Top soil depth

When detecting an area and upon digging targets you notice the top soil is quite thick would you keep detecting ? Is there a depth you would work to before you stop Or perhaps before starting detecting dig a few test holes first and go from there
And another question on a different matter , if you were lucky enough to get out for a swing for say a couple of days and the area you choose ticks all boxes for bearing gold would you thoroughly work the area for the 2 days or move along to a few spots? Mainly asking this because I'm sure as you guys know there is never enough time in the day when out in the field and being new I'm trying to get out to as many goldfields as I can and scouting areas and before I know it it's dark or time to go home and probably lucky to detect 2-3 hours in the day!

Mate good questions ,but there are a thousand and one variables when it comes to detecting ! The short answer to soil depth in my opinion is , if the area has a history of gold producing ,by putting test targets in the soil will allow you to determine depth / soil minerilisation  capability of your detector , coil size ,soil timings ,gain, etc  the main thing to remember is to go slow / low as possible , DON'T RUSH ,and by listening to what your detector is telling you ,and by driving it to the max .How much time you spend in a particular area ,guess it depends on your endurance / patience  level , as detecting ,in my opinion anyway , can be one of the most frustrating / rewarding , mentally challenging pursuit's about !!  

Ok so you think dig some holes put the test nugget in there and if the machine fails to pick it up before reaching the gravels beneath this would give you a guide that you won't be finding much smaller pieces in the area? .Also this would give you an indication on the coil size you may need to be using to punch through and size of gold you are chasing? of course depending on the size of your test pieces mine being .8 in this case

Hi Mazzam
Sometimes the hard base under the surface material may seem to be a consistent depth but the original bed within may be undulating so nuggets could still appear at different depths.
The size and type of gold will also give you information on the best match coil for the area,of course you need to locate gold first,its sort of like the chicken and the egg scenario.As said above theres too many variables.

Hey Mazzam,

I too have been pondering this question.. With my limited knowledge I think I will dig small holes to see the depth of the topsoil and if its more than 10-12" I will probably move on. The 11" mono will pick up decent stuff at that depth so its not a waste of time. I have to stop worrying about detecting fly speck stuff and focus on detecting areas away from flogged/sluiced/ bare ground stuff and go into the scrub even though there is some topsoil there. I just need to make sure its not too deep......

Dave

Hej Mazzam,
If you in gold bearing area sure will detect deep ground.

Saying that its very important to pick a coil suitable for a ground you are detecting.

General rule is the bigger coil deeper it goes (also cover bigger area as you detect).

Its important not to waste time trying to detect too deep ground coil/detector is not capable to do.

There is million scenarios but you can read a ground and depth but seeing trees around are you detecting.

Bigger tree deeper ground.
I find top soil usually easier to detect. Doesn't seems too much noisy at all.

IF you plan your trip and do little bit of research or read maps you will have an idea where to detect and what ground to expect.

Good luck.

Keep reading posts there is plenty information.

GoldEN

I was just thinking about what I said above. If I was detecting in an area of 6-10" topsoil then I imagine i could confidently not dig booming surface signals. I know the old rule is to dig everything but its worth a thought....

By not digging big signals you will miss nuts, bolts, horse shoes, rail spikes, tin cans, axe and pick heads etc ...Aaaaand you will miss big nuggs close to the surface.
I will always remember a big surface signal at Wedderburn that I thought was iron, but dug it anyway and it was a close on two oz nugg.

OK you win !! Thats all the encouragement I need to continue to dig all..

Thanks :-)

This is how we work. Two people detecting and we give an area 2 hours. That's 4 man hours in that area. If we've found nothing in that time, then how much are we going to find by spending more time there ???

So we move on. Finding a single nugget can change all that and gives a point of focus to work from. It's all about using the time available efficiently.

Not finding Gold doesn't mean there's none there, but it means it's not yours at that time cheers Pete.

G'day Mazzam, a good question, and Golden gives the answer

The further up you go in elevation, the less top soil, or O horizon there'll be - this is usually indicated by the tree that grows there - if you can see scribbly gum, or snow gum, then you know there's bugger all soil (this type of soil is known as Lithosol).

Follow the topography and you'll notice flats at the mouths of gullies and you'll notice also a different type of tree - more straight growing and larger in size - this will indicate some good silty soil, meaning that to get down to the wash, or bedrock, you'll need to get rid of the O horizon, A horizon and B horizon - could be up to 4 feet thick - but that soil has come from somewhere further up the slope, which could be gold bearing, so it'll be your call.