The X-Terra 70 is a Great Gold Machine

[Smitty II]

Greetings to all.

Sometime back "Landman" posted the question, "Is the X-Terra 70 the best gold Machine?" I have to agree with Steve Herschbach when he said "There is no such thing as a best gold detector". However, don't sell the X-Terra 70 short. Minelab is known for designing the leading gold detector around the world. The prospecting mode on the X-Terra 70 was not an after thought. It can find gold and has the ability to handle bad ground conditions. The X-Terra 70 is a true Multi-Purpose metal detector. The ability for it to operate at 3KHz, 7.5KHz and 18.75KHz gives it an edge over competing Multi-Purpose detectors. It's manual, automatic and tracking ground balance in all operating modes set it apart from most of the other Multi-Purpose machines. If you live where you have easy access to major gold fields, I would suggest purchasing a dedicated gold detector. Dedicated detectors like the Gold Bug 2 and the GMT have a slight advantage over the X-Terra 70 as far as finding tiny flakes of gold. However, there is not a very big difference. I own a Gold Bug 2 and the GMT and they can detect gold flakes down to around 1/10th or .1 grains. I have been able to detect gold flakes with my X-Terra 70 down to about 1/2 or .5 grains. A nugget hunter in Australia claims to have found flakes as small as .38 grains with the X-Terra 70. Gold flakes this small can be very hard to recover by sifting through the dirt. Using a gold pan and water is a lot easier, so if I can't locate the target in reasonable amount of time I put the dirt and target in a plastic bag and pan it out later. I normally get a fair amount of finer gold along with the larger flake that way. In general the X-Terra 70, Eureka Gold, MXT, Gold Bug 2, GMT and the Lobo Super Trac are good choices for detecting gold nuggets within the first 12" of the surface in moderate to bad ground conditions. As Steve mentioned, if you want to find larger gold nuggets a lot deeper in extremely bad ground the PI gold detector is the best choice. While PI gold detectors can detect reasonably small flat gold flakes down to around 2.5 grains they really shine at punching deep in extremely bad ground for nuggets larger than say 1/4 ounce. Good choices here are the Minelab SD/GPX detectors, the new White DTI and the Garrett Infinium LS.

If you don't live with easy access to major gold fields, have limited cash available but do plans occasional prospecting trips, the Multi-Purpose detector just might be the best choice. I don't think you can go wrong with the X-Terra 70.

I have attached a couple of pictures of some of the gold nuggets that I have found. The smallest of the four is 4.1 grains and the largers is 23.6 grains. While I have found tiny flakes as small as .5 grains, I selected the two on the poker chip for my setup nuggets.

God Bless and HH

Smitty II

 

[CQuarles]

Very informative post. I assume you are using the elliptical and 6" DD coils for gold hunting?

 

[xwyokid]

Very informative post. I assume you are using the elliptical and 6" DD coils for gold hunting?

Yes please, which coils were you using?

 

[Smitty II]

xwyokid and CQuaries

I recently purchased their round 6" DD 18.75 KHz coil but I have not used it yet in the field. Everything that I mentioned and what is shown was found with the standard 5" x 10" elliptical 18.75 KHz coil. Don't expect the tiny 1/2 grain flakes to blow your ears off. You have to train your hearing to hear the slight increase in the threshold and you have to really slow down your sweep.

God Bless and HH

Smitty II

 

[Smitty II]

CQuaries

Actually as I told xwyokid, I have purchased the 6" DD 18.75 KHz coil but I haven't used it yet. Everything mentioned and shown was found with the standard nugget coil the 5" x 10" elliptical 18.75 KHz coil.

God Bless and HH

Smitty II

 

[ivanll]

As a user of two multipurpose detectors the field is well covered.
ivanll

 

[CQuarles]

.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Thanks for a very interesting thread Smitty. It opened my eyes to a different approach to prospecting, especially the bit about sifting the surrounding dirt.
Mick Evans.

 

[Billy Bedrock]

Hi Guys,

I search nuggets and paystreaks, you'll see what I mean...

I bought a package of the 30 inch long bamboo, 1/8" diameter sticks, used by gardeners to support various veggies, then I went to the paint department and bought a small bottle of orange florescent paint. I dipped a dozen of the sticks into the paint to make, easy to see, bright tips. I keep a few of these in a back pocket so I can mark questionable targets as I walk the river. And, I do that during the cooler hours of the morning.

When I tire of detecting, and later in the day I go back and do a sampling of each hole, then pretty much sit in the river to cool off as I pan the samples. I do okay on the nuggets, but production of a good paystreak could provide much more value, than the occasional nugget (I'm still looking for that one great paystreak).

Of course, that wont work for everyone. I am fortunate to have lots of water where I detect.

