Beep Mat

[shrewdly]

I read of this in an assessment report. It sounds like a metal detector that has deep penetration 10 - 12 ft and is towed behind a ATV or a snowmobile. Anyone know anything about it.

 

[grimsqueaker]

45 yo technology, but I had never heard of it before, so thanks. I'd love to have some technology that could do detection of relatively dense Au at several feet of depth, but I'm in mineralized sand, where I suspect this device would be fundamentally useless Also, GDD seems to keep pricing information close to the vest, so I strongly suspect that "inexpensive" is, in this case, very much a relative term...
GDD (manufacturer) description
Info pkg from Geology Ontario

 

[BlackLabel]

I've seen something like this in a documentation called "Meteorite Hunters".
They had a large selfmade? coil attached to their ATV or car.
I'm quite sure, it will detect larger pieces of metal only. I doubt, you will find a one gram nugget with this.

 

[grimsqueaker]

I've seen something like this in a documentation called "Meteorite Hunters".
They had a large selfmade? coil attached to their ATV or car.
I'm quite sure, it will detect larger pieces of metal only. I doubt, you will find a one gram nugget with this.

I've been tempted to set something up on a smaller remote-controlled vehicle, but I can't quite get my head around how much (and what kind of) shielding would be required to not overload the coil from the influence of the metallic parts of the vehicle itself. I suspect from the beep mat description that GDD addresses the issue by towing it far enough behind that the metallic mass of the tow vehicle is insignificant. Have the reports you've seen of coils attached to ATVs (etc) addressed that issue, and/or do you have any thoughts on it.

 

[BlackLabel]

I do not any experience with detectors, Im prospecting for gold with a goldpan and a sluice only.

I guess, the distance between your vehicle and the coil should be two or three times of the detection depth.

What are you trying to find?
The meteorite hunters worked in a desert in South America. The area was flat.
If you plan to seek for gold in the USA, your area will be rough (larger rocks, big boulders or steep side walls of a river bed) - no place for vehicles.
Do you know Garys YouTube channel (Two Toes)? Check out the shape of area he's working and the size of gold he finds and the junk he finds (iron nails, bullets, fishing sinkers…).
I'm sure, you wont find one nugget in USA or Canada with this towing coil.

 

[rickbb]

Most meteorite hunters tow a large bar magnet since most meteorites are iron/nickel composition. Anything less dense just burns up on atmo entry unless it was really large to start with.

Magnets are much cheaper and easier to use than a large towable detector coil.

The problem is not designing a useful detector mat to tow. The problem is designing one that will ONLY detect gold and not any of the useless trash that humans have been throwing out for the past umpteen hundred years.

Saw an episode on Aussie Gold Hunters where someone tried a home made towable detector, went as expected, total fail.

 

[Reno Chris]

Large detector mats do work if properly set up. There are issues with the EM field created by a gasoline motor spark coil, and they are only sensitive to really large near surface targets. I did this with a friend when I was in Western Australia.