I am new to it also, Just bought a Garrett AT Gold. It was very helpful in the creek in Buchanan, GA to locate a good spot for me to dig and classify. I do not know where you are, I had a little luck with my old Radio Shack model on the Quartzite claim in Arizona, I just walked the dry water ways and looked where the bedrock showed with cracks. I found some little pickers there last February. I am looking forward to time to go back with the new machine.

Updated my original post, I realized I was not clear enough about my question.

Thanks Tim, I have seen people doing that on youtube, using detectors to determine areas to dig for slucing and running dry washers. Wondered how much that helped. Guess it would.

I suppose in the desert your best chances for finding gold might be in dry stream beds near bedrock. Maybe that is the direction I should be looking at.  Maybe best would be to try one of the GPAA claims like First Chance or Close one

I would send Kevin Hoagland a note. He is the resident metal detecting expert on the GPAA staff. I sat in on one of his lectures in Fresno which is what got me interested in the first place.

Most of the GPAA claims in the Mojave Desert and surrounding mountain areas WILL produce nuggets. Just because they have already been hunted does not rule out success if you employ correct detecting techniques and are patient and imaginative. Learn as much as you can about the subject of nuggetshooting, master the operation of your machine, use it to its' maximum potential, and in time you will start finding gold. Hope this helps; HH Jimmy M 

Here is a little bit of information that helps to explain why you will keep finding nuggets years after an area was already detected expertly.  I have seen this happen in what we use to call the Pot Holes just out of Winter Haven, CA and Yuma areas. I used to spend a lot of time down there getting some gold and enjoying the family. This is two articles which I combined.  

Convection.pdf

By the way in the articles think of the sides as being the erosion from wind and rain or what ever.

The deserts are easier to work, especially if you are older like me. I would say that you would have the best luck using a pulse Induction (PI) type of detector. They penetrate deeper and are immune to mineralization.
I have worked the claims around Quartzite ( best time is in winter) with moderate success. The dry washes seem to contain the easiest to obtain gold there. Hay, if you go in January, the place in Quartzite is like the worlds biggest flea market. You can get anything there at a good price if you haggle. The claims I worked were on the BLM long term camping area. If you travel in a MH they have water and a dump station there.
Hope this info helps. Frank

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Jim, Walter, Frank-
Thank you for the info. All of which I was wondering about. Planning to go out and try my luck June 21st. Will post my success or failure when I get back.

So here is my quick review of the claims in the Mojave Desert near Goler Gulch. This is for others who are new to metal detecting to hopefully use to scale their expectations.

Spent a total of about 12 hours in two days, working various areas with my metal detector with another GPAA member (who was also detecting with the Mine Lab Eureka Gold). We tried many areas, tailing piles, digging to expose bedrock and just walking the surface. We found no gold. We met some people, one of which had success in the past, pulling large nuggets out of the PCSC claim nearby (which I am a member of as well) with his Mine Lab GPX 4000. He had no luck in the time we were out there with him either. We tested our detectors several times with flakes my partner had found in the past and they sounded off clear as day. Only other times we had hits similar to that was when we were finding trash.

But two women we met who were using Gold Bugs did have some luck finding very fine gold flakes. Flakes which unless lying on or very close to the surface I don't think my Mine Lab 705 would have picked up. Then again maybe I missed the signal. Lots of hot rocks caused some issue.  I did find shell casings, rusted staples, nails, small pieces of metal.

One of the women said that when her club first got the claim, the first weekend many of them came out and they detected the new claim. She came out in one day with 40 small nuggets. She said most of the rest were finding the same. I am a member of her club as well so we tried that area and had no luck there either. I believe those types of situations are rare and the areas get worked over very well soon after.

To sum up, it was fun, very hot (100+) but in the end came away without any gold.  Not giving up, my local club has a new claim in the nearby mountains so planning to try there.  

But got to say it's a little disheartening with all the effort and sweat involved.

Good luck all

Did you think about panning some sample areas first, or at least bring back some dirt to check later? What does it cost to join the local clubs like PCSC or others?

Posted By LEO LORENZ on 29 Jun 2014 05:23 PM
Did you think about panning some sample areas first, or at least bring back some dirt to check later? What does it cost to join the local clubs like PCSC or others?

I failed to remember to bring samples back.  I will remember next time.  Also trying to come up with some ideas on how to save a few extra bucks over the next few months to purchase a dry washer.  If the gold in those desert claims is fine, I would have better luck dry washing.

 

Man I really should have taken some trash bags and sampled from various areas, record the area with my gps so I have somewhere to go back to.

 

Good news is it's only a two hour drive.  So I can try again when it cools off a bit.

 

The other two clubs I joined that have claims there were $60-$80 each per year.

Yep Jim is the Mojave Man......

Whites GMT or Gold Bug II best for the small gold...

Don,

Do you have any knowledge of the capabilities of a Whites TDI ? 

Leo

Hello Leo:

At one time I owned the TDI Pro and MXT, both are great detectors, I attended one of Jim McCulloch's detector seminars at the GPAA Gold and Treasure Show in Mesa Arizona,  for nugget shooting he uses the Whites GMT Detector and has done very well.  after the seminar I was sold on the GMT because of it's capability of detecting small gold.  I live in Arizona and the GMT handles  the mineralization of the ground very well,  also does well in California as I used it at the Roaring mining camp this past July and found gold with it.

 

I am also new to metal detecting. I have a Whites SST detector. Any advice on how to set it up for desert prospecting? I'm in Phoenix, and have a hard time trying to get it to balance out the hot rocks here.

John, the SST combines features found on several models of White's detectors, including the GMT. Operating your SST at the highest Gain setting which permits stable (silent) operation, pass the coil over the ground at normal heights and speeds (i.e. nearly touching the ground and no more than 10-12 inches per second) listen for REPEATABLE signals over the same spot. Unless the bar graph totally pegs on "iron," then dig it. If the area begins producing nuggets, then totally clean it out of ALL targets. Listen for the really faint signals, which have a better chance of being nuggets then do ear-bashing (usually trash) signals. Get a copy Of "Advanced Nuggetshooting" for all the needed techniques, concentrate on known gold-bearing areas, and in time you will have success. Hope this helps; HH Jim