Metal Detectors for Gold Prospecting

[bobiaus]

Hi

I was reading on this forum dated 2009 a question asked ; " Should I purchase a PI or VLF detector for gold prospecting in sand placer deposits for Arizona ?" Of course as expected there were many varied answers to this question .It reminded me why I first became interested in metal detectors.Back in 1980 (I think the year was correct) I heard through the Australian media that a teenage boy with his family and friends discovered a 5.5 Kg gold nugget known as the "Father's Day Nugget " at Ophir NSW (Peter Culvison was his name).According to reports this nugget was discovered with a VLF detector within 500 metres of the first official monument & discovery of gold in Australia in 1851.

I purchased my first VLF detector in 1981 at the age of 23 and had a go trying to locate a giant gold nugget .No luck ,although I didn't have the determination or time to look seriously for the gold that is still out there!.I only became interested again a couple of years ago (I guess it's gold fever?) so I rented a M/L GPX 4500 .I took it out to the old Ophir gold fields in NSW and had a look around for a few days.I got excited when I had a strong signal ,alas I dug up a couple of lead slugs from some type of rifle?. No gold .

I have since purchased a VLF M/L xterra 705.It works well.In January this year I was at Hill End NSW searching for gold, found lots of junk , but no gold with the detector.I had a go with the gold pan and did find a couple of very fine flakes of gold.Unfortunately I ran out of time and had to head back to Sydney.I did bump into a few people using M/L GPX 4500's .One chap I spoke with said he had not found any gold yet with M/L ,but did mention to me that my xterra was M/L and it did detect metal , so I had as good a chance as anyone at finding that elusive gold nugget!.

I would say that if I had the time & money I would buy a M/L PI detector as they do detect gold deeper than the VLF's.At the moment I'm sticking with the xterra , you never know ,the old saying "gold is where you find it".

Cheers

 

[amberjack]

good luck might see you out there some day but am looking to try some more obscure places that may not have had so much use and get in the bush that's a bit harder to get in to for some people just have to work a bit harder to find gold now but its still there there is NO WAY they have got it all when i think about it its impossible to ever find it all.

a VLF will get you in amongst the junk that drives the PI's crazy so they all have their uses!

 

[adaduam]

Hi Bobiaus,

After having used my M/L GPX4500 for the past 2 years with out a lot of success, I found that it definitely wasn't any fault of the detector! (Just the operator!) To be more precis my hearing deficiency! I have now sold the 4500 and purchased an XTERRA 705 Duo. Already I have had some success! even though in the early learning stages of its operation. As you say "Gold is where you find it" BUT!, then again you must be over the top of the gold for ANY detector to find it! I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of very helpful and genuine detectorists in the past couple of years in various goldfields around Australia. After spending several months in the Laverton area in Western Australia, it became evident that despite all the different modifications and accessories I tried I still could not hear that magic noise that most others can. Dammn it all! Bought the Xterra and with the help of the screen I have found something at last! I have seen a lot of gold collected with both the 4500 & also with the Xterra. Needless to say the 4500 produced more. I am hoping to find that I can get more use out of the Xterra as it is easier to use around parks/beaches etc. Time will tell I guess? =Regardless, I intend to spend more time at this marvellous hobby and enjoy meeting new friends who like to do something a bit different from the norm.

 

[sweeper60]

Bobiaus, in the gold fields there is more smaller gold than door stops,and most VLFs will find them if there are bigger nuggets around, Some of these VLFs will find them too
In Alaska someone found a 1ozt+ nugget with a VLF at around 16 to 18" down and with a bigger coil ground permitting and bigger nuggets you have just as much
chance of finding these things as anyone else, dont rely on hear say just go out and enjoy ya self and the more you do it the better you will become, seems like your
heading down the right road so have fun and get rich. HH

 

[parrott]

bobiaus... like you my first VLF was back in the late 1970's. About this time there was the great electronic gold rush in Australia using early VLF/TR Garrett detectors. Being first was everything and many early "electronic" prospectors were highly successful. While Australia in still known for large nuggets it seems that the Pulse-Type
detectors are the way to go...

However as the larger nuggets are found, the ratio to large to small is tilted toward more smaller ones. Thus the more interest in the VLF-Types which since your first 1981 VLF detector. The Minelab X-Terra 70 and the 705 are pretty good detectors. I still have and use my 70. However the ground mineralization in the western USA is
milder than in Australia...

I have been using a Fisher Gold Bug Pro in a southern California eluval gold field. The gold is small, Grain (not Gram) sized and with gold at about $1700/troy the small pickers can mount up.

