Anyone finding gold with the AT GOLD

I posted this question on another forum and only got one reply so thought I would ask the same question here.

Has anyone had any success in finding gold nuggets using the GARRETT AT GOLD?

The reason I ask is that I'm thinking of purchasing one, but I want to be sure that people are actually finding some gold using this detector before I part with my money.

Would love to see some photos of the nuggets that may have been found or simply hear of any successful finds you may have had.

Can't say I have.... Yet. But it's dynamite on coins. Heading back out to the goldfields next weekend.

Ace 250 finds gold !

see the below clip. ( youtube)

youtube.com/watch?v=lQ7J87mEiK4

Hais.

Hi there, we have just recently brought the AT Gold, and although we haven't found gold yet, it is amazing how it finds other relics. Found a small piece of copper with a slot out of it. That was about 8-10" under the surface. Found very very very small pieces of aluminium foil, so if it finds that, then I hope to find gold. Found heaps of very small buck shot. I love how it discrims out iron. Wave it over the hot and cold rocks and just says "keep going, nothing there". Went out to Talbot last weekend with a mate who has a Minelab 5000 and we were finding exactly the some things. We also use a Garrett Pro Pointer, this is a very time saving device. It saves heaps of time picking up small amounts and waving them across the coil, You just probe it on the area you have noise and it vibrates straight away and tells you.

Look we couldn't afford a GPX5000, so we called Phil up in SA and he gave us a gr8 deal on the Garrett. ALso it is waterproof too, not like the minelab so its fantastic to sweep across creeks etc. We are very impressed with it and hope to go out to whipstick this weekend find some gold etc.

After doing lots of research I decided to bite the bullet and buy myself the AT GOLD. I just couldn't justify spending $6500 on a GPX 5000 as I didn't think I could get enough use for it and apart from that they are such an awkward detector to use.

I was really interested to see how well the AT GOLD would pick up a small gold nugget I found with a GPX5000 a couple of years ago. When found the nugget, which is smaller than a match head was about 25mm under some sandy soil, the GPX just picked it up giving only a slight change in the threshold and if it wasn't for another very experienced person standing beside me then I don't believe I would have found it at all.

I took this same nugget and buried it 25mm under some sand I have that came from the outback, I then waved the AT GOLD across it and immediately got a strong signal back leaving no doubt there was something under the coil. I then buried the nugget 50mm under the sand and got a much weaker signal but a signal none the less which was still much stronger than what the GPX originally gave. So from this little test I'm very impressed with the sensitivity of the AT GOLD.

I have had a chance to compare the AT GOLD with the ETRAC in searching for coins and I can say the AT GOLD can certainly find the targets just as well as the ETRAC but the ETRAC is streets ahead when it comes to identifying what the target under the coil might be. I'm sure I would be digging a lot more trash with the AT GOLD when searching for coins as its discrimination settings are nowhere near as flexible as the ETRAC, but I also think with practice you could certainly reduce the amount of trash you would dig. But comparing a gold detector with a coin detector is a little unfair as the tasks they are designed for is completely different.

I can't wait to get out to the goldfields and give the AT GOLD a good test in real life conditions and when I do I will report back as to how it performs but it may be a few weeks yet before I can get the time. Till then happy prospecting and if anyone else has had any success with the AT GOLD then please let us know.

Fortunehunter

Good work mate. It certainly is underrated compared to the high end minelab detectors. It's good to hear a test that is comparing the 2.

As promised here is my follow up report on how the AT GOLD performed in the real world out in the goldfields of central Victoria.

Firstly can’t say I found any gold but neither did anyone else from what I heard, so guess it’s getting difficult to find.

I was somewhat disappointed with the performance of the AT GOLD, actually very disappointed. In ALL METAL MODE the detector was just so unstable that it was almost unusable. It would false signal the whole time as you swung it from side to side and every hot rock you went over would cause it to beep. I tried adjusting the ground balance both automatically and manually. I added ground balance window all the way up to six notches. Added some iron discrimination and I adjusted the sensitivity which helped but really that just seemed to act like a volume control as the false signals were still there but not as loud. In short nothing no amount of adjustment seemed to help.

