An Improved Prospecting Instrument for Ascertaining the Presence of Gold and other Metals Beneath the Surface of the Earth.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Sept., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 8th June, 1889-Accepted, 13th July, 1889
PROVINIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Prospecting Instrument for Ascertaining the Presence
of Gold and other Metals Beneath the Surface of the Earth.
I FREDERICK CHARLES NOAR of 12 Church Street, Manchester in the County of
Lancaster Wholesale Clothier do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be
as follows:-
My said Invention relates to an improved instrument for ascertaining the presence
of gold and other metals beneath the surface of the earth. The improved instrument
consists generally speaking of a rod or har composed of or carrying two insulated
pieces of metal which are in communication with a small battery and which when
brought simultaneously into contact with an article composed of or containing metal
have electrical communication established between them so as to give warning by
ringing a bell or by other means, that the said contact has taken place. The instru-
ment may consist of a hollow steel tube of a suitable length pointed at the lower end,
and containing a wire carefully insulated from the tube, both tube and wire being
connected to a battery at the top of the tube. The wire may protrude slightly from
the side of the pointed end of the tube. When the tube is thrust down through the
soil, so long as it meets with no metallic obstruction such as a gold nugget or a
deposit of gold dust or auriferous ore or the like, no electrical communication takes
place between the tube and the wire and the bell remains silent. But should the
point of the tube strike against. or enter a metallic obstruction the wire also touches
the obstruction and the circuit being thus completed the electric alarm is sounded.
In another construction of instrument I take two semi-circular strips of metal and
twist or coil them together with an insulating layer of asbestos or similar non-
conducting material between. This twisted duplex insulated rod is then smoothed
and polished and the two halves are placed at the top in communication with a small
battery situated there. At the lower end or point, and throughout its length the
halves of the duplex rod are kept apart by the insulating thickness of asbestos. When
a rod of this description is thrust down through the soil and strikes upon a metallic
obstruction hoth halves of the rod rest at the same time on the obstruction and by
completing the electric circuit indicate the presence of metal by sounding the bell or
hy other means. The tube or rod hereinbefore described may be of any suitable
length or might be made to fit a walking stick like the blade of a sword cane, the
handle of the stick containing the necessary battery. I do not however confine myself
to the construction of prospecting instrument herein before set forth as any construc-
tion embodying the use of two insulated pieces of metal capable of being brought
into electric communication upon contact with metal or metallic material and making
such communication known by a bell or other means is within the scope of my
invention.
As at present advised I believe my improved instrument will be particularly useful
in prospecting for gold and such metals as are to be found near the surface of the
earth.
Dated this Seventh day of Sente 1 - 1000
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Prospecting Instrument for Ascertaining the Presence
of Gold and other Metals Beneath the Surface of the Earth.
I FREDERICK CHARLES NOAR of 12 Church Street, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster Wholesale Clothier, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and accompanying drawings:
My said Invention relates to an improved instrument for ascertaining the presence
of gold and other metals beneath the surface of the earth. The improved instrument
consists generally speaking of a rod or bar composed of. or carrying two insulated
pieces of metal, which are in, communication with a small battery and which when
brought simultaneously into contact with an article composed of or containing metal
have electrical communication established between them so as to give warning by
ringing a bell or by other means, that the said contact has taken place.
To render my invention perfectly clear I will now proceed to describe the same
more particularly with reference to the annexed sheet of illustrative drawings,
the said drawings having been made from instruments which I have actually
constructed.
In carrying my invention into practical effect I find that if not necessary it is at
least advisable to provide the instrument with a scabbard of wood or other light
material to protect it from injury and accordingly the first figure of the drawings
shows the instrument sheathed in such a scabbard which I have lettered a while the
head or handle of the instrument is lettered b. Fig. 2 shows the instrument with-
drawn from its scabbard a. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper end or
head of the instrument. Fig. 4 is a view of the point. Fig. 5 is an outside view of
Fig. 3 with the cap e removed and illustrating the bayonet joint by which I am
enabled to take samples of the metallic deposit with which the point has come in
contact. Fig. 6 shows a method of extending the electrical communication when the
instrument shown at Fig. 2 instead of being sheathed in its scabbard a is screwed into
the socket a¹ so as to extend the entire length of the instrument and enable it to be
used for prospecting under water or in other situations difficult of access. Figs. 7.
