Nugget Shooting w/ MXT 300 ***Need advice***

[Sierra Kid]

Hello all. Maybe I'm dong something wrong here. I set my MXT up like instruction manual says to for prospecting mode, but it is just too noisy. I find myself going to "Relic" mode and having a better time. I am picking up small stuff so I know its working. Am I missing something by avoiding "Prospecting" mode? There is very high ground mineralization and hot rocks every few feet. Any info would be great. Thanks, Cork

[thoughmas]

Sounds like you need to turn the sensitivity down on your machine. I have the Minelab X-terra 70 and in highly mineralized ground I have to turn the sensitivity and then it quiets the machine. However, the catch is that the machine won't detect as deep. I havent used a White's but sounds similar to what all detectorists experience from time to time.

[jog]

might need to try a DD coil for the high mineralized ground.A small coil works best.

[Nullers]

I've not had much luck using my MXT for prospecting, been using the Eclipse 6X9 DD. I am able to find bird shot at about four inches, just no gold I prefer to use my GBII for gold hunting.

I'll be interested to hear how you make out with your MXT.

Best of luck to you,
nullers

[Yellow Hammer]

I junked my MXT it did not work for gold but for coins it was great. Now all I use are minelab detectors but that is my choice. Interference can also be caused by powerlines, thunderstorms, hotrocks and mineralization. If you can find a coiltek or nuggetfinder mono coil it might help but don't count on it for gold. Been there done that.

[Sierra Kid]

Thanks for the advice. I would like a Minelab, but man they cost$$$$. A buddy also has a GBII. I may look into that for now. Hard to beat the Minelab though. I watch the Youtube videos. They look awesome. Glad its not operator error! For the short term, I'll continue to use Relic mode. Cork.

[arizonaames]

I've not had much luck using my MXT for prospecting, been using the Eclipse 6X9 DD. I am able to find bird shot at about four inches, just no gold I prefer to use my GBII for gold hunting.

I'll be interested to hear how you make out with your MXT.

Best of luck to you,
nullers

If you are finding bird shot then it is you and you are not over gold. Turn the sensitivity down to where it is stable, switch on auto ground balance, unless you are over a patch of really bad ground with lots of hot rocksthen ground balance on decent ground for the area and put the ground switch on the right in ground lock, and turn the Sat up to super sat if necessary. It is not a PI but will go deeper and find probably as many nuggets as a GMT or GB2.......Learn your detector and do use the head phones.

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi,

The MXT is the machine of choice at Ganes Creek, Alaska. Hundreds of ounces of nuggets have been found there with the MXT, and they run circles around the Minelab PI units. The reason is hundreds of deep iron and steel targets for every nugget. The PI guys basically dig junk all day while the MXT guys eliminate the vast majority of it and get the gold.

You can use any mode to detect for anything. The sounds change and the meter readout changes but there is little depth difference between the modes. Virtually everyone at Ganes run in Relic Mode with the disc know set just at "2" or a smidge lower. Iron will honk and non-ferrous will chirp.

Note that whenever possible you should dig everything. But if time is limited and the junk thick, like around old campsites, digging everything can be counterproductive.

See http://nevada-outback-gems.com/MXT_f...he_mxt_faq.htm

Steve Herschbach

[Sierra Kid]

Good info. Thanks!

[IDdesertman]

I'll 2nd what Steve said. Run in Relic, turn the gain all the way up, and set the disc at 2. The machine will either grunt or chirp at you. Dig the chirps....

[Jim Hemmingway]

Well said Steve, nice to see common sense prevail. It's too bad Cork didn't provide more info with respect to which coil he's using, soil GB, and GB of the hot rocks. If the hotrocks are not too far off surrounding soil GB he might be able to knock them out with slightly lower offset GB (ie balancing over them and then lock out the tracking) without sacrificing too much depth/sens on tiny targets compared to using straight discrimination. Regardless, it's nice to see folks like yourself who think beyond conventional ideas. Thanks Steve,

Jim.

[Sierra Kid]

Here is the coil I am using: 300 LTD 12" Searchcoil
Its the standard coin that came w/ the MXT-300.

[Sierra Kid]

One more thing... Ground mineralization is in the 80-90 range. Very high.

[Jim Hemmingway]

Cork, if you were nugget hunting, you need to get at least the Eclipse DD 6"X 10" coil. It'll see much less ground, will be more stable, and will handle ground mineralization better than the big concentric coil, and wil perform much better in response to smaller targets. The big coil is not responsive to tiny nuggets and is not a suitable choice.

If you know roughly the size of gold that might be expected in your area, take along something similar, even if you have to construct a few different size "nuggets" from lead sinkers. With the DD coil attached, go back to the same area and note the ground balance reading in a spot clean of signals. Once balanced, place a few different size "nuggets" an inch or three below the surface, ensure they are separated by at least a foot or so. Note which combination of SAT and Gain provide you best results.

Initially set the gain and SAT to presets. When over these targets, pull the trigger to turn off autotrack as it will track out tiny targets to some extent. Then increase the gain as high as possible while you can still hear the signals clearly without disruptive background noise. There is considerable extra depth to be had in the upper end of the scale. If you've read the MXT Engineering Report by Dave Johnson, you will see the upper end of the Gain scale invokes a successive software induced signal volume amplification (that is not noted in the manual).

