Erik Oostra

Prospector Anton Billis who amassed a fortune after pegging ground on Kalgoorlie's richest goldfields has no plans to sell his large stockpiles of gold stored at the Perth Mint.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-05/wa-gold-miners-building-up-massive-holdings-at-perth-mint/106078198

Here's a comparison video of the GM1000 vs GM2000 on mineralized ground.. The video has been shared elsewhere on this forum.. When considering to buy a new detector I like to watch videos made by experienced people using them in the field on undug targets.. I'm usually wary of air-tests or where someone buries a target.. While this video does both, it's worth a look.. I was amazed at how much better the GM1000 performs..

Take the time to read the whole of my comment..

If I was just going by that video alone I'd stick with the GM1000.. That's a very poor showing for the GM2000.. I know there's many variables with air-tests vs in-ground tests etc but what surprised me is how much better the GM1000 performed compared to the GM2000 with the same sensitivity settings on mineralized ground.. Even in the 'difficult ground' setting the GM2000 came no where close, it couldn't 'see' the target that the GM1000 easily picked up ..

Welcome! A much cheaper option than the Manti is the Equinox 800.. It's awesome on the beach and has excellent gold capabilities.. It also has a huge range of coils to chose from.. But whatever you end up choosing, your approach to enjoying the outdoors combined with another challenge like fishing or hiking will serve you well as a metal detectorist.. If you stick with it long enough you'll find it hugely rewarding.. Happy hunting!

The Algo's target ID reads '00' on small lead shot (bird shot).. Gold usually reads above that with tiny pieces reading low numbers (1 to around 20).. The Algo identifies silver jewellery/coins deeper than the Equinox, it keeps a steady target ID as you dig closer to the target where as the Equinox's target ID jumps all over until the coil is nearly on top of the target.. I'm more likely to dig deep targets if the Algo's identified them.. Just like with the Equinox I've got a target ID range to separate coins from steel/iron.. Same goes for small gold jewellery, it tends to fall in a range of target IDs.. I've found the Algo more accurate than the Equinox when identifying small gold rings, especially on mineralized beaches.. With both detectors I know the target ID's for Aussie coins and those of bottle tops, pull tabs, nails, foil etc.. But if you're buying a detector to keep your grand-daughter amused than I'd go with an Equinox 800.. Its beach/park/field settings are easy to learn and it's also got excellent gold capability for you to muck around with..

I've had three scrappies who'd buy my gold/silver jewellery.. The two in town (Townsville) use XRF and the one on the island goes by ct markings or an acid test for no ct markings.. The townies consistently outdid each other with much lower than expected ct readings.. At first I trusted them thinking I was way off until I realized how different their XRF readings were on the same ring.. One said it was 5ct, the other said 3ct.. The islander scrappy's acid test showed it was 9ct and he bought it of me as such.. I just deal with the islander scrappy these days..

Another PI you might consider for power/depth is the AlgoForce E1500.. It has a very accurate 'conductive' target ID.. From the manual: "The conductivity target ID is also useful for assessing the target's shape. If the target ID fluctuates significantly when the coil is moved slightly off but still above the target, it likely indicates an irregularly shaped target, such as a bottle cap or a nail with a large head." It has a 'beach' soil setting capable of handling black sand beaches.. I use it for deep silver coins and gold jewellery on beaches.. There's waterproof coils available for it as well.. Cheaper than the Manticore..

The GM 24K's 6'' concentric coil is also good for tight spaces.. but it's noisy on hot bedrock.. As mentioned above the Sadie Mk2 8x6'' is also an option.. I use it on ultra-fine with the Algo.. On real hot ground I sometimes use the Detech 11x6''.. Its shape is good for pocking in between rocks and scrub and still have decent depth/ground coverage.. but it only runs on fine with the Algo even with the new version 3 software.. I also use the grand-dad of the latest Prospectre coils, a PMC 4x12 rectangular coil.. It's also good for tight spots and depth/coverage.. It runs on ultra-fine with the Algo.. Prospectre's new 8x6'' coils could also fit your purpose for tight spaces but I haven't used one so I've got no idea how it stacks up against the same sized Sadie.. Other than those I also use an Equinox 800 with its tiny 6'' coil to poke into crevasses etc.. It runs better on hot bedrock than the GM 24K's concentric coil and is physically smaller even with its coil cover..

The video is on Magnetic Island's pristine 'white' beach at Alma Bay.. Although it is white because of the coral sand it still has a lot of black sand in it.. This has been washed down from the hills where the eight old gold digging are.. The island was formed from molten granite that pushed through the Earth's crust about 250 million years ago, followed by more recent volcanic eruptions (200 million years ago) that formed gold-bearing quartz reefs/veins.. As you said the slopes down from them are hotter ground than the creeks they flow into.. The dry gullies up there also have a lot of black sand..

The gold/silver ratio is easing downward..

Gold (blue) and silver (black) prices during the last year.. US$

Today.. Gold and silver.. 😮

Yesterday.. Gold and silver.. AU$

It always throws me too.. The oldest coin I've found so far is on Magnetic Island, North Queensland.. It's a Chinese coin made during the reign of the Ch'ien-lung Emperor (AD 1736-1795), the sixth Emperor of the Qing dynasty.. What spins me out most is that the first European account of the island comes from Captain James Cook in 1770, when he sailed past and named it (he thought the island was screwing up his compass bearings).. This means there were Chinese sailors/traders on the island before or around the time Cook sailed past.. They've found rock cairns with Chinese markings dating back even earlier up and down the North Queensland coast.. Also older Chinese coins.. Finding really old stuff pre-dating first European settlement on the island (during the 1860s) is always awesome..