Infinium for Prospecting

[Anonymous]

Has anyone ever used it for prospecting in serious conditions. Other than the SD and the GP it is the only one with a ground cancelling circuit I believe. I don't see much feedback on it...any input?
Scott

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Scott,
The Infinium has worked well enough for me but many Minelab owners have been upset that it would not outperform their existing units. I used to have an SD2200D and now have a GP Extreme and in my opinion the Infinium gets performance with it's 14" elliptical DD coil that is roughly equivalent to the Minelabs when outfitted with their 11" round DD coils. But go to larger coils, especially the Coilteks, on the Minelabs and you get a significant performance edge over the Infinium on larger nuggets at depth.
That said I still find the Infinium to be a useful unit. My recommendation is that if you are really serious about a PI unit as your primary gold-finding unit then go with the Minelabs. If you are willing to settle for 85% of the performance for 1/3 the price then consider the Infinium.
If you are in a situation where VLF detectors are the bread and butter primary units then the Infinium can be a very affordable secondary unit.
That is actually the situation for me. I frequent areas where VLF detectors produce the majority of the gold. Smaller nuggets and lower mineralization make my Gold Bug 2 my best producing unit. But in rare situations it is good to have a PI unit available, and I think the Infinium works well in this role.
If being waterproof is desirable the equation tilts heavily towards the Infinium.
In the worst mineralization the Minelab units have far more adjustments than the Infinium and so can be expected to handle extreme situations better than the Infinium.
So, as usual we are simply discussing different detectors for differing needs and budgets. You might want to check out some of the comments over at the NuggetShooter's Forum below where the same question was asked and answered by several people.
Steve Herschbach
Alaska Mining & Diving Supply, Inc.
Dealer for Fisher, Garrett, Minelab, Tesoro, Troy, and White's

 

[Anonymous]

I understand that the Minelab GP will have an edge...but i do not have $2900.00 bucks or more for one.
I have an MXT and it seems fine unless i get into alot of hot ground or black sand. I know PI's will punch through the sand better than a VLF and it would seem that having a PI unit also is important. Even the Minelab guys have a goldbug or GMT to use in areas where they are required. So having both would seem wise.
Since I am switching over to prospecting, after moving from the east coast, I do not have the need for the gP yet....and I say YET.
I also do not have the money. So the thought was to get a lower priced machine and put in the time. Let the time pass and if I see a need to move up then fine.
So my question was more of is the price difference more than made up by the performance loss. I.e. if it has 85% performance for 1/3 the price (all things being fare) then it is an excellent price to performance ratio.
I am not expecting an Infinium to outperform a GP...maybe to only slack slightly behind an SD would be realistic.
Plus I can use a watermachine at the lake.
Do you know if the new Mono coils are out yet?
Scott

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Scott,
Sounds like you are the kind of guy the Infinium was built for.
The spare coils are a sore subject. I've had the mono coils on order forever and they were promised last year! Now I'm hoping for June. The new 7" DD elliptical and 10" DD elliptical should be along very soon also. having used the 10" DD elliptical myself I can tell you it is one sweet coil. With the control box hipmounted it feels like I'm swinging my Gold Bug 2 hipmounted with 10" coil! It's really the coil they should outfit the Infinium with stock and make the 14" DD an accessory coil.
I should point out the Minelab SD2100 now retails for $2495 and should be available for a little over $2000 new at discount. But even that is twice the Infinium at $999 street price.
I've never viewed the Infinium as competition for the Minelabs. To me it is a PI that competes price-wise with high-end VLF units. Seen in that light it fills an important niche.
Steve Herschbach

 

[Anonymous]

I have been talking with Rob at nuggethunting.com about getting a PI. He lives about 5 miles from me and I will see if he sells garrett also. I was trying to get an SD...and may still...but my wife was abit concerned about dropping that kind of money right after a move.
I need to take my own advice...i used to tell people in Maine to learn to find the coins at 4-6" first then worry about the 10" ones later.
I need to find nuggets at medium depth first before trying to find small ones deep...
Scott

 

[Anonymous]

One last PI unit for prospecting is the Goldquest SS for $800. Supposedly, very lightweight and sensitive on small gold. Surfcanner, Mr. Bill sells them in the U.S.