Leo for sending that in!


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.ne