Can Metal Detectors Really Detect Gold Nuggets?

Yes!

In skilled hands metal detectors detect metal. Gold nuggets are metal, therefore, yes, metal detectors can detect gold nuggets—however, the design and quality of the detector, size and depth of the gold, prevailing ground conditions, as well as the skill of the detectorist, are all critical factors that can significantly affect one’s level of success.

Every year, thousands of hobbyists and professionals all over the world locate and recover gold nuggets with their detectors. However, realize that much of the gold found in the field is tiny, under a gram in weight, and some detectors are more suited by design for targeting small gold than others. If you hope to maximize your gold recovery in the field, you must be armed with the best detector for your purpose and for the conditions under which you hunt.

How Do I Know That?

Well, I know because I spent a lot of time in the bush of the western United States, including Alaska, living off the gold I located with my detectors—my livelihood depended on my skill level, as well as my selection of detectors.

I seldom found enough gold to allow me to live like a king for more than a day; however, living free and independent the way I did, always made me feel like a king.

In the 70s, before turning to metal detecting, I sniped the gold bearing waters of creeks and rivers wherever I found them. In 1985, I bought my first metal detecter; it was a high-quality machine, but not one engineered especially for finding gold (I didn’t know any better). I got lucky real quick though and found my first gold with it, pretty pronto! And it was a whopper! There was no metal-detecting skill involved; I was new to the game and just plain lucky that day.

The gold was largely encapsulated in a hunk of quartz. Gold embedded in quartz is called specimen gold and is highly prized. My specimen weighed over 13 ounces. It had bands of gold streaking across its surface, and it was heavy. I was jazzed! After bathing in an acid bath for a few days to dissolve much of its quartz matrix, ounces of beautiful crystalline gold came to light, shinning all over its newly exposed surface. However, I know now that the specimen should look better than it does, and I plead guilty to its brutalization. At the time, I didn’t know the best way to prepare it for treatment, or how long to leave it in the acid. My ignorance resulted in a hard hit to the specimen’s value. I chalked it up to the cost of learning and moved on.

The story, “$8,500 Nugget Found,” was featured in the 1985 winter edition of Treasure Found magazine. The specimen (after its acid bath) is shown on the magazine cover at the top of this page. You can read more about the discovery in: Does Metal Detecting Pay?

I hate to think of how many tiny pieces of gold I passed over with my coin machine before I finally swept its coil over that badass specimen that screamed at me. Eventually, I wised up and purchased a top-of-the-line detector engineered specifically for targeting gold under a wide range of field conditions. In addition to targeting the clunkers, it allowed me to fine tune it to target the more common little flakes and kernels—often weighing less than a gram—I had been missing the whole time. And, oh how quickly those beautiful little yellow pickers can add up!

What Detector Do I Recommend?

That’s difficult without knowing your intended use or your budget. I’ve had success finding gold with every premium detector I’ve ever used; in my opinion, you can’t go far wrong with any of them. When I first started detecting, I hunted for years with name-brand VLF (very low frequency) gold detectors; later on, I bought a PI (pulse induction) model. I’ve found gold with both. Ground conditions and the size and depth of targets determined which machine I chose for each location. Both technologies worked, at least to a degree, under almost all conditions; however, depending on those conditions, one usually had a discernible advantage over the other. When conditions warranted it, I used both. First I would target the surface gold with my VLF, then sweep the same ground with my PI to check for bigger, deeper targets.

My Advice:

Do your research and choose the best detector(s) you can afford for the jobs you have in mind. Then, whether it’s gold, coins, relics, jewelry, or buried treasure you’re after, get out there, learn the ropes, and make it happen. Make it pay!