What's the most popular machine (in the last 3 yrs) for Arizona gold prospecting?
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RgnFn
Forum Supporter
I've heard a lot of praise for Garrett's Axiom. Also MineLab's GPZ 7000, but you'd need a second mortgage for that one. The Axiom is reportedly just as good or better and less than half the price.
Now, both of these machines are PI machines, which means that they're excellent for finding tiny bits of metal (particularly gold), but they'll drive you nuts if you're doing other kinds of hunting (like looking for coins at a old home site or at a park). For that, you'll want a VLF machine, preferably a Simultaneous Multi-Frequency (SMF) machine, which will help you "discriminate" between junk and good targets. Most VLF machines are not going to be good at finding small gold. The one VLF machine that I've heard folks say is fairly decent for small gold is the MineLab 900, but again, it won't perform as well as the PI machines. That having been said, serious gold hunters who also want to search for coins or relics also will often have two separate machines - one for each kind of hunting.
So I guess the answer to your question is another question: how serious are you about gold prospecting? Both these machines are very expensive, but it's worth it to those people who are out there hitting the fields regularly. At $2k an ounce, a serious prospector can pay off those detectors fairly quickly. But if it's just a whim, then they're going to be too much money. If that's the case, maybe look at the 900.
I hope this helps, and happy hunting
Now, both of these machines are PI machines, which means that they're excellent for finding tiny bits of metal (particularly gold), but they'll drive you nuts if you're doing other kinds of hunting (like looking for coins at a old home site or at a park). For that, you'll want a VLF machine, preferably a Simultaneous Multi-Frequency (SMF) machine, which will help you "discriminate" between junk and good targets. Most VLF machines are not going to be good at finding small gold. The one VLF machine that I've heard folks say is fairly decent for small gold is the MineLab 900, but again, it won't perform as well as the PI machines. That having been said, serious gold hunters who also want to search for coins or relics also will often have two separate machines - one for each kind of hunting.
So I guess the answer to your question is another question: how serious are you about gold prospecting? Both these machines are very expensive, but it's worth it to those people who are out there hitting the fields regularly. At $2k an ounce, a serious prospector can pay off those detectors fairly quickly. But if it's just a whim, then they're going to be too much money. If that's the case, maybe look at the 900.
I hope this helps, and happy hunting
RgnFn
Forum Supporter
Thanks, Lama. I too am still learning. That having been said, I get the impression that most "goldfields" are highly mineralized.... So which VLF machine would work well in mineralized dirt?
oldkoot
Elite Member
@RgnFn I also live and detect in Arizona, in the Tucson area, where are you located ???
I actually own and use the Axiom, the Axiom is a very nice PI that will hit very small nuggets, I am still in the learning stages of the Axiom, and so far I like it, a lot it runs rite there with the GPX 6000, the one thing I do not care for with the Axiom is the limited coils that are available for the Axiom and also the blunt noses that Garret choose to put on the Axiom Coils, the smallest coil you can run on the Axiom is a 7x11 in either Mono or Double D, that blunt nose makes it hard to get into tight spots, there are currently 6 coils available for the Axiom a 7x11 Mono and FCDD, a 13x11 Mono and FCDD, and a 16x14 mono and FCDD the FC stands for Focused Core those Focused Core DD coils are a bit odd to run in my opinion, but they do work good
The Axiom is probably the most ergonomically comfortable detectors I have ever used, very light weight for a PI and has one of the best build qualities of any detector I have ever swung the weight of the Axiom is just over 4 pounds but feels like you are swinging a much lighter detector because of the build of it, fully collapse able carbon fiber shaft, and it is a pleasure to swing, rechargeable built in battery that last 16 hours
The other Detector I use is the Garrett Gold Master 24K which Whites originally produced and is the only detector Garrett has chosen to continue producing after Garrett purchased whites, that alone says a lot to me about the 24K, the 24K is a VLF nugget detector that runs 48KHz, I replaced my GM1000 with the 24K for nugget detecting
as I said I owned a GM1000 at one time also which is also another great nugget detector that runs 45KHz, there was things I absolutely hated about the GM1000, even though the GM1000 is very hot on small nuggets, there are things that just was terrible for me with the GM1000
Give it a bit and I am sure @jmaclen will chime in here in a bit and give you a bit more insight on all the detectors I have mentioned as he also uses all the same detectors I have mentioned as well as a few others
I actually own and use the Axiom, the Axiom is a very nice PI that will hit very small nuggets, I am still in the learning stages of the Axiom, and so far I like it, a lot it runs rite there with the GPX 6000, the one thing I do not care for with the Axiom is the limited coils that are available for the Axiom and also the blunt noses that Garret choose to put on the Axiom Coils, the smallest coil you can run on the Axiom is a 7x11 in either Mono or Double D, that blunt nose makes it hard to get into tight spots, there are currently 6 coils available for the Axiom a 7x11 Mono and FCDD, a 13x11 Mono and FCDD, and a 16x14 mono and FCDD the FC stands for Focused Core those Focused Core DD coils are a bit odd to run in my opinion, but they do work good
The Axiom is probably the most ergonomically comfortable detectors I have ever used, very light weight for a PI and has one of the best build qualities of any detector I have ever swung the weight of the Axiom is just over 4 pounds but feels like you are swinging a much lighter detector because of the build of it, fully collapse able carbon fiber shaft, and it is a pleasure to swing, rechargeable built in battery that last 16 hours
The other Detector I use is the Garrett Gold Master 24K which Whites originally produced and is the only detector Garrett has chosen to continue producing after Garrett purchased whites, that alone says a lot to me about the 24K, the 24K is a VLF nugget detector that runs 48KHz, I replaced my GM1000 with the 24K for nugget detecting
as I said I owned a GM1000 at one time also which is also another great nugget detector that runs 45KHz, there was things I absolutely hated about the GM1000, even though the GM1000 is very hot on small nuggets, there are things that just was terrible for me with the GM1000
Give it a bit and I am sure @jmaclen will chime in here in a bit and give you a bit more insight on all the detectors I have mentioned as he also uses all the same detectors I have mentioned as well as a few others
oldkoot
Elite Member
Actually as @The Lama stated in a lot of cases a good VLF will hit smaller nuggets than a PI, the purpose of a PI is for ground that a VLF will not or can not run stable on, also the hot rocks most VLF's will not be usable in areas with tons of hot rocks where A PI will ignore most hot rocks
I hear the XP Orx is good for this. You will need the high freq coil for this use. I paid $500 new for mine. Also the fisher goldbug 2 works well but a few dollars more.