One must do what one can with the available resources

Billy

 

[Steve in Idaho]

The X-70 will find small flakes if your hearing is good. I cannot hear those very faint signals that my X-70 will give on gold with the small HF coil. I have not so good hearing. My Gold Bug II will give out a loud sound on small flakes and those very small specks. I use my X-70 when searching for bigger gold and I have a short stem with my GB II small coil with the box chest mounted for bedrock that contains small gold. This combination really works well.

 

[Smitty II]

Steve,

You are absolutely right about those tiny faint signals. I can hear them but it takes concentration. I also own a Gold Bug II and the audio boost feature is a big help at times. That is a really good feature on the Gold Bug II. I also have a Goldmaster V/SAT and I have a chest mount set up for both of them.

God Bless and keep after the yellow stuff.

Smitty II

 

[David]

The Goldmaster(GMT) has TRUE auto GB unlike the manual GB on the Gold Bug II. But you did not talk much about the Eureka Gold which also has TRUE auto GB and it has a optional 60 kHz for very tiny gold like the GMT. I would prefer to buy the Eureka Gold over and instead of the GMT and Gold Bug II for getting the smallest and tiniest gold. Not that it is so much better at this as it is in the same league BUT the reason for the preference is because the Eureka Gold has the best Discrimination circuit of all of these 3 micro gold finding units on the market which means alot to me. I want a second strong Discrimination circuit for a little coin hunting on the side and the Eureka can switch to about 6 kHz for this with its approximate 6-20-60 kHz switch for coin hunting.

Also I want a second strong Discrimination circuit also to check signals in bedrock. For an example when I found gold in bedrock one time, the only way I knew it was gold for sure was when I switched over to discrimination and turned up the Discrimination knob-dial and it held strong, telling me almost 100% that it was gold. Any hot bedrock, false signal would not hold up. Why you say?, because I have had so many false signals over time in bedrock that I would be spending days of heavy labour digging nothing if I had only an All-Metal VLF or a not a dedicated Discrimination circuit like on the GMT and Gold Bug II. I will take a Eureka Gold with a separate dedicated Discrimination circuit over these 2 other micro gold machines any day, for these reasons.

If you are not after the smallest of the micro gold then the XT-70, MXT, or Lobo ST will do with their separate dedicated Discrimination circuits for this as well. So will the Scorpion or Vaquero as well.

 

[khouse]

n/t

 

[ivanll]

Yes I have used one in Western Australia goldfields.
On some ground it's fine but others gives it a hard time.
The hard time ground I'm referring to is the kind that is attracted to a magnet.

 

[Smitty II]

Dave,

I have a friend that I prospect with and he has a Eureka Gold machine. You are right, it is definitely in the category of the Gold Bug II and GMT when it comes to finding tiny sub grain flakes (less than .5 grains) of gold. It also has excellent auto ground balance features. However, the discrimination is primarily an iron discriminator and does not cover nearly enough range for coin hunting. This makes it a dedicated gold machine in the same class as the Gold Bug II and the GMT. Weight wise, of the three dedicated gold machines the Gold Bug II is the lightest, the Eureka Gold is next and the GMT is the heaviest. Both the Eureka Gold and the Gold Bug II can be belt or chest mounted fairly easily. The present GMT is not very easy to deal with in either of these configurations. For transportation purposes, the Gold Bug II will break down into the smallest package of the three.

If you want a dedicated gold machine the Gold Bug II, GMT or the Eureka Gold are very good choices. I think your tendency to lean in the direction of the Eureka Gold for the reasons you mentioned are good ones. If you go that way I am sure it will make you a very good gold machine.

God Bless and HH

Smitty II

 

[Smitty II]

Ivanll,

Thanks for the input. That is a good data point.

God Bless and HH,

Smitty II

 

[David]

Thanks Smitty II !!! You are right !! The Lobo ST has a dedicated coin hunting Disc. circuit.

After saying all that, I ordered a new XT-70 on Friday, I am very happy with no regrets BUT I am just afraid after I ordered the 70 that they might? come out with a XT-90 next year?...they need to put out about a 14" round or a 12"x18" DD 18.75 kHz coil for the XT-70...

 

[Smitty II]

Dave,

I know how you feel. I told the Minelab people in NV that I would sure like to see a back lighted display on the next version. I sometimes hunt into the edge of darkness and that would be useful. I use the X-Terra 70 to help me find good places to dig for placer gold and recover it using my high banker. With the GB button pushed and in Track it will display the ground mineralization. The number goes from zero to 90 with zero being no mineralization and 90 being terrible ground. Not always, but normally, pocket of high mineralization can contain concentrations of placer gold. It is amazing what you can do with the X-Terra 70 when you learn it's capability. I think you are going to like yours when you get it.

God Bless and HH,

Smitty II

 

[ivanll]

The film canister is to indicate a distance between the coil and this ground condition is essential.
This is PI detector country.

 

[Smitty II]

Ivanll,

That is a graphic picture of really bad ground. We don't have anything that bad here in the US. At least I have never run up against any thing like that. Thanks for the info and pictures.

God Bless and HH

Smitty II