Leaderboard

3,000 pounds of #2 steel only costs about $350. If you ignore the design, alloying, fabricating, shipping, storage, dealer profit, taxes, CAPEX, labor and marketing costs a small car shouldn't cost much more than $500. Jewelers do all that and then display and advertise their goods in expensive limited exposure retail settings for months or years before selling them. The elemental gold and gems in a simple necklace or ring often involves a higher cost of raw material than a car that sells within 6 months in a very low overhead retail setting. The car dealer takes the car into stock on credit, the jeweler carries their stock on a cash basis. When you factor in the costs for the time and opportunity value of money the jeweler has a much higher unit overhead and still manages to provide a unique product, unlike the auto manufacturers. Why should a car with a few thousands of dollars worth of material and labor cost $30,000 new and only net $500 when sold for scrap value? Is the junkyard that's buying your scrap car making a fortune from that $500 purchase? Or maybe the car manufacturer is a crook? When you bought your last car or jewelry did you weigh them and figure out their raw material value before you bought them or did you buy the car or jewelry that best fit your desires and budget? You can't really blame the buyer of your gold/gems for the situation. At best they will make about 5% on the transaction after their costs are subtracted. If you purchased your jewelry or car with an eye to resale values you could receive more in a public resale situation than any jewelry scrap dealer or junkyard will pay you. A Cartier or Bulgari necklace will usually appreciate in resale value over time. A Walmart 14k gold necklace has a market value little better than scrap the day you purchase it. If the jeweler tells you they think your jewelry has a retail value of $1,000 and you accept less than spot value for the metal is it the jewelers fault you decided to scrap the piece rather than selling it yourself for $1,000? If a used car dealer tells you the car you purchased for $30,000 7 years ago is now worth $2,000 in the retail market and you sell it to a scrapyard for $500 is it the used car dealer that's at fault for your "loss"? You can't really expect either the used car dealer or the jeweler to purchase your used goods at the retail value and put them into their stock, there would be no profit left for them. The jeweler and the used car dealer both have distribution networks where they can buy and sell goods just like the ones you are offering for considerably less than retail. They have long term relationships and credit built up through these networks. Why would they pay you anywhere near their wholesale cost when there is only one transaction involved and you won't be there to back up your deal or provide more business in the future? I realize you have little control over the quality or value of your finds but I hope the above will give you a basis for understanding the concept of "value" when applied to jewelry. There are ways to get more money for your finds but they involve more work than just figuring out scrap value. If you want better offers from your buyers establish yourself as a long term customer/supplier. Find one or two buyers who offer you the best deals and build a relationship with them. Once you show some knowledge, respect and consistency your offers from them will increase right along with your value to them as a long term customer. I know several jewelers and coin dealers who regularly give me much better deals than they would an unknown off the street customer who was offering the same goods. That's because I've created a long term ongoing relationship that is mutually beneficial. Or you can try selling your finds at retail prices to the public. The jeweler or coin dealer has already provided you with a good estimate of retail value for free. After a few rounds of the retail experience you will better understand how overhead and the time cost of money affects the final cost of goods. You will get more money for your find but it will involve more expense and take considerably longer for you to complete the transaction. Business is about making a profit but for tradesmen it's also about building relationships that will further their business goals. Try to walk a mile in their shoes and I think you will discover that the real value in jewelry is all about market realities and is not based on the cost of materials they are made of or the price tag in a display case. If you continue to sell your finds for scrap value you can't really expect to get retail values. If you want retail values you will need to find a profitable way to sell them yourself at retail.

Sometimes you just have to find the right beach ... the right energy. That is what I did this morning. I got out about 3 hours before low tide (4:30 AM) at a regular beach and found next to nothing. There was nothing that had been moved by the tide or the waves in one of my favorite beaches. This half of a mile beach was dead. It was time to go over a jetty and detect a beach that could get waves and energy from a different direction. That got me started. The waves overnight had been small and the tide was not really going to be very low but the beach had quite a slope to it. I found a couple of quarters. I gridded as I have done this beach before and the quarters kept coming. These were 'old' quarters as my wife sometimes says. That means they are tarnished and have been in the water for some time. Now enough energy had focused on this beach to move them up. What comes with old quarters? RINGS! The first one came at the bottom of a grid. It was the stainless steel black ring. More quarters and more dimes and then the bracelet, and then the second ring and more quarters and a little trash and I'm skipping some pennies. Then I get an 18 on the 800 and I did it and it is the 3rd ring. Another cheap one but still a ring. I'm closing in on 3 hours and I need to go move my car but I also want to complete my grid pattern. Then for about the 3rd or 4th time this hunt I get multiple signals but the 800 is fast enough to distinguish the sounds. I focus on a 'ring sound' and sure enough I get the 1.9g/14k ring. It was among 2 other quarters, a couple of nickels and a dime. These were all within a 5 ft circle digging down about 6-8 inches. It was a good day and a good lesson once again about the energy. The places I hunt need energy to move valuable objects. Some of the heavies will be at the bottom of the grid but the gold ring was near the top. Quarters will get there also with the right waves and wind. I don't need a negative tide to find some good stuff. Totals 38 Quarters 37 Dimes 14 Nickels 23 Pennies (I could have dug more but I do a little cherry picking to save my arm and time!) 4 Rings The beach is not always this good and looking for gold in the desert has its challenges also. You have to take what you can get. Mitchel

