Dry Washes and Diggings

Sometimes gold nuggets can be found in old placer diggings and the bottom of dry washes. There are a good number of nugget hunters that have done very well at and profited over the time by working dry or desert areas in locations that are highly mineralized. There are remote desert areas in which water has never been available to prospectors and the only way of recovering is by using a dry washer or by dry panning and the wonderful thing is that there are still millions of dollars worth of nuggets that are waiting to be found by the recreational prospector. Obviously this job can only be done with a metal detector because these nuggets are not usually detectable by eyesight, however they are usually lying on the surface or at very shallow depths. A properly ground balanced and sensitive metal detector can help a prospector be very successful in the search and it is the most practical way for finding these little nuggets, not to mention the fastest method as well.

Having a modern ground balanced metal detector is one of the best options when it comes to nugget hunting. To reach great depths you should consider getting search coils that are about eight inches in diameter and that are sensitive to even the teeniest gold nuggets. It is very important to have the precise ground balancing as this will help to defeat the mineralized conditions that a lot of these areas have.

After having adequately ground balanced your metal detector (this should be done according to the manufacturing indications) you should inspect with the search coil held at around one or two inches above the surface of the ground. One thing to keep in mind: the operating height of a search coil will be determined by the quantity of mineralization that is present as well as the size of the rocks that lie on the surface. The last thing you want is to hear noise from the disorderly mess of material that is mineralized especially because it could cause you to miss the real signals of conductive metals that the detector will transmit. You may need to work at a greater height than two inches above the ground in areas that are highly mineralized.

You should feel convinced with your metal detector and trust that it is the best one for your specific interests. A good detector will be able to penetrate iron mineral soil in order to detect nuggets. Keep in mind however, that not all metal detectors are appropriate for prospecting and there are many people that have given up on it because of the bad results that were due to their choice of detector.

Physical recovery of gold nuggets in dry sand can be done in the same way you got a target from a stream. It can actually be a little bit easier if you consider you will not have the slippery water around your feet. After detecting something you should just shovel up the sand you obtained a signal from. You can then place the material in a plastic gold pan and then search it with your metal detector. If you don’t get a reading on it then simply throw it out and begin the process again. As soon as the metal detector confirms that there is something in the gold pan, you should look through it visually. If you are not able to find the nugget, simply dry pan it until you come across it.  

You will be impressed with the amount of things a good metal detector will help you do when it comes to recovering gold in the desert.