8. 9. 10. 11 and 12 are detail views of parts which can be screwed into the socket a¹
at the foot of the scabbard a and which can be used for superficial trial of the ground
or where the ground is soft instead of the more delicate instrument shown at Figs. 2, 3
and 4. Fig. 13 shows an instrument made in accordance with my invention and
made to fit or to assume the appearance of an ordinary walking stick. These are all
of the illustrations of my invention which I have considered necessary or desirable to
give but it will be perfectly evident to those conversant with the manufacture of
electrical apparatus that my invention might assume other similar forms not directly
described in my specification nor set down in my drawings but which are all within
the scope of the principle involved in my invention.
Referring to the aforesaid drawings the instrument is composed of the following
parts. There is a central rod d wrapped with silk or other insulating material which
is represented by the black line on each side of the rod. This rod d is screwed at the
top and is furnished with jamb nuts e. e¹ between which the end of an insulated
conducting wire is held. The insulated rod d is contained in a tube g which is held
in a thimble which is screwed into the upper part of the head c. Upon the top of
the thimble I place two jamb nuts between which another insulated conducting
wire is held. The thimble his insulated from the rod d and jamb nuts e. e¹ by
means of a washer of vulcanised rubber or other insulating material. The wires f
are led to a suitable battery and electric bell which rings when the circuit is completed
or instead of an electric bell any other silent indicating means might be used. It will
be obvious that so long as there is no metallic communication between the inner rod d
and the tube g the electric circuit between the wires fand f will remain broken but
that as soon as this circuit is completed, for example by bringing a piece of metal or

page_text: metallic matter in contact simultaneously with the rod d and the tube g the circuit is
completed and the bell is rung or the indicator actuated. The tube g is further
enclosed in a sheath i slightly tapered at the point as shown and screwed at its upper
end into the inner sliding portion 61 of the head b.
The use of this sheath is to take
samples of the soil or matter into which the instrument has been thrust and to permit
of this sampling process I make the head bin two portions b and b¹ capable of sliding
on each other on a species of bayonet joint as clearly shown at Fig. . The outer
portion has a slot and a recess at each end of the slot. The inner portion 61 carries
a snug which enters the recess at the top or hottom of the slot in the outer portion b.
When it is wished to take a sample of the soil into which the instrument has been
thrust as for example when the bell rings or other indication is given of the presence
of metal, I turn the snug j into the slot, and slide the inner portion & down or pull
the outer portion & up thus placing the sheath in advance of the point and for a
distance equal to the length of the slot in the portion b, after which I turn the outer
portion until the snug occupies the recess at the lower end of the slot and thus
holds the parts in their altered relative position. The portion of the hollow sheath i
which thus projects in advance of the prospecting point can be pushed into the soil
and withdrawn bringing with it a sample. The sample is pushed out by returning the
parts to their normal position and the soil can then be examined and analyzed or
washed in a pan. By a modification the aforesaid slot might be in the inner portion 61
and the snug be attached to the outer portion b. The points of the inner rod-d and
tube g are bevelled as shown to afford greater contact surface. The upper part of the
head and the connections of the electric conducting wires are covered in by a hollow
screw cap c which protects the parts from possible injury. The conducting wires are
led through a channel cut in the threaded portion of the head b so as not to interfere
with the application.of the cap. The instrument may be of any length within useful
practicable limits for example about five or six feet. The scabbard a may however be
used as a protractor to lengthen the instrument in cases where it is to be used for
With this
prospecting in the beds of rivers or in other situations difficult of access.
object I form the foot of the scabbard a with a socket a¹ and screw the socket
internally to engage with the screwed portion of the head which engages with the
сар с.
