Gold Nugget Detecting with the New Garrett ATX

[Steve Herschbach]

OK folks, here you go. I have spent about two days of nugget detecting with the new Garrett ATX metal detector over the course of three actual days at three different locations. I learned a lot about the detector, and did actually find some gold with it, no small feat for this prospector from Alaska. I am a total newbie in the Lower 48 and were it not for good friends would have a much harder time placing myself in some decent locations. I learned enough I wrote up a very long article with photos on my website which is a lot easier for me to maintain and update with new information than posting on a forum.


Gold Nugget Detecting with the Garrett ATX - Hints, Tips, and Tricks


The bottom line is a big thumbs up for the ATX for nugget detecting. I was very impressed by the ability of the ATX to find very small gold nuggets straight out of the box with the 12" x 10" DD coil. No special tuning, just a high sensitivity setting and careful hunting. My two smallest nuggets weighed in at 0.12 gram and 0.16 gram which says more to me about the ATX than finding larger gold. 1.36 grams total in four nuggets. Check it all out in the article.


Steve Herschbach

 

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[Clay Diggins]

Nice! Informative and well written Steve. Thanks for sharing with us.

Looks like there might be some new competition for a share of the PI gold detector market. Nice small gold, who would have thought that was part of the ATX new tricks?

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

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Hi Steve,

Great article on the "Gold Nugget Detecting with the Garrett ATX - 11/20/13"

I also read your article on "Gold and Silver with the New Garrett ATX - 11/16/13" ... Very Nice

How far down did you have to dig for the square nails and that old silver in that VLF unfriendly park in Reno?

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Deepest penny was a measured 9 inches. Does not seem all that deep but well beyond what my CTX 3030 will do in this soil. The ATX is not all that hot on high conductive coins since it is optimized for low conductive targets. It is only in highly mineralized ground that you see any real advantage versus a VLF. Much the same when hunting small gold also. In moderate to low mineralization might as well use a VLF.

PI detectors in general do not go deeper than VLF detectors in all metal mode. My Gold Bug Pro in all metal is like a cheap, lightweight PI. But PI detectors lose depth at a slower rate than VLF detectors as ground mineralization increases. You get a scenario where the VLF has lost 50% of its theoretical depth but the PI has only lost 20%, now easily besting the VLF.

The ground, the ground, it is all about the ground!

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

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Deepest penny was a measured 9 inches. Does not seem all that deep but well beyond what my CTX 3030 will do in this soil. The ATX is not all that hot on high conductive coins since it is optimized for low conductive targets. It is only in highly mineralized ground that you see any real advantage versus a VLF. Much the same when hunting small gold also. In moderate to low mineralization might as well use a VLF.

PI detectors in general do not go deeper than VLF detectors in all metal mode. My Gold Bug Pro in all metal is like a cheap, lightweight PI. But PI detectors lose depth at a slower rate than VLF detectors as ground mineralization increases. You get a scenario where the VLF has lost 50% of its theoretical depth but the PI has only lost 20%, now easily besting the VLF.

The ground, the ground, it is all about the ground!

Thanks Steve ... good info

My decision to go with the ATX is based on detecting in the surf in Southern CA, with all that black iron sand, especially in Long Beach.

You can see the heavier concentrations of black sand in the photo below in Long Beach and it gets worse in the water.


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[Steve Herschbach]

Looks like a perfect location for the ATX. I will have to drive over and hit those beaches one of these days. Might make for a nice mid-winter break from Reno. Looks like plenty of beach to share!

I seriously plan to do a lot of beach detecting with the ATX, specifically targeting high mineral beaches. It should pull targets missed by virtually anything else. Leave the low mineral ground to detectors better suited for it.

 

[SoCalBeachScanner]

Looks like a perfect location for the ATX. I will have to drive over and hit those beaches one of these days. Might make for a nice mid-winter break from Reno. Looks like plenty of beach to share!

I seriously plan to do a lot of beach detecting with the ATX, specifically targeting high mineral beaches. It should pull targets missed by virtually anything else. Leave the low mineral ground to detectors better suited for it.

