Gold is a valuable precious metal. It has been used throughout history as money and for jewelery production. Today it has many more applications, including uses in medicine, electronics, and even food and drink. Gold is therefore highly sought after, and a demand for it is always present. Although many mines exist for the extraction of gold from the ground, as these run dry we need to find new areas which can supply gold. Exploration for these sites is a very costly activity and proves difficult at times. Intriguingly, ants and termites may be the answer to this problem.
An earlier study found that mounds produced by the termite T. tumuli can successfully be used to detect gold concealed below because this mineral was also present in the nest itself. Not all termites build mounds on the surface of the earth, however; some form large nests underground. These termites are particularly abundant in areas of Australia where gold can be found. This led researchers to start investigating whether these subterranean mounds could also be used to indicate the presence of gold. In a study published in the Journal of Geochemical Exploration, two researchers collected soil samples from 3 different types of nest; mound-forming termites, subterranean termites, and an ant species. They did this along a transect in an area known to contain particular minerals, such as gold, allowing the scientists to see how or whether the content of the nests represents what lies beneath. They also used sampling points where the mineral content of the ground was unknown for comparative measures.
The study found that ants brought the largest concentration of gold to their nests; up to 24.4 parts per billion of gold was found in the nest material, in comparison to 7.4 and 8.4 of the mound forming termite and subterranean termite, respectively. They also found that the insects could vertically move the indicators gold, copper and zinc from at least 1.4m deep.
This was the first study to investigate the usefulness of subterranean nests in geochemical exploration. It demonstrates that the insects investigated could be an extremely useful tool in the identification of areas containing valuable minerals, with the potential to reduce exploration costs and time.
March 18, 2014 | by Justine Alford -
Read more at http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/ants-prove-useful-detecting-land-containing-gold#FvxJcslPLOid0q6K.99
"This is like the end of a dream" Rick Schmitt who found the sunken treasure with his family and fellow diver Dale Zeak told the Sun-Sentinel.com.The Schmitt family shows off a few of their recently found Spanish gold coins (Video Below).
BOOTY SALVAGE INC VIA FACEBOOK Schmitt and wife Lisa along with their grown children Hillary and Eric uncovered the treasure 150 yards offshore which includes 64 feet of thin gold chains, five gold coins and a gold ring.
"What's really neat about them is they are a family, they spend family time together out there and the most amazing part about them is they always believed this day would come," Brent Brisben whose company 1715 Fleet - Queens Jewels LLC owns the rights to the wreckage told Reuters.The treasure found by the Schmitts comes from the wreckage of a convoy of 11 ships that were destroyed in a hurricane off the coast of Florida in 1715 while en route from Havana to Spain. The 1977 film "The Deep" and the 2008 "Fool's Gold" film were based off of the 1715 wreckage.
According to the ships' manifests, $400 million worth of treasure was on board and so far only $175 million has been found, Brisben said. Brisben's company bought the rights to the wreck site from legendary treasure hunter Mel Fisher in 2010. He allows others to search for gold under subcontracting agreements. The Schmitts have been searching for treasure for years and before discovering the gold, a 2002 haul included a $25,000 silver platter.
This is also not the first find for Brisben who found 51 gold coins in July worth around $250,000. In accordance with U.S. and Florida law, the treasure will be taken into custody by the U.S. District Court in South Florida. The state of Florida will then be allowed to possess up to 20 percent of the find to put on display in a state-run museum. The remainder of the gold will be split evenly between Brisben's company and the Schmitt family.
A quick video of one lucky treasure hunter now covered on gold he found in the ocean shallows off the coast of Florida. I think I might just pass out ad drown if I came across this while diving.
Efficiently identifying trash and being confident in your ID only comes from lots of practice and digging lots of trash. I like to call exactly what I expect to find to myself before I dig it. When I'm wrong I put the item back under the plug and determine if there was something I missed. This type of high volume digging works best in a park setting where you know you will come across a lot of trash. When you head out to an old mining town or abandoned rail stop you'll want to go back to digging every thing until you can figure out if there specific types of trash you want to avoid (tin can lids). But all that park practice will payoff by letting you dial into those valuable targets much more quickly.
X-Terra 705 Target ID's for US coins and Jewelry | |||
| Target | ID # | Target | ID # |
| Silver $1 | 46 | ||
| Large Cent | 44 | ||
| Barber Half | 44 | Zinc Cent | 28 - 32 |
| Walking Half | 44 | Indian Head 1 C | 24 - 32 |
| Franklin Half | 44 | Gold 22 K | 28 |
| Clad Half Dollar | 44 | Bottle Cap | 22 - 28 |
| Presidential $1 | 44 | Gold 18 K | 24 - 26 |
| Sacagawea $1 | 44 | $5 Gold Coin | 26 |
| Clad Quarter | 42 | Silver III Cent | 24 |
| Silver Quarter | 40,42 | $2.50 Gold | 24 |
| Two Cent | 42 | Flying Eagle Cent | 20, 22 |
| Seated Quarter | 40, 42 | 10 K Class Ring | 14, 16 |
| Rosey Dime | 38, 40 | Pull Tab | 12 -18 |
| Clad Dime | 38 | 40% Silv Nickle | 12 - 16 |
| $20 Gold | 38 | Titanium Ring | 10 - 14 |
| Mercury Dime | 36,38 | Clad Nickle | 12 |
| Seated Dime | 36, 38 | Shield Nickle | 12 |
| Barber Dime | 36, 38 | Buffalo Nickle | 12 |
| Wheat Cent | 34, 36, 38 | 14 K Lrg Ring | 12 |
| Sterling Ring | 34, 36 | V Nickle | 10 - 12 |
| Sterling Pendant | 34, 36, 38 | 14 K tiny Ring | 10 |
| $10 Gold | 34 | Stainless Ring | 6 - 8 |
There are several large public soccer fields within 5 miles of my home and I try to metal detect at one of them every Monday or Tuesday after the weekend games.
Here are a few keys to successfully finding jewelry at soccer fields:
- Find fields where adult leagues play
- Focus detecting on high contact areas
- Use a discrimination pattern that eliminates ferrous items
- Dig all the pull tab signals (gold rings)
- Dig all the copper penny / dime signals (silver rings or pendants)
- If you have time detect spectator areas and gear/clothes pile areas
- Be patient, I find jewelry at a rate of 1 per every 300 targets
- Games are on Saturdays and Sundays, so detect on Mondays or Tuesdays
Soccer games are usually a very social activity and expect there to be a lot of trash on the side lines. Fortunately the field of play has less trash in most locations. The areal map below shows where I have found jewelry with a detector in the last year; these locations coincide with high contact areas.
In general stay patient and learn how your detector identifies gold rings, silver rings, pendants, and bracelets. I used this X-Terra 705 VDI table for general reference. Look for relatively stable signals with sharp returns versus garbled target signals. When you pinpoint you should get a small localized signal.
Here's a sample of the Jewelry I found in the last 6 months or so metal detecting at soccer fields.
Have fun and happy hunting.
