Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways
http://bb.bbboy.net/alaskagoldforum-viewthread?forum=2&thread=1279
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DanfromNY
12:08:33 Sun
Nov 13 2011

Yes, This is true. I have two different ones on my ocean gold dredge up in Nome.I started using a very small inexpensive Eagle model after hearing stories of using hollow poles to check depth and bottom material.I quickly graduated to a full size Lowrance with the largest screen available. This machine actually showed layers below the sea bottom which made prospecting WAY faster.Once it was determined which colors were sand,rock, clay,cobble. Yes, the gold was just laying on top of the clay layers. Simply amazing, they dont show you the Gold,just where it could be hiding.Having found this"Gold Finder" at the Bass Pro shop, I went back and watched the Humminbird demo that they had replaying every 20 minutes or so. I must have watched it 10 times the first time I was there,the gray scale picture from the passive side scanning sonar was amazing.It showed with amazing clearity the bottom of recently man flooded area with trees and other identifiable objects up to a 100 feet deep and several hundred feet wide.Being able to see where reefs and rock roads are on the ocean floor has made prospecting even faster than before.Using the two together gives fantastic results even in the murkiest water. Which allows me to have success even when dredging blindly(which I dont reccommend)Using these two, you can also see people on the bottom(generally other dredgers)anchor lines,Hoses, lost anchors, and other dredgers tailing piles.The neatest thing is actually seeing how other dredgers work, whether they are cleaning an area,square or otherwise. If they are digging a hole, or if they are digging multiple small holes still searching for pay material.

MarshallAk
18:04:57 Sun
Nov 13 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Thanks Dan for the post...it's very interesting. There has been discussion here before about whether fathometers/fish-finders might have any value at more than just finding depth and fish: like determining bedrock depth, gravel/sand layers, etc. Turns out that almost nobody has tried this theory out yet, so the results aren't yet known. Lots of comments and opinion, but nothing based from actual experience...so far.

One of the testing methods proposed: set the transducer in a bucket of water, with the bucket setting solidly, directly, on top of the overburden. What would you see???

My guess is that most models are going to be utterly useless for that use, while other models might show some promise. I'd be interested in the exact models you were looking at. I have a fish finder setting in the garage, but haven't tested it out yet to see if is any good towards these goals. I bet that sooner or later some big company like White's, Tesoro, Garrett, etc is going to develop a gadget specifically for doing what you describe.

I, for one, would love to know how much overburden I have laying on the bedrock!

Marshall

DanfromNY
22:13:43 Sun
Nov 13 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Marshall, I used the high end Lowrance(largest screen)It was about $2,000.00 a few years ago. I understand that they now also have the ability to have side scanning sonar to show a gray scale picture of bottom.If your near a large fishing supply store they might have them on display mode inside the store. So I figured Id let some of the friendly miners and prospectors that Ive met here on the forum to share with you before you see secrets being given up.The Humminbird even showed who wasnt mining out in the ocean,just hanging out,mouth miners or pretend miners? I dont know, ha ha but technology is here and its not going away,only getting better.Good Gold to All

Muley
23:02:21 Sun
Nov 13 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Dan,
You were supposed to keep that a secret (Dredgers edge), I still have my old X-15 in the garage, used to rig it up on a rubber raft and check the river bottoms here in California 20 - 30 years ago prior to setting up the dredge. Not sure if you can still get paper rolls for the old X-15, probaly not. The X-15 would look down through the layers for several feet and one could tell where the deeper hole's were and tell the difference between already dredged or virgin ground and rock size's.
Several years ago I mentioned this on a internet forum and felt like everyone thought that I was crazy, so I've been careful about talking about it since.

Here is a link to a simuliar subject line.
http://bb.bbboy.net/alaskagoldforum-viewthread?forum=2&thread=327&postnum=6&highlight=fish finder

micropedes1
22:56:20 Mon
Nov 14 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

I have used them before. With the sensitivity (grayscale) turned all the way up, you will get several bottom echoes. The first one will be the sand/silt on the surface. The next one will be cobbles. Bedrock appears as a dark solid line. The cheap units do not work well as they do not have enough power for adequate penetration.

It is a good tool to let you know about bottom contours without digging. Or how much sand is there on top of the gravel bar.

DanfromNY
01:19:50 Tue
Nov 15 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

cobill
16:58:11 Wed
Nov 23 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Dan and Muley, would the Lowrance units work in shallower water...6 feet or less and give the same results? I'm looking for a technological edge in locating gold, without guessing and hoping to find it! :confused:

There has got to be something available that can show us the depth to bedrock, layers, etc.

