Minelab Gold Monster 1000 tips and questions

[Occasional_panner]

Cool, I have been hanging out to get my hands on one, If a person already has a 5k and the SDC then they need the GM to complete the picture,

I look forward to your thoughts on the GM,

Good luck,

John.

If you had an sdc and a 5000 why would you buy one of these?

2 Reasons really, 1 it can see smaller Gold than the SDC and 2 it has it's version of junk / Iron ID, In old mining sites and tailing piles / Mullock heaps a PI will drive you nuts with the amount of junk you will dig, In clean Hot ground a PI is King, Throw in all the junk from prospectors past and present then a VLF with some form of Iron ID will cut out a lot of wasted time in digging junk,

A person would be better served by using a VLF as much as possible and only use a PI if the ground conditions dictate it.

John.

I'm pretty new to detecting but all the advice I have so far is dig every target and don't use iron discriminate.
I have seen how small the gold you can find with an sdc, if you found anything smaller than an sdc could you would simply be wasting your time.
But that's just my opinion.

 

[Solid Luck]

why is it taking so long to get some field results on the gold monster?

To get a balanced picture of how it performs takes a few months from many users from across the globe, They are not that wide spread meaning that not many folks have them in order to get a good Idea of how they perform, So we need to give it a chance for the results to come in. :Y:

John.

I'll let you know when I dig mine out of the shed and get out to the GT.

 

[Northeast]

but there hasnt been many reviews from other countries that have had it alot longer than here in australia

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but it was a worldwide release May 8 which then got put back to late May/early June.

The vids you see from Mexico and Africa were units either supplied by Minelab or vids actually undertaken by Minelab. No general public machines have been available "a lot longer" than here in Oz.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Cool, I have been hanging out to get my hands on one, If a person already has a 5k and the SDC then they need the GM to complete the picture,

I look forward to your thoughts on the GM,

Good luck,

John.

If you had an sdc and a 5000 why would you buy one of these?

2 Reasons really, 1 it can see smaller Gold than the SDC and 2 it has it's version of junk / Iron ID, In old mining sites and tailing piles / Mullock heaps a PI will drive you nuts with the amount of junk you will dig, In clean Hot ground a PI is King, Throw in all the junk from prospectors past and present then a VLF with some form of Iron ID will cut out a lot of wasted time in digging junk,

A person would be better served by using a VLF as much as possible and only use a PI if the ground conditions dictate it.

John.

I'm pretty new to detecting but all the advice I have so far is dig every target and don't use iron discriminate.
I have seen how small the gold you can find with an sdc, if you found anything smaller than an sdc could you would simply be wasting your time.
But that's just my opinion.

People have worked for years trying to extract the finest of Gold from the ground, So these machines must make it worth it, I know that JP has or had a GB II and I know Nenad has his fair share of them and does really well with them and certain well know American Prospectors also own such machines, So If they own them then maybe they know something that many others don't,

Adding such a machine as the GM to ones Arsenal is about having more tools in your kit, more in Reserve to turn to when you need it, A PI is no better than a VLF and a VLF is no better than a PI, because they both have different jobs One is for hot ground, One is for Junk, A VLF is no lesser detector when used for the right application.

A couple of years ago people here laughed at the Idea of pin pointers and now about 85% of people own one, It's more about the right tool for the job,

hope that helps.

John.

 

[Occasional_panner]

Yeah, I saw a patch that had fine gold recently, but it was a fair way from water, so I'll go back there in summer with the dryblower, so yeah, use the right tool for the job.
I was just curious as to the advantage of this over an sdc, which I know is an extremely capable unit at finding small gold, and it works in mineralized areas.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Yeah, I saw a patch that had fine gold recently, but it was a fair way from water, so I'll go back there in summer with the dryblower, so yeah, use the right tool for the job.
I was just curious as to the advantage of this over an sdc, which I know is an extremely capable unit at finding small gold, and it works in mineralized areas.

Sorry I forget to answer you question about using Discrimination,

It is only an Iron ID but the final choice comes down to the user and their skill/confidence in their particular machine, There are no hard and fast rules because even the best of machines can be fooled a lot of the time.

