Gold Detectors
I know everyone has their own opinion, everyone that is except me. That is why I am here.
I have no experience but would like to know what you consider to be the best detector for gold detecting.
Intended target - SW and SE United States.
I currently have a Whites MXT and Fisher CZ-21 but am having second thoughts.
Thanks for your help.
When your in the prospecting mode dig everything at 70% Iron probability or less. Over 70% your pretty sure your going to dig an iron object. Small gold nuggets will read as iron sometimes. I have found the smallest nuggets in the negitive numbers (VDI).
Thanks for the comments. I feel more comfortable with the abilities of the MXT. Now, all I have to do is become more comfortable with my own abilities using the MXT.
I have been practicing using it while coin hunting but find it pretty hard to do. Mostly because I hit so many targets and have no feel for when to dig and trying to figure just what may be down there. I find that the % IRON is pretty good but that still gets a bunch of pull tabs. Hopefully, won't be hitting pull tabs in gold country.
Read someplace to dig anything 10% IRON or less. Does that sound like a good number? I'm thinking of it as a manual discrimination.
Still have trouble relating to just what the SAT is and how to use it.
The MXT with a DD coil on it is a great nugget detector. It has the same ground handling as the GMT. I have been using one since they came on the market almost 10 years ago.
If you are coming out west, do your research or join a club for claim access. I would hate to see you get shot for claim jumping (less than 1% would actually shoot you).
I have in the past done a lot of prospecting,using 2" gold dredges on some of the creeks up off the American river in areas where the original 49'r miners did their thing. Did pretty fair over the course of several yrs in the early late 80's and early 1990's, found 3/4 oz in one spot in one day in a cemented over crack the niners missed, all tiny nuggets, (jewelry gold) but it took a couple yrs of teaching myself what to look for and where before things started happening gold mining. I have done very little with my MXT nugget hunting, but have done a lot of coin hunting in yrs past. I did take it out last fall, found out it is very quiet in my gold areas, compared with previous detectors yrs ago I tried nugget hunting with, the earlier detectors in the late 80's just wouldn't be stable enough in those areas or sensitive enough on tiny gold which is what you find mostly, the SAT works wonders now, one tip, when in prospect mode, the pinpoint button will not pinpoint, you have to go over to one of the other modes with very little disc, perhaps on 1, or 1.5 max, and then you can use the pinpoint feature. Very much disc will knock out tiny gold fast. Some use the relic mode for nugget hunting, has unique sound on good versus bad items, grunts or chirps, etc.
Looks as though I'm on the right track. Now, all I have to do is keep practicing in the prospecting/all metal mode.
Wish I had the prospects of hunting in my back yard that you do. Are you able to spend much time prospecting?
I use the 4X6 coil for nugget hunting and believe it or not, for most coin hunting as well.
I have a couple of gold caps that I salvaged from my dentist that I can play with to see how it responds. I do not know the karat rating of these caps but if they are around 12K then I should assume they should register about half as strong as a same sized nugget.
That may not be true but that is all I have to go on at this time.
I have the standard coil and the smaller DD 4x6 shooter coil. I assume I'll be able to use the standard coil unless the area is either too trashy or too mineralized. Then I can switch to the DD. Experience has shown that the small coil can go almost as deep as the standard coil.At least in lower Michigan soils.
Also have SunRay probe for the MXT for pinpointing.
I think the MXT you have will be a great starter unit if not all you need, as long as the ground is not heavily mineralized where you are detecting, if it is you may want to pursue buying a Pulse detector perhaps from Minelab, there are several successful nugget hunters out there using MXT'S. Just really get to know your detector before heading out, maybe buy a 2 to 4 grain nugget to practice on, then you will have some idea of what your detector can do, my MXT will easily detect a 2 grain nugget at 3 inches. This is a tiny nugget. I plan on hitting the Sierras for small nuggets this spring and summer, I live only about 35 miles from some good areas. Another thing you need to do is research the areas you want to detect before going, make sure there is detectable gold in the areas before hunting them, otherwise you will be wasting valuable time. You might want to purchase the book, MXT EDGE, a very good book on MXT detectors.
If a small nugget reads as iron or a negative VDI number, what % Iron Probability does it show?
Any way to tell without digging?
A little nugget could take a lot of time to find, especially if it indicates iron. I guess this is where the magnet comes in handy.
Lee-MI-MI