I tried DISC 1 mode and what a huge difference, the false signals were gone and if I set the Iron Discrimination to plus 1 or 2 then I wouldn’t get a signal from the hot rocks, basically it ran beautifully. The problem was you paid a huge price in sensitivity my guess was that sensitivity was reduced by about 25%.

The detector is very sensitive easily finding 22 slugs and very small pieces of metal but in ALL METAL MODE it was very nearly impossible to use. As an example I would bury a 22 slug in the ground and move the coil over it and get a signal, move the coil away from the target onto bare ground and I would also get an identical signal from a piece of ironstone (you knew it was ironstone because it would stick to my pick magnet) the only way you could tell which was a target was by watching the numbers on the target id. Watching the screen as you walk along is not a good way to find genuine targets.

Would love to hear from others on how well their AT GOLD performs in ALL METAL MODE as I’m wondering whether mine has a problem. My detector is supposed to have been modified for Australian conditions but there was just no way it could handle the ironstone and mineral soils of our goldfields.

Looking forward to some replies.

Fortunehunter

That's interesting. How long have you had the AT Gold for?

Yea mate we have a atgold oz series , we had a similar problem one night in a creek bed. The machine went berserk on everything and took a bit to settle down , this is what we did and still use it like it. Gb was 85 we set window to 6 threshold to -5 , iron dis 35. In the real bad areas using it in dis 1 does not lose sensitivity or depth ( some say it does but our depth testing proved no difference ) we find now we can hunt in all metal no problem and when it signals flick to dis 1 and target can be identified easily. We brought this detector to test for it's iron dis as our pi machines you have to dig every target and if you like to dig hundreds and hundreds of nails and other iron targets then pi is a good machine. NO it doesn't get the depth of a pi but you don't dig crap all day also. We found a few grams a few days ago the deepest was 8 inches there is no iron nails and crap in this area so next treck in we are taking the gpx4000 as well. As yet we have not dug any false targets and find the atgold a pleasure to use compared to the 2100 or 4000 just ground balance every now an then when in bad country also. In testing the deepest we can get a signal is 350mm on a 7.5gram target. On a ounce target we can pick up at 450mm but won't ID it.

Goldpick

That's the answer I was looking for. I just didn't want it to come from me as it would sound like I was being biased.
The lack of sensitivity when in disc in absolutely minimal. To say there was a huge difference tells me you may have been over compensating. It takes a while to get the hang of it in the goldfields. To use it on one test, well it just doesn't give a fair test. Use it for a while & do your testing again, you notice with your experience in use it will drastically improve your results.
I've been fortunate enough to be able to use the first generation of the AT Golds & have had substantial experience with them. I've had it in the worst mineralised grounds in Victoria reading 93 on the gb. It ran smooth in All Metal & Disc modes. I've even got a small piece or 2 from those grounds.

Got to agree with Aussiedetecting there , one of the most important things if not the most important thing with a detector is learn it's capabilities , find a place where you can set up a test field and practice with it. Set a heap of targets at depths ( gold or led , old nails , barbwire , bits of steel ) and learn the machine. There is a learning curve with this machine as compared to say a SD2100 witch a child could easily figure out. We practiced for a couple of wks with the atgold befor we took it hunting seriously. Now to use it is a price of cake. One thing never hunt with the sensitivety down Use it always on full the detecetor can be settled down without that. Practice mate get out bush set up a test field and practice even if it takes a couple weekends the rewards will come. We were so confident after a couple wks testing we trekked on foot 12.4klm through very rough mountains (grade 5)with this machine only so we could take moor food an water. You have got to love how ya can just turn this machine on and go , no cables , harnesses or heavy battery systems.

Goldpick

Thanks guys for the replies.

Firstly I agree completely with the comments that you need to learn any new machine. I have been detecting for several years now and I confess I am still learning how to interpret what my ETRAC is telling me but I think I’m also very good at it now.

