Gold ions have a charge of +1 and +3 in common conditions found at or near the surface of the earth at standard atmospheric conditions. It would seem that gold ions are repelled by a positive ion chamber. In the case of Ivconic's detector, any gold ions would be attracted to the dish and repelled by the antenna. Because gold ions are positive, they would not be detected by a negative ion detector. This is perhaps the reason that some ion detectors have a provisioin to reverse the polarity.
I still do not believe gold ions exist in the air or the soil in any measurable amount where a detector can sense them. Ivconic stated that he found no evidence of any ions of any kind in the air near long-time buried targets. But if we are wrong, then maybe Esteban or hung can show us where to find these ions.
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