Jump to content

Gold Nugget Detecting With The MDT 8000


Recommended Posts

I have been intrigued by the Tarsacci MDT 8000 since it came out. And since then there have been some very interesting reports about it. In particular, I have read reports on inland use for relic detecting with great interest. The MDT 8000 appears to have great potential for much more than beach detecting, in particular pulling non-ferrous targets out of trashy mineralized ground.

This excerpt from the recent interview with designer Dimitar Gargov in particular caught my eye - emphasis added:

 

"So we started thinking about introducing this new technology to the market. What makes this detector different is that it handles salt environment, AND,,, mineralized ground simultaneously, both can be adjusted independently. This means that you can reject one or the other or both simultaneously, and this gives you the ability to swing your coil from the dry to the wet sand without changing your ground balance. If your ground balance has changed, this means your Salinity balance is incorrect.

We started calling this the “Salinity Balance” for a reason. The main target for this machine was the beach hunters, even though I am a relic hunter. This detector was originally designed for LAND. It has a fast response time, has fast ground balance.

The Salinity Balance, I call “salinity” just for the beach hunter but actually, this Salinity Balance helps you reject and to ignore fertilized ground, reject hot rocks like natural graphite, which is non-magnetic but all machines detect these hot rocks because they act like low conductors. Coke, it’s another one. In the same group we can put in the very small foil pieces, their in the same group of targets.

And with the Salinity Balance, we can balance out these targets and we can see through them with correct i.d. This is the difference, because this machine does not unmask the salt, it is actually “seeing through” the salt, and the hot rocks using this “see-through” technology.

For a lot of the detectors, if we are in the salt environment, or if we have fertilized ground, the depth starts to be greatly reduced. This is not true with Tarsacci, thanks to this new technology, actually this environment may help you. Your preserving the depth, and you will see even deeper than the air test, with the exactly the same settings, what I am saying, this means you set the ground balance, sensitivity, and the threshold and these are your working settings."

 

Well, here is my issue. I nugget detect in places with two types of mineralization that give me trouble. The typical hot rock infested mineralized ground encountered while nugget detecting is one. The other is less common - the alkali salt laden desert areas, especially common in northern Nevada. Some of these places have so much salt in the ground they are just like detecting on saltwater beaches, and when they get damp for any reason, many top gold detectors struggle or fail to operate due to the high salinity. It is just like detecting on a saltwater beach. Finally, I have many places, especially in the Sierras, that are absolutely riddled with ferrous trash. In fact, my last outing last fall, I was hunting one of these. I was having no luck finding gold, just digging trash target after trash target. It used to be I would just stick with it, but I must be getting old. I quit with half a day left and went home. The trash beat me.

I've been thinking about that all winter, and thinking about the MDT 8000, and finally decided I need to give this detector a try gold nugget detecting. It can run at one of several different frequencies, 6.4 kHz, 9 kHz, 12 kHz, or 18 kHz. Normally I might run higher frequencies when chasing small gold, but I do not see the MDT 8000 as a small gold detector. Rather, I see it as a possible alternative to pulse induction detectors for finding a little larger gold nuggets, but without the need for digging so much trash. I plan to practice with half gram to gram size nuggets as my potential desired targets. I know there are plenty of those still out there in some of those really trashy locations, waiting for a machine that can effectively discriminate out the trash, while getting more depth than the normal crop of nugget detectors.

Anyway, I have a MDT 8000 on the way to me in the near future, and plan of seeing how I can do with it nugget detecting. I will probably also do some beach detecting with it up at Tahoe, but that really is not my main reason for getting the detector. I like trying oddball things that other people are not doing, and I've not heard of anyone giving the MDT 8000 as serious go as a nugget detector. I'm just the guy to give it a try. :smile:

Tarsacci MDT 8000 Data & Reviews

I have to say also that I think the MDT 8000 is a sharp looking detector!

tarsacci-mdt-8000-beach-metal-detector.jpg

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


9 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

"So we started thinking about introducing this new technology to the market. What makes this detector different is that it handles salt environment, AND,,, mineralized ground simultaneously, both can be adjusted independently. This means that you can reject one or the other or both simultaneously, and this gives you the ability to swing your coil from the dry to the wet sand without changing your ground balance. If your ground balance has changed, this means your Salinity balance is incorrect.

My beaches change from wet to dry but also the wetter parts have more black sand than the upper parts and there is a line many times you detect both sides of in order to get the best targets.  I adjust my detectors to this line but it is an interesting engineering feat for someone to recognize the difference between the two and to independently adjust or turn one on and the other off.

Is it stated to be an auto on/off or is there a manual mode too?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve,will look forward to your review and hopefully not just on wet beaches but also general use  if that is your gameplan,do they ship these detectors to the UK or just mainly the US ?? as the ability to be used on sites littered with iron  does seem to be the main thing that is grabbing my attention,some of my sites are really iron infested roman sites.

Very tempting i must admit,will await your review.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been using my Tarsacci mainly for relic hunting, it really does quite well in the iron trash. Still gets fooled by flat tin and round washer type targets occasionally, but overall runs much quieter that your typical VLF at zero disc in disc mode. It can also be run at -30 disc and you can hear all targets, this gives even more audio information. Last weekend I took it to a ghost town in Nevada and ran it for about a hour or so, it ran very quiet at disc zero. I didn't find anything with it but I also went back over the same general area with the Deus to see what I missed and the Deus didn't find anything either.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, RickUK said:

Steve,will look forward to your review and hopefully not just on wet beaches but also general use  if that is your gameplan,do they ship these detectors to the UK or just mainly the US ?? as the ability to be used on sites littered with iron  does seem to be the main thing that is grabbing my attention,some of my sites are really iron infested roman sites.