The AT GOLD is a new machine for me and this was the first serious trip out with it, so I’m not saying I have learnt all its capabilities just yet.

I made the statement that when in DISC 1 mode the AT GOLD is not as sensitive as in All Metal Mode. GOLDPICK, you seem not to agree with this but I put this to the test many times out in the goldfields and I have no doubt that there is a reduction in sensitivity. Even GARRET in their owner’s manual, state on page 23 “The two discrimination Modes, by their nature, are less sensitive to small and deep targets than the All Metal Mode”

I did some more tests here at home this afternoon and while the conditions in my backyard are totally different to the goldfields the results were similar. Firstly I found an area of clear ground and put a small gold nugget down. In All Metal Mode when the coil was passed over the nugget I got a good signal and a reading of about 40. Next I placed two pieces of ironstone either side of the nugget about 150mm (6 inches) away and passed the coil over each target. All targets gave the same high pitch signal with no way to tell them apart other than looking at the target id, the ironstone would show 00 or 99 while the gold as stated was about 40. Next I entered GOLDPICKS settings, Ground Balance Window 5, Threshold -5, Iron Disc 35 and Iron Audio On. Passing the coil over the ironstone I now get the low BLAT sound, no problems there, but I also get the high pitch signal at the same time just as you do when the coil was passed over the gold. Effectively what this means is that out in the goldfields the detector is giving a low frequency BLAT and a high pitch signal for every piece of ironstone that you go over with no way of telling if the high pitch is a target unless you look at the screen. Now you might say, so what, just look at the screen, but with ironstone to be found with every wave of the coil in the area I was in it just wasn’t practical. You only had to place the pick magnet on the ground and it would be covered in ironstone.

Just to be clear on this: I am getting a high pitch signal with every piece of ironstone I pass over regardless of settings which is indiscernible from genuine targets.

So I guess my question is: Why can the AT GOLD run so quietly in DISC 1 mode although with reduced sensitivity (my opinion and Garretts) but be so noisy in All Metal Mode?

Finally, GOLDPICK are you in Australia or some other country?

FortuneHunter

Just come up with another way of explaining what I mean which I hope is clear for everyone.

In ALL METAL MODE I’m getting sounds like this with every sweep of the coil: BLAT, BEEP, BLAT, BEEP, BLAT, BEEP with every piece of ironstone I pass over and thrown into this can be some extra BEEPS as you pass over hollows, rocks or maybe even branches.

What I should be getting if Iron Audio is turned on is just BLAT, BLAT, BLAT and a BEEP only when a target is passed over.

In total contrast in DISC 1 mode all you get is the background Threshold hum if you have this set high enough and the occasional BEEP as you pass over a target, but as stated previously with reduced sensitivity to the point where in DISC 1 it won’t even pick up my small gold sample that All Metal mode will.

Hope this makes my point clearer.

Fortunehunter

Mate did you try what I said and there is no way I would hunt with iron audio on I would only use it as a dis check. How big was your peice of gold that it won't register on in dis 1 , what coil are you using they come with the 8x5dd pro performance. If you have not tried what I suggested it would be good if you could give it a go. I understand the problem you are having but if you are hunting in iron audio it could be a big part of it as it's a dis check more than anything. Give Phil from the gold mineing centre he is very happy to help with problems. Something is not right about the prob your having and did you try what I said as it is hard to help if not. Give Phil a ring he will fix this prob by explaining what needs to be done with settings. Also where did you purchase it from , this is a important question as there are a few of the not oz series on the market. If you want to talk on the phone to me pm me an I will give you my number.


Goldpick

Oh I forgot to mention I am from bagdad.

Goldpick

Oops sorry that's Baghdad I only went to school for a week.

From the middle east Goldpick

Goldpick wrote:Also where did you purchase it from , this is a important question as there are a few of the not oz series on the market. If you want to talk on the phone to me pm me an I will give you my number.
Goldpick

Goldpick how do you know there is an oz version of the AT Gold?

Have you contacted Garrett USA and confirmed this?

