Ask any metal detectorist out there on what he would love to find the most with his machine! 99.9% of them will tell you “Gold” with no hesitation and the 0.01% who won’t, will probably say Diamond …
Since this is the case, I thought it would be extremely helpful for hobbyists out there even beginners, to know whether their metal detector is capable of finding gold or not and if so, how they should approach their quest for this precious metal!
I think you will find that helpful too …
Can metal detectors detect Gold?
Yes it is very much possible to detect gold with your metal detector. Indeed, metal detectors emit a sort of magnetic field that can trigger electricity whenever it reaches a metallic item that can conduct electricity …
And since gold’s nature is metallic and has enough electrical conductivity, this makes it possible for detecting machines to find it.
Do all metal detectors detect Gold?
Well, all metal detectors can find some amount of gold, but there are different types of detectors that are especially made to be more sensitive to and search specifically for gold.
Indeed, if you want to increase your chances of finding gold, then you need a metal detector with a high frequency (Check this example).
High-frequency metal detectors have shorter wavelengths and therefore are great for detecting small objects such as tiny gold nuggets.
These machines with a high frequency are, therefore, better for low conductivity targets such as gold and iron.
High-frequency detectors also have higher accuracy and are more sensitive to ground mineralization interference.
These detectors typically use frequencies higher than 14 kHz, helping detect even small gold objects such as rings, coins, and earrings.
Can cheap metal detectors detect Gold?
Sometimes, even the cheaper machines can help you find gold. For example, a cheap entry-level metal detector like the Bounty Hunter Gold Digger (Check it Here at Amazon) is capable of detecting items with gold in it, like coins and jewelry.
It can also detect large gold nuggets. However, it cannot detect small nuggets or gold flakes present in a highly mineralized area where the detector experiences an extreme amount of chatter.
For this, you will need a highly specialized metal detector.
Can metal detectors find gold nuggets?
Yes, you can find gold nuggets with a metal detector only if the detector has a ground leveling feature and the option of finding gold.
The key to looking for gold nuggets is to search in places where nuggets have been found in the past. Some areas may have produced plenty of gold in the past, but it might not be in sizes large enough to be picked up with a metal detector.
It is a common mistake that most detectorists just assume that they can just start metal detecting randomly at a place where gold has been found before…
Instead, you need to find the exact places where gold was found previously. Look for old places tailing piles, places where the miners hand stacked the rocks along a creek.
Look for the prospects in the side of the hill where previously someone has done some digging. Look for large areas that have been dug up with bucket line dredges or big hydraulic pits. In an arid region, search for dry washer piles left behind by the old miners.
Anything that indicates that gold has been found in the area before should be taken as a good indication that it can still be found today.
Example of a metal detector for Gold …
The Minelab Gold Monster 1000 (Check it Here at Amazon) is an excellent model and great for those who want to search for gold.
Even though it is marketed as an entry-level metal detector, but it is explicitly designed as a gold detector. Its high-speed signal processing and intermediate frequency give it an edge over other machines when it comes to detecting gold in deep and compromised grounds.
The detector is very lightweight, weighing just 2.9 lbs, and is an automatically operated device.
The Gold Monster’s 45KHz frequency is not the highest of all detectors, but it is sufficient to make this belong to the category of high-frequency detectors…
Since it is a single frequency detector, it is not possible for it to capture 100% of the gold that two detectors operating separately at two extreme frequencies can capture. Nevertheless, it is capable of capturing much of the obtainable gold as possible.
The machine detects electrical interference and automatically rejects as much as possible when the detector is first turned on. This helps alleviate interference that could result in reduced performance.
The sensitivity controls are also well designed. It lets you not only manually tune the detector but also delivers excellent results automatically as well.
The automatic feature comes in handy in places where the ground varies dramatically from place to place, and it becomes difficult and inefficient to constantly readjust the machine manually.
It also has two search modes for better ease of operation, especially for beginners. The two search modes are Gold, which is automatically set to reject iron and Deep All-Metal. There is also a built-in Gold Chance indicator that comes with six adjustable volume levels. The advantage of this is that you can launch directly into searching for gold without having to change your setting first.
Which metal detector is best for Gold (VLF or PI?)
VLFs are a much older technology, but this does not mean that they don’t work. Even today, there are some advantages of using VLF detectors (Learn more about VLFs) over PI detectors (Learn more about PIs) for finding gold.
Sometimes even the most expensive PI detectors end up missing gold finds that you can only find with a VLF detector.
VLFs are better than PI detectors, especially when it comes to finding small gold targets. PI detectors are good for punching deep on good-sized gold nuggets, but they are not that efficient when it comes to finding smaller bits of gold.
This is especially true when there are flaky, crystalline pieces of gold in the ground. These smaller pieces can be almost invisible to PI detectors for no known reason.
While some of the newer PI detectors have more advanced features and better performance in finding gold, but when it comes to finding smaller gold, VLF detectors still reign supreme.
Final Thoughts …
If you think that the goal of this article is to ONLY educate you about finding gold with your metal detector, then you are highly mistaken, the information I’ve shared here is not a mystery and the average hobbyist should know about that already …
Instead, my actual goal is to get you excited about gold prospecting (as a hobbyist), I mean, you never know, as far as you hit the right places and with a little bit of luck you can definitely end up with something interesting, life changing even …
You never know, all what it takes is to take that first lazy step!
Finally, I strongly invite you to learn how you can find White Gold with your Metal Detector! You’ll learn a Lot …