Minelab Gold Monster 1000 tips and questions

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As I am in the market for a dector and money is an issue I am considering one of these detectors. I would be using it mainly around the Kalgoorlie, Menzies, Laverton and Leonora areas and would like to know if people have used one in the areas mentioned. If so how did it preform. I have used a GPX5000 with success so I know it will be a back wards step. Can someone please explain to me what VLF is?
 
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I saw this posted on fb earlier. Found with a Gold monster. I guess they can find gold alright. 8)
 
Check in with Northeast, Clint3, he has recently purchased one and has some results, he did post elsewhere about the machine and his results, it's on page 209 of Gold detecting show and tell :Y:
Cheers
 
Well, first post and first metal detector. I've been reading up and digesting a lot of information about the various detectors on the market and decided that the Monster would be a reasonable entry level detector. My preference would have been a pure PI detector but the prices for a good one were way outside of my budget (for the moment... :p ) I didnt want one that was too basic, however, as this detector needs to carry me until I can afford a more expensive one.

The 1000 is interesting. Plonks aluminium into the gold category...which is annoying for fossicking public areas where the ring-pull and bottle-top reign supreme. There is a slight tonal variation, but not enough for my novice ears, so I'm basically digging everything that pings gold. Still in the process of reducing the size of the target and the depth, to find the (rough) limits.

Being from Canberra, there isnt much locally in the way of old gold mining areas. I'm thinking Captains Flat, Majors Creek, Araluen, Mogo....etc) The Flat will be interesting as its supposedly un-detectable due to the hot rock syndrome. I'm assuming the other areas would have been fossicked out, esp considering they didn't really produce much in the way of gold in the first place (checked the old registers of gold finds for the areas).

If anyone else has any ideas about where to go to give the Monster a bit of a workout, let me know. Has to be within a couple of hours of Canberra tho, for the moment.

:)
 
Shakergt - the 2 posts above yours are both about WA and they aren't positive reports for the soils over there.

I also have a mate (another forum member) who has just returned from WA, and although having a successful time with the GPZ, he had bought a GM for his wife and wasn't impressed at all with its abilities on hot ground. And he was around Leonora somewhere.

I'm having fun with mine here in Vic but maybe not such a great investment if you're in the west :Y:
 
Northeast said:
Shakergt - the 2 posts above yours are both about WA and they aren't positive reports for the soils over there.

......

I'm having fun with mine here in Vic but maybe not such a great investment if you're in the west :Y:
Click to expand...

That's all what I'd been thinking. But not what I wanted to hear 8.(

Looks like I'm gonna have to save for quite a while for a SDC2300...
 
Give the GM credit where it's due, It has quite a high frequency so ground noise will become a problem compared the a normal VLF that runs in the 12 to 15khz, I think people are expecting too much from the GM, having 2 things that are working against it in hotter ground, 1 being the higher frequency and 2 being a VLF,

Where it will out perform a PI is where there is a load of junk, and it will see fine Gold, No doubt it works we have all seen the pictures, And I think people who have mainly used PI machines will be overwhelmed at the Rapid fire signals that a VLF will report, My VLF will signal on a dozen targets that are 10mm apart and less and they sound like a machine Gun going off so if you are not use to a VLF it will do your head In,

Every time the subject of VLF's comes up we hear people say they won't handle the Ground, But that is only part of the story, Because In order to get a VLF to run well in hot ground you have to turn them down and then people say but you loose depth ? But most fine Gold is normally just below the surface so you don't need Depth / Power and A VLF will see small Gold at close to the similar depths as a PI can because even PI's will not see tiny Gold very deep either, If we are talking about Larger Gold down beyond a foot and more in very hot ground then the PI is King "So is the ZED".

The GM is tuned for small Gold and small Gold does not sink very far and it will see larger Gold as long as it is not crazy Deep, When you swing a PI and then try a VLF for the first time and vice versa we have to forget about all we know when we change to a different type of technology because neither machine can replicate what the other one does, I tried that back when the 3500 first came out and I had a devil of a day and made a rod for my own back, PI's are fairly easy to run in hot ground but a VLF takes a bit of effort if you are trying to use them in hot ground and a PI is tough going in junk filled ground,

Bottom line it I think people need to keep an open mind when judging the GM, It's new and not many people have them but a lot of people are doing well with them, personally I think the GM is going to be bigger than most Gold based VLF's/LF's.

John.
 
Rodge Runner wrote: "But most fine Gold is normally just below the surface so you don't need Depth / Power".
I disagree........
1. Just because our detectors can't find deep small gold, doesn't mean that it's not deep. I'm sure much fine gold would be deeper than we can detect.
We miss the deeper fine bits and find shallower bits, so incorrectly come to the conclusion that fine gold is shallow.
2. I also think that many larger/deeper targets have likely been removed by other machines GPXs etc which missed the tiny bits, further giving the impression that small gold is always shallow as the bigger gold has gone deeper - no, was just found by different machines.
3. I find small gravels (inc sand) along with larger gravels sitting on clays etc at depth. Given that these silicates have a SG around 1/7 of gold, it is clear that even fine gold would also be around that depth.
4. Much fine glod is found in mullock heaps hauled from the depths.
The conclusion should be that: "detectable fine gold is shallow".
So I think that you do need as much depth and power as you can get - ground permitting.
I'm not against VLFs, but just need to set the record straight.
 