Here we go

Actualy I did ring Garret they were very hard to talk to about this matter of a OZ series. They passed the buck on this one , they transferred me from this person to that person and then to another. Really bad customer service , in the end they would NOT confirm if there was such a thing as a OZ series or not. All they could come up with was talk to your dealer , I explained I just wanted confirmation if they modified a detector for OZ but they refused to comment. I paid 880 for my detector when I could of got one a couple hundred dollars cheaper. I brought a so called oz series because I didn't want to chance it. Honestly my detector works good for what it is. It won't find the really small bits but it has ok pepth on 2 gram plus nuggets. In the country I use it and for it's purpose it's ok. I personally think there are a lot of businesses cashing in on the gold prospecting industry. Do I really believe there is such a thing as a oz series , I am skeptical. The thing that really pisses me most is you can't get a f.....g straight answer from any dealer anywhere , it's always ( there are so many variables ). Great answer to a question.

I came on this forum to try help fortunehunter so don't start your childish **** with me ok I gave a solution that worked for me.

Goldpick wrote:Here we go

Actualy I did ring Garret they were very hard to talk to about this matter of a OZ series. They passed the buck on this one , they transferred me from this person to that person and then to another. Really bad customer service , in the end they would NOT confirm if there was such a thing as a OZ series or not. All they could come up with was talk to your dealer , I explained I just wanted confirmation if they modified a detector for OZ but they refused to comment. I paid 880 for my detector when I could of got one a couple hundred dollars cheaper. I brought a so called oz series because I didn't want to chance it. Honestly my detector works good for what it is. It won't find the really small bits but it has ok pepth on 2 gram plus nuggets. In the country I use it and for it's purpose it's ok. I personally think there are a lot of businesses cashing in on the gold prospecting industry. Do I really believe there is such a thing as a oz series , I am skeptical. The thing that really pisses me most is you can't get a f.....g straight answer from any dealer anywhere , it's always ( there are so many variables ). Great answer to a question.

I came on this forum to try help fortunehunter so don't start your childish **** with me ok I gave a solution that worked for me.

Don't get defensive.

I simply asked the question.

I actaully emailed garrett usa and had it confirmed via 3 emails they only
Make 1 unit and initially they had it tested in oz and made
Modifications then they told me the software updates were applied
To all units. Unless mods are done in OZ when the unit arrives then it would be a
Different scenerio. Testing of both units can confirm this.

I own a Garrett AT Gold that was imported that is doing the
Same thing where it ground balances out once you move in all
Metal mode.

I don't Own a PI and prefer to use a vlf for the small gold. It is
More sensitive than my other detector on the small bits. Will spend 8
Hours testing this machine and hopefully I will get this sorted then
I will purchase another with a larger coil i may make for it.

Will let you know how i go.

So do you think if I purchased one from the US it would work the same as the one I brought here. Because if it would then you would be far better off getting a unit off the Internet an saving at least 160 dollars.

Goldpick

GoldPick I don't know.

In fact I spoke with George last week from Nth Qld Miners Den who I connected with straight away due to this guys up front honesty.
He is an authorised distributor going by Garretts USA website as well and I did offer to purchase from him but George could not assure me it would arrive next day
so did not order because he is in Cairns.

Ebay is where I purchased mine.

I headed out to Blakeville today in Vic and had a 15 minute play. Made some adjustments and the machine worked fairly well.

I am going to head off to Maryborough during the week when work is not busy at one of my favorite spots where I have found small bits of Gold with a VLF in the past on extreme shallow ground. I am going to do the full tests during this day and I have expectation on finding a few bits if its there because it is more sensitive to vlfs I have used in the past
on the small stuff under 18 khz.

Thanks for sharing your information.

Guys guys guys. You do know that I'm an authorised garrett dealer? I'm happy to answer any of your questions. As for Oz version vs USA version. Contentious question & take this as you please. Yes there is/was a difference. When the AT Gold was being tested in Australia by Phil at the gold mining centre, they were sent over stock standard. The testing showed that the test units were incredibly noisy. They were sent back for tweaking. This happened about 6 or 7 times until they reached a unit that was able to run stable & quiet. Thus the difference in the 2 versions.
I don't try to discourage anyone from buying from the US, but after reading what has been put here, the warning is pretty obvious. Still the US models haven't adopted what is the Australian version of things. Buyer beware & if you have a model from America, state that you do. Our AT Golds run fine & are great detectors.

