Today Technology and the search for the best gold detector

[landman]

The MTX and X-Terra 70 look mighty fine. How about Eric Foster's PI's. What say you and why?

[UncleVinnys]

Yeah, I was looking at the X-Terra 70 and the MXT - I think both are good
machines. A friend suggested the White's MXT might be a little better
built and more reliable. I finally went with the MXT 'cause you can do
all three kinds of searching: Relics, Coins, and Prospecting all with
one machine. Just bought it today, and did some preliminary tests.
Looks good. I'll let you know when I find the first nugget.

[Rifleman]

Yeah, I was looking at the X-Terra 70 and the MXT - I think both are good
machines. A friend suggested the White's MXT might be a little better
built and more reliable. I finally went with the MXT 'cause you can do
all three kinds of searching: Relics, Coins, and Prospecting all with
one machine. Just bought it today, and did some preliminary tests.
Looks good. I'll let you know when I find the first nugget.

I beg to differ. The X-Terra 70 does all three very well. The prospecting mode is great ! People have been finding a lot of gold with it, including a lot of small gold other detectors are missing. It is the VLF of choice at Gains Creek in Alaska. It's kicking butt on all the other VLF's and doing better than the PI units are up there. It's a great coin and relic finder also with great depth, target ID and accurate pinpointing. The beach mode works extremely well from what I am told (I have not had mine to the beach yet). There are a good variety of coils available in the $140 to $150. range. You pay your money and make your choice, but I can tell you, Minelab really did their homework on the X-Terra. I don't think there is a better general purpose detector for the money. At only 2.9 pounds with the stock coil, you can swing it all day. 4 AA batteries last forever or 30 hours, whichever comes first. The MXT is a great machine, but side by side I think the 70 has the edge.

Good hunting, John K

[UncleVinnys]

Thanks for comments Rifleman.
Oh, I have no complaints against the X-70 - - great machine.
Only thing is, being lazy, I can use the same coil on the machine
for both coin and prospecting with the MXT, whereas you have
to change coils for the X-70.
Not really much of a difference, as it's pretty rare you would go
out for both types of detecting on the same trip.

Had the X-30, and I KNOW them machines are light, intuitive,
and I really like the easy-read display.

[Stryker_FO]

Thanks for comments Rifleman.
Oh, I have no complaints against the X-70 - - great machine.
Only thing is, being lazy, I can use the same coil on the machine
for both coin and prospecting with the MXT, whereas you have
to change coils for the X-70.
Not really much of a difference, as it's pretty rare you would go
out for both types of detecting on the same trip.

Had the X-30, and I KNOW them machines are light, intuitive,
and I really like the easy-read display.

unless you go looking for gold coins LMAO sorry had to say it

[Keppy]

But the X-Terra 70 has 3 diffrent Frequencys and the mxt has only one that is a big diffrence it puts the X-Terra 70 way out in front.................................==jim==

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi rifleman,

You say regarding the X-Terra 70 "It is the VLF of choice at Gains Creek in Alaska".

This is absolutely incorrect. I have an X-Terra 70 and it is a fine unit. But the White's MXT is the unit of choice at Ganes Creek, period. That is not to say an X-Terra 70 can't do well there, as I know a guy that did very well with his. But you are passing on misinformation with your statement. The MXT reigns supreme at Ganes Creek.

I have used both units extensively. Yes, the X-Terra 70 can utilize three frequencies, but only by buying accessory coils. Out of the box the X-Terra 70 runs at 7.5 kHz and the MXT at 14.8 kHz. The MXT is the better gold unit out of the box. if you get the 18.75 kHz accessory coil with your X-Terra 70 now you have a good prospecting unit. The MXT is more tolerant of a fast sweep speed and more suitable for covering huge areas like at Ganes Creek. The X-Terra benefits from a slower sweep speed like most Minelab units and so favors the slow and careful hunter. Jack rabbits are better off with the MXT.

The MXT has a better coil selection.

The X-Terra 70 is lighter.

The X-Terra 70 offers better tone hunting options and notch discrimination for coin and jewelry hunting.

