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WINNER #1
My favorite international find for September 2014 is the collection of Queensland, Australia Gold Nuggets, discovered by Mark S. and his son with the ATX.
Mark states, "In early August 2014 I had an opportunity to spend a one and a half days in tropical north Queensland, Australia, at a popular hard-core goldfield. I was able to convince my son to join me even though he had not been gold detecting before. I was super excited to finally see how the ATX performed on a remote hard-core Australian gold field.There were 30 prospectors already detecting the gold-field before we arrived. We started detecting the next morning at first light and it was immediately apparent the ATX was performing well."
Here's Mark's account of the 5 gold nuggets. The first gold nugget was found prior to lunch, after about 5 hours. A tiny fleck of gold in a dark stone matrix. This was sitting on crumbly slate at about 3 inches below rock and made a good sound. I was extremely pleased with this tiny nugget encased in rock as I now know the ATX is capable of finding very small gold targets in mineralized soil. After lunch we moved to an alluvial area that was previously the site of some mechanized extraction with a great quantity of iron trash. However, amongst the trash popped a target that sounded a little different than the adjacent iron and when using the iron check the response was soft/mellow. This was our first gold specimen at about 4 inches in red rocky soil. It weighed 3.7 grams with some small pieces of quartz attached. This was closely followed by another target, a shiny flat gold nugget also 3.7 grams in the same rocky red soil at about 6 inches. There were recent detector holes within a few meters of both the nuggets and we could not understand how they missed the nuggets since on the ATX each was a big sounding target. The next day we started in the cool of first light and only had until midday on the field. I turned on the ATX, walked onto area that had all the gold bearing rock and soil removed by machine and the basement slates exposed. Within 2 minutes I had found a 1.5 gram gold nugget specimen at a depth of 1 inch in a crack. By this time my son was wanting to find his own nugget, so I gave him the ATX, showed him how to ground balance and how to swing a coil, evenly and slowly. He started to scan the old-timer workings, littered with quartz and rock. After about an hour he ran over to me clutching his find, a beautiful gold specimen at a depth of about 2 inches. The total weight (gold and quartz) being about 2 grams."
Mark comments, "So in summary the ATX performed brilliantly and turned a quick trip to a memorable one. It clearly finds gold that other detectors have missed. It was conveniently carried in a plane, it runs quietly and deeply in mineralized soils and able to find both small gold and large gold without changing settings. It is quick to setup and to use and is suitable for an inexperienced operator to use in the goldfields."
Thank you Mark for your detailed account of your ATX discoveries. Persistence paid off! You and your son enjoy your new AT Gold, and those gold nuggets!
Mark S. WINS a Garrett AT Gold!
Mark states, "In early August 2014 I had an opportunity to spend a one and a half days in tropical north Queensland, Australia, at a popular hard-core goldfield. I was able to convince my son to join me even though he had not been gold detecting before. I was super excited to finally see how the ATX performed on a remote hard-core Australian gold field.There were 30 prospectors already detecting the gold-field before we arrived. We started detecting the next morning at first light and it was immediately apparent the ATX was performing well."
Here's Mark's account of the 5 gold nuggets. The first gold nugget was found prior to lunch, after about 5 hours. A tiny fleck of gold in a dark stone matrix. This was sitting on crumbly slate at about 3 inches below rock and made a good sound. I was extremely pleased with this tiny nugget encased in rock as I now know the ATX is capable of finding very small gold targets in mineralized soil. After lunch we moved to an alluvial area that was previously the site of some mechanized extraction with a great quantity of iron trash. However, amongst the trash popped a target that sounded a little different than the adjacent iron and when using the iron check the response was soft/mellow. This was our first gold specimen at about 4 inches in red rocky soil. It weighed 3.7 grams with some small pieces of quartz attached. This was closely followed by another target, a shiny flat gold nugget also 3.7 grams in the same rocky red soil at about 6 inches. There were recent detector holes within a few meters of both the nuggets and we could not understand how they missed the nuggets since on the ATX each was a big sounding target. The next day we started in the cool of first light and only had until midday on the field. I turned on the ATX, walked onto area that had all the gold bearing rock and soil removed by machine and the basement slates exposed. Within 2 minutes I had found a 1.5 gram gold nugget specimen at a depth of 1 inch in a crack. By this time my son was wanting to find his own nugget, so I gave him the ATX, showed him how to ground balance and how to swing a coil, evenly and slowly. He started to scan the old-timer workings, littered with quartz and rock. After about an hour he ran over to me clutching his find, a beautiful gold specimen at a depth of about 2 inches. The total weight (gold and quartz) being about 2 grams."