This connection is shown in section at Fig. 6. The wires f. fare disengaged
from the jamb nuts e. e¹ and h¹ 12 and are attached to the contact studs 1. projecting
from the side of the scabbard a (see Fig. 1). Just above the internally screwed
socket a¹ of the scabbard a are situated the means for prolonging the requisite electric
contact. For example in Fig. 6 there is a spring plate m with which the top of the
inner rod d comes in contact and to the plate m I connect a wire n¹ which is carried
up to and placed in connection with the contact stud l. Another wire n² is carried up
to and placed in communication with the contact stud 1. The contact studs as before
said are connected by the wires f. f to the battery so that one wire being connected
to the inner rod of the instrument and the other to the outer portion of the instrument
all that is needed to complete the circuit is to bring the foot of the inner rod d into
electrical contact with the surrounding tube gas before described and thus sound the
bell or otherwise indicate the fact of the circuit having been completed. In Fig. 1 it
will be seen that a conical point is shown in dotted lines extending from the socket.
This conical point is capable of being screwed into the socket a¹ at the foot of the
scabbard a as clearly shown for example at Fig. 7. It will be observed in Fig. 7 that
I show a modification in the mode of obtaining elastic contact with the inner rod d and
the instrument or points. Thus in this instance I use a pad of rubber o and at the
foot I attach a plate p. Through the pad of rubber there runs a coil of wire q to which
the transmitting wire n¹ is connected while the other transmitting wire n' is connected
as before to the socket. The elastic rubber pad o is not so likely to get out of order
as the spring plate m. Both the spring plate m and the rubber pad are secured
to a chock which is fixed near the end of the scabbard a as shown. The point
shown in Fig. 7 is partly an outer view of the point shown in section at Fig. 11.
The conical and pointed parts is carried up through the centre of the point and
projects both at the top and at the bottom. This part s is inserted in the outer

page_text: conical point t as shown. Pins are inserted from the outside through the wall
of the outer conical point t so as to make contact with the part s and these pins
are covered or otherwise insulated so that it is only when the heads of the pins
and the side of the outer point t are simultaneously in contact with some metallic
substance that the electric circuit is completed. When the point is screwed into
the socket a¹ as shown at Fig. 7 so as to bring the top of the point against the
transmitter the installation is complete and on the conical point being thrust into
some metallic soil or matter the circuit is joined. and the warning given. Figs. 8. 9
and 10 show another form of point. In this instance the point is composed of
six triangular pieces of metal o 11 23 24 26. Three of the pieces for example v₁ v ³
and are insulated from the neighbouring pieces by a serving of silk or
other material as indicated by the black lines in the sectional view at Fig. 9 and
the whole of the pieces are held together in a circular holder w the top of which is
screwed to fit the socket a'. The insulated portions are carried up and form the upper
point while the non-insulated portions are stopped short beneath the insulating
washer and these latter form contact with the outer holder w. The upper end of the
point comes as before in contact with the transmitter in the scabbard a and when any
two of the triangular pieces are electrically connected by simultaneous contact with
metal or metallic deposit in the soil the circuit is completed and the bell or indicating
means is actuated. Fig. 9 is a horizontal section of Fig. 8 at the line A B and Fig. 10
a similar section at the line C. D. The three insulated triangles are cut off from
the three non-insulated portions by the insulating washer and jamb nuts at the top
of Fig. 8. Fig. 12 is another modification of point. The central insulated wire or
rod d is bent outwards through the side of the parts so as to make contact with
the outer part of the point. The parts is also insulated from the other point both
by a covering of silk and by the insulating washer a. The nuty holds it in its place in the
part t.
When this point is screwed into the socket and brought into contact
with the transmitter as before described then simultaneous contact with metal
or metallic deposit of the wire d and parts or parts s and t will complete the circuit
and give the signal. It will be evident that many other forms of points might be
devised which would give a similar result, but I have not thought it requisite to
describe and illustrate all possible forms but only those which I have found practically
to give good results. The construction of the point shown at Fig. 11 might for
example be modified by making saw cuts through the outer part t and inserting
insulated plates which would project a little into the interior of the point. The
part s might afterwards he run into the part t the molten metal entering holes or
recesses in the inserted plates and so holding them in position and establishing
electrical communication with them. The outer edges of the plates would be flush
with the outside of the part t and simultaneous contact with metal of the edge of any
of the plates and the surface of the part t would complete the electrical circuit. The
form of point shown at Fig. 8 could be modified in construction in a similar manner.