Gosh, it looks like we do have a waterproof TDI after all! Ships with a Heavy Duty battery for longer run time and also has increased sensitivity and stability due to the hardwired coil. A bonus we did not expect! Want a mono coil? Coiltek? Miner John? Etc? We are working on setting that up in "White's Custom Shop." Or if you are handy you can DIY (note: this will void your warranty). Sorry for not having more info earlier. We like to tell our dealers first and wait until products are ready to ship. Now excuse me while I jump in the Klamath River and find some nice nugs in the bedrock. https://www.whiteselectronics.com/product/tdi-beachhunter/ White's TDI BeachHunter Specifications Operating mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pulse Induction Pulse Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.6kHz - 3kHz Pulse Delay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10μs - 25μs Search modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PI, Ground balanced PI Ground balance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Differential delay Audio tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hi/Lo Audio output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Hard-wired headphones Search coil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12” Dual Field (aftermarket coils available) Weight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 lbs (with 12” DF coil) Length. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 - 48 inches, adjustable Batteries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (8) AA, NiMH & alkaline Battery life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 hours typical2 Warranty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 years, transferrable Waterproof. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25ft/7.5m White's TDI BeachHunter Owner's Manual

First, I would recommend a relationship with the coin or jewelry dealer. Buy something from them. Sell them some stuff. Mine knows I will be in to trade silver and gold jewelry I find for coins or bullion, so I get fair deals on things both ways. We are at the point where she expects to see some of my more interesting finds, and she also knows what types of things I am looking for, and sets them aside for me to look at. My 1, 2.5, 5, and 10 dollar gold coins for testing my detectors have all been purchased or traded for with her...some are in PCGS holders, some are damaged or were jewelry...but we are both making out well with our transactions now. There are a bunch of coin/jewelry dealers in my area I trust about as far as I can throw them, and it took a while to find this one...so have patience. An impatient person will never get value, imo. Good luck.

Steve..... one or the other of those coils will suffer if the same settings are used. The larger coil in a trashy area takes is a LOT more material to process....... depth isnt everything and often times you can benefit from not running a hot coil. Its better to run both coils optimized for the area and target and let the results be your finds.

Got out with my buddy Dave today to do some detecting. We had the plan to try a new area, and if that didn't pan out we would go back to the area I had had some luck the last 2 outings. We struck out in the new area, and headed to the old one. I went out trying to expand on the new patch...no luck. Dave hung around the area where I found the patch 2 weeks ago. I started exploring a bit looking for good ground when Dave radioed me that he had found a couple nice nuggets. I made a beeline to meet up with him, still working my GPZ when I hit a great mellow signal. Turned out to be a 2+ gram nugget and the start of a 5 nugget patch. Biggest being 3g. We had lunch a made another run for no luck, but a great day nonetheless. My nuggets 6.4 grams Dave's score, with a nice big nugget. Chris

Found this past weekend with the GPZ 19 coil at 2 measured feet. JP 20 grams

My first Roman Silver found with the NOX, Field2. VDI 14/15, default settings 8 inches down, 4 units on the depth gauge. Lovely tone Believed to be a Silver Denarius by Septimus Severus AD209, This side Minerva, the other side the head of one of his Sons either Geta or Caracalla, commemorating the victories achieved by the Romans led by Severus and Caracalla in Scotland AD209 -10.

Published on Jul 25, 2018 - Some great tricks and tips from Gerry's Metal Detectors on how to use the whites 24k Goldmaster.