Well, if you want to target the most mineralized beach in CA to play with the ATX in, Long Beach is your place to be.

With that Federal Breakwater three miles offshore that expands 6-miles from San Pedro to the Orange County line (Seal Beach), the water does not move, cut, or erode the beach, so the black sand just keeps on building.

Thanks for all the info, I'll give your thread back to the nugget guys

 

[H-2 CHARLIE]

most of the black is coke a buy product from the arco refinery were the coke is washed and is all around the harbour . this you might see in a ash tray at a casino , black coke , cabon in black steel ,comes in lava rock fourm after the coke is cut off the barrels.

 

[principedeleon]

Deepest penny was a measured 9 inches. Does not seem all that deep but well beyond what my CTX 3030 will do in this soil. The ATX is not all that hot on high conductive coins since it is optimized for low conductive targets. It is only in highly mineralized ground that you see any real advantage versus a VLF. Much the same when hunting small gold also. In moderate to low mineralization might as well use a VLF. PI detectors in general do not go deeper than VLF detectors in all metal mode. My Gold Bug Pro in all metal is like a cheap, lightweight PI. But PI detectors lose depth at a slower rate than VLF detectors as ground mineralization increases. You get a scenario where the VLF has lost 50% of its theoretical depth but the PI has only lost 20%, now easily besting the VLF. The ground, the ground, it is all about the ground!

I believe this is my problem with my VLF .. The places i went hunting are highly mineralized lost depth and senitivity. Guess i will have to go to places are known to have larger nuggets ..

 

[Bearkat]

Good review and tale of your nugget hunt!

 

[Jim Hemmingway]

“I recently acquired a Minelab Pro-Swing 45 harness and bungee system. This new harness incorporates a plastic strut that transfers weight from the shoulder to the waist belt. This not only relieves shoulder strain but helps keep the harness belt from creeping up your back as the front of the harness is pulled down. I have other heavy detectors I thought might benefit from using this harness and so it was a happy coincidence I already had one on hand to use with the Garrett ATX.

The Pro-Swing comes with a clip and Velcro wrap you can position wherever you like on the detector. I keep as much weight as possible to the rear by keeping the shaft short, basically just using the lighter two lower sections and about 3 inches of the uppermost rod section. This makes a nice little spot between the upper rod locking rings to attach the clip. The bungee can be disconnected at both the detector end of the bungee by slipping it off the clip or off at the shoulder also, which I found I preferred.”

A very positive, informative report Steve. Appreciate that you included the above information… you know my concern about the ATX weight. It seems I’m constantly searching hillslopes… usually tailings where the footing is awkward and unstable. The Infinium is about all I can physically handle for prolonged searching of such ground. I had thought that the approx. 7 lb ATX would be too much for me. So thanks for the heads-up on that issue, and of course… congratulations on those four handsome nuggets!!!

Despite a swirling snowstorm and 10F degrees, I boldly ventured out to the patio and cleaned the 5½ lb specimen referred to in an earlier conversation with you. Both the silver and the calcite are very pure… there are no visible inclusions of any other minerals… it is only the structure that prevents this piece from a “penny / dime” target ID. It is inundated with countless tiny silver veinlets that aren’t visible in the photo due to camera distance required to capture the entire piece.

Jim.

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[Steve Herschbach]

Weight is a big issue for me. I prefer detectors that weigh under 3 lbs. Darn few of those! Hip mounting or chest mounting is an acceptable alternative but that option is also getting rarer. 3-4 lbs is certainly acceptable. Anything over four pounds I start griping at the manufacturers for not trying hard enough. Although I do tend to give waterproof detectors a pass for obvious reasons. The plain truth is there needs to be an ATX crammed in the lightest box possible, forget the waterproof. That would be one sweet detector!

Doc's Swingy Thingy harness is another nice option worth investigating.

Your specimens by and large would be a welcome addition in any museum. I am going to chase some silver in Nevada and Arizona but I do not think there is much that could come close to rivaling your finds for quality. Beautiful stuff for sure!!