The SDC is a Legend in it's own right and It always performs as long as a person is in the right place, Not knocking the SDC here, If I was new to the game then the first machine I would buy would be the SDC and a VLF for the days that I am feeling lazy, and then a 5k, sounds crazy but I just like to cover every situation because there will be days when no matter what you try does not work out for the best.

hope that helps,

John.

 

[Northeast]

Occasional Panner wrote - If you had an sdc and a 5000 why would you buy one of these?

It's a fair question OP :Y:

I have a GPZ and have sold the SDC to buy the GM. The Z finds such small (and large) gold that I simply didn't use the SDC. And the money left over from selling the SDC made the good lady happy too.

And over the past year I have found about 6 particular spots that I have found gold and within them are some really heavy junky spots - to the point you can't put the Z down to dig a target because there isn't a bit of ground without a target in it.

So I'm not buying the GM to be a better unit than the SDC - I am buying it to be a different unit to the SDC. And yes, the theory of dig every target is a good one but in some of these spots it really is just impractical. BUT if more than a couple of the targets in these high trash areas are actually gold maybe I will think it's worthwhile to dig the lot.

And re: finding small gold. I'm hoping the GM isn't all about small gold. One spot that is high on my list is a mine that has had thousands of ounces of gold come from it and there remains huge piles of really large Quartz (football size). Much of this quartz may have gold in it. But in these piles are also years of mining junk. The GPZ + large Quartz + target signals = a ridiculous amount of work to find a 130 year old bolt

Hopefully the GM saves me a bit of hard labour :Y:

 

[Ridge Runner]

Occasional Panner wrote - If you had an sdc and a 5000 why would you buy one of these?

It's a fair question OP :Y:

I have a GPZ and have sold the SDC to buy the GM. The Z finds such small (and large) gold that I simply didn't use the SDC. And the money left over from selling the SDC made the good lady happy too.

And over the past year I have found about 6 particular spots that I have found gold and within them are some really heavy junky spots - to the point you can't put the Z down to dig a target because there isn't a bit of ground without a target in it.

So I'm not buying the GM to be a better unit than the SDC - I am buying it to be a different unit to the SDC. And yes, the theory of dig every target is a good one but in some of these spots it really is just impractical. BUT if more than a couple of the targets in these high trash areas are actually gold maybe I will think it's worthwhile to dig the lot.

And re: finding small gold. I'm hoping the GM isn't all about small gold. One spot that is high on my list is a mine that has had thousands of ounces of gold come from it and there remains huge piles of really large Quartz (football size). Much of this quartz may have gold in it. But in these piles are also years of mining junk. The GPZ + large Quartz + target signals = a ridiculous amount of work to find a 130 year old bolt

Hopefully the GM saves me a bit of hard labour :Y:

Thanks NE, that was the point I was trying to make, I tried such a place with a PI and apart from the day someone stole all my gear I would have to say that was the worst days detecting that I have ever had, Brutal, totally brutal.

John.

 

[Occasional_panner]

Occasional Panner wrote - If you had an sdc and a 5000 why would you buy one of these?

It's a fair question OP :Y:

I have a GPZ and have sold the SDC to buy the GM. The Z finds such small (and large) gold that I simply didn't use the SDC. And the money left over from selling the SDC made the good lady happy too.

And over the past year I have found about 6 particular spots that I have found gold and within them are some really heavy junky spots - to the point you can't put the Z down to dig a target because there isn't a bit of ground without a target in it.

So I'm not buying the GM to be a better unit than the SDC - I am buying it to be a different unit to the SDC. And yes, the theory of dig every target is a good one but in some of these spots it really is just impractical. BUT if more than a couple of the targets in these high trash areas are actually gold maybe I will think it's worthwhile to dig the lot.

