Hi,
May I offer a few comments related to the wide range of posts on this topic?
All of the comments, shared experiences and suggestions can be summed into a "body of knowledge" on this very important issue - I thank you all in advance!
Treasure hunters include a wide range of personalities with even wider experience and education on the subject. I have to give everyone here a lot of credit for their personal interest, enthusiasm and dedication to learning, experimenting, testing, evaluating, and offering opinions. This is the most important aspect of treasure hunting - simply put having the right tool (or tools) to find treasure.
The tools and the users combined with the objective have to be compatible with each other. On one end of the spectrum is the 10 year old with a 10 dollar detector in the park looking for nickels and dimes. On the other end is a Publicly traded mega-dollar exploration company using a Transient EM system with a coil 1 mile long on a side looking for a multi-megabuck volcanogenic gold-platinum massive sulfide.
What are the trade-offs?
We probably all agree, the 10 year old can't afford nor has he the technical background to plan and execute a large scale TEM survey. The trade-off is in cost of technology, required training, application or objective, and desired outcome. A very comfortable point of view is in the middle.
Setting a realistic objective:
I want to find a one ounce gold nugget at 2 feet! Since most hand-held detectors can detect to a depth of at best 12 inches - the 2 feet objective opens a new realm not covered by the largest number of prior search activity. It places most wage earners in a position to meet the knowledge and cost factor requirements.
Realistic knowledge requirements:
Serious metal detecting requires a person having the ability to understand the capabilities and limitations imposed by certain laws. - The laws of physics! I know I can't buy a bee-bee gun for 10 bucks that will shoot a bee bee pellet 3 miles. I'm qualified!
Cost factors:
What should a metal detector cost? Can one person with little or no knowledge or experience research existing patents, create a design, document, prototype, test, develop, manufacture, support a working, middle of the line metal detector for $300.00 a copy?
Unfortunately, Probably not.
Looking at the $10.00 (Chinese made) detector - it's probably a $50.00 detector. I don't think you can buy one for much less. It will be an early technology BFO - low cost design that uses $10.00 worth of materials and has a production of 100,000 units. Ignoring the profit motive, the units are cheezy and too limited in applications.
The alternative - mass production $100 - $200 detectors are too limited in capability - the manufaturers still rely on selling 100,000 to half a million or more units world-wide.
Looking at the $300 large single coil - or small two box detector. The parts cost is about $100. for Radio Shack parts and PVC pipe. One full day of labor at $200. and sell it for $300.?
The $500 - $1000 detectors use precision low noise amplifiers - a requirement for resolving targets at depth. The amplifiers are $30. (cost) you will have $200 in parts, $100. in powder coat aluminum, $100. sales commission, and that leaves a little to pay the designer, assemblers, phone support, low rent facilities and tax man.
The "bonafide" $1000 - $10,000 units require more knowledge and are technically advanced in terms of proper setup, operation, calibration, skill in measurement, and interpretation of data. These are sold in small volume, and use high cost components to perform as advertised. High power reliable solid-state switches can cost $200 each - transmitter uses four. The Power ratings fall in the realm of 1000 watts or more and give reliable, repeatable results to a couple hundred feet.
Looking at upper end units that are produced one-at-a-time by a "group" of degreed engineers and management/marketing/technical people. Each member of the group gets a a 50k - 150K a year salary. It all adds up to a million dollar payroll combined with a half million for the facility. The market may consume 20 to 50 units a year. those 50 units absorb the fixed costs of $20K each. With a guaranteed continued market and a 20 percent profit margin - it's easy to visualize a $30K cost. These systems are repeatable, calibrated to an industry acceptable standard and offer results that veture capital and banking institutions will accept when used by the average publicly traded mining company. The application is moderate sized - less than 1 km high grade metaliferous targets.
Just for the sake of mentioning it - The top dogs of the treasure hunters are the megabuck mining companies with airborne TEM systems that they lease for 10K - 100K per day. The post-processing can take days or weeks and adds a 100K to the tab!
But, does it discriminate? No!
Thanks for taking the grand tour. I invite follow-up questions and suggestions.
Chuck