I'm John and I live in Windsor, ON. I had just returned from a trip to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. After poking around in some of the the many 1800's stone foundations found there, I became very interested in detecting again after lightly exploring it during my youth. Given the island's history and location, I'm sure that there is a wealth of undiscovered booty to be had there still. I'm very glad to have found this site and it's wealth of good information. I eagerly look forward to learning all I can from everyone here.

New white's video

That is a good note. This was a one-man-band setup, no script - camera on tripod was my only friend. But I should probably do a better job of listening back to make sure I get everything right. Next time!

Tom When the TDI first came out I found myself hunting on the beaches of Ms. It had the dual field coil on it and I never before dug so deep for a coin than ever with other coils. In my opinion if you going to use the Beach Hunter on the beach . This can be in are out of the water you just can’t go wrong using the dual field coil . The only thing I wonder is what’s next coming out of White’s ? Chuck

Most machines that have a single ground balance point will balance to a combination of what's under the coil. White sand usually lacks the type of minerals detectors look at for ground balancing, so I would guess that you will be balancing out mostly the black sand. Here we have some difficult beach areas with black sand, basalt rocks, and then of course the conductive salt. Definitely pulse territory!

Hi Northeast Nice link. Very creative that table. Cheers! Andy.

I'm in the UK and went to an extremely trashy park a few days ago. Only had 30 mins cozI had to go pick up the missus. I decided because i was limited in time, I would cherry pick, in a big way. I only wanted shallow stuff, so i put it in Park 1, gain/sensitivity 10..yes, TEN! Also I said to myself i'm only gonna dig targets that give a 100% perfect repeatable sound, plus I would turn 90 degrees and end up doing a 360 and all 4 turns i would only dig if it was a banging repeatable sound. Basically I dug 12 targets. 1 was a tiny bit of can slaw The other 11 were ALL coins!! Only old £1 coins, old 50p coin, and rest were modern 20p coins and 1p coin. I'm blabbering on a bit now, BUT.....digging 12 targets and 11 were all coins is bl**dy good! In my opinion, Is it "good" for Trashy parks? NO - It is absolutely FANTASTIC in trashy parks. I can only drool while I wait for my small Equinox coil to arrive and then it will be a SUPER fantastic! I tell you what....this Equinox is an absolute killer machine...I use it on the beach...in the water, on the wet sand and dry sand...zero falsing and on my permissions (800 acre farms etc) and i've used it in the river a couple of times. Equinox In trashy parks = AWESOME Beach...In sea, dry sand & wet sand = AWESOME Farm fields/pasture = AWESOME Only 2 river trips, but = AWESOME Matt.

So many new toys like the 24K and now the TDI Beach Hunter but so little money. I may have to put myself up for adoption. My trouble I’m sure will be someone who can afford me and my toys. I like what was shown about that you can hang the Hunter off your hip. Anytime I can reduce the weight off my arm I’ll do it. On the price oh don’t get me wrong I wish it was lower but the quality may be lower too. With the adaption in the way one would want to hunt makes it well worth the money. Here I was saving my pennies to buy the 24K but now being the beach is nearer than gold country. I do believe the TDI Beach Hunter is going to win out. Chuck

Im with you Cliff....... havent taken mine apart since i put it on an Andersons straight shaft....... just rinse and go. As far as the sand in the lower shaft...... i drilled a hole and it goes out before i leave the water. No amount of rinsing is going to keep that upper aluminum from blistering/pitting over time if you use it in the salt water.

There are many nuggets for sale on August 18 but the feature nugget is the 40 ozt Lightning Bolt nugget from Victoria. https://fineart.ha.com/itm/nature-and-science/gold-nugget-lightning-bolt-victoria-australia/a/5387-72036.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515 This is great eye candy from all over the world.

"You all suck! Really no feedback? Ba-humbug!! " Spartan, your a funny guy! I have the Fisher F-Pulse. From my 3 months of using it I can say it is a powerfull unit and I like it, but you need to change batteries after about 16 hours of use if like me you use full sensitivity. After about 16 hours of use it can get quirky and not respond as anticipated. I believe it is a little sensitive to any drop in voltage due to aging batteries. Also, I had to stretch the negative contact spring which is attached to the end cap out as it was making intermittent contact and the unit was malfunctioning even with fresh batteries so watch out for that also. Good hunting, Malcolm

Good luck with the Zed Dig. Post up your first finds.

