GPX4800 detecting around creeks and rivers

Hi, I am looking for any info on using a GPX4800 or 5000 in and around shallow creeks and the creek banks. Has anyone had any luck detecting in these areas? The only stories I can find are about detecting in wide open areas. Thanks for any info.

Welcome to the forum 19esacmit71.

You could just about use any pulse or VLF detector if working shallow bedded creeks or banks with the smaller to medium sized coils.Where a 5000 comes into play is smoothness & depth especially on the smaller gold.The majority of mullok piles adjacent creek banks today,have just about been done to death,but that don't mean that every square inch of ground was covered.Creeks and gullies that were hand dug and not sluiced,are the most productive,that's if you could find one not sluiced. If the creeks show signs of shallow workings and have adjacent shallow banks(2 to 5 foot walls etc) make sure you work the inner shoulders to near the tops of the banks.As for luck,apart from the occasional bit of junk factor,some of my largest gold finds have been found working creeks and gullies in this manner. By the way,the GPX 5000 is the one specifically designed for finding gold not the other way round.

Cheers kon61.

kon61 wrote:Welcome to the forum 19esacmit71.

You could just about use any pulse or VLF detector if working shallow bedded creeks or banks with the smaller to medium sized coils.Where a 5000 comes into play is smoothness & depth especially on the smaller gold.The majority of mullok piles adjacent creek banks today,have just about been done to death,but that don't mean that every square inch of ground was covered.Creeks and gullies that were hand dug and not sluiced,are the most productive,that's if you could find one not sluiced. If the creeks show signs of shallow workings and have adjacent shallow banks(2 to 5 foot walls etc) make sure you work the inner shoulders to near the tops of the banks.As for luck,apart from the occasional bit of junk factor,some of my largest gold finds have been found working creeks and gullies in this manner. By the way,the GPX 5000 is the one specifically designed for finding gold not the other way round.

Cheers kon61.

You make a very good point in your post kon61 and that is " not every square inch has been dug" Over the years I have seen a few spots ,not many, where the old times put their spoil on good ground ! Sometimes they put it there because it optimised their digging ie. most return for effort !
As I don't detect these days ,wet prospecting has sharpened my eyes and my ears to the ground that may hold what may have been marginal to the old timers but quite profitable to us today !
Ears I hear you say!!!! " but you don't detect " true but the shovel as it digs has the tones I look for ! Digging into virgin wash is different in sound to digging into tailings wash .

Sorry for replying as I have as it has nothing to do with detecting ! Again I appoligise you can remove or delete if you so wish .

Remove and delete? What for? You make a good point Ark.

Cheers kon61.

I just thought it was off topic as I said I had nothing to say about detecting in that post but if you are happy to leave it so am I

Kon61 - what did you mean by gpx5000 was designed to find gold, not the other way around? I bought the 4800, have not heard anything about it really. Hope it works nearly as good as the 5000.

I prospect and I am going to start detecting this spring/summer high up in the hills on a small creek. Over the past few years, I can find about 3/4 of an oz. of gold every thirty feet of creek. Bed rock is 2 feet deep, creek is about 2 feet wide, hand stacked rock here and there. This area was hit by gold rush around 1880s. I have found big pickers in my sluice (about half the size of your pinky nail) and lots of flake gold which half is covered in Mercury. But So has anybody used a GPX4000 - GPX5000 in areas like this. I just figured if I can find big pickers in less than 2 feet of overburden, shouldn't the GPX4800 pick them up? Does the waterflow make it imposible? Any info on wet ground detecting?

Thanks for any help.

19esacmit71,let me get this straight,you bought a 4800 specifically for gold detecting in preference over the 5000, without doing any research on what each machine is capable of? Are you being serious with me here or are you pulling my leg? The GPX 4800 is first and foremost a coin/cache detector.I'm not saying it ain't capable of finding gold but the 5000 will find the sizes your referring to much easier and better.How fast a water-flow are we talking about 10knots and above? Water flow should only resist your swinging motion and not the penetrating powers of the coil.Run with the flow.If your using a water proof coil meaning one that is fully submersible(up to your plug end) such as that of the Coiltek "Platypus" 12X8 inch DD Pro,you should have no problems wading with it submerged underwater.A bit risky thought if you slip and end up a**e over head,submerging the detector control box.Since you have the 4800 though,the above mentioned coil is the one I recommend to use for underwater detecting,especially if there's iron junk strewn through out the creek.

Cheers kon61.

bored so browsing the forum and just read this post. Kon, not sure why you think the 4800 is just a coin machine?? It has all the same timings as the 4500!
I got a newsletter from Miners den saying there is a current special on the 4800, I think $4900, so a few more might be getting into the field.

Anyway, for creeks etc I spoke to Trevor from Coiltek recently, and their little 6" mono is now waterproof. I guess you'd just have to repalce the pick for a yabby pump otherwise I think you would have trouble trying to get targets out of the water.

NuggInOne wrote: It has all the same timings as the 4500! .

G'day NuggInOne

Well thats not quite right, it has most of the same timings.  They left out the "Smooth" from the soil timings and they also left "Boost" out of the audio settings, which if your chasing small shallow gold, boost is a real bonus. They also forgot about "specific" in the ground balance as well

The 4800 never really hit the mark here in Aus now that they have them on "special deals" who knows, that maybe all it needs to kick start it.   

cheers dave

http://www.gold-prospecting-wa.com/minelab-5000.html
If you go down the page you will see a link "Specifications of Minelab 5000 compared to Minelab 4500". This shows the 4800 in an easy to see side by side comparison to both.
From this it appears the 4800 wasn't really an upgrade from the 4500. Not sure what it was all about really.

mbasko wrote: From this it appears the 4800 wasn't really an upgrade from the 4500. Not sure what it was all about really.

More like a mutation and it morphed into a 4800.   

A mutation without any special powers at that! IMO I wouldn't pay anymore for a 4800 than what you could get a decent 4500 for. The only plus I can see buying a new 4800 would be the warranty. The 4500 with smooth timings & boost would appear to have more to offer. Maybe they made a typo & it was supposed to be a 4300?  

Arumpo ran a 4800 when he went to. Europe .i think he leaves it over there.i was always under the impression it was a machine for Europe and quiet ground, for deep treasure hunting never heard a peep about anyone running one or seen one in a shop over here.

Hi Gentlemen
Sorry to wade in so late but was flicking through the forum whilst eating lunch at work and this discussion caught my eye. I have owned a 4500 in the past and more recently 5000 that I sold about 12 months ago to top up the finances due to an illness that almost killed me and left me in a wheelchair. The good new is that I defied the odds, survived and walked again. I did some testing with the detector and realised that a detector is as good as the walking stick so bought a 4800 on special from Coiltec. I can understand the logical speculation of it's ability due to the missing features but assure you that it DOES find gold. It runs quiet, in fact quieter than my 5000 and a lot quieter than the 4500....maybe it is the lack of razzamattaz that makes it that way. I can crank up the gain without wobble in places that my mates 5000 doesn't like. I don't miss anything small or large and have found gold regularly with it. It lacks nothing that a Rooster Booster or similar can't compensate for, remember boosters negate the inbuilt amp so we are back to square. Personally, I have nothing but praise, it has the latest circuitry and comes with a warranty unlike secondhand 4500s at comparable prices and secondhand 5000s that can still cost more and NO WARRANTY. It's a personal choice for us all but just wanted to fill in the gaps for the speculators on it's performance and those who are considering buying one but wonder if they are the real deal. For my money and experience it's good value for the price.

Cheers
Paul