They are both great units for sure and I'd be hard pressed to say one is better than the other. it just boils down to the location and personal preference.

Steve Herschbach

[vegas247]

Why the discussion about two machines that are NOT meant to find gold period yes the have the ability I own them both. the MXT is not a great gold finding machine. IF your looking for gold get a GMT it's gonna find 5X more gold deeper no matter the size. I own the xterra70 owned the MXT GMT minelab GP3500 and more. if you want an all around machine with all modes just expect the gold performance is not going to be the best and you can't campare the two both are gonna find gold ? If i was gonna pay to go to gains creek neither of these machines would even cross my mind. Just my thoughts as an owner of the machine and allot of use in the Field with them. the MXT is the choice for Gaines creek hands down? that incorrect not by anyone who has prospected for gold over 6 months I say this respectfully as I hunted the AZ goldfields wit the MXT you know how much I found nothing the GMY well lets say it paid for itself 10X over but that's just my opinion. Grant

[Stryker_FO]

You should Trust Steves expertise. He has been to Gaines plenty.. He also runs AK Mining and Diving in Anchorage, Also runs Moore Creek Pay to Play Gold operation,


And since the passing of Ron Wendt I would venture to say Steve is the #1 source for info on gold prospecting for the state of Alaska.


I would give anything to know half what steve knows and be able to be out detecting with him and also prospecting along side him.

[Functional]

Keeping in step with the title of this thread, I often wonder about the various frequencies that are supposed to be "best" for depth, or for gold. From what I've observed with my old Compass, target ID seems to change slightly with depth and it makes me wonder if that difference in depth, isn't altering the returning frequency enough to account for this. Which in turn makes me wonder if manufacturers haven't mistakenly chosen the wrong frequency to use for gold and other precious metals, when it might be that a slightly higher, or lower frequency would be better for certain target depths.

And on another point relating to battery life and target depths. Every time I see mention of a MD that seems to run batteries for an extended period, I have to wonder if that isn't because its putting out a weaker signal, thus resulting in shorter target depth? Just seems logical to me.

Just a thought.

F.

[Jim McCulloch]

Is the X-70 "the VLF of choice at Gaines Creek?" Nope.
Is the X-70 better then the MXT at finding gold nuggets? Nope.
Is the GMT better then the MXT for finding smaller nuggets? Yep.
BUT..... an issue not often discussed is that OPERATOR EXPERTISE totally eclipses "which" more or less suitable prospecting detector one uses. A 12 year old Goldmaster V-SAT, operated by a PRO, will find infinately(?) more gold then the most modern and expensive detector on the market today, regardless of make or model. The key to success is to use a suitable detector, MASTER it's use, MASTER proper nugget hunting technique, and search an area known to produce nuggets of detectable size. Hope this helps; HH Jim
PS: For the most comprehensive information on proper nugget hunting technique currently in print consult the book "Advanced Nuggetshooting - How to prospect for Gold with a Metal Detector."

[Jim McCulloch]

Ooops.... left out a qualifying statement: "regardless of make or model, if it is operated by someone unfamiliar with it's use, or, who lacks experience in nugget hunting."

[Jim Hemmingway]

Yeah, I was looking at the X-Terra 70 and the MXT - I think both are good
machines. A friend suggested the White's MXT might be a little better
built and more reliable. I finally went with the MXT 'cause you can do
all three kinds of searching: Relics, Coins, and Prospecting all with
one machine. Just bought it today, and did some preliminary tests.
Looks good. I'll let you know when I find the first nugget.

Hi there Vinny...congratulations on making the big decision on your new MXT!
It's great to see you moving forward with your interest into this exciting hobby. Knowing what's involved with making these "which detector" decisions, I am very happy for you. There are a number of highly qualified individuals who regularly frequent this forum that can be quite helpful when you have some questions. Also, you might visit Steve's Alaska site and the forum as well. We are fortunate to have Steve's helpful expertise available to us. The very best to you Vinny, keep us posted...Jim.

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi,

Thanks for the kind words.

The GMT easily hit smaller gold than an MXT or X-Terra 70 and so is my machine of choice when hunting dinks.

