Best Coil For Deep 1-2 Gram Nuggets?

I have a patch that has been hammered, no surface grain gold left we got it all with the GB2's, and no big gold, however there are multiple 1-2 gram nuggets in the ground yet, I can only get to 13" depth with my Elite 14" round on a 1.3 grammer, is there a coil my GPX can use to get the 1-2 grammers at 14"-16". Couple guys in our group have gpz7000's and are getting them 12"-17" deep last couple trips. Cannot afford a GPZ at this time. Would the Coiltek Elite 18" mono be my answer?

Hi Goldbugsniper.
Definitely not the 18"Elite.The ideal diameter coil for 1-2g solids at depth is between 11"-14".The setup I use for this situation is switch to Normal mode using the 14"Elite at low gain 6-8Rx and Stab at 6.The alternative is the standard 11"mono using Enhance at Rx 8 Stab 6.Enhance is the preferred timing if the nuggets are solid or FG if specimen.Don't discount the 11"mono commander they are the perfect choice in your situation.If you can get your hands on an 12Evo round that may also be an option though I haven't used one maybe someone can comment further.
Best of luck.

My soil is only medium mineralization at most, I can and do run sensitive extra all the time, gain 8-9 stab 6, run with sp01 enhancer filter, etc. My 14" Elite will not detect this 1-2 gram size nugget deeper than 13" and is a feint signal at that depth.

The answer to your last sentence is NO, but am more than happy to be proven wrong here. Rule of thumb, larger coils for larger gold, not greater depths on the smaller size gold, as compared to a slightly smaller coil.   If there were a coil that can better the depths you speak of, on 1 or 2 gram size bits of gold using a GPX 5000, there'd be no need for anyone to purchase a GPZ 7000. 13 inches deep on 1 to 2 gram size nuggets, using a GPX series detector, is very good going in anyone's book.  Here in Victoria Australia, prospecting over our mineralized soil conditions using a GPX, I'd give an arm & a leg to witness the regular unearthing of 1-2 gram bits of gold at 13 inches depth.  Again, I'm only talking through my own personal experiences. Maybe someone else on here, can shed some more light on this matter?

Cheers Kon.  

Sensitive extra is a bit too powerful even in moderate mineralized ground.Normal runs pretty smooth in the new detectors and will give around 1" more depth on a 1-2g nugget than FG or Enhance.

I realize the general rule of thumb as regards bigger gold with bigger coils deeper but due to the new tech flat wire wrapped coils this rule somewhat goes out the window, extreme sensitivity of these new coils allows much more depth on smaller gold with larger coils to some extent. I do realize it may not be at all possible for me to get what i want out of a gpx but I am game to try. I do realize detecting 1-2 grammers at 13" is pretty great in itself, but I need more, hehe. I have run into a few guys on video that have done some pretty deep small nuggets with the 18" elite mono, one guy found a .24g at 10 inches with a 18"Elite mono, another guy got a 7 grammer at 2 ft depth, etc. I guess I would just have to give it a go to see what happens.

I have been researching this quite extensively and none of the 14-15" coils can go any deeper than I am doing now with the Elite 14" round mono. Been thru lots of youtube Videos, and some on the 18" elite as well. We have done extensive in ground testing as well in the past on 1-2 gram nuggets with 12x15 commander and 14" elite round.

A few yrs back I ran into some older guys out in the desert hitting 1.2-1.5 gm nuggets at 12" with their minelab commander 12x15's ,I never thought that could be done until I saw it done and how they do it.

I agree with goldbugsniper, i would go 11" commander coil with 4500. But turn up gain more and follow with stabiliser about 4 numbers behind. When it gets to noisy then go back one on stab and one up on gain. You should be able to go as high as 13 on gain but your stsb will be prehaps between 3 and 5.. just keep ground balancing. Another thing try tuning with the coil flat on ground instead of holding up, tune to ground. Another thing manual tune around 80 for large, 195 for small (i think i got that right way around,) just find the sweet tune spot, might have to go up to 5 or 6 numbers either side to find quiet number.
With gain so high you have to swing slower but this worked for us.

Hi Goldbugsniper
I have used the 18"Elite and don't consider it myself as a very successful coil.I would prefer a 18"NF advantage as a very popular coil and worked well for me.Every so often coils come along that just seem to work.The flat wound technology seems well suited to the mid range coils.

I agree the mid range coils flat wire wound are great, I generally run a 14x9 NF evo most the time for general hunting. I got a porous .55 gram at 8" not too long ago with that setup. feint signal to start with.