A couple of replys/questions

[quote="Goldpick"]Mate did you try what I said and there is no way I would hunt with iron audio on I would only use it as a dis check. How big was your peice of gold that it won't register on in dis 1 , what coil are you using they come with the 8x5dd pro performance.

Goldpick, yes I did exactly as you suggested, but not sure if there is misunderstanding here, because if you are using the detector in All Metal Mode then you MUST have Iron Audio on in order to have any iron discrimination set. (See page 35 of owners manual “Note: Iron Audio must be switched on in order to set Iron Discrimination in ALL METAL MODE”)

The piece of gold I am testing with is small, around 3 gram I think. I wouldn’t expect the detector to find a piece this small any more than about 50mm depth.

I’m using the 8x5dd coil that came with the detector, which I think is a great size for the bushland areas.

Some questions out there as to whether there is an OZ series of the AT GOLD. Well I can’t say for certain, I purchased mine from an Australian dealer who claims his detectors have been modified for OZ. One thing I have noted is that on my machine I can set the Iron Discrimination all the way up to 44, whereas if you read owner’s manual on page 29 it states “The level can be adjusted from 0 (no iron discrimination) to 40 (maximum iron discrimination)” I’m pretty certain I have also seen this in Garretts promotional videos as well. So to me this indicates there has been some modification made.

Finally I'm not trying to be critical of the AT GOLD, I love its overall design and ease of use especially when compared to those expensive high end machines. I just believe it has some issues in ALL METAL MODE as I have outlined. Hopefully I will sort out this problem soon.

Fortunehunter

Hey Fortunehunter, if you purchased your detector from an authorised garrett dealer here, then they can be found on the list of authorised dealers through the Gold Mining Centre. Usually this is on the back page of Gold Gem & Treasure. If that dealer isn't part of this group the chances are that the AT Gold isn't adjusted for Australian conditions. Who did you buy from & ill check for you?
As for finding gold smaller then 1 gram, yep it will do it. We tested on 0.6 yesterday buried at 35cm & it picked up no worries. Both in AM & Disc 1. Great thing was I had 6 or 7 other guys watching as I did it. All of them were surprised as they all had gp's & GPX's, the little garrett did its thing.

My detector behaves the same as fortunehunters (re: ground balancing) but mine is new and I am still learning how to use it.

Aussiedetecting wrote:Guys guys guys. You do know that I'm an authorised garrett dealer? I'm happy to answer any of your questions. As for Oz version vs USA version. Contentious question & take this as you please. Yes there is/was a difference.

Cool. So is this detector modded in OZ? Your answer here is based 50% one way and 50% the other.

Garret USA stated via email all detectors have the new software updates and has been applied to all units.

Aussiedetecting wrote:When the AT Gold was being tested in Australia by Phil at the gold mining centre, they were sent over stock standard. The testing showed that the test units were incredibly noisy. They were sent back for tweaking. This happened about 6 or 7 times until they reached a unit that was able to run stable & quiet. Thus the difference in the 2 versions.

As confirmed by Garrett USA via email these changes were applied to all detectors after these tests were completed and I was told there is only 1 unit.

Why would Garrett USA make 2 versions? If our tested version works here on the worst conditions then like the famous PI being sold it sure should work else where.

Mind you the AT Gold has been selling now for more than 7 months. The unit I purchased was purchased from Garrett no more than a month ago by my dealer.

Aussiedetecting wrote: Buyer beware & if you have a model from America, state that you do. Our AT Golds run fine & are great detectors.

Buyer beware? No need to scare anyone unless you have confirmation that these are being modded in Australia or 2 different detectors exist.
Don't forget I think its been over 7 months since the last changes were made to the initial units and the unit released in OZ.

