AT Gold ...find any small nuggets

[outdoors]

has anyone found any small pieces of gold while out prospecting with a the Garrett AT Gold if so with which coil did you get the best results...

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[Steve Herschbach]

Nothing too small. Here are some nuggets I found last summer with the AT Gold. The largest was found with the stock coil and the rest with the 4.5" hockey puck.

 

[LinkHylian]

NICE AT Gold FINDS!!!!! Sounds like I have a bunch of catching up to do.

Nothing too small. Here are some nuggets I found last summer with the AT Gold. The largest was found with the stock coil and the rest with the 4.5" hockey puck.

 

[outdoors]

steve how high was the mineralzation in the ground.. did it effect the AT gold much

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Dang Steve, that big flat one looks almost as big as a 2 1/2 dollar gold coin.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Moderately mineralized ground. Enough to make iron audio untrustworthy. The AT called that largest nugget iron but luckily I dug it anyway. Same old story, iron mineralization can cause iron discrimination circuits to misidentify gold nuggets. I found the small coil to be a bit better at identifying ferrous trash since it sees less ground. When in doubt, dig it out!

 

[Brookie]

Where to detect

Thats really cool to see this picture of the gold on the AT Gold! I just bought one because in my opinion it is rediculous to spend $4000 the way technology increases and it is waterproof, $800 is way to much to not be waterproof. I actually went to the beach today and lost my bag of findings which was trash and this one cool thing but oh well, anways just like hosing of your salty fishing poles is a must, I just hosed it down. They say its not for the beach but that is huge! The beach was a one time thing for me.

Everytime ive been out which is less than 8hrs on the AT Gold, I always just want to start sluicing for like .05 for the day(all in the black matting, kinda don't even want to pan the material but do). I've been to the San Gabriel river about ten times and only have .3 or im hoping .4 when i put my .03 from last time in. I'm convincing my good friends to go but don't want them to just give up but I can see why they would. It gets pretty wierd out there not finding anything. Where would be good to detect for flood gold? I want to go to the Piru area. Any suggestions about either would be nice. Which is more prefferd by anyone?

I have no idea where to detect. Should I detect below or above the water? How high above? If there is a clear section of bedrock, should I detect up river or down river from it? Where were these nuggets found on average, how far from the water on average? I can't think much about the right question to ask but it is relieving to see this photo, and to hear about the iron audio. So you say it made a grunting sound on that big nugget, like a minor grunt followed by a "sharp" ping followed by a minor grunt? What should the iron audio be set at? For the smaller nuggets was there no grunt at all? How deep was the deepest one you found? How deep was the average? Is this your favorite metal detector?

If theres a ten foot wall of tightly packed stones(in some cases, I can pick a different place) whats better for detecting the steap wall or a more flat area? If I stay safely away from the edge of the steap collapsable gravels, is it ever good to detect the flat area above? Also I assume in all metal mode what are good settings if you have any recomendations? Thanks so much ill try to keep it shorter and more interesting! I will post a photo if I actually even see a piece before its in the sluice, if that day comes, its more likely to come with the detector right?

 

[Steve Herschbach]

That is enough questions for a book!

Detecting for flood gold is a waste of time. Flood gold is too small to be detected, even in concentrations in the ground. You need to do research, and you need put yourself in locations where people have found match head size and larger gold in the past. Chances are the area has been hunted before, so you are going to have to hunt hard and long. Nugget detecting is not easy and takes a great deal of patience and persistence. If all your location has is flood gold stick with the sluice box.

I am not an expert with the AT Gold and as is often the case just got one to try it out. I have access to good areas and I can find gold with just about any decent metal detector. I found the AT Gold in my own words to be "just another mid-frequency detector". We need some kind of acronym for that phrase. In other words, take a 14 kHz MXT, a 17.8 kHz Lobo, a 19 kHz Gold Bug Pro, an X-Terra 705 set up with 18.75 kHz coil, and 18 kHz Garrett AT Gold, and put the smallest coil available on all of them. Mind you i am only naming a few if the more popular mid-frequency models available. From my stand back and take a breath perspective they all get about the same performance. People including myself discuss day in and day out the tiny differences in performance between them but they are so close it boils down to whatever extra features they offer that a person might want. A proficient detectorist can grab any one of them and do about as well from a depth and sensitivity perspective.

It is all getting kind of ho-hum since the technology in mid-frequency detectors has maxed out and we see endless permutations of what is basically the same detector.

I have several detectors already that do what the AT does. I really do admire what Garret has done in offering a detector with a waterproof speaker and full feature set at a bargain price. But for me to keep a detector it has to do something I can't already do with the detectors I already have and I could not say that about the AT Gold, so I sold it.

Do not let that discourage you though. As I noted the AT does about as well as anything in its class. It is truly you that will make the difference. It is about how much time you take to practice with and test the detector in the field to seek the answers you want about its performance. Honestly, people ask too many questions on the Internet and the answers from people on the Internet are just opinions. You do not need my opinion or anyone else's. You own the detector. Take it out and spend an entire day with test targets evaluating its performance in your own soil. You want to know how it sounds on small gold versus ferrous trash, go find out for yourself because anything I tell you applies only to me and my targets in my dirt. Frankly, anyone not interested in taking that time and putting in that effort and learning their machine themselves just failed at step one of successful nugget detecting. Learn your detector, with it in your hands, in the field.

