Metal Detecting discussions and finds

Where are you at?? Need any help??

 

I live in Kansas!!! Great Rock Band and peaceful place to live... Augusta to be exact.

 

Keep working that house! I bet that there is more stuff in the ground!

 

Post up pics, good or bad

 

Where is the gold?! I’m out here at quartzite, came out because I got a great deal on a Ml 4500 from a local and got to go swinging a bit.

Now my gold monster isn’t so lonely, and my wife and kiddo can have fun too.
But now, why do my arms hurt??

OK here’s a weird one, what looks like lead, feels like lead, weighs about an ounce and was only detectable on a VLF and not the PI (Which was also doing great at picking up tinier bits of lead than this)? It’s not a bullet, nor is it magnetic either.

 

Looks like an old bullet, not far off gold...

 

Yeah but the 4500 cannot pick it up at all, the gold monster could pick it up and I’m sure the 4500 was tuned right because it was picking up even tiny little bits of lead as well. You’re probably right though maybe it’s just something to do with the shape but I have no idea.

 

I should paint it gold and tell my wife I had a great day! It is really nice out here- the saguaro cactus is blooming so I’m coming back with my family soon.

 

Might be a mixture of lead, if its harder its got some antimony mixed in..maybe thats why its not picking it up. Scratch it with a sharp knife and should peel away easy

 

My equinox picks up lead

 

Quartzite huh? I understand that there is lots of gold out that way, and It's on my "someday" list.
The 4500 is a good machine! Once you get through the learning curve, it will kick butt! The guy's name isn't Peter, is it? I have a prospector acquaintance who lives in Quartzite.

Did the 4500 pick up on other metals? If it is lead (looks like it) the 4500 would be all over it. Perhaps a setting on the 4500 is out of whack? What kind of audio set-up does it have?

 

The guy I got it from is from Phoenix- we met up in Quartzite and went prospecting south off the 95. No don’t get me wrong it was picking up little tiny bits of lead all over the place with no problems, deeper than the Gold Monster too, and they were the little flailed pieces of bullets that hit rocks and stuff like that. This piece is a blob and a lot larger than the others, it’s even more heavy than a mushroomed 45cal slug I also found with the PI. And if you look at the thing, it really doesn’t look like it’s part of a bullet, its more like a melted blob of iron, but non magnetic. I’m kind of wondering if it’s some other type of metal that is very dense. DU came across my mind, but I don’t know how PI detectors would react to that and only know I better not breathe the powder from cutting it if that’s what it really is. I will get my microscope out for better pics.

the 4500 came with a gold screamer external camcorder battery pack with two new batteries and a amp/speaker. It works really nicely, pretty cool how well it did with deep bits of iron (I am tired from digging!)

 

You might be right, I’ll have to carefully scratch it with something hard. It does seem harder than typical lead, I’ll know more when I get it under a microscope.

It’s just weird how the PI didn’t pick it up compared to the VLF, I have to keep it and try it out with someone else’s PI sometime too.

 

Some better pics- You can see why I think it’s not a bullet. Maybe it’s a meteorite turd!

 

I understand that the Gold Screamer kit makes a big difference on those machines.
So, your mystery object is more heavy than a lead slug, non-magnetic, and only your VLF sees it. That doesn't make sense. Perhaps it is the by-product of smelting. Maybe a mixture of gold, copper, silver, lead... I don't know.
The puzzling part is the PI not picking it up. Are you certain that the 4500 is working properly?? It should easily see it. Is it ferrite?

 

Have you scratched it with a knife/metal blade??

 

The old-timers used to process small quantities of gold (and other constituents) into a small rounded pellet. They sometimes didn't look like gold, but they were usually quite round.

 

zoomed in on the different angles, second one looks like micro cracks. Isnt one type of meteor pick up on MD like a hot rock but non magnetic? The color looks ferrous.

Did you ever cut that other one open?

 

Its possible I bumped an audio cord or there’s a bad speaker wire or something, I am still getting used to handling it and it still picked up small bits of iron wire and bullets before and after this piece. I think you are right, it should have detected it. Im thinking its actually a remelted lead alloy now also - its very hard compared to lead from bullets.

 

I heated it up slightly and it crumbled with a very shiny lead colored interior. I now believe it’s actually galena- as it was in a wash, it was maybe weathered and tumbled into a round shape. Here it is opened shown next to a verified galena mineral specimen (the larger piece on the left .

I am going to run the same test again on both pieces with both detectors next.