GB and Mineralization

Smoker

Greenie
Feb 28, 2014
16
1
South Carolina
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Anyone out there that might answer this question. I am just wondering if the mineralization of a particular soil in a particular area has anything at all to do with the location and finding of gold....small or large. And as for the ground balance , the detectors which have it are they responsible for some how allowing certain frequency to balance it out so that the gold may be found.Don't know if it makes any sense as, I'm new to this and am curious as I know the GB seems to be a big issue. Although I know the gold itself is a mineral....Rascus
 

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airscapes

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Nov 13, 2013
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Ground balancing and mineralization don't really have anything to do with gold..

GROUND BALANCE - A condition or mode of operation in which the detector is adjusted to optimally reduce the interference that ground mineralization has on metal targets.

MINERALIZATION - An amount of non-conductive and/or conductive properties in soil or sand on seashore. Mineralization may be:

• NATURAL MAGNETIC - iron oxide, hot rocks and magnetite;
• SPORADIC (also magnetic) - at sites of former human settlement - pottery, slag, bricks, hearths and hot rocks;
• LITTORAL - at the seashore - properties of this mineralization may range from magnetic (black sand) to electrically conductive (salt water) depending on the beach or region.

I to am fairly new to this hobby and I would suggest spending a good amount of time at this site Truth about Metal Detecting & Treasure Hunting - All Info! Which is where those definitions came from..
 

cudamark

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Gold bearing ground is usually highly mineralized but not always. If you want to metal detect for nuggets, get a machine that has the option of manual ground balancing so you can alter settings for changing ground conditions. Some of the auto ground balance machines don't do this well.
 

roadrunner

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Jan 28, 2012
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First, welcome to the forum.
Next, here in Az my ground can change from one side of a wash to the other side in a matter of feet. As cudamark stated, auto Gb can at times not work properly to keep up with the changing ground.
For instance, I can GB my whites to a cold stone, a hot rock, or a tailings pile filled with iron ore.
I can change it on the fly very fast and easy and make my machine here the nugget better by canceling out the unwanted noises from the ground, minerals, ect.
Which I can hear the gold better.

I would see what others are using around your area or state before I even thought about buying a gold machine, and what kind to buy.
GB may not be an issue, and maybe you do not have that much free gold laying around to be detected.
 

OP
OP
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Smoker

Greenie
Feb 28, 2014
16
1
South Carolina
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
cuda, have like 3 or 4 machines I'm looking at. Sort of hope I don't go wrong , my main target will be gold, though may also use it for other things once in awhile. Anyway these are the machines I have in mind....Whites MTX or Whites MTX Pro, Whites GMT, Minelab X-Terra 705,and Fisher Gold Bug Pro. Just waiting for one of them to show up used or new for a good price.

Gold bearing ground is usually highly mineralized but not always. If you want to metal detect for nuggets, get a machine that has the option of manual ground balancing so you can alter settings for changing ground conditions. Some of the auto ground balance machines don't do this well.
 

OP
OP
S

Smoker

Greenie
Feb 28, 2014
16
1
South Carolina
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
First, welcome to the forum.
Next, here in Az my ground can change from one side of a wash to the other side in a matter of feet. As cudamark stated, auto Gb can at times not work properly to keep up with the changing ground.
For instance, I can GB my whites to a cold stone, a hot rock, or a tailings pile filled with iron ore.
I can change it on the fly very fast and easy and make my machine here the nugget better by canceling out the unwanted noises from the ground, minerals, ect.
Which I can hear the gold better.

I would see what others are using around your area or state before I even thought about buying a gold machine, and what kind to buy.
GB may not be an issue, and maybe you do not have that much free gold laying around to be detected.

As you said there is really not a lot of free gold here in my area....its here ,though just not laying around where a detector will easily find it, and I really don't believe there is a lot of metal detectorists in the area....mostly prospectors are panning and sluicing. For sure nothing like where you are....in Arizona.
 

OP
OP
S

Smoker

Greenie
Feb 28, 2014
16
1
South Carolina
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Thanks all for your posts and also I at least learned that GB has nothing to do with the finding of Gold....plus the other good info you all posted....Rascus
 

OP
OP
S

Smoker

Greenie
Feb 28, 2014
16
1
South Carolina
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Thanks for the link and I will be checking it out when I have some extra study time, sounds like some good info it it from what I did read.


Ground balancing and mineralization don't really have anything to do with gold..

GROUND BALANCE - A condition or mode of operation in which the detector is adjusted to optimally reduce the interference that ground mineralization has on metal targets.

MINERALIZATION - An amount of non-conductive and/or conductive properties in soil or sand on seashore. Mineralization may be:

• NATURAL MAGNETIC - iron oxide, hot rocks and magnetite;
• SPORADIC (also magnetic) - at sites of former human settlement - pottery, slag, bricks, hearths and hot rocks;
• LITTORAL - at the seashore - properties of this mineralization may range from magnetic (black sand) to electrically conductive (salt water) depending on the beach or region.

I to am fairly new to this hobby and I would suggest spending a good amount of time at this site Truth about Metal Detecting & Treasure Hunting - All Info! Which is where those definitions came from..
 

cudamark

Gold Member
Top Banner Poster
Mar 16, 2011
13,223
14,551
San Diego
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus 2, Equinox 800/900, Fisher Impulse AQ, E-Trac, 3 Excal 1000's, White's TM808, VibraProbe, 15" NEL Attack, Mi6, Steath 920ix and 720i scoops, TRX, etc....
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
cuda, have like 3 or 4 machines I'm looking at. Sort of hope I don't go wrong , my main target will be gold, though may also use it for other things once in awhile. Anyway these are the machines I have in mind....Whites MTX or Whites MTX Pro, Whites GMT, Minelab X-Terra 705,and Fisher Gold Bug Pro. Just waiting for one of them to show up used or new for a good price.
Of those choices, I'd go with the 705 gold pack. It's more versatile than the other choices. You'll probably want to get an extra coil.....a waterproof one, for some searches, as I don't think the factory one can be submerged unless they've redesigned it lately. 2nd choice would be the GMT. If you're going to hunt for nuggets exclusively, the Gold Bug is a fine machine too but it's not a great park/coin machine. If you were hunting more parks and less nuggets, I'd say get the MXT Pro with the 705 being my second choice.
 

beerguy

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May 6, 2004
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