Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Prospectors: Pay Dirt

TheCoilist

TheCoilist

Elite Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2010
Messages
2,358
Location
Virginia
Online Pay Dirt.... I know there are mixed reviews. Some say it's bogus (I am a skeptic) and some say it's legit. My 7yr old watches the gold shows with me sometimes and wants to try finding gold. So, living in practically the only state that does NOT have gold, anyone have some input on buying pay dirt online?

I know there used to be a thread on here about this but doing a search seemed to bring up unrelated topics.

So... buying 'pay dirt' online? Anyone try this and find anything?
 
I know here in N.C. , there are 2 mines that I know sells paydirt , but I don't know any more about it , I've heard of some places that salts the dirt , I even found online one guy that admits to salting his dirt with small nuggets , maybe as an extra incentive . Anyway , try googling Thermal City , and Cabbage Patch Gold mines for more info , but hurry because they are closing soon for the season . Good luck..
 
I have been doing some research on this subject as I am wanting to try it myself. From what I understand is pretty much everyone salts their pay dirt. I did not buy any becuase of this. I am wanting something that has not been all the way worked down and then a specific amount of gold added. I just ordered some from Gold Hog. Supposedly they do not salt them. They gaurantee that their is gold in there and some people will be less than happy and others will be very happy. I should get mine sometime later today but it will be a few days before I work them. I will let you know when I do.
 
I bought some pay dirt of ebay from some people from alaska.

like everything in this world. you get what you pay for.

I know its probably salted, but I paid 30+ s/h and had fun panning it. and I did find a few pickers, and some fine small stuff. its fun

look for feedback in fleabay, and people that sell a lot of it...

just my opinion....
 
as an example I look at sold items in the 30-70$ range. then go look at their feedback.

a little research goes a long way. especially if you want to have fun with your kid (s).

-keith

(this is what I did 2 years ago when i got some paydirt and panned out the small gold.)

I took 5 minutes to search ebay for some potential sellers. ( NOT ADVOCATING EITHER SELLER,)
sold listings
search paydirt alaska
looks for prices 30-100$
then start looking at the sellers feedback


read this guys feedback: (most people in the past few weeks seem happy with purchase).

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=vanderwahlgoldprospecting&&_trksid=p2047675.l2560&rt=nc&iid=321233403035&sspagename=VIP:feedback&ftab=FeedbackAsSeller

This guy seems to have some happy feedback

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=alaskadredgeman&&_trksid=p2047675.l2560&rt=nc&iid=141089971773&sspagename=VIP:feedback&ftab=FeedbackAsSeller
 
I'm sure these are fun to do for sure.

My thought is, anyone in their right mind who is offering these bags for sale has completely panned a lot of the dirt to see how much it is yielding on average. If the miner is averaging $20 worth of gold out of a 5 lb bag, he's not going to be selling it for anywhere in the $20 range.... probably double or triple that amount. I'm sure the sellers have a really good handle on how much gold they can get out of the dirt themselves. They aren't going to let anyone make more money than they could themselves. I'm sure these bags are a great way for the miner to dramatically increase their profit! Just something to consider. I'd guess these are more for the fun and experience.
 
johnnydarms said:
I have been doing some research on this subject as I am wanting to try it myself. From what I understand is pretty much everyone salts their pay dirt. I did not buy any becuase of this. I am wanting something that has not been all the way worked down and then a specific amount of gold added. I just ordered some from Gold Hog. Supposedly they do not salt them. They gaurantee that their is gold in there and some people will be less than happy and others will be very happy. I should get mine sometime later today but it will be a few days before I work them. I will let you know when I do.
Click to expand...

Looks like you're in Texas too... So you're in the same boat as I am. LOL Good luck to you!

About guarantees, if anyone promises a gram of gold per bag, it is obviously salted. You'll have just that gram and no more or less. Because unless you've salted it you can not make those claims.

I have done the research on fleabay as mentioned and feedback is always mixed. I understand it's subjective at best to base it on feedback. I also am willing to accept the fact that all these sands have been washed and salted and sold at a premium price, but I keep hope that there is a legit dealer out there who is a bit more generous than most.

For $100/lb of dirt... a gram of placer is selling for avg. $40-50 on ebay. They double the money of a gram of gold.

I am stuck. Do I buy for the entertainment value, I mean a visit to the movies cost at least $50 and it's 2hrs of chaotic fun in a hellish sort of way. Or do I try and find the highest payouts for a bag of online paydirt.


I will say this, I have bought bulk rough gems before with pretty good returns. I was impressed with that, but diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds are a different story than gold.
 
