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Cambodia News, Preah Vihear: On February 4, 2020, at Khna Prasat point in Krolap village, Pring Thom commune, Choam Ksan district, the deputy commander of the provincial Gendarmerie, Chheng Heath, and 15 provincial military police officers cracked down and arrested a gang of five men suspected of trafficking in antiquities.

On February 4, after receiving information that the group of criminals had been using antique detectors to find Khmer artefacts thousands of years old, buried deep in the ground, the Provincial Art Department, along with heritage officers and officials in collaboration with the provincial gendarmerie forces went to the location where the suspects were reportedly committing crimes.

The authorities arrested 5 suspected illegal antique dealers from Siem reap and Banteay Meanchey province, and confiscated two antique detectors at about 100 meters south of the temple in a vehicle used by the offenders.
The director of Preah Vihear Department of Culture and Fine Arts will provide evidence to Provincial Gendarmerie to build a case for the provincial court to take legal action.

Ok, nice gadgets - but we want to see the loot.

My brother-in-law is a gold prospector in retirement with all the latest high-tec gear, Minelab 7500 etc. Last season in the goldfields of Western Australia over the winter months he found around 20 ounces. Great hobby if you have an understanding of a bit of history and can read a variation of maps.

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:29 pm Ok, nice gadgets - but we want to see the loot.

Probably a lot of drink container tear tabs , the odd nail, bullet and horse shoe. Cambodia's antiques are mostly stone statues and pottery which are hard to detect with ''' metal detectors '', unlike gold which those detectors are designed to locate.

Pretty sophisticated equipment, an antique detector not just a metal detector. When I lived in Honolulu there were guys that walked the beach every sunset with their Radio Shack Micronta 3001's, one guy even had earphones. I don t know if they ever made money but they did get to meet a lot of Japanese girls which probably paid just as well.

Anthony's Weiner wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:23 am Pretty sophisticated equipment, an antique detector not just a metal detector. When I lived in Honolulu there were guys that walked the beach every sunset with their Radio Shack Micronta 3001's, one guy even had earphones. I don t know if they ever made money but they did get to meet a lot of Japanese girls which probably paid just as well.

I owned a good Whites Metal detector for many years..


What Can Metal Detectors NOT Detect?

However, this machine works on electromagnetism and this is why it is not always able to detect some metals easily. This includes stainless steel among others.

So, what can metal detectors NOT detect? Any element that has little to non-electrical conductivity capabilities won’t be seen by most metal detectors. This also applies for elements that don’t have magnetic capabilities (called paramagnetic). In addition, sometimes even if the metal has conductivity but it has an extra mall size, it won’t be detected.

In this Post, I will give many details that you should definitely know about. So, you will be able to understand the scope of elements that your machine can actually cover and the elements that it just can’t!

Metal Detectors cannot detect these Elements
These machines function on electromagnetism. That is they give out time-varying electromagnetic fields and then it listens for the waves coming back from items that are conductive.

One of the most difficult metal to locate with a metal detector is stainless steel because steel has poor electrical conductivity and also has low magnetic permeability. This means that steel does not produce a strong enough signal for a metal detector to pick up and identify.

For most machines to function, they must be able to detect the magnetic field of a metal object. For this to happen, the object also needs to be fairly close to the surface of the ground, preferably within a foot.

If the object is within a foot or two of the ground, then even inexpensive devices can pick them up. When you opt for buying a more expensive and more advanced detector, these can pick up things that are buried much deeper.

Other items that cannot be detected with a metal detector include:

One of the most difficult metal to locate with a metal detector is stainless steel because steel has poor electrical conductivity and also has low magnetic permeability. This means that steel does not produce a strong enough signal for a metal detector to pick up and identify.

For most machines to function, they must be able to detect the magnetic field of a metal object. For this to happen, the object also needs to be fairly close to the surface of the ground, preferably within a foot.

If the object is within a foot or two of the ground, then even inexpensive devices can pick them up. When you opt for buying a more expensive and more advanced detector, these can pick up things that are buried much deeper.

Other items that cannot be detected with a metal detector include:

Pearls
Diamonds
Paper
Stone figurines
Bones
Liquid.
Glass.
Plastic.

I’m sure lots of people buried their valuables before the Khmer Rouge swept through. And many never returned. Probably lots of stuff still in the ground. The diamond or pearls might not be detected, but the metal detector might find the rings, necklaces, and bracelets that were left behind. Of course, there is the little problem of cursed items left by the dead (who probably died a gruesome death) to deal with.

newkidontheblock wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2020 5:30 am I’m sure lots of people buried their valuables before the Khmer Rouge swept through. And many never returned. Probably lots of stuff still in the ground. The diamond or pearls might not be detected, but the metal detector might find the rings, necklaces, and bracelets that were left behind. Of course, there is the little problem of cursed items left by the dead (who probably died a gruesome death) to deal with.

diamonds usually set in a shank which is metal or pearl necklaces usually have metal links, gold or silver

I guess that if they were not within the bounds of a national heritage site, their prospecting for treasure would be legal.

I seem to remember five or so years back some small scale gold miners got into trouble in the vicinity of preah vihear temple, also.

People did bury lots of valuables in the civil war. When people returned to the cities they dug them up. A lot of them had died though, and scavengers would dig around any empty large houses, often causing damage to the structures. I've read that it was estimated that at times during 1979 about $1.5 million in gold was being traded across the Poipet-Aranyaprathet border every day.

I can't imagine many worse places to go treasure hunting than Preah Vihear. They might have been looking for bronze statues or artifacts.