I recently visited Sebastian, Florida (Treasure Coast / Atlantic Ocean) for some beach hunting and decided to also make a quick stop to work over the dredge tailings from Sebastian Inlet, after reading about the beach replenishment project here: http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2012/02/21012-report-favorite-finds-dredging.html
I only spent an hour detecting, which was more than enough time to realize that my White’s Dual Field, a pulse induction detector, wasn’t the right tool for the job. I think a VLF detector, with good discrimination abilities would have worked out much better, and allow me to dig less trash. If you know the history of the area, then you know that it’s a decent possibility that there is some treasure amongst all the junk.
This was the first time I’ve seen a replenishment project in-progress and I thought you might find it interesting to see exactly what the execution looks like, so I took some photos.

I know there are a lot of mixed feelings out there about the sale of gold pay dirt and concentrates, and yes many of them are junk, but at the end of the day they are generally fun if you have the right frame of mind, can make for great panning practice, and from what I hear, make a decent temporary fix for the gold fever winter time blues! No matter what, I’ve enjoyed buying and panning them here, in good ole’ Florida, where “wild gold” isn’t an option.
This review is for the “Deluxe Dirt” bag from ArizonaPaydirt.com. The product was a little tricky to pan, with a lot of black sand (which is great practice!), but as you’ll see in my result pictures below, well worth the effort. At the time of this writing, the product is going for $25.00 plus $5 shipping, which ends up being a fair deal for the amount of gold you’re getting, and especially when compared to most other paydirt you’ll find.
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I just purchased my second metal detector, a Fisher Gold Bug-2. This time around I opted to purchase it online, from http://www.kellycodetectors.com. I plan on using it for “Micro-Jewelry hunting”* in dry sand, as well as gold prospecting and nugget shooting.
Here’s a gallery of unboxing the Gold Bug-2:
I’ve added a new reading list page. I’ll be keeping it up to date with books I’ve read or that I am currently reading. Enjoy! You can find the page here: http://goldandtreasurehunting.com/gold-treasure-hunting-books/
My Dad recently shared these pictures with me, of an old anchor he salvaged in The Florida Keys, around 30 years ago. I remember playing on it when I was younger and thought it would be cool to share it with you. I’m not really sure where it is now.

I know there are a lot of mixed feelings out there about the sale of gold pay dirt and concentrates, and yes many of them are junk, but at the end of the day they are generally fun if you have the right frame of mind, can make for great panning practice, and from what I hear, make a decent temporary fix for the gold fever winter time blues! No matter what, I’ve enjoyed buying and panning them here, in good ole’ Florida, where “wild gold” isn’t an option.
This review is for the “1+ Grams GA Cons Bag” from GoldAdventures.biz. This bag was a fairly easy pan and, as you’ll see in my result pictures below, well worth the price ($65.99 at the time of writing)!
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I purchased my White’s Surf PI Dual Field Metal Detector from the friendly folks at http://www.kellycodetectors.com (ask for Steve Carr, great salesman, very knowledgeable and friendly). The purchase qualified for free shipping, but I opted to drive to their showroom, because it’s less than an hour away from my house. They actually call it the “Showroom Museum”, which is spot-on. It’s a neat, fun, well themed place to visit and browse around. Scroll down on this page, to see some photos: http://www.kellycodetectors.com/Welcome.htm
This is my first metal detector (as long as you don’t count the little crap-kickers we all had as kids). I’ve spent most of my life in and around the ocean and have dreamed of finding treasure since I was a boy. Now that I’m older and can finally swing the cost of getting into the hobby, and after all of the internet research I did, the Dual Field seemed like a great detector to start beach hunting with.
Here’s a gallery of unboxing the brand spanking new detector:

My wife got me a Gold Cube 3-Stack Deluxe for Christmas. At first she said I couldn’t have it until Christmas Day, but after a couple of weeks of it sitting upstairs, wrapped and all, I couldn’t resist any longer; I had to think of a way to get it sooner. When one of her presents was slated to show up in the mail, one that I knew she wanted badly, my plan was set. I offered her that gift early in-trade and she accepted. Score!
Anyway, enough back story… now I’d like to walk you through my first night using The Gold Cube, in this gallery (and a video at the end):

This is an excerpt from Matt Thornton’s Book, Dredging For Gold: The Gold Divers’ Handbook. It’s reproduced on quite a few other gold sites and is widely accepted as the go-to reference for anyone interested in learning how to read a river / stream / creek, with gold in mind. I’ve read it a couple of times now and highly recommend it. I even ended up printing the guide out for My Dad and bought the book for both of us.
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If you’re new to gold panning, or interested in seeing how an old-timer works his pan, check this video out.
| Gold Spot Price Current as of Fri. May. 18th |
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| Per Troy Ounce: | $1,593.18 |
| Per Gram: | $51.22 |
| Per Grain: | $3.32 |
| Per Pennyweight (DWT): | $79.67 |