Useful Apps for Modern Precious Metal Hunters

How to ScrapRecycle Precious MetalsRecycling and Refining
Written By Barry Lenson

Install these apps on your phone to find more precious metals wherever you go

What is the most powerful small metal detecting tool you can carry in your pocket? It’s your smartphone.

Only five or six years ago, we would have advised you to carry a small digital camera with you on your prospecting adventures. Now that is no longer necessary, thanks to the powerful cameras that are now built into phones.

But there are many more apps you should install on your phone, if you haven’t already, including:

  • A compass and full-featured GPS app are important if you are prospecting in large outdoor areas. (You want to be able to map where you have looked for precious metals and find your way back.) We have tested an app called Smart Compass Pro. We also like the Google Maps GPS app. If you’re walking outside after dark, it will even read your directions aloud.

  • The CoinOScope app is amazing. Simply point your camera at a coin to find out what it is. You must try this app to believe it.

  • A metal detector app. A number of them are available for smartphones. You point your phone at the ground, move it around, and get a reading. (You can also point it at walls and floors inside buildings and get a “hit” if your phone detects metal items behind them.) Are these apps as powerful as a full-sized, portable metal detector? No way. But they are useful. They could detect a safe hidden behind a wall, for example. So . . . get one. We have evaluated, and like, one called Metal Detector EMF. Another app called Mini Metal Detector works well too.

  • The Where to Find Gold and Silver app. This is a database of the best outdoor locations to search for gold and silver. It displays a map of the continental United States and shows the best places to hunt for silver and gold. When you click on one of these areas, you can read its history. If an old mine was located there, for example, the app will tell you that. It’s fun and educational.

  • An electromagnetic detector app. They function like metal detector apps, but there is a difference. Instead of pointing you to one small location where a metal object can be found underground, these apps indicate larger areas of electromagnetic force and activity. They can let you know that “something electrical is happening here,” like the presence of an underground cable. So . . . don’t dig there. One such app is the Tesla Metal Detector & Magnetic Field Recorder. Note that this app is not made by the same Tesla company that makes automobiles. Also please note that we have not tested this app ourselves, only read the manufacturer’s product descriptions.

  • The Auricle electronic gold tester app. This is not an app you install on your phone – it is a small phone-sized electronic device with a probe that you press into gold items to determine that they are made of gold. It also gives you an instant Karat rating. The accuracy of the results you can reach will not equal those we are able to get in our modern precious metal testing lab but do give you a first-pass indication of whether that item you are looking at contains gold.

And When You Find Gold and Other Precious Metals . . . Call Us!

We are here to test your precious metal scrap and reclaim the gold, platinum, and silver it contains. So, after you have loaded up your phone with apps, next use it to call us at 800-426-2344. Talk with our precious metal refiners! We are here to help you make more money from all your precious metal discoveries.

Barry Lenson
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