Bill

DanfromNY
13:00:36 Tue
Nov 29 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Cobill; Ive used the Lowrance from shore out to 35 feet deep,I believe in one of my videos I posted on you tube you can see the Lowrance working in about 3 feet of water on the way out of the harbor. Theyre all under DanfromNY55, Ill look to see which one it is.Good Gold to All, Dan

ME
15:13:39 Tue
Nov 29 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Quote: cobill at 16:58:11 Wed Nov 23 2011

Dan and Muley, would the Lowrance units work in shallower water...6 feet or less and give the same results? I'm looking for a technological edge in locating gold, without guessing and hoping to find it! There has got to be something available that can show us the depth to bedrock, layers, etc.

Bill

No fair cheatin Bill. HH Mark

DanfromNY
11:57:31 Fri
Dec 9 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Using Technology isnt cheating, its just the evolution of the mining process. You can actually see the layers of sand ,clay, gravels and substrata. It takes all the guess work out of how deep you have to go to find the gold.Ive got a few more devices that work well. Im planning on giving up quite a few more secrets this year too. good gold to all, later Dan

baub
19:16:42 Fri
Dec 9 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Thanks Dan.

b

Brian_Berkhahn
06:14:58 Sat
Dec 17 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Dan, How deep through the overburden do you think it went or they might be able to go?

DanfromNY
17:05:03 Sat
Dec 17 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Hi Brian, The scale on the side of the Lowrance showed it went down over 20 feet deep below the bottom of the ocean.Its really an amazing machine,It goes much deeper than I could dredge with my 8" dredge.So its a matter of determining the layers that are best and most productive for ancient gold layers vs. more recent material closer to the surface.If your lucky enough to find an ancient layer just below a recent layer,its gold all day.That would be less than a foot of material to go thru between layers.Some show up as 6' to 10' between pay layers which take along time to move in the ocean.Good gold to all, later Dan

Muley
00:32:38 Sun
Dec 18 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Dan, Do you think that the areas that were 6' to 8' could of been previous dredge hole's?

Brian_Berkhahn
02:55:19 Sun
Dec 18 2011

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Huh.. that's interesting

Thanks

DanfromNY
19:22:03 Sun
Jan 8 2012

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

The different layers actually appear on a fairly regular basis Muley, You can see where dredgers have worked before, both by the tailing piles and from the depth gage when its in its multy color mode.Its very visible how the distance between the layers isnt consistent,so we search for the layers that are actually closest together,so as to get as much gold as we can when we dive on a spot.Good Gold to All, later Dan

DanfromNY
16:06:43 Fri
Jan 27 2012

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

my hummingbird on side scan sonar quite a bit while we were going past other "dredgers" some were dredging,others were just waiting to get into water and showed very little action(tailing piles or dredged,cleared areas)Pomerankes on the other hand had small hills almost reaching the surface before moving on(they got some gold)

Thunnus
01:11:21 Tue
Feb 7 2012

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Hi all

For what it's worth...echo's will show up when you're over hard bottom because the sonar signal being sent to the bottom is bouncing up and down off that hard bottom, returning to the transducer and being sent back down to the bottom again. This shows up as an echo on your graph. For example, you know you're over 10' of water and you see the bottom contour show up on your fish finder at the 10' graph mark. If the bottom is hard, you'll see another identical bottom contour show on the fish finder at the 15' graph mark. It will be lighter than the first bottom contour but identical. If the bottom is really hard you might see a third echo below the 15' graph mark. Soft bottoms won't have the echo, only the contour line showing at 10' graph mark of your fish finder. I would think you'd be looking for those echo's.

DanfromNY
09:21:55 Tue
Feb 7 2012

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Hi Thunnus, thanks for joining the forum and clearing that up :smile:

, Ive never been sure how they work, I just know that they do.The bedrock in the area that i work is between 50 and 75 feet down. Its more of the different clay layers that are exposed by the different layers/levels on the finder.Good Gold to all, later Dan

dredger
12:01:17 Tue
Feb 7 2012

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Hey Dan, just a quick question please,

I have been following your thread and admiring your willingness to share, thanks very much, but could not see how to apply those methods to dry river beds,

So I just left it, until the last posts and thought how advantageous to incorporate in my type of dredging,
Then bingo, :smile:

Using the excavator I can flood the large areas,
So, my Question is to all, " how deep is the minimum the best fish finder requires to get working efficiently, ??. 2", 6" , 2'. not forgetting the gravels could be 20' deep,

And could i get the clarity or definition you describe between those layers at 20'??,

dredger,

Thunnus
20:45:17 Tue
Feb 7 2012

Re: Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways

Hummingbird side scanning sonar has a unique red/green color scheme that helps to determine hard bottom from soft bottom. Red showing hard bottom and green showing soft bottom.

http://www.bbcboards.net/zerothread?id=600824

Using Fish finders to find Gold, seriously several ways
http://bb.bbboy.net/alaskagoldforum-viewthread?forum=2&thread=1279
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