In saying this I would not suggest anyone to buy a used AT Gold from the USA because it can end up being one of the first made which won't have the update.

My question still remains though and a test on both units can be made by someone who has enough experience.

Garrett USA has been informed about this post and a press release about this confusion needs to be made whether an OZ version exists or not.

I think this detector will be an awesome nugget finder once we learn how to use the machine. Looking forward in finding gold with it.

Aussiedetecting wrote:We tested on 0.6 yesterday buried at 35cm & it picked up no worries. Both in AM & Disc 1. Great thing was I had 6 or 7 other guys watching as I did it. All of them were surprised as they all had gp's & GPX's, the little garrett did its thing.

Just to confirm the .6 gram target was detected at 350mm which is more than 1 foot?

That's simply awesome if this is the case..

Aussiedetecting wrote:Hey Fortunehunter, if you purchased your detector from an authorised garrett dealer here, then they can be found on the list of authorised dealers through the Gold Mining Centre. Usually this is on the back page of Gold Gem & Treasure. If that dealer isn't part of this group the chances are that the AT Gold isn't adjusted for Australian conditions. Who did you buy from & ill check for you?
As for finding gold smaller then 1 gram, yep it will do it. We tested on 0.6 yesterday buried at 35cm & it picked up no worries. Both in AM & Disc 1. Great thing was I had 6 or 7 other guys watching as I did it. All of them were surprised as they all had gp's & GPX's, the little garrett did its thing.

Hi Aussiedetecting, seeing as you asked, I purchased the detector from you so I'm hoping and assuming it is a OZ modified detector.

Finding a 0.6 grammer at buried at 35cm is a big claim. Was that buried in mineralized ground full of ironstone? My piece of test gold which is 0.3 gram (sorry about the confusion, I wrote 3 gram previously) can be picked up at about 15cm air test. In the ground in mineralized soil that drops back to about 50mm or less.

Fortunehunter

fortunehunter wrote:

Aussiedetecting wrote:Hey Fortunehunter, if you purchased your detector from an authorised garrett dealer here, then they can be found on the list of authorised dealers through the Gold Mining Centre. Usually this is on the back page of Gold Gem & Treasure. If that dealer isn't part of this group the chances are that the AT Gold isn't adjusted for Australian conditions. Who did you buy from & ill check for you?
As for finding gold smaller then 1 gram, yep it will do it. We tested on 0.6 yesterday buried at 35cm & it picked up no worries. Both in AM & Disc 1. Great thing was I had 6 or 7 other guys watching as I did it. All of them were surprised as they all had gp's & GPX's, the little garrett did its thing.

Hi Aussiedetecting, seeing as you asked, I purchased the detector from you so I'm hoping and assuming it is a OZ modified detector.

Finding a 0.6 grammer at buried at 35cm is a big claim. Was that buried in mineralized ground full of ironstone? My piece of test gold which is 0.3 gram (sorry about the confusion, I wrote 3 gram previously) can be picked up at about 15cm air test. In the ground in mineralized soil that drops back to about 50mm or less.

Fortunehunter

I am not sure if 2 different AT Gold detectors are being sold. Garret USA whether they reply or not will be reading this post.

What I can say is my US imported AT Gold purchased here in Aus by an importer that is not affiliated with any distributor down under which I purchased 2 weeks was
shipped to my dealer about a month ago behaves like yours fortunehunter.

However just some advice to any potential buyer. Do not in any circumstances purchase a 2nd hand AT Gold from the USA via ebay because it may be one of the early versions sold in the USA back in late 2011 which may not have the current software changes.

Fortunehunter if you are having issues contact me & we will sort it out. As for the test, the ground wasn't too bad. But it did it & in front of guys using minelabs. The last comment about the eBay purchases is a very good one.

Aussiedetecting wrote:Fortunehunter if you are having issues contact me & we will sort it out. As for the test, the ground wasn't too bad. But it did it & in front of guys using minelabs. The last comment about the eBay purchases is a very good one.

OK, will try and give you a call when I can get a spare moment.

Fortunehunter