Mark comments, "So in summary the ATX performed brilliantly and turned a quick trip to a memorable one. It clearly finds gold that other detectors have missed. It was conveniently carried in a plane, it runs quietly and deeply in mineralized soils and able to find both small gold and large gold without changing settings. It is quick to setup and to use and is suitable for an inexperienced operator to use in the goldfields."
Thank you Mark for your detailed account of your ATX discoveries. Persistence paid off! You and your son enjoy your new AT Gold, and those gold nuggets!
Mark S. WINS a Garrett AT Gold!
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WINNER #2
My second favorite international find for September 2014 is the Viking Silver Hoard discovered by Justin B. and Daniel B. from Cumbria, UK.
Justin and Daniel, who call themselves "The Garrett Lads" have recently made the cover of the October 2014 UK publication "Searcher" with their tremendous "Viking Hack Silver" story. The magazine highlights new photos that caught my eye and pulled me into their successful discovery. Their story was submitted to Garrett, and here is the entry.
"This year, the day before Justin's vacation, they stumbled across a hoard of national importance due to its size and rarity. They discovered the hiding place of almost 1kg of Viking silver. The hoard is made up of solid silver ingots and pieces of bracelets, some of which have been identified as possible Russian silver dated approximately 900AD. Daniel found the first ingot with his Euro Ace, which measured over 2 inches in length and weighed 51g. As he was inspecting the find, Justin used his AT Pro to detect a signal about 1 foot away. Set in pro mode with zero discrimination, the signal indicated 80-82 at around 6-8 inches. Justin uncovered the soil to discover a silver ingot that measured almost 4 inches in length and 1 inch wide. Its weight was a staggering 128g. This single ingot is one of the largest to be found in the UK. Altogether, Justin and Daniel uncovered 19 pieces of silver with a weight of almost 1kg and signified somebody of significant wealth and importance. The ingots had been buried together in a shallow hole with an aim to be recovered but for some reason the owner failed to return for them. The find is now in the hands of their FLO (Finds Liaison Officer) who has started the identification and treasure process. Hopefully this is just the beginning of 'The Garrett Lads' Viking finds as they continue in their quest to rewrite history books in the UK."
Remarkable job Justin and Daniel! I am proud to call you "The Garrett Lads", and would be delighted to return the favor with a new AT Gold. Happy Hunting!
Justin B. and Daniel B. WIN a Garrett AT Gold!
Justin and Daniel, who call themselves "The Garrett Lads" have recently made the cover of the October 2014 UK publication "Searcher" with their tremendous "Viking Hack Silver" story. The magazine highlights new photos that caught my eye and pulled me into their successful discovery. Their story was submitted to Garrett, and here is the entry.
"This year, the day before Justin's vacation, they stumbled across a hoard of national importance due to its size and rarity. They discovered the hiding place of almost 1kg of Viking silver. The hoard is made up of solid silver ingots and pieces of bracelets, some of which have been identified as possible Russian silver dated approximately 900AD. Daniel found the first ingot with his Euro Ace, which measured over 2 inches in length and weighed 51g. As he was inspecting the find, Justin used his AT Pro to detect a signal about 1 foot away. Set in pro mode with zero discrimination, the signal indicated 80-82 at around 6-8 inches. Justin uncovered the soil to discover a silver ingot that measured almost 4 inches in length and 1 inch wide. Its weight was a staggering 128g. This single ingot is one of the largest to be found in the UK. Altogether, Justin and Daniel uncovered 19 pieces of silver with a weight of almost 1kg and signified somebody of significant wealth and importance. The ingots had been buried together in a shallow hole with an aim to be recovered but for some reason the owner failed to return for them. The find is now in the hands of their FLO (Finds Liaison Officer) who has started the identification and treasure process. Hopefully this is just the beginning of 'The Garrett Lads' Viking finds as they continue in their quest to rewrite history books in the UK."
Remarkable job Justin and Daniel! I am proud to call you "The Garrett Lads", and would be delighted to return the favor with a new AT Gold. Happy Hunting!
Justin B. and Daniel B. WIN a Garrett AT Gold!