BigWave said:
Rodge Runner wrote: "But most fine Gold is normally just below the surface so you don't need Depth / Power".
I disagree........
1. Just because our detectors can't find deep small gold, doesn't mean that it's not deep. I'm sure much fine gold would be deeper than we can detect.
We miss the deeper fine bits and find shallower bits, so incorrectly come to the conclusion that fine gold is shallow.
2. I also think that many larger/deeper targets have likely been removed by other machines GPXs etc which missed the tiny bits, further giving the impression that small gold is always shallow as the bigger gold has gone deeper - no, was just found by different machines.
3. I find small gravels (inc sand) along with larger gravels sitting on clays etc at depth. Given that these silicates have a SG around 1/7 of gold, it is clear that even fine gold would also be around that depth.
4. Much fine flod is found in mullock heaps hauled from the depths.
The conclusion should be that: "detectable fine gold is shallow".
So I think that you do need as much depth and power as you can get - ground permitting.
I'm not against VLFs, but just need to set the record straight.
Click to expand...

I agree with you there BW. :Y:
 
Hey BW,

I agree with you about fine gold being at depth and I have proved it. 2 Weeks ago when I found a 5grams nugget at 12inches on the layer where the gravel meets the clay I took a scraping of 2inches of clay home to pan. What I found was lots of fine gold which would explain why the old timers took all gravel wash down to the clay base.
 
BigWave said:
Rodge Runner wrote: "But most fine Gold is normally just below the surface so you don't need Depth / Power".
I disagree........
1. Just because our detectors can't find deep small gold, doesn't mean that it's not deep. I'm sure much fine gold would be deeper than we can detect.
We miss the deeper fine bits and find shallower bits, so incorrectly come to the conclusion that fine gold is shallow.
2. I also think that many larger/deeper targets have likely been removed by other machines GPXs etc which missed the tiny bits, further giving the impression that small gold is always shallow as the bigger gold has gone deeper - no, was just found by different machines.
3. I find small gravels (inc sand) along with larger gravels sitting on clays etc at depth. Given that these silicates have a SG around 1/7 of gold, it is clear that even fine gold would also be around that depth.
4. Much fine glod is found in mullock heaps hauled from the depths.
The conclusion should be that: "detectable fine gold is shallow".
So I think that you do need as much depth and power as you can get - ground permitting.
I'm not against VLFs, but just need to set the record straight.
Click to expand...

Well if that is the case then why does the SDC find most of the tiny gold near the surface within the top 2 or 3 inches, Also in areas where the bedrock is close to the surface you don't need a deep machine anyway because once you get down to the rock you can't dig any deeper anyway and any metals that are within those top few inches will be picked up by most High Gain VLF's.

I agree about in the deeper soils, But if it is fine Gold then it has to be dug up with a digger and run through a dry washer etc, and if it is that deep then no detector is going to find it anyway, Even the mighty Zed has it's limits, And in shallow bedrock areas a VLF used right will do ok,

When searching where the rock is close to the surface where it gets stuck in cracks and things the detector is sort of Air testing the targets and as such a VLF will reach out a long way where it is not having to go through the ground/dirt. and under those conditions a VLF will not only be more sensitive it will sniff out targets in the rocks pretty deep because they are not buried nor in the Air.

And not all ground in Oz is highly mineralized, Quite a lot of it is but most of it is not. and a Good VLF in the right hands will match or beat a PI in lesser soil conditions As my Sovereign GT did with the standard 10" BBS coil compared to my GP 3500 with the 11" factory DD fitted,

I have no doubts that the GM 1000 is more than up to the task in hand, But it is not a Hot Soil Machine, And from the pictures posted on this thread it more than holds it's own,

Horses for courses and all that,
 
tryhard1968 said:
Hey BW,
I agree with you about fine gold being at depth and I have proved it. 2 Weeks ago when I found a 5grams nugget at 12inches on the layer where the gravel meets the clay I took a scraping of 2inches of clay home to pan. What I found was lots of fine gold which would explain why the old timers took all gravel wash down to the clay base.
Click to expand...
Hi TH. I'll try that as well next time I'm down to that depth!
 
tryhard1968 said:
Hey BW,

I agree with you about fine gold being at depth and I have proved it. 2 Weeks ago when I found a 5grams nugget at 12inches on the layer where the gravel meets the clay I took a scraping of 2inches of clay home to pan. What I found was lots of fine gold which would explain why the old timers took all gravel wash down to the clay base.
Click to expand...

Yep, Fine Gold can be found deep if the soil is fairly sandy and not dense like Clay, But if that clay gets water logged fairly often then the Gold will sink down slowly, but not as fast as it sinks in sandy or normal soils.
 
RR. I've ignored your specious (false/misleading) arguments here thus far re:"But most fine Gold is normally just below the surface so you don't need Depth / Power, so no point in punching deeper."
This is totally based (IMO) in sophistry (clever but false arguments), so I haven't responded to your responses till now (I was going to ignore them - where others have responded), but it's gotten to the point where would-be Monster buyers could be misinformed.
The deeper that you can punch with intelligent feedback in all ground types the better - that's it!! Over and over!!
In some grounds like the GT and in WA where genuine reports say to "leave the Monster in the boot", then let those reports stand as actuals along with all the positive reports from the others in more benign areas. That way other potential buyers can make informed buying decisions without your specious spin.
Your responses seem like those from a Donald Trump campaign manager in knacker control mode after each of his Tweeter stuff-ups.
Let's hear both sides without interruption from your constant ill-informed feedback and let's keep it factual!
I don't have a Monster (I do have a VLF), but do you?
 

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