Then put yourself on ground where your diligent research has revealed nuggets are lurking and get down to business. And when I am in nugget ground that means putting my coil over every square inch of detectable ground. When you are in an area with nuggets, they can lurk in the most surprising places, so I do not think too hard on that. I just put the coil over everything I have time to put it over.

And that, my friend, is how you go find gold nuggets with a metal detector. Good luck!

 

[Brookie]

I know its opinionated like someone saying "leave your tools to mark your hole". I called Garret and asked why each detector they make goes up about 3khz according to price/newer release? Basically I asked if it cost them more to make it have more khz and they said no it Mr Garretts preference. I will keep the questions down but you answers are much appreciated as your opinion looks to be the best I have seeked.

Im 26 and my opinion is young, but on head phones is that they are overated and very annoying as my right ear is seriously barely messed up a little(im not wearing them either way) what is your opinion?

What is your opinion on khz? Garrett seems to be great quality and value.

Flood gold seems to have easily found its way to far below the lighter rocks. Should I not even sluice there?

Last but not least, about how far down was the big nugget found with the stock coil? Will the stock coil scan deeper than the puck?

Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[Steve Herschbach]

I think a good pair of headphones is one of the most important tools you can use.

kHz is a specification that can be useful but at the end of the day as important as knowing the cc displacement of the engine in your car. If you have a detector used by many others to find gold nuggets then you too can find gold. There is an advantage to be has sticking with the tried and proven.

Garrett I have had quality issues with. Luckily they have superb customer service which I know about because of said quality issues. They certainly are very good value detectors.

Sluice wherever you can find gold. I do not understand why it being under rocks matters.

The large nugget was barely covered by silt and resting in a bedrock pocket. The stock coil gets more depth on larger nuggets and the small coil marginally more depth on small gold nuggets.

and I have to go to work!

 

[Brookie]

Thanks I am very appreciative of your picture. Its no a problem if its under rocks Im just saying if theres a ten foot vertical wall of cobble stones I can't figure out what to do. I think im going to maybe take small samples and get a high dry layer to chip away at(maybe on a safer smaller wall). Thats my next step I guess. You say that flood gold is hard to detect for so I guess at the current spot I will be happy sluicing, decisions decisions. That is frustrating to hear it made and iron sound though. I guess I will just keep digging up stuff until I actually have something to practice it with. I feel very comfortable using the detector the controlls are pretty basic. Were you in all metal mode?

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Dig everything while you are learning. Iron discrimination is unreliable and until you learn when and where it might be used just do not use it. Or try it but keep digging them.

You can make fake nuggets out of lead that will do for substitutes if you have no real nuggets. Believe me you will dig plenty of lead and it sounds just like gold. Good way to tell if you know what you are doing is how much lead (old bullets) you dig and deeper and smaller the better you are doing in your detector skills. So do not get bummed out digging lead - pat yourself on the back

 

[Brookie]

My friend found a little round nugget yesterday and after that we actually saw gold on top of a rock for the first time(rather than being in the sluice) he spotted it so I still actually haven't spotted gold ever before the sluice. They were tiny but I think the little nugget is slightly bigger than a match head. Would you strongly recomend getting the sniper coil for the AT gold? Do they have an AT gold sniper coil because all I can find is the AT pro sniper coil, is that what you used? Thanks

 

[Brookie]

Also if you still have the AT sniper coil( I know you sold the AT) let me know becuase I may be looking for one. Thanks

 

[nuggetshooter323]

For gold nugget hunting, always get the smallest coil you can get for your chosen machine.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

The Pro and Gold coils are one and the same. If you are serious about nugget detecting, get the sniper coil. If for no other reason than it will get down into holes that the larger coil will not fit in.

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Here you go Brookie, Amazon $37. You'll need an adapter, but they should work great. They are so cheap you no excuse not to get them.

Im 26 and my opinion is young, but on head phones is that they are overated and very annoying as my right ear is seriously barely messed up a little(im not wearing them either way) what is your opinion?

What is your opinion on khz? Garrett seems to be great quality and value.

 

[Brookie]

I found a little piece of gold with quartz attached to it for the first time, it was .1 or less but really cool(sluicing). Im going to get one of those coils. I already actually have headphones but thanks for the advice. The place where I have been going has too much trash, maybe if I get that coil I will only dig up non iron targets, I found a lead weight and a large BB. Thanks

 

[NJnuggetpirate]

hi steve im curious what is different for the AT Gold then AT PRO the PRO would find gold too right

 

[Bearkat]

The AT Pro was made primarily for Relic hunting and the AT Gold for Nugget hunting. You can use both detectors for either task though. But I would stick with what they were made for. (AT Pro 15 kHz) (AT Gold 18 khz).

Bearkat