Getting a week at the beach for a little R & R and yes detecting. I must be honest my first day was not that grand (two zincs and a shell casing) with the Equinox 800. Hunted with the stock beach 1 program with no adjustments found very little in the way of nice finds. I had high hopes the beach was like it was a couple years ago, but sand had been hauled in and built up by maybe 5'. Even the wet slope didn't yield much in the way of finds. But decided to hunt the towel line the second day and found a matching set of earrings some 4" deep at the edge of where high tide and the towel line began. Talk about small, but the Equinox had no problem finding small targets.

Market the item youself. Retail price on jewery is insane and is usually bought on impulse. Jewelry is a loss not an investment.

If you are worried about the connector (when not connected) either be real careful not to get water on the connector. Use a plastic bag if you have to.... or reconnect the connector until you are done rinsing it off..... To be honest, since I've owned my machine, I rinse it off at the beach, and take it home to charge.....it is only going to get wet the next day anyway..... connector hasn't been disconnected since I put it on originally. Many days it gets put away wet to drip dry......

Not all are like that. I sold several ounces of rings and got 90% of spot. That seems fair doesn't it? No stones involved.

Northeast...When I rinse my unit off, I take it apart pretty much all the way. I don't take the handle/controller or the arm cuff off, but all the rest I do. The sand is so intrusive that if I don't clean it well it gets to be to hard to dis-assemble. I have my Nox on an Anderson carbon fiber shaft.

The glass top coffee table is a good suggestion. Just saw a recent build commencement on Prospecting Australia. Page 76, post 1881. https://www.prospectingaustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1736&p=76

Good Info

Awesome find

Just received my GPZ ( NOX 800 needed company )looking forward to getting out today for 1st detect session. The 19" coil should be here by end of week, along with the Pro-Find 35. ( Garrett Carrot needs company as well ) Can't wait to get out, road trips in near future !!

Ya ya, you're probably getting tired of all the "new Equinox just got gold" threads, but here is another. Same old tired cliche, first day out with new said wonder-machine, then BAM out comes a 8" deep, 1/4 ounce gold ring from a previously pounded location. Sigh. I mean come on, it was right under the soccer net, 4 feet from where I usually set down my drinking water. The place I stand when I look at other gold I find. The place that every newbie heads to. The place I did a tight over-lapping spiral around both posts with a Deus and a Lobo. The place that my 2 friends have detected on multiple occasions with a Deus and Etrac. Yet it was right there the whole time. I walked up to the net, dug a penny and thought "hmm, I'm surprised that is still there" but hey it is a multi-freq Mineslab right? No big deal, stranger things have happened. About 14"-16" away I get the almost identical signal, perhaps slightly jumpier, flickering 20-22 ID. I saw that soft edge golden glow in the bottom of the hole, I said "F-you don't be something or other" cause this place has gold toned aluminum scraps and beaver-tails that would make Peter Munk take a triple take. I thought the ring looked to be about 3-4 grams, my eyes almost bulged out of my head when I saw it weighed in at over 8 grams, a good size piece of alloy around here. It might be higher then 10K due to the heft, the mark is worn and my acids are expired so I will get it XRFed when I get a chance to stop in. This is my forth Mineslab and the third time something like this has happened. There was that week of silver running around town with a new Etrac, I also hit gold 45 minutes into a first water hunt when my Excalibur was new. My old friend deep 2 1/2" square nail is back, some of his big brothers too. They are a rough bunch to hang with but I usually get the old silver when they are around. For those wondering, the ring is a 22. I was in Park 2, 7 reactivity, sens21-22, multi-IQ

Hey Mac I am a pretty novice rock collector, so no expert. The first few labelled thundereggs? look like chert, a type of fine grain quartz common up there, flint is a type of chert and has that fracture pattern. The round rocks could be geodes, I thought that’s what they call thundereggs up here. I think if you place them in water and they feel lighter, they may be a geode with an air pocket. Rather than smash them, you can cut those small ones carefully in half with a tile saw. Go slow and use lots of water or some rock shops will cut them for $5 or so. If you are referring to the internal corner indent, I would guess that is a natural fracture. In that one though, the reverse view almost looks like a notch shaped into it near the base and the curved indent near your thumb could be worn by rope or something if it was lashed. Maybe? The spearpoint doesn’t look like the right type of rock to me, chert was used often for arrowheads/spears points because it fractures nicely and leaves sharp edges. In the Brooks Range I have seen ancient evidence of natives chipping chert for knives or spearpoints. You’ll find piles of chipped rock that was carried to a spot with a overview or lookout of the land, the chipped rock doesn’t match any of the natural rock. Can just picture an old hunter chipping spear points waiting for game to move through. No idea on the others but that orange polished one is beautiful. Neat rock up there, we did a trip several years ago, amazing colors in some of them. If you head that way again, there is a Alaska Rockhounding book with a lot of good info and sites in it. If you are in Anchorage the folks at Nature’s Jewels Rock Shop on Arctic are friendly folks.

