Nuggethunting with a Metal Detector | Gold Prospecting Has Never Been Easier! By Michael Bernzweig In the “old days” gold prospecting was done with a few hand tools and a lot of hard work. Today though, people have made a hobby of it! With recent technological developments, gold prospecting has become easier and much more fun. Most of this is because you can now use a metal detector. Here to tell us more about metal detecting for gold is Michael Bernzweig of MetalDetector.com
Gold prospecting with a metal detector, also known as nuggethunting or nuggetshooting, has become increasingly popular over the years; and there have been quite a few interesting, and valuable finds as a result. Many think the “49ers” got all the gold out west years ago, but, that’s not true. The prospectors back then lost quite a bit to poor equipment, especially the smaller gold nuggets. These pieces would simply slip through the screen on the drywashers and end up in the tailing piles. Today, people are finding this overlooked gold with their metal detectors.
It’s also safe to assume that although a lot of gold was found during the gold rush, they didn’t find it all. And with erosion on our side, more gold is exposed all the time. Plus, since metal detectors can search more deeply into the ground than ever before, finding gold nuggets is really quite possible.
Of course, you’ll need to do your research, both with regards to where you’ll go gold prospecting with your metal detector as well as what machine you’ll actually take with you. Heading to your local historical society and researching old gold mines and finds is an excellent place to begin your search for a good place to go nuggethunting. Unless you own the property though, be sure to get permission prior to hunting for anything, anywhere.
As far as researching the machine you’ll buy, the best gold prospecting metal detector is a machine that’s equipped with manual ground balance controls in order to combat the highly mineralized ground conditions often present in locations where gold is commonly found. You’ll also want to consider the size of search coil for your machine. Gold prospecting metal detectors often use both a small - medium search coil as well as a large one in order to find both large and small gold nuggets. A larger search coil searches more deeply for larger nuggets and covers a wider area. However, it will miss the smaller nuggets; but a medium and/or small search coil will not. From here, price, and other features like the metal detector’s weight, size, and other characteristics will guide you in finding the right nuggethunting metal detector to meet your needs.
Once you’ve got your machine and a good location, you’ll want to gather a few tools like a gold panning kit, metal detector, pick, along with supplies like water, food, first aid equipment and sunscreen, then head out to find some gold! It really is still there, it’ll just take a good metal detector and you to find it!
Biography About the author: Michael Bernzweig manages MetalDetector.com in Southborough, MA. He has written on the subject of treasure hunting and metal detecting since the mid 1980’s. He enjoys traveling with his metal detector and helping to educate others in the correct use of metal detectors in their explorations.
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