A question about mineralization

[WHADIFIND]

Since I've started back in the hobby I've noticed that where I'm currently hunting has what appears to be a LOT of mineralization. It takes quite a bit for me to tune it out with my old machine. But, then I almost have to hunt in all metal mode exclusively. Disc. side just doesn't get it done. Fortunately, I have trained my ear to be able to pick up subtle differences in the tones. I can almost tell you if it's a silver coin, ring, penny or nickel.

But, my question is, just how limiting is mineralization? Does it keep you from getting deeper than, say, 3 inches?

A friend of mine has a AT Pro and he tells me the ground is tuning out at about 92. I'm not familiar with his machine but he seems to think that's pretty high.

We dug a test hole about 4 inches deep and put a silver quarter at the bottom. With the plug out of the hole it's a fairly solid, repeatable signal. But, as soon as we put the plug back and tamp it down, it gets very, very quiet on my machine and he says his starts getting very erratic. He says his ID numbers bounce around from 20 to 91. He showed me the numbers changing on just about every swing. No matter how fast or slow he went.

For me, in all metal, it is a very, very, soft whisper. Just barely could tell there was a difference from normal.

Any information about how to deal with ground mineralization would be most helpful. Hard to say how much I've been passing up.

Thanks!
HH

 

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[U.K. Brian]

Depth does depend on the degree of mineralisation as the detectors "ground balance" control doesn't in fact do away with ground effect. I've sites where any VLF is limited to about two inches on coin. Switching to a pulse machine with G.E.B. (such as a Whites TDI) can double the depth to four inches. A Minelab GPX in return for its high cost can manage six inches.

With standard detectors VLF or VLF/TR you need ground balance, ground tracking and if you can change the filtering so much the better. If you haven't got one or more of these options its just a case of reducing sensitivity and reducing the coil size. Most detectors are two filter designs and a slightly slower sweep speed may help. Four filter detectors like the old Whites Spectrums cope better with mineralisation in the first place but may be further helped by a slight increase in sweep speed.

 

[WHADIFIND]

Thank you for the explanation. It does help clear some cobwebs.

HH