If we could detect gold at twice the depth how much gold would we find

Any takers. I know it's more of a how long is a piece of string question but let's say we had detectors available which could pick up gold of any size at twice the depth of our current heavy weight GPX5000 what do you speculate would be the result in terms of nugget recovery? Would the golden triangle years be rewound back to the era of our first metal detectors with the exception being we'd be digging much deeper holes or is it likely many areas would prove far less productive than in the past due to the shallow nature of many diggings in the victorian gold fields?

Interesting question! Nugget recovery would obviously increase...but would it just go up a little, go double, or even further. Id speculate massive nuggets would be uncovered again, but not much more in the smaller sizes. See what others say.

Sure would help uncover heaps of those bigger deep nuggets , one problem will be the very deep holes that are left uncovered by the dickheads :/

Outback said:

one problem will be the very deep holes that are left uncovered by the dickheads :/

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Gave me a laugh, so true! :lol:

I don't know why Victoria is considered shallow? If you mean by digging alluvial shafts, then yes places were shallow - if you mean to detectors - then shallow is a very subjective term. A quick study of the list of the biggest nuggets found shows very few were shallow and most were several feet down and out of the range of any commercial gear.

There are a few blokes trying a few new things around the triangle with detectors and various types of set-ups, and a lot of bigger and better hand-made coils are starting to be made and used - a few small experienced prospecting groups with electronics/fibreglassing skills are coming together to design and make gear with some good results both in testing and in the field at far deeper levels than seen before. There are of course the very big commercial coils getting about as well.

As technology has and is changing, what were once considered 'cleaned -out' areas are now producing the goods again. Its why a lot of us will not give up details of cleaned out old patch sites because its simply a matter of waiting for the technology to improve. We have seen the progression from - VLF to SD to GP to GPX and all were a marked improvement.

The bad news is that things are only going to get more expensive and to get any depth, more complex and heavier I would imagine.

As for people not filling in holes - well, the list of don'ts I see all the time is endless - rubbish, cigarette butts, driving off tracks, fires on fireban days, digging into creek banks, dropping turds at random, picking wild flowers, taking firewood, etc etc.

The other way is to come back in a couple of thousand years when the top soil has eroded !!!

I would say with every advancement forward the amount has increased. Pi machines cut "deeper" and more was found for example. Its very impressive in my estimation the technology that goes into the machines to explore the ground matrix to provide a signal that is repeatable to enable someone to unearth a piece of gold. With many options to improve this task I'm sure getting deeper again is being worked on, which is kind of two fold many nuggets are dug on "faint" signals so if these signals are detected deeper, and the deep faint signals now become clearer then more will come out. The amount of virgin nuggets left just beyond the capabilities of the modern machines with the most hardcore and proficient users is in all probability a massive amount of gold, evidenced by the amount of nuggets still being unearthed regularly with the current restrictions on depth. I also question where the average threshold in terms of depth and discrimination of junk will be reached, when the day comes that gold is constantly the only signal that comes through the finds would again increase

So is there new technology on the horizon? Or is the 5000 with newer coil designs the tool of choice for awhile?

I haven't heard of a new Minelab model yet, but then why would you. If Minelab tell us there is a 6000 coming up, no one will buy the 5000 in the mean time.

Does any one know of the Garret device that searches down 2 meters+? I see it's in their catalog. You take their sea detector model and put another coil on the other end and carry it like a suit case.

If it worked everyone would have one. Then Garrett is a decent company and I wouldn't think they'd be advertising something that was bogas.

Nonsense - 2 metres???? Thats 6 feet my friends. Nothing and i repeat noting, detects 6 feet.

Guess a detector can only be made to go so deep before it starts to detect it's self

loamer said:

Nonsense - 2 metres???? Thats 6 feet my friends. Nothing and i repeat noting, detects 6 feet.

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That's exactly what I thought. However, why would "Garrett" even dare make a claim like that? I'll try and find the info I saw so we're on the same page.

Ok...found a video and more info <remember...don't shoot the messenger >

It's called the Garrett treasure hound eagle eye.
http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbby_gti2500_treasurehound_package.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnRP7gd140U

To me common sense kicks in. If it worked everyone would have one?
However...I think they are saying LARGE objects. I'm thinking shoe size then.

It looks like they are just trying to increase the coil size and it's range.

I don't think a machine with twice the depth of a 5000 would be as good as it sounds, in WA anyway. There would be more gold found obviously, especially where the gold is found at depth, but not a new era like when the 2000 came out. In my own experience, the gold is generally shallow in ground with limited depth before the cap covering the country rock is met. Exclusions apply in calcite (calcrete) and thick duricrust (caprock), and it is true was Outback said, The detector itself will be a problem soon because it will hear itself! I would like to see a machine that can discriminate targets better and can get those 0.3 and up just a couple of inches deeper. Its only getting harder to find nuggets and i don't think there is to much to look forward to, Unless you're in deep ground with a bulldozer!

I think there will be a lot of people dying from heart attacks, trying to dig holes deep enough to reach the targets at that depth! When going that deep, you really have to ask the question on whether it is an act of mining vs fossicking/prospecting. Besides, even if you could get that deep, you would have to construct a mini open cut just to get the coil in, or to retrieve the target.

Well said Mr boring & Goldpick !

Also if the holes get to deep detecting could get banned

Ive heard/read about two box detectors they are used for locating mineral veins and large items like cars missiles etc. Reasonably cheap not sure why garrett would market this to gold prospectors.
Imagine digging a bloody shopping trolley at 2 metres lol

Heres a link with 3 different manufacturers who produce these two box detectors
http://www.kellycodetectors.com/Detectorcategories/2boxdetectors.htm

yes well if we could go say 4ft, we might start hitting the old water tables gold (where gold re-precipitates) there would be loads of "jewelers boxes" found.

but you would need to be one of the lucky ones, it wont happen everywhere