You read the reviews and you purchased the perfect metal detector for gold. You’ve taken it out prospecting a few times sure that you would able to find your fortune. A few weeks have passed and all you have to show for your efforts and your investment is some rusty nails and a few bottle caps.
You’re asking yourself, what went wrong? Does my metal detector work? Is there no gold in this area? Before you put away your metal detector for gold and hang up your prospector’s hat, we encourage you to look at the following 10 tips designed to enhance your metal detector treasure hunting experience.
Tip 1: Build a Support Network
As you’ve already noticed, prospecting for gold with a detector is not easy. It is a specialized field that is pioneered by individuals who have learned their trade through trial and error. The best way for you to skip the trial and error phase is to learn from other individuals who have experience using metal detectors designed for gold nugget hunting.
Tip 2: Get the Metal Detector That’s Right for You
There are metal detectors out there that can cost you anywhere from $100 all the way up to $2,000. The price varies depending on the circuitry, the performance capability, and the power of the unit. Simply purchasing a more expensive, more complicated unit does not guarantee that you’re going to have better results.
The more complicated the unit, the more steeper the learning curve will be. In order to get accurate results from an expensive unit, you not only need to know how the unit works, but you need to understand a lot about the makeup of gold. It is best to invest in an instrument that is easy for you to use and can help you achieve your prospecting for gold quicker.
Tip 3: Test Your Equipment at Home Before Using It in the Field
Many metal detectors for gold emit a specific sound when gold is found. Unfortunately, because of the similarities in the composition of gold and the composition of lead, it can be easy to confuse a lead bullet with a golden nugget.
While you are at home, bench test your unit. Become familiar with its capabilities. Learn the audio and visual signals that identify gold. This is going to make it a lot easier for you to find the treasure.
Tip 4: Learn How to Search
When you see someone else prospecting for gold with a metal detector, it may look like they are simply swinging the coil back and forth over the ground. The truth is that there is a specific technique that they are using to get the most out of their movements. For example, if you scan in a straight line, instead of a wide arch, you keep the coil a set distance from the ground. There are also tips on how to recover what you found without damaging it or without digging large holes. Learning these tips will make your search more fruitful.
Tip 5: Learn How Gold Accumulates
Gold does not just accumulate randomly in the earth. When prospecting in water, the best place for you to find gold is where there is a change in turbulence and where the flow of water slows down. A good place to check is below rapids, in deep pools of water, and at the edge of waterfalls.
Tip 6: Follow the Rules
In the same way that sports, hobbies, and communities have etiquette, there is also a lot of etiquette connected with prospecting for gold.
For example, obey no trespassing signs. If you are going to prospect on private land, talk to the owner beforehand. Get an agreement in writing that allows you to prospect on the land and that says whether or not the owner expects you to share what you find with them.
Respect private and public property. Learn and obey all federal and state government regulations for prospecting on public land. Leave the area better than how you found it.
Tip 7: Where There Is One Nugget, You Are Likely to Find Others
If you find a gold nugget, keep looking at the nearby area. Do not be afraid to search a large radius in a calculated and methodical way. Usually, gold nuggets do not just appear on their own. If there is one gold nugget, it is likely that there either is or that there were others.
Tip 8: Track Your Progress
Finding a gold nugget can be a bit of trial and error. If you find an area where there are gold nuggets, mark it on a map. You may begin to notice a pattern of where gold nuggets are found. You may want to go back to that same area and scan it again. Or you can try to identify a pattern of gold nugget accumulation points.
Tip 9: Go Deep
You may hear about an area where shallow nuggets have been found. You go and you search that location and yet you do not find anything. Go back to that location using a high tech gold detector. It is possible that more gold nuggets are still there. Just because people have worked in that area before does not mean that there are still not a lot of gold nuggets to be found.
Tip: 10 Change Your Coils Frequently
It is a good idea to have a selection of coils that work for different ground types and search at different depths. If you go through an area with a large coil, then go back and pass over the same area with a smaller coil. A small coil is going to be more sensitive to smaller bits of gold.
A good place to use this technique is when detecting on the salt lakes. There is a lot of gold left on these lakes, but detecting there can be a challenge. The rewards for accepting this challenge can be great.
Conclusion
We hope that this brief overview of some tips that you can use to improve your gold prospecting has given you some new ideas or changed the way you look at how you are currently prospecting. There is still a lot of gold out there to be found. It is up to you to do the research, learn about your machine, and methodically plan your search for gold. The rewards for your effort can be phenomenal.
To get the best results when searching for gold, you need to use a special detector that is designed to find gold. Take some time and read our gold nugget detector guide as it gives you some tips when searching for the best metal detector for gold.
