Central East coast Florida Beaches mineralization levels ??

[kookiman]

I'm considering purchasing an AT Pro for beach/shallow salt water hunting but I understand that they aren't the greatest on highly mineralized areas (like most vlf machines). Anyone know how well they work on the Space Coast and Treasure Coast ? Thanks a bunch !

 

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[ron lord]

they don't work well at all.

 

[tiderider]

It's not the best for the salt water beaches , either get a multi freq detector or a PI machine, GL, tiderider

 

[DnD]

Generally, the Atlantic coast and parts of the pan handle have a mid to high level of mineralization. There is an episode of "Dig Fellas" that searches in the Treasure Coast and the host, who uses an ATP, kept commenting how his ATP kept giving false signals and was difficult to ground balance in that area.

A few interesting articles that discuss Florida's mineralization are listed below:

• "Florida ranked fourth (currently fifth) among the 50 States in total nonfuel mineral production value" - U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
• "Heavy mineral mining began in 1916 near Mineral City (now Ponte Vedra Beach) to supply ilmenite for WWI titanium tetrachloride production. In the mid-1920s, zircon and rutile were also produced in this area. Other beach deposits near Jacksonville, Melborne, and Vero Beach were worked through the WWII years. Extraction of heavy minerals is today concentrated along the Trail Ridge of western Duval and Clay Counties." -http://www.dep.state.fl.us/geology/geologictopics/minerals.htm
• "Ilmenite. The material from the Florida beach and dune sands that has commonly been assumed to be ilmenite has essentially the chemical composition of the material that has been called arizonite.2 rt contains about 53 per cent of Tioz, and its iron is nearly all in the ferric state. Two samples (one moderately magnetic, and the other slightly magnetic) from vero Beach and one moderately magnetic sample from the locality 10 miles west of Jacksonville Beach....also found near Pensacola and the panhandle" -Spessartite group
• Another report from the Univ. of Florida, samples from the beaches around the southern Gulf side contained less than 1% mineral content. So to summarize, SW florida beaches may facilitate use of a single frequency machines but it appears that most beaches have a high mineral content that requires multiple frequency or PI machines.
• Some good reading material about Floridian beach minerals can be found at *Florida Geological Survey Home Page along with the links shown below.

 

[kookiman]

Thanks so much for the good information. Happy hunting to everyone !

 

[cashdummy]

I'm at the beach EVERYDAY with my AT Pro and I dont have a problem here.In wet sand I have the sensitivity at full tilt but in the water I have it one notch from full. No problems here at all. I hunt Pinellas and Hillsborough county beaches if that helps any