Very tempting i must admit,will await your review.

Hi Rick,

My use of the MDT 8000 is quite specific. I am interested in how well it will do on around 1/4 gram or larger gold nuggets in highly mineralized ground littered with ferrous trash. Ground that would normally call for a PI, but where the ferrous is overwhelming. The Sierra Nevadas in particular are full of locations where these conditions exist. Many still have larger gold hiding due to all the junk.

I currently have two detectors for this task. The Equinox and Goldmaster 24K. The Equinox is all I need really, but its issues with lack of good closed knock resistant coils for prospecting along with the inability to use replaceable batteries has me keeping the 24K as an option.

My main trial will be a shootout with the MDT versus the 800 and 24K at a site that perfectly illustrates my problem. Larger gold hiding in very mineralized soils littered with ferrous trash.

I am not exploring which detectors hit the tiniest gold. I already know the answer to that and it is not the MDT 8000 at 18 kHz. What I am most interested in is which detector offers the best alternative for depth on larger gold versus a PI detector... my normal tool of the trade.

I will add a Time Ranger Pro, the 19 kHz F19 clone, to the mix as a control simply because I have one. At 19 kHz it is a good match for the MDT for this use and the MDT has to outshine the TRP at a minimum to pass.

I am the ultimate in a practical detectorist. I will take these machines to a genuine location. Contrived tests simply waste my time and I don't bother. I will go find targets in the ground using all the machines, and then use the others to cross check. To pass my test the MDT 8000 must find something better than the other detectors. In other words, I will hunt with it, mark targets, and then cross check those targets before recovering. This is basically the only way I sort detectors out for myself, because at the end of the day I need to pick one and use it. So I do this only until one detector satisfies me enough that I put the others away and go look for gold. My number one goal is to find gold, not to test detectors, so I do not waste time documenting or filming video. I do not do this stuff to prove anything to anyone but myself, and as far as I am concerned all that other stuff is for proving things to other people. I prefer to simply offer my opinions to people who ask, and if they don't believe me... I don't care. I refuse to argue with or prove things to people anymore. I used to dive into that nonsense and finally realized it is a waste of time I'd rather spend doing other things.

So I'll get it all sorted out to my satisfaction, but do not expect videos or charts or anything. But I'll be happy to share my conclusions or observations wherever I get to the point of having any.

12 hours ago, mn90403 said:

My beaches change from wet to dry but also the wetter parts have more black sand than the upper parts and there is a line many times you detect both sides of in order to get the best targets.  I adjust my detectors to this line but it is an interesting engineering feat for someone to recognize the difference between the two and to independently adjust or turn one on and the other off.

Is it stated to be an auto on/off or is there a manual mode too?

Tarsacci MDT 8000 User Manual

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, abenson said:

I've been using my Tarsacci mainly for relic hunting, it really does quite well in the iron trash. Still gets fooled by flat tin and round washer type targets occasionally, but overall runs much quieter that your typical VLF at zero disc in disc mode. It can also be run at -30 disc and you can hear all targets, this gives even more audio information. Last weekend I took it to a ghost town in Nevada and ran it for about a hour or so, it ran very quiet at disc zero. I didn't find anything with it but I also went back over the same general area with the Deus to see what I missed and the Deus didn't find anything either.

Bummer about the flat tin. It is my Achilles Heel in many areas, where old tin cans have decomposed and litter the terrain. Not an issue so much as surface litter, but a real issue when they get in a gully and get some depth. So far Minelab BBS or FBS is the only solution I have found that really works on the stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A quick read of the manual on page 10 explains that you turn on and off the black sand and you can adjust the salt.

This to me is a well designed manual.  I would say someone imagined the manual before they designed the screen.  You have to imagine the end product and how you are going to explain and train for its acceptance to be worth telling others about.

I wonder if there will be some advantage having both of these but it is certainly easier to understand than 'iron bias!'  haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You question was unclear to me Mitchell, so I posted the link to the manual. Black Sand is a specific mode, on or off. The ground balance is adjustable from 0 - 999 and salinity range is 0 - 50.

Salt Mode must be turned on to adjust salinity balance, but Black Sand mode need not be turned on to use the ground balance. Ground balance works if Black Sand Mode is on or off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/10/2020 at 9:13 AM, RickUK said:

Steve,will look forward to your review and hopefully not just on wet beaches but also general use  if that is your gameplan,do they ship these detectors to the UK or just mainly the US ?? as the ability to be used on sites littered with iron  does seem to be the main thing that is grabbing my attention,some of my sites are really iron infested roman sites.

Very tempting i must admit,will await your review.

 

Rick, the Tarsacci was developed specifically for relic hunting by Dimitar Gargov who is a relic hunter. Dimitar designed the machine with small hammered Roman coins in mind when hunting in Bulgarian Balkan. You can read more about this in the interview with Dimitar.

https://forums.tarsaccisales.com/forum/1/interview-dimitar-gargov
Part 2 will be out this week.

Yes, we ship to the U.K. and we’re offering a special shipping rate there too.

Aaron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Steve,

I have sold my GPX5000 and am looking forward to your actual test of the MDT 8000. From what I have read from the interview with the inventor as well as actual owners of this detector it looks promising for detecting in mineralized ground for gold. Yes, GPX owners will say, "you gave up a great machine for finding gold in mineralized ground"! I feel that the MDT8000 is going to be much much easier to use for finding gold in the ground where I prospect compared to the GPX. Anyway, can't wait to here your results with this machine and see pics of found gold.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...