Grid

[genel112]

I am a relatively newbie at detecting. I have two great MineLab detectors. GPX 4000 and a Xterra 705. I made a big mistake when I bought the GPX in not checking out the dealer very well. He was close to home! Not good criteria! So as a result, I am having to self train! I have watched hours of video and with the help of MLOTV have been learning a lot. Here is my question:::: Please explain a "grid" and how a person sets one up. I kind of get it but don't know how to do it.

Thanks!

Gene

[Ridge Runner]

Hi Gene

Lets say your out nugget hunting and you find one nugget and you want to see if you can find more.You now want to mark out a area around the spot you found the first nugget.This could be as big as 50 x 100 say are less but could be larger.Now being this is a large size then within that you can mark it off in 10 x 10 with something you will always have and that is rocks.What your going to do now is hunt every little inch of what you got grided off.The best thing when nugget hunting is low as you can and slow.Never hunt it with just one coil if you have more.I haven't said it but this is what you call griding it off and this is the best way if you don't want to miss one.

If your out there and worried about hurting the coil when hunting low then I'd say pack it up and go home.Some or most rocks you can kick away but your there to find gold so go for it.

Chuck Anders

[genel112]

Hi Gene

Lets say your out nugget hunting and you find one nugget and you want to see if you can find more.You now want to mark out a area around the spot you found the first nugget.This could be as big as 50 x 100 say are less but could be larger.Now being this is a large size then within that you can mark it off in 10 x 10 with something you will always have and that is rocks.What your going to do now is hunt every little inch of what you got grided off.The best thing when nugget hunting is low as you can and slow.Never hunt it with just one coil if you have more.I haven't said it but this is what you call griding it off and this is the best way if you don't want to miss one.

If your out there and worried about hurting the coil when hunting low then I'd say pack it up and go home.Some or most rocks you can kick away but your there to find gold so go for it.

Chuck Anders

Thank You! How do you mark the area. Surveyors tape on the corners or something? Is there a way to mark where you have been? Kevin Hoagland (MineLab)says to detect from (example) SW to NE, then NW to SE, Then N to S or E to W. I would probably get lost as to where I was. ;o)

Thanks for the help!

Gene

[Digger Bob]

Thank You! How do you mark the area. Surveyors tape on the corners or something? Is there a way to mark where you have been? Kevin Hoagland (MineLab)says to detect from (example) SW to NE, then NW to SE, Then N to S or E to W. I would probably get lost as to where I was. ;o)

Thanks for the help!

Gene

You can do what the Ozzies do; chain it. Attach a length of chain to the back of your belt, and then start walking and swinging, dragging the chain behind you. When you get to the end of your grid area, turn around and hunt back the same way a few feet to one side of where you just were. The chain marks on the ground show you exactly where you just hunted. You just go back and forth staying to one side of your marks creating paralell lines up and down your grid area. Then criss cross the same area at a 90 degree angle, again dragging the chain to show you where you've been.

Digger Bob

[Dakota Slim]

Remember that a mono coil's deepest penetration is the tip of the cone. Make sure you overlap your sweeps so you cover your grid with the maximum depth your machine and coil can give you.

[Ridge Runner]

Gene

Like Slim said do overlap with your coil this way you have less chance of missing that one other nugget.

Now Gene if you have trouble with this instructions just call us and we'll have you stand to the side while we show you what was said.

Just joking we all here to help you if can.

Chuck Anders

[DOC]

Go to a craft store, get a box of popsicle sticks, and a can of spray day glo orange paint. When you find a nugget stick a popsicle stick in the ground, write an approx size and depth. Now from that spot, start a spiral pattern outward, until you hit another nugget. Mark it with a stick. Chaining, as Digger bob suggests is an excellent idea. However, you want to go to a motorcycle shop and get a broken chain. Motorcycle chain is heavy and it has sharp edges so it actually marks the ground.

You want to know size and depth because it helps you understand the distribution pattern.

I once found 5 nuggets on the side of a ridge, but there was nothing deeper into the gully like I thought there should be. However, after studying the distribution and looking carefully at how the ground weathered, I thought there might be some higher up on the ridge. well I found 1 on the way up the ridge but I was still convinced that the gold had shed from the very top of the ridge. If that was the case then maybe nuggets shed down the other side of the ridge as well. Sure enough, I found 17 more nuggets, on the other side of the ridge the largest being a half ounce piece.

Once you have completed your spiral and have not found any gold for a while now peg your corners with popsicle sticks. Now you can grid back and forth with different size coils to make sure you get everything. Remember to grid east and west, and then go over it again north and south. Sometimes nuggets are situated in the ground that you might hear better from one direction than from another.

BCOT!

Doc

[ARGONAUTE]

I often do something very similar to Doc. Growing spirals can work better in thick vegetation, where you can't easily mark the ground. Flagging tape is the order of the day.

If I grid, I also go offset at 45 degrees

[genel112]

Gene

Like Slim said do overlap with your coil this way you have less chance of missing that one other nugget.

Now Gene if you have trouble with this instructions just call us and we'll have you stand to the side while we show you what was said.

Just joking we all here to help you if can.

Chuck Anders

Looks like I came to the right place! Lots of help and even an offer to "show me how" What a guy!;o)

[fredm]

For working small areas very throughly...rake a 10x10 foot area...this limits the area, rids the surface of larger stones and with a couple of good magnets attached will clear the surface of loose iron...this method works well with vlf machines and especially in trashy areas...

fred

[Ridge Runner]

Gene

Now start thinking where did this gold come from.If you found your first nugget at the bottom of a hill see if a wash is going up that hill this may be where it's coming from.If this is the case you need to hunt it also and any wash that comes into the main one.Do hunt the sides of the wash and again hunt low & slow.

I don't remember what type of detector you said you were hunting with but best of luck.

Chuck Anders

[Goldbug Ron]

Or you can use Lunks technique. Go to WalMart, sporting goods section, and by some orange cones. They come four to a pack. Set up the cones in a square or rectangle, hunt from one cone to the next. Turn around and hunt back, moving the cones a couple feet at a time.

Goldbug Ron