I have a mate with a glass top coffee table He has put many of memorable finds in there and it looks great.

If it's not in writing or point to the relevant regulation, the word of someone at a government office is pretty much useless, they have no liability. I always try to correspond by email, and continue to prod until I get a real answer. Good to know the short comings of the map system. Native Corps should be required to map and sign all existing easements as well, several areas along Denali Highway have easements for camping and trails but are still posted "Native Land, No Trespassing". Have to go digging through Easement Atlases to find them.

No date buff, 1915d buffalo and an 1886 Indian. These coins came from a place I call the "black hole". It's been hunted to death. It's also the first place I took my 800 to. I'm giving these coins to the 6"coil especially the Indian. Hunted in pk1, sensitivity 21, iron volume 1, second segment 15 rest left at 25. Recovery set at 7, ran in auto trac. I think the 6"coil is killer?!!

I know!!!

Well, these aren't as impressive as Gerrys, but I can attest that it is a real upgrade to the GMT.

Thanks. No, I did not write the Equinox book that is currently out there. That is Clive Clynick. I would need at least a year with Equinox before I could attempt something like that. I am working on a several page "Introduction to the Equinox", though, that I will post here in the coming weeks when I think it is ready.

They have to make a profit. Wholesale versus retail.

White's Goldmaster 24K LCD Screen and Touch Pad Controls White's GMK Screen Icons and Controls Explained White's GMK Quick Reference Card - Click image for larger version White's Goldmaster 24K Information Page White's Goldmaster 24K Quick Start Guide White's Goldmaster 24K Advanced Guide Forum threads tagged whites goldmaster 24k

Steve and tboykin, Thanks for that information......local beaches down here can be a mixture of both with some showing nice golden/white sand on top but a good distinctive layer of black sand about 6" - 8" down (kills the VLF machines). I nearly always dig deep "test" holes to see if I am dealing with this "crappy stuff" because from the surface, you would never know it's there and can't work out why your detector is behaving so squirrelly! I sometimes wondered where a machine will GB to....the top surface (being neutral) or the black magnetic stuff further down? Oooohhhhh White's..........you're killin' me.....? Luckily it's winter down here so I can wait (a bit)... Tony

This is my idea of a great video. Show me the features of the detector and how they work. I want to know how the detector sounds. Leave out all the "trying to prove stuff" parts. Just show what the machine can do or possibly not do. I also like that some basic tips were thrown in. The only part I found confusing was the tone id described as low tone meaning low conductive and high tone being high conductive. Gold is a low conductor. I believe this should have been discussed as low tone meaning ferrous, and high tone meaning non-ferrous. Page 12 of the GMK Advanced Guide: "Tapping the Music button toggles between two different audio modes. With the Music Icon ON, the GM24k will produce 2 distinct beeps, one high and one low, for different types of targets. The higher tone has a better chance of being a non-ferrous target (gold, aluminum, silver, brass, etc.), and the lower tone has a better chance of being ferrous (iron, hot rocks, etc.). With the Music Icon OFF, the GM24k will produce a standard VCO all-metal “zip” sound on targets. This mode is generally preferred by experienced prospectors due to the nuances of the sound and perceived sensitivity to small targets. " It is obvious the Goldmaster 24K has features lacking in the White's GMT - ground balance offset, target id numbers, ferrous tone id, ability to completely block not just ferrous tones but high end ferrous wrap, ability to set ferrous breakpoint (iron cancel mode only?), backlight, and yes folks, a volume control! I have handled the MX 7 box design and find it very comfortable and well balanced. This looks like a serious upgrade from the GMT for sure. White's Goldmaster 24K Information Page

I just found this video of Toms about the 24K and it looks impressive and it is a first class instructional video on Toms behalf too. John.