However, in a place like Ganes Creek you are not hunting tiny gold. Frankly, I do not want a unit that hits tiny gold at Ganes Creek as that would be a distraction. Ganes also has a huge amount of iron junk that leaves people running the big Minelab guns digging junk all day. The junk to nugget ratio is over 100 to 1.

So a good discriminating VLF works well at Ganes Creek. Since there is a huge area to cover it helps to have a unit that can handle a faster sweep, and in that regard the MXT has the edge over the X-Terra 70. Over time hundreds of hunters have used about any machine you'd imagine at Ganes, and the process of elimination has left the MXT as machine of choice for that particular mix of ground, gold, and junk. The last time I was there 10 of the 12 people were running MXTs.

But if I were heading south of Anchorage where tiny gold is the name of the game I'd be packing my GMT.

Up at my mine at Moore Creek Minelab PI units are the detector of choice. I am waiting for my new GPX-4500 but am also anxious to get my hands on the new White's PI unit due out soon.

True story is it just depends on what the mineralization is, what the nature of the gold is, and how much junk there is to deal with. Different combinations of these factors call for different detectors. There is no one perfect machine in my opinion. At a minimum I need both a Minelab GPX and a White's GMT. The Minelab for the worst mineralized ground, and the GMT for small gold the GPX can't hit or for trashy areas, since the GMT has a far superior iron discrimination than a Minelab PI. I also really like the Tesoro Lobo SuperTraq for a great little do-it-all unit that I can hip or chest mount. In some hot rock locations the GMT can be annoyingly noisy and so I've had pretty good luck running the Lobo in disc mode with just enough disc run up to knock out the hot rocks while still getting most gold.

Most people think in terms of brands. I think in terms of engineers. Nearly all the gold I've ever detected was found with detectors engineered by Dave Johnson or Bruce Candy. Dave had a hand in the Fisher Gold Bug & Gold Bug II, Tesoro Diablo MicroMax & Lobo Supertraq, and White’s GMT & MXT. Bruce is the brains behind nearly all the Minelab units although I do not think the X-Terra series was his.

Hey, Jim M, I'm out of your books and Gem Guides says they can't find you! Might want to give them a call.

Steve Herschbach

[Hoser John]

Thanx Steve and Jim for taking the time to shed some MUCH needed light on a operator biased issue. Fact/fiction on these forums based on prejeduces and not science SUCK!!! Thanx again-John detecting over 45 years and STILL learning something new--tesoro just repaied my OLDEST detector(24 years old)and threw in a free new coil too freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[thompy]

Steve H anybody running the t-2 or f-75 at GainsCreek? with any luck

[Cynangyl]

Thanks for all the great information Steve....you are an encyclopedia of knowledge and a great asset to any forum! I always learn from what you post!

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi Thompy,

I've talked to a couple people who were not at Ganes but elsewhere who thought the T2/F75 is a good gold machine. I think the reason it is not getting much press in that regard is they are kind of pricey compared to units with a more proven track record. But for Ganes at least I think they'd do just fine.

Remember, it is all about operator expertise and knowledge. A good machine helps but does not insure success.

Thank you all for the kind words. I just like to yak about detectors!

Steve Herschbach

[thompy]

thanks Steve, i relic hunt generally, but there were about 30 gold mines in the area, and enjoy looking for them, with prices up they were going crazy with the choppers, surveying last summer, and snagging up mineral leases, should be quite a few in a couple years, there are all waiting on Kennycotts nickle copper mine to get its final approval under Michigans new minning laws, been told kennycotts has 6 other mines it wants to open, along with the other companys that are waiting in the wind

[nuggetshooter323]

Thanks Steve for the information on what's working up there. I think that you helped me decide on the second gold machine I've been thinking about getting. I have the Lobo Super Traq now, and I like it a lot, but I've been wanting to get a second machine for the reason that you stated earlier, that different locations need different equipment. Here in Colorado we have small gold, and gold in matrix. We don't have a lot of the monstrous nuggets that you guys have in Alaska. As of now I'm leaning towards the GMT.