New Minelab X-Terra 50 has gold potential!

[steve herschbach]

I recently received a new metal detector from Minelab, the X-Terra 50. This new detector was quite a surprise to me. I knew Minelab was sending me something to check out, but knew nothing about it except that it was a mid-range coin type detector.

Now to be frank, my expectations were, from what I have seen from Minelab in the past, that A. it was going to be too heavy, and B. it was going to cost too much. So you can imagine my surprise when the box I got was smaller than any box I have seen a metal detector packed in before. This unit is really small and light! And second was the announced suggested retail price, of only $699. This means the street price will be under $600! So Minelab immediately exceeded my expectations in these two areas.

The entire electronics package is in a pod that mounts on the end of the handle, and which has a large LCD display and push pad controls. Four AA batteries drop into a battery slot on the side of the pod. The entire detector only weighs about 3 pounds with the batteries installed.

But what got me real excited is that this machine has some real potential as a true multi-use detector, something Minelab has previously been lacking. Minelab builds what many feel is one of the world

 

[pdeere]

Hi Steve
Always read and pay attention to your posts. All my experience has been with gold machines. Have a particular question for you or any experienced coin machine user. Can you notch out bullets and birdshot reliably. Don't know if this a dumb question or not?

Luck
Paul

 

[steve herschbach]

Hi Paul,

You can notch out any particular object, like the .22 shell casing I used in my example, but the item must be relatively identical in size, shape, and composition. The larger a bullet is, the higher on the discrimination scale it will read. So you simply cannot notch out all bullets. But you could notch out a particular size of bullet.

The other problem is that lead mimics gold, in much the same way that aluminum mimics gold. So notching out any particular range of lead targets will also eliminate gold that reads in a similar fashion. Notching out birdshot would also eliminate most small nuggets.

There are extremely few instances where you would ever want to notch out non-ferrous targets while nugget detecting. In fact the general rule is to dig everything. But generalities do not cover all situations, and some nugget hunting locales do have so much junk around that discrimination, used properly and with the knowledge that it can also reject desired items, can be a useful tool. Ganes Creek, Alaska, is the best example I know of where many of the most successful detectorists have used varying levels of discrimination to get more gold than those digging it all. But even then it is just varying levels of iron discrimination.

The only time I can recall using non-errous discrimination while nugget detecting was to tune out .22 shell casings at Ganes Creek in the immediate camp area and on the near end of the runway. There were so many of them I just tuned them out and dug anything that read "not iron" and "not .22 shell casing". Yes, I got some nuggets. But I may have left one that read like a shell casing. I'll never know, but it worked for me in that instance.

The nice thing about the Minelab X-Terra 50 is the discrimination is there if you need it, but you can just run it in all metal if you do not. When in doubt, dig it out!! use all-metal to nugget hunt, and save the discrimination for coin detecting.

From a coin hunting perspective you can indeed tune out most bullets and birdshot and still get the coins. Some shell casings do read like coins, but most bullets read lower in the discrimination range than most coins.

Steve Herschbach

 

[Rick(ND)]

n/t

 

[Andy Sabisch]

An excellent assessment of another use for the X-Terra. Thanks for a 1st class report and you are right, when the 18,75 kHz coil as well as the Double-D coils are released, the X-50 will be quite versatile for a wide range of applications.

Andy Sabisch

 

[GraveDiggerMax-VaBch-Va]

n/t

 

[Mike Bearden]

I live fairly close to some gold producing streams here in Alabama, as soon as the 18.75 kHz coils are available I plan on giving these streams are good going over
Again .. Nice Report
Mike

 

[Digger]

It is always enjoyable to read your posts, and this one is no exception. Having folks in various parts of the world, who are willing to share their expertise, is what these forums are all about. Thanks for telling us your impression of the new X-Terra and the potential capabilities it offers to those who are fortunate to live in gold producing areas. Great report. HH Randy

 

[steve herschbach]

Hi,

Now that I got my 18.75 kHz coil I'll have to do some nugget testing. Only little hangup is that it is the middle of winter here in Alaska and so it may be contrived testing for now rather than the real thing. But I'll have something to report soon.

Steve Herschbach