Hello i managed to do a hunt before the month end and managed a bit of gold didn't find gold there for ages...........last time was with a Tejon and a Tesoro 5.75 DD so as i had a retuned lobo on DD only i decided to put the coil to work ...did have much hope but the coil was hitting medium size targets hard...........headphone 1 broke down but i had my Sunray pro gold as back up,the other pair has been designed and manufactured by the same engineer as the Manta and are the best sounding headphones i ever had ,soldering on mine need help :).I found buttons and a lead seal ,few coins and then i hit gold only my second bits this year ,the other was 200 yards away from this spot(which i believe once hold a floating barge/bar) with the GMP equiped with the snake coil. The lobo hit that ring very well but as i was just retuning from changing headphones i am glad i found it. Overall i cracked my bermudas,need to repair my headphones and say bye bye to my PROTECTOR kneepads after 100s hours of use ,weather was good and the ring seems old. RR

Good chance that is wood. Should be quite heavy and like Steve said, cut a chunk off. If then it is all solid black, you don't see the grain of wood, soak it in Clorox for a week or however long it takes. Sometimes soaking does nothing but usually it will work. Here is an example that was all black. There are small crystals also

Thanks Lanny but all I am doing is cutting and pasting. It is best to go to source material for this type of stuff because so much out there is based on opinion. Goldbrick is right, people constantly use ground balance numbers to compare mineralization from one site to the next. Most people would agree that ground with lower ground balance settings is generally easier to handle than ground with high ground balance settings. However, the information below will show that is not always true, it is just what we experience most often in the U.S. I did throw that note in from Bruce Candy above because Australia ground in general is fundamentally different than most ground in the western U.S. Our big offender tends to be magnetite (Fe3O4), in Australia it is usually maghemite (Fe2O3). From Dave Johnson at https://www.detectorprospector.com/files/file/53-gold-prospecting-with-a-vlf-metal-detector/ Susceptibility refers to a material’s ability to attract a magnetic field. In the context of metal detecting, it corresponds to the amount of magnetically active mineralization in the soil. It is often expressed as an equivalent percent by volume concentration of magnetite. Tangent of loss is the ratio of magnetic energy absorbed by a material and dissipated as heat, divided by the magnetic energy which is attracted to the material and not dissipated. The tangent of loss is most commonly expressed in arctangent form as the loss angle. In the context of metal detecting, it corresponds to the ground balance point of the soil. In a general way it represents the type of mineralization present rather than the amount. Magnetite (ferrosic oxide) is a heavy black iron oxide mineral which exhibits high magnetic susceptibility and low magnetic loss angle. It is commonly found as “black sand” or as dense black rocks. It is strongly attracted to a magnet. It usually “balances” near the ferrite calibration point of the metal detector, which on most detectors is within the range of 80 to 95% of full scale. Many black colored rocks, especially igneous (volcanic & extrusive) and high-grade metamorphic rocks, contain appreciable amounts of magnetite. So do many rocks with a bluish or greenish cast, especially rocks in ultramafic greenstone belts. Magnetite in the soil is usually in the form of sand, because particles smaller than sand unprotected by rock matrix tend to oxidize to maghemite or to be dissolved by organic acids. Maghemite (gamma ferric oxide) is an earthy iron oxide mineral found in most soils and some rocks. Red iron rust is a form of maghemite with which everyone is familiar. Maghemite is formed by the oxidation of lower oxidation state iron minerals such as magnetite, free iron and pyroxene. The oxidation commonly happens through weathering and exposure to fire. Maghemite is usually reddish brown or red in color, and even in low concentrations its color tends to dominate the material it’s in. Like magnetite, maghemite has high susceptibility. It differs from magnetite in having a substantial loss angle, causing it to ground balance in the range of 40 to 80% of full scale on most metal detectors and under most conditions. Now, if you read that again, magnetite will usually produce ground balance numbers in the 80 - 95 range. Maghemite, although it is much worse for detectors and in fact is what gives even PI detectors trouble in Australia, ground balances in the 40 - 80 range. In other words, ground with lower ground balance settings in Australia can be much worse than ground with high ground balance settings in the U.S. Final tidbit. You know that really bad, bad soil that drove you nuts in the forest fire area? That is maghemite. Intense heat will bake our more normal soils and produce soils more common in Australian goldfields. Those of you that have run into it now know what the Aussies deal with in some regions.

Hi Steve, I enjoyed using the ATX, it's the first time a PI has come out that actually competed with a Minelab in my neck of the woods, it's a shame there was so much touch sensitivity and it was soooo heavy, otherwise it would be a fun detector to use. Our main concern here in OZ is mineralization, there are very few places that aren't mineralized so a detector has to work well in those areas especially after having Fine Gold timings on the GPX, in quieter ground the ATX and SDC have similar sensitivity (in air depth), but when you add in the bad touch sensitivity and the weight difference the price is really the only drawback for the SDC. JP The gold I found with the ATX This speci was surprisingly deep Speci missed by the ATX and found with the SDC (note the longer grass)