 

[stylesjay]

Have you seen any comparisons between the Fisher Gold Bug and the MineLab X-Terra 705 for performance?

 

[Mtnmn]

The Gold Bug II will definitely find smaller gold than the XT-705, but it ought to be able to as it is a dedicated gold detector, where as the XT-705 is an all-purpose detector. If you are going to be searching strictly for gold then it is usually best to stick with one of the detectors meant for that purpose, but if wanting to be able to search for such stuff as coins, jewelry and gold, then a going with a general-purpose detector such as the XT-705 might be your best bet as it is capable of finding gold down to the small picker size.

 

[TheMarshall]

705 ?

What frequency search head are you using?

 

[TheMarshall]

n/t

 

[TheMarshall]

Can you tell us which type og search-head you're using?

 

[stylesjay]

The Mine Lab X-Terra 705 Gold uses 18.75 kHz and has 3 different sized coils to choose from in DD and also a 9" concentric 18.75 for gold.
It also has 2 other frequencies to choose from.
Minelab also has advancements to handle hot rocks and ground balancing that some others don't have.
Higher freqs are better for fine gold but might not detect as deep unless your coil is bigger. High ground mineralization can also limit the ground balance and cause you to lower the sensitivity.
Mine Lab has addressed these limitations better than some, but I am not sure how much better than the Gold Bug for instance.
Just because a metal detector is multi-purpose does not mean it is not good a any one thing. I think you get what you pay for when you spend more for a specific purpose MD.
I was interested in comparing the 705 with gold MD's that are close to the same price.
Any ideas????
HH

 

[Mtnmn]

Sorry guys, I haven't been back on the site in a little while. I personally use the XT's 6" DD HF (18.75Khz.) coil not only because it will not only hit on the smallest gold of the XT's 3 high freq. coils, but it is also their best coil for when hunting coins in high trash areas. If you want to get more depth on gold at the cost of slightly less sensitivity on small gold, then go with Minelab's 5x9.5" DD HF coil and if looking for large deep nuggets, go with their 10.5" DD HF coil. This information is for average mineralized ground, in the highly minerialized areas of both the U.S. and Australia, VLF detectors such as XT's can have problems dealing with hot ground.

 

[Mtnmn]

If hunting "strictly" for gold, I would normally not use a all-purpose detector such as XT-705 (not that it won't do the job), but because I like to hunt for a little bit of everything (coins, relics, silver & gold) and my ground is not highly mineralized, the XT-70 (705) works just fine for me. But if strictly a prospector and I had that amt. of money to spend on a dedicated gold detector such as one of the Goldbugs, GMT's or similar types of gold machines, then they would definitely be my detector of choice over any of the all-purpose machines. Although one of the nice things about the 705 is if in the prosecting mode and using iron mask, you can often check the composition of your target by switching into the All-Metal or Pattern One mode and seeing what kind of reading you are getting, which will give you an idea of whether or not your target is gold...

 

[parrott]

I have the "70." For me it too heavy to swing for very long but I have found placer with it hunting old Trommel piles. I liken any metal detector as if it were a bandleaders conductor wand... It is the band that makes the music.

 

[thirdbornau]

So i guess with my explorer11 and excalibur i have zilch chance of finding gold? i am off to Kalgoorlie soon as a friend has purchased land and is allowing my husband and i to explore.

Cheers Maureen S.

 

[fredm]

MAUREEN, Actually, if you hunt the trashy areas around the old camps your detector may shine...it likely won't find tiny bits but if the gold is jean-rivet size ot bigger it should...a small coil might help...

fred

 

[James02]

Agree, all detectors will find gold, just depends on size and depth.

 

[Mtnmn]

In regards to the Explorer II, awhile back I checked my FBS Safari against the XT-70 in how well the Safari with its 11" DD Pro coil would hit on a small amt. of gold flakes as compared to the XT-70 with its 10.5" DD HF coil. While the 10.5" high frequency coil on XT-70 was hitting slightly harder and getting a little more depth on the gold than the Safari was, it was not until I put the little 6" HF coil on the XT-70 that the difference was more noticeable as the little 6" DD HF coil was definitely hitting harder with more depth on the gold than either of the larger coils would. That being the case, there is no doubt the Explorer II will find gold, but how deep and how small would be the question.

 

[stylesjay]

WoW, Nice test, thanks for sharing that.
It makes me even more confident in my 6" HF coil. What kHz is the Safari?
HH