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Returning to this area over the years has produced even more gold with each subsequent release of a new detector by Minelab. Now days the size of the gold I am finding has dropped off, this is to be expected. The ground here has a covering of decomposed granite sands which acts as a fantastic buffer to the highly mineralised gravels beneath. I have always used an 18inch monoloop because the ground is mostly deep, with pieces being found well past the 18 inch mark.
One of the main problems when detecting this area is the covering of dead leaves and tree limbs, this causes two problems. One is the amount of noise your feet make whilst walking through it; the other is not being able to get the coil close to the ground. I really have to work hard these days to get gold of this patch, yet I am convinced there is still more there.
This morning I was working around the main zone where I had found the majority of the gold originally. As I was swinging over some dead fall I noticed a momentary blanking of the threshold before is resumed its steady hum, “Hmm that’s interesting” I thought “I wonder what caused that?” swinging back over the same spot caused the same effect, this caused alarm bells to ring off in my head. I always, without exception, pay attention to unusual noises generated by my machine. The reason is simple; using this simple technique over the years has netted me some good gold that would otherwise have been left in the ground.
Carefully re-scanning the area finally produced a faint yet audible signal that would have been missed if not for the blanking that I had noticed in the threshold; kicking the dead sticks and leaves aside I was able to hear the signal more clearly. This target turned into a nice 1.5 gram piece at 10 inches. Using this method produced over six grams for me today, which is nine grams since we got here yesterday.
So here is my Theory on the Black Hole of metal detecting (BTW I have only ever noticed this on a regular basis with the GP extreme). Sometimes when a deep faint target is sensed by the GP, there is not enough resultant energy to actually stimulate the electronics to respond; all you hear is a nulling of the threshold as it passes over the object but no signal response as such. These are generally targets at the very limits of the detectors capability; that is, the GP’s capability to the given target at the time.
So next time you are out having another last ditch effort at an old favourite spot, pay attention to the black holes of your threshold, they could turn into a rattly bit of golden fun in your jar.
© Jonathan Porter 2003
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