Fig. 13 shows a prospecting instrument made in accordance with my invention
and made to assume the appearance of a walking stick. The instrument is concealed
in the interior of the stick and is in most respects similar to the instrument shown in
Figs. 1 to 6 but on a smaller scale. The handle of the stick contains a small dry
battery for example a silver chloride battery of the well known type. It will be
observed that at about the junction of the handle with the stick, there is an elastic
transmitter 1 similar to that described with reference to Fig. 7. The wire 2 from
this is carried to the battery 3 and another wire 4 connects the battery to an electro-
magnet 5. From the socket 6 another wire 7 is led to a stud 8 which is in contact
with a diaphragm or plate 9 which extends in close proximity to the electro-
magnet 5.
When the end of the instrument is pushed into contact with
metal or with metallic deposits the circuit is completed, the electro-magnet becomes
active and attracts the diaphragm 9 causing it to vibrate with great rapidity between
the stud and the magnet and thus produce a humming noise which can be made so
subdued as to be heard only by the user of the instrument. I construct this instrument
with means for taking a sample of the soil as described with reference to Figs. 3. 4

page_text: and 5 that is to say by having sliding hollow tube which can be set in advance
of the point. Instead of constructing this instrument with a sound producing
diaphragm as shown and described I might. place a pivotted armature near the
magnet which armature would support a stop against a spring so long as the
magnet remained inactive. When the magnet becomes active by the completion of
the electric circuit the armature is attracted and releases the stop which then moves
and actuates a pointer or indicator on a dial face so as to show that metal or metallic
ore has been found. This noiseless indicator can be used instead of the electric bell
for the instruments already described. With regard to the instruments described in
the foregoing part of this specification it will be understood that I do not limit myself
to the tubular arrangement set forth as the insulated parts might be arranged side by
side; or as set forth in my provisional specification they might be coiled together in
a spiral form the insulating material being placed between. In some cases instead
of having a plain outer tube or sheath to the instrument I might form a spiral or
screw thread upon the said outer tube or sheath so that in cases where it might prove
difficult to force the plain tube through the soil such a form of instrument could be
screwed into the soil.
•
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
:-
(1) A prospecting instrument for ascertaining the presence of metals, metallic
deposits, metalliferous ores and the like on or beneath the surface of soil, rocks, beds
of rivers, lakes, seas and in other situations, the said instrument consisting of two or
more rods, tubes, lengths or portions of metal insulated from each other and connected
to a battery and so arranged that when simultaneously brought into contact with
metal or metallic matters the electric circuit between the insulated parts is completed
and an indication given to the operator substantially as hereinbefore described and
shown.
(2) In an instrument of the indicated nature the general arrangement and combina-
tion of parts substantially as herein before described and shown or any mere modification
thereof.
(3) An instrument of the indicated nature consisting of an inner rod or wire
contained within and insulated from a tube and surrounded by a sheath which latter
is utilised to obtain samples of the soil or material being probed, the inner rod and
tube or parts in metallic contact therewith being connected to a battery provided with
a bell or other indicating means whereby the operator is informed when the circuit
between the insulated rod and tube has been completed, as for example when the points,
of the rod and tube are brought simultaneously into contact with metal or metallic
matter substantially as hereinbefore described and shown.
(4) In the aforesaid instrument the bayonet joint in combination with the hollow
sheath for facilitating the taking of samples of the soil or material being probed
substantially as described and shown.
(5) The combination of the prospecting instrument with the outer scabbard a and
the method of and means for extending the length of the instrument by connecting it
to the scabbard a together with the means for obtaining electrical communication
through the scabbard substantially as described and shown.
(6) In instruments of the indicated nature the conical points illustrated respectively
in Figs. 7 to 12 for use in conjunction with the scabbard a, substantially as described
and shown.
(7) In an instrument of the indicated type the spring or elastic transmitting plate m
and pad o illustrated respectively in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings whereby a yielding
electric contact is obtained between the inner rod wire or part of the instrument when
it is secured to the foot or socket of the scabbard a or of the respective points when
they are similarly attached to the scabbard substantially as hereinbefore described and
shown.

page_text: (8) The form of instrument described and illustrated at Fig. 13 of the drawings in
which the instrument is used in conjunction with a dry silver chloride battery and is
made in the form of a walking stick substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 7th day of June 1889.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.