Oh and one more thing I found myself checking as much as I can on fleabay... people selling Alaska gold from Connecticut makes me wary. LOL And those who's feedback is for private listings also makes me ponder them too.
 
I've heard good things about the dirt from gold hog. I have never purchased their dirt but have been completely happy with their mat. I've heard some people find gems in their paydirt as well.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
TheCoilist said:
I am stuck. Do I buy for the entertainment value, I mean a visit to the movies cost at least $50 and it's 2hrs of chaotic fun in a hellish sort of way. Or do I try and find the highest payouts for a bag of online paydirt.
.
Click to expand...

The skeptic in me says that entertainment value is all you could possibly be paying for. You'll get gold, but you'll get pennies on the dollar for what you pay for the dirt. No one is going to go through the expense of refining it down to pay dirt and then sell it for anywhere even close to what they can get out of it themselves by taking the final steps panning or putting it on a table. It's really a great business model for the miner. Cash in on the whole fascination started by the reality TV shows and double/triple/quadruple up on the bottom line profit. I'm no expert, but from what I've seen on TV, getting it down to paydirt is 95% of the work. Might as well do the little bit of extra work to get the gold... unless you are going to dramatically increase profit by bagging and selling it to people for their entertainment value. You can bet your bottom dollar the seller has a very good idea of how much gold per pound of dirt there is, and it's nowhere in the area of what you're going to have to pay for it.

This thread has gotten me to thinking about buying a small bag or an afternoon of fun with the kids!
 
Remember reading somewhere about gold being found, in hardware store bags of sand. Don't remember the store, or brands or anything, been a while, wasn't that interested. Just didn't seem like much of a yield, for the volume of sand. It's worse than Coin Roll Hunting, you are left with a pile of sand to deal with...

So, what's the choices, for separating the gold specks, from the sand? Could it be automated fairly easy? Seems like one could make better money, on running the sand through a machine.
 
TheCoilist said:
What/who is gold hog?
Click to expand...

They primarily make sluice box and high banker mat, although they have recently gotten into making high bankers. Their mat is phenomenal. Google "gold hog" and take a look at their stuff. He has a YouTube account under "Georgiagoldguy" I believe.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
I got the gold bug after watching the first season of Goldrush on Discovery two years ago. I bought a small sluice and some basic panning equipment. However, a pinched nerve in my neck sidelined my from doing much with them or my MD for a while. In the depths of winter, last year, I did some research and decided to buy some pay dirt from Felix.

http://www.felixpaydirt.com/

I bought a 2# bag of his Motherlode dirt and panned out enough to have fun. I paid $110 and got pretty much what I paid for. Plus, it was good practice. I kept the dirt to run through my sluice, whenever I get that going, to find any gold I might have missed. I'm sure it would be fun for kids, and you can add it back to the dirt and do it all over again, if you want. Below is my total take and three of the biggest pickers from that pile.
 

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In reference to hardware store bought sand. I contacted the company that was mentioned on a gold show for having gold in the sand. Well, turns out that the state the sand is manufactured and processed in is where the sand comes from that's on the shelves of the hardware stores. Here in Texas we have no gold and guess where the sand comes from they sell? Yup, Texas.

However California did have sand that had gold in it. About $6 per 70lb bag of sand. The bag of sand is about $4 before tax. So you make a buck. BUT the company had also informed me that since the airing of that show the requests for sand jumped and the process has changed.

The sand companies now wash and process the sands. So to me that sounds like they grab the heavies out before shipping the sands.

Ironically enough this thread was started after I watched the show this was originally aired on. I still have the email to prove it from the sand manufacturer. Haha how weird.


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Well I worked my first bag of pay dirt from Gold Hog. I got more than I expected. The total wieght I am not sure of but I would imagine I hit around $15 or so. It was fun and I will work another of the bags in the morning when I get home.
 
johnnydarms said:
Well I worked my first bag of pay dirt from Gold Hog. I got more than I expected. The total wieght I am not sure of but I would imagine I hit around $15 or so. It was fun and I will work another of the bags in the morning when I get home.
Click to expand...

How much did you pay per bag? And I am assuming each bag was a pound? Let me know what the end results are and if you have any pictures! :)
 
Dont matter if they add stuff to the dirt or not its all the same just dirt and gold. Its a rip off as far as Im concerned because they take advantage of a lot of people who dont know better , and think theres a chance they might actually come out ahead. Its a fun thing for those who cant get out and prospect on their own I suppose but nobody in their right mind would sell paydirt that may have more value than what they are selling it for. Spend $20 on a bag of paydirt just to wash the dirt off of $1.50 worth of gold. :lol:
 
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