0.24gm at 10 inches depth with an 18 inch Coiltek Elite mono & 2 feet depth with the same coil on a 7 grammer using a GPX?  All I can say is not on/over Victorian minearalized soil conditions gold bug sniper. You guys must have some of the lowest mineralized ground around.
Even with a GPZ 7000, I'd be struggling to get anywhere near the depths those blokes mentioned on/over a 0.24gm & 7gm nugget.
If you do decide to invest in an 18 inch Elite mono coil, do let us know how you go.

Cheers Kon.    

Yes you see all sorts of recovered nugget scenarios in print or on video, hard to believe some of it for sure. I am hunting in mild ground no iron mineralization to speak of just alkali and hot clay sometimes. Affects the machines in different ways. I may have to just wait on a poor mans version of the gpz7000, to finish off that old patch. The Whites Half Sine hybrid is making rumblings again, someone from Whites made the statement that it sounds like they are about to release a revolutionary machine soon. It has to be the half sine hybrid, its been in prototype for 5 yrs now. About time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x7MnOCSztM&t=103s

I hope they do come up with something good & more affordable to the many gold bug sniper. I could never understand how Whites/Garret/Fisher who were once outright leaders in their game of metal detecting technology, didn't give Minelab a run for their money & let them bolt so far ahead?  
Well that explains it. Early morning in loose wash, quiet ground indeed. None the less, amazing depth for such a large coil, on such a small bit of gold.  

Cheers Kon.

Yes, I agree, so strange the big three didn't compete with minelab at all, at the time a couple of them had the engineers and knowhow. I do know minelab was nervous about this hybrid when it was first made known, that was when they dropped the gpx prices and even the sdc, the sdc went back up though. Thats a big money maker for them, its a very simple pi with a fast timing in a mine detector casing they already had the case. I hope Whites pulls the cat out of the bag and is successful with the hybrid. I know they will be affordable compared to Minelabs pricing. Even Fisher is in about the same situation, but they are about to start releasing the new beach pi, then a land based Manta pi as well for gold. Maybe these two companies can make up some lost time here.

SDC2300

I have just decided to keep the 14" Elite mono on the 4500 for the deep gram size nuggets and tweak the settings some more to get the most depth I can. I will just bury a 2 gram target at 15-16"  in the area I am going to hunt, and start adjusting settings til I get a decent response or not. I know I can drop down to Very Slow sweep speed might help energize the deep targets better,  I run Slow sweep speed now, up the gain a bit and stabilizer I generally run 8-9 gain and 6-7 Stab, I generally run on the quiet side on my gpx but maybe I need to make some good hot settings for the deep 1-2 gram nuggets I am after, I can put up with some ragged on edge noise to attain what I am after,  its mild to medium soil, so no problems there,  I will do this and have to be satisfied with any increase I can get with better settings.  Our soils where I generally detect are pretty mild. Only neg I have seen is alkali will cause havoc with vlfs in same area where it has run down the hillside when raining and puddled in some areas thicker than others on the surface, but my pi should be fine, I have never had any alkali problems with it out there.

I have been the large coils route before with no real success, (18" Coiltek Gold Stalker, 24X14 Coiltek Goldstalker),  and for me its more of a headache than anything else, I am getting my metal glasses frames detected when I slightly am over the coil  while standing up detecting, as well as increased EMI, and due to larger 18" coil you would also get increased ground mineral noise which is natural for a larger coil. I find that a mid size 14-15" coil is sufficient with no real noticable gains past that anyway, the large gold has been gone from my patches for 20 years or more. I am only after the 1-2 gram gold the older machines and coils have left undug.

Thanks for your interest and suggestions.

Hi,
I want be going into any detector settings as every area is different even if you 1km away. I purchased the 18” elite mono coil to go on my GPX 5000 only last months went to Maryborough in Vic and got 3 nuggets 3.3g 2.8g and 1.7g at 8inches deep very loud signal. The coil wasn’t touching ground due to too many stick. Yes the coil is noise in mineralised soil and one has to ground balance often. It is a great coil and it is heavy if you swing two hours at a time. I don’t know how to put photo of the nuggets here but will when I find out how. Photo went thru somewhere

Hi czech mate, thanks for posting pics and nice going there.
My 14 inch elite requires regular ground balancing as well in this wet ground.
Hopefully you can snag a chunky deep bit with the 18", best of luck out there



cheers moredeep