With these adjustments done, begin sweeping some ground and see how much ground noise feedback you are experiencing. If you feel it's necessary to silence any noise you cannot put up with, try locking in the ground balance first. If that makes no difference, turn it back on and go to increasing the SAT. If/when you find any ground noise is addressed to your satisfaction, return to your buried "nuggets" and check the response. If you have not tried the hyperSAT settings, do so now just to see how well it performs over your targets. HyperSAT is unique in response if you don't mind the change in sound, and you will be surprised how effective it is. You will find there will be some ideal settings between SAT and Gain levels that will satisfy your ability to get best sens/depth, while keeping ground noise distractions within reason.

Find one of these numerous hot rocks (or several to check), and ground balance over it. Immediately "lock" the autotrack. Go back to your buried nuggets and check the response, and play further with Gain/SAT if necessary to get best results. Be sure to remember these "Prospect Mode" settings.

This is now the time to check your "nugget" target response in one of disc modes with disc set as Steve describes. Many prefer the Relic Mode. Check your hot rock in the same disc mode setting and see if it has been knocked out sufficiently that you can confidently either eliminate or at least recognize a broken response. Compare these results to your Prospecting Mode results.

Now you make the decision as to which method and settings are most likely to make your outing enjoyable in that area, while enabling you to have the best chance at locating the size of nuggets you are most likely to encounter.

The above is much easier to do, than describe here on a forum. Remember, there are only a few controls to play with and you will get it right with a little practice prior to actually heading off detecting. I hope the step-by-step instructions will help you out. Remember to adjust the threshold to a bare "hum", and no more.

Keep in mind that ground conditions may be quite variable, and locking out the tracking (balanced to hot rocks) as described may not be a practical alternative. Try it and see what works best in that area. I prefer to check and learn to recognize such rocks by sight. If they are too plentiful, either move on or use the disc set-up. Also, as mineralization increases I feel the all-metal prospecting mode is increasingly more sensitive to tinier targets as contrasted to disc modes. Similarly, as mineralization or variability increases, proper ground balance becomes even more important to small target detection, and under such conditions, ground tracking comes to the fore.

Don't be afraid to come back and tell us how you are doing, and any concerns that you may experience. Take care, good luck and HH,

Jim.

[arizonaames]

Dig a hundred bird shot then maybe, you will dig a nugget.....

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi,

Jim hit the nail on the head. The 12" concentric is a great coil for low mineral ground (like Ganes) but for high mineral go DD. That pretty much always meant the 5" x 10" elliptical but you now also have the choice of the new 10" round DD or the smaller 4" x 6" elliptical.

If you get into severe hot rocks the Relic Mode set as I described can drive you nuts. Non-stop honking on hot rocks. If you get into rocks that cannot be adjusted for as Jim describes, flick the trigger switch forward and it will suppress the iron honks. This quiets the machine considerably. Note that you are simply rejecting the rocks and that nuggets next to or under the rocks will be lost. But I've found this to be the only way I can run the MXT at my own mining claims at Moore Creek and keep my sanity. An alternative is go to coin mode and crank in just enough disc to reject the hot rocks. Again, there will be gold losses but sometimes you have no perfect solution. Places like that are really what the TDI was designed for.

Use a VLF when you can, use a PI when you have to.

Steve Herschbach

[Yellow Hammer]

You guys need to remember he is not Alaska or the great white north. He is in Southern California. It's diffrent down here. I hunt the El paso range, Randsburg and Yuma. This is where the PI's shine along with the sun.
Where else can you hunt in the dead of winter at 75 to 80 deg. But back to the point If you can't scrap 1200.00 for the minelab SD2200v2 then go with the GBII. I know where you will be hunting and it will work. Up in your area I run a 10x5 coiltek Joey or the new 6" coiltek both mono's if I want to go deeper move up to the 16" mono.
It's all about the tone buy a nugget to know the tone. Trash will sound different. Invest in a good set of head phones like black widows or gray ghosts they will set you back about 125.00 but worth it.

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi,

I'm not forgetting anything. The question was about tips for using the MXT, not what PI to use. I'm all for PI units and use a GPX-4500 myself. But if somebody wants tips on their MXT or whatever then that's what I'll offer. Alaska is far from a homogenous situation as it covers an area the size of the western United States. I own claims with hot rocks bad enough you can't tune them out with a Minelab SD (my GPX will do it) but I can still come up with gold there with an MXT. I'm not saying it is my preferred alternative for that situation but if it was all I had I'd still bring home some gold.

Steve Herschbach

[Sierra Kid]

Jim, Steve, Surferjoe,

I appreciate the help. I will set my MXT up per your input and give it a shot. Hopefully in a few weeks i'll be posting some nuggets.

[arizonaames]

I am sure that you will. I had a goldmaster v/stat for years that was 4 generations behind the MXT. The GB2 or GMT will find smaller nuggets close to the surface because of their higher frequencies but the MXT will go deeper with the lower frequencies. With the PIs, you will have to dig everything but you will be digging deeper. The MXT is an excellent choice for a VLF with a 6x10 DD coil. Happy hunting! Steve and Willy know what they are talking about.