And re: finding small gold. I'm hoping the GM isn't all about small gold. One spot that is high on my list is a mine that has had thousands of ounces of gold come from it and there remains huge piles of really large Quartz (football size). Much of this quartz may have gold in it. But in these piles are also years of mining junk. The GPZ + large Quartz + target signals = a ridiculous amount of work to find a 130 year old bolt

Hopefully the GM saves me a bit of hard labour :Y:

OK, so basically you are buying it on it's ability to discriminate. I hope that feature works well for you mate. :Y:
If it does and it works ok in mineralized areas then I'll get one myself, but I'll let you be the guinea pig.
I'm sure the sales will go boom if those hopes prove to be true.

 

[Northeast]

RR - stolen gear is most definitely a sucky day.

Me too OP!!! Some may call it being lazy. I'm calling it being efficient

 

[Occasional_panner]

Not lazy at all mate, that's just working smart, as long as you can trust the discriminate feature.

 

[Zengeo]

but there hasnt been many reviews from other countries that have had it alot longer than here in australia

Well It was the same with the GPZ and the MXS and the Nokta /Makro machines too, The detecting world moves so slow, It has always been that way, They are slow to invent them, slow to release them and slow to provide the info, That is one thing that will never change so what you are seeing OR not seeing is nothing new to the detecting world,

Any slower and they would rust, but that is how it has always been,

John.

So true.
And Clint, if you don't have the patience to wait a couple of weeks for a few other reviews to roll in, guess what? Detecting probably ain't for you! Haha

 

[clint3]

ive got plenty of patience i just dont want to buy something that is no good.i work hard in the shearing sheds during the week just want a break on the weekends when im not working the weekends.so i will wait for more reviews on the gold monster.

 

[Ridge Runner]

ive got plenty of patience i just dont want to buy something that is no good.i work hard in the shearing sheds during the week just want a break on the weekends when im not working the weekends.so i will wait for more reviews on the gold monster.

Well you need to list what you want from a machine and how you intend to use it then folks can steer you right, In the right conditions a VLF can go extremely deep and they can also suffer a 60-70% depth loss in hot ground, But there are enough machines out there to ensure you get the right one for you.

John.

 

[clint3]

im in beaufort and will detect around here but will go further when time allows me too

 

[Gold Diver]

Hi Guys,

Long time no post, but I am off on a 2 week trip in the far north of WA.
Taking with me a 4500, SDC and the new GM 1000.
I'll post up a video in 3 weeks, so stay tuned.

Can't Wait

GD

 

[Norvic]

Did you actually get some yellow Norvic?

Clint and Ridge Runner - I've only seen the one negative report and that was by Argyle. But I haven't delved too much further than here or detectorprospector.

All the other reports have been very positive about the abilities of an 'entry level' VLF.

I'm hoping mine arrives Tuesday and I get to hit some good spots Wednesday. Will certainly be posting up a little write up when it does arrive and I get the chance to use it.

In reply yes my Monster has been well blooded on the same ground I blooded a GM2 some 20 years plus back, the same ground that has seen 1000s of detectors since. But the real weight came via the Z the next day.

 

[grubstake]

Hi Guys,
Long time no post, but I am off on a 2 week trip in the far north of WA.
Taking with me a 4500, SDC and the new GM 1000.
I'll post up a video in 3 weeks, so stay tuned.
Can't Wait
GD

Given your prior experience and success with the MXT in hot, trashy ground, I reckon that'll be of great interest.

And I still remember that cool, moody video you did with the Go Pro and trail bike - those red dirt vistas and the endless horizon, with a churning Aussie soundtrack. :Y: For those who haven't seen it, it's still there on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecUvJ2-G1FQ

 

[Gold Diver]

Thanks Grubstake.

As I am not a great reviewer of detectors, if there is any test you want me to do to see how the GM handles our red dirt let me know?
I was just going to run it in the creek, the same creek that does my head in with the 4500 because of old timer rubbish.
I did pull out a 12 Grammer there last year with the 4500 in Iron disrim and a DD.
The MXT and Garrett AT Gold can't handle the dirt at all, so be interesting to see how the GM goes.

Here is another video I did last year, forward to 1.40min if you haven't got time to watch the entire video.......I got a new way to film?

https://youtu.be/gue_i871OW0

GD

 

[dam it]

Does anyone want to SELL THERE gold monster yet
I am a keen buyer ready to go