Thank you! I have never heard of XP Orx. But it seems affordable. I heard about the gold monster, and Nokta Kruzer, and garrett goldmaster 24k, and the gold bug 2 as being used for gold nugget hunting. I'm gonna have to research the XP Orx.. 80kHz wow!
oldkoot
Elite Member
I actually own and use the XP ORX also, and I have both HF coils for the ORX
in my testing of the ORX, i have used a couple of very small nuggets one .012g and the other .029g, the ORX will hit those two very small nuggets just not as hard or as deep as my Garrett 24K, I picked up the ORX for one reason, I carry it in a back pack with me while I am out swinging my Axiom again the ORX will hit some small nuggets, but if I had my choice and could fit it in a back pack easy I would choose to use the 24K over the ORX, this is my personal opinion and my personal experience using both the ORX and the 24K for nugget detection.
On the ORX behalf though it is a very compact and very lite VLF, I also am very new to using the ORX so take that into account, I have not fully come to terms with the ORX as of yet since I have had it for just a little over a month if that, I am still in the learning stages with the ORX.
I also own and use a Legend which also hits on very small nuggets, and will also hit the two test nuggets I mentioned, the Legend also hits those same two nuggets a little harder and deeper than the ORX but not near as deep as the Garrett 24K, in my opinion the 24K is the best VLF nugget detector out rite now, and yes I have used the 24K as a coin detector, would the 24K be my first choice as a coin detector absolutely not I use it for what it was intended, I would grab the ORX or the Legend first if I was coin detecting
Another detector that I have been using for when I go out coin hunting is the Deep Tech Vista X, which is a Analog detector, the more I use the Vista X the more I am liking it, but I would not recommend the vista X as a nugget detector, The Vista X is a 16 KHz VLF Analog Detector
again these are just my own opinions on the detectors I have mentioned
RgnFn
Forum Supporter
Hi OldKoot,
I'm actually in Virginia or Florida depending on the month, so yeah, I know, not really well known for gold prospecting! I'm afraid that my prospecting experience is entirely vicarious, having devoured many reviews and videos on the subject, so I felt comfortable enough giving the OP some ideas to research, but I'm glad that you and others with actual in-the-field expertise have chimed in.
I do get out to Arizona every other year or so, the next time I do, I'll bring my D2 with me and see how well I do. It does have a gold program, but I have no idea how well it will perform. Of all the reviews I've read about the D2 so far, I haven't heard any serious discussion about it's gold performance, so it's a big unknown to me.
Someone referenced me as having an opinion.
First, live in Colorado but I do some detecting in AZ.
I can’t answer your question about popularity………I have no clue.
These are some of the VLF detectors that I have used at five different locations in AZ for small gold nugget prospecting.
Tesoro Lobo Super Traq
Garrett AT Gold
Fisher Gold Bug Pro
Makro Gold Racer
Minelab X Terra 705
XP Deus with HF coils
Minelab Gold Monster 1000
Nokta Makro Gold Kruzer
Garrett/Whites Gold Master 24K
They all work okay. Some overload easier than others and some have to be tuned way down to avoid coil bump noise. They can all find gold nuggets.
The VLFs that I prefer to use now are
Minelab Equinox 800 or 900
Minelab Manticore
Nokta Legend
XP Deus 2
XP ORX.
All except the XP ORX are fully waterproof and are simultaneous multi frequency operation with selectable single frequency if needed. These detectors handle the ground conditions much better than the ones I listed first from my experience, will hit anything that the ones listed above will hit and have great wireless audio features, are very lightweight and ergonomic. Very little coil knock and they can be run at higher sensitivity levels and ground balance easily at the places I hunt in AZ. If those SMF detectors can’t handle the ground conditions, it’s time for a pulse induction detector.
