How to Make Your Own Samples

If you are interested in getting to know how a metal detector signals the existence f metal, you can actually make your own ore samples. Many professionals suggest using a U.S. copper penny as this gives you one of the metal samples you will need.

Coming up with a mineral sample generally calls for a little bit more work. To do this you can put a big iron nail or you can also use a piece of soft into a vise and file the nail with a fine file. You can put a piece of paper under the vise so as to catch the filings. You should get around the weight of a silver dime of the filings for this. Then place the iron filings inside a little plastic container that has a diameter of around a dime. Fill the bottle with glue afterwards and let it solidify. This is a way of producing a sample of non conductive iron mineral that will make your metal detector respond in the same way iron mineral will when a person is prospecting. Keep in mind that you will need to get ahold of a fine toothed file to make the filings; it should be filed down to an almost powdery consistency.

The other sample you can make is one that will prove the difficulty that is involved in detecting silver oxides, gold dust and wire gold. In order to do this test you will need to file a penny down completely. These particles will then need to be placed in the same size bottle as you placed the iron filings and just as you did with the previous, fill it up with glue so they hold them permanently. The result of this will be as close as you can get to an ore sample. This is made mostly of marginally non-conductive, non-ferrous ore whose existence in the electromagnetic field of a metal detector will cause the detector to make a “different” positive response.

You will need to scan these samples with the metal detector and be very thorough about studying the responses each one of them gives off. Doing this and practicing will help you be more successful when it comes to investigating veins and pockets when you come across them in the field, and you will start to learn how to recognize the metal and mineral content of ores samples in the right way. You should try to get as many samples as you can for this.