Is it worth buying the GM 1000 for small gold when I have a XTerra 705

[RottenRon]

Hi everyone,
Its been quite a while since I posted anything. I ended up moving to Mansfield Vic and lost interest in prospecting for some time. I sold my Garrett ATX as I couldnt justify having it lay around, but I kept my Xterra 705 as it doesnt owe me much and thought it might be handy.
Theres not much scope for panning etc in the rivers and creeks around here, as most are on the banned list. However, I suspect there may be plenty of small gold to be had.

Having watched numerous Youtube videos on the subject, the Gold Monster 1000 has really piqued my detecting interest again. It seems to do a good job finding small gold, (relics dont float my boat anymore), so my questions are; -

1. Is the GM 1000 that much better than the 705 for small gold?
2. Can I assume the GM1000 will still find larger/deeper gold (if its there and Im lucky)?

If I end up buying the GM1000, Im thinking Ill flog the 705 with the two original coils and the 15 Coiltec. The smallest stuff I ever found with that combo is #2 or 3 lead shot, .22 short cases down to 3 of so, plenty of nails, coins, ring pulls, canslaw etc. It gets good depth, but only on items bigger that the above.
My partner likes to sketch and paint in and around the creeks, so while shes doing that, I figure the GM 1000 will keep me occupied, since I cant catch any bloody fish anyway.
Looking forward to hearing from anyone with experience with either or both machines.

Cheers, Ron.

 

[Ded Driver]

goodaye Ron
I have both, & I don't bother trying to use the XTerra for gold (I know others do tho'). The GM is dedicated for that, & being 45kHz has a much better frequency than the XT's 18.75kHz (plus it has faster processing & is more sensitive).
BUT, the XT has better discrimination for chasing items other than gold

DED

 

[RottenRon]

goodaye Ron
I have both, & I don't bother trying to use the XTerra for gold (I know others do tho'). The GM is dedicated for that, & being 45kHz has a much better frequency than the XT's 18.75kHz (plus it has faster processing & is more sensitive).
BUT, the XT has better discrimination for chasing items other than gold

DED

Thanks DED.
Pretty much the info I was after (and suspected).
Can you give me an idea of the sizes/depths of the finds you've made with the GM1000 thus far please.
I'd be interested to know what to expect.
Cheers, Ron.

 

[Ded Driver]

to date Ive only picked up 1 tiny tiddler of 0.5gm with the GM that was about 40-50mm deep. I don't know what its max depth might be on a decent size target of say 1/2oz or more. (I don't get a lot of time in the gold-fields yet, so have only ever found a very small amount in total).
I haven't actually had a hell of a lot of experience with it, & took a while to lose its virginity, as I also have a GPX4000 & SD2100+
The GM is good if you DONT use its discrimination (Iron Reject), but rather use the deeper All Metal mode & dig everything.
The SD series can still be be picked up 2nd hand for around the same or a little more than the new price of a GM, & has far greater depth & the versatility of most of the GPX coils. Being a PI it can handle ground that the GM cant.

 

[ctxkid]

I'd be interested to know what to expect.Cheers, Ron.

have no expectation to avoid disappointment

take it out, dig (neatly) every target , an in a coupla trips of seeing what comes up and from where,you'll have a gauge to go by :rainbow: ickshovel: :money:

 

[Ded Driver]

Ron, it would be a good idea to try & borrow or hire a GM for a weekend to see if you like it.
While its a very light & easy machine to use, its a chirpy little beast. Loves Aluminium too
Its a bit like having a yappy Jack Russell as compared to a quiet relaxed Shepherd.

 

[RottenRon]

Ron, it would be a good idea to try & borrow or hire a GM for a weekend to see if you like it.
While its a very light & easy machine to use, its a chirpy little beast. Loves Aluminium too
Its a bit like having a yappy Jack Russell as compared to a quiet relaxed Shepherd.

Ha Ha,
A German Shepard eh. Old neighbors had one, nothing relaxed or quiet about it. Barked and threatened to tear me apart every time it saw me.
I have a greyhound and would have picked one of them for the comparison. Sleeps for 23 hour a day, eats for 1/2 hr and digs dirty great gopher holes for the other 1/2 hour.
Pity I can't train it to dig out targets eh. Speaking of which, I doubt I can hire a GM around here, but I will do some more research.
The ground I'm interested in covering, hasn't got too much in the way of canslaw or other rubbish, so fingers crossed.
Also, I don't mind a talkative "Jack Russel" so long as it gets results. Light and easy is good too.
Cheers, Ron.

 

[RottenRon]

I'd be interested to know what to expect.Cheers, Ron.

have no expectation to avoid disappointment

take it out, dig (neatly) every target , an in a coupla trips of seeing what comes up and from where,you'll have a gauge to go by :rainbow: ickshovel: :money:

Pretty hard to be a prospector and avoid disappointment.
It's always nice to get an opinion from other who use them. My favorite saying is, "The best mistakes to learn from, are the ones that others make", mind you, I've learnt from many of my own too.
Cheers, Ron.

 

[LORD]

I would say the GM is another class above the 705 so definitely worth the investment if you would like to target gold.
It will find the tiniest of peices, .01 is very achievable and I have found several of these, not sure of depth on a larger gold target, seen 2.5g at 150mm approx and it was screaming.

As already mention you cant trust the decrimination too much, all the tiny gold which will likely be 99% of the monsters gold finds tend to flick between ferrous and non ferrous in my experience, not until it's out of the dirt that its reading likely gold. Having said that I dont dig full loud iron signals so I do discriminate a bit I guess

If you haven't already watch a few of LDC Gold on YouTube, he kills it with the monster.

Honestly you would be very lucky to find gold with the 705, it's hard enough with better machines. Monster, if the grounds not too mineralised will find gold if it's there. Noisy bugger though

 

[Reg Wilson]

Buy a gold pan. Cheaper, and you will find more gold if you have water.

 

[RottenRon]

Buy a gold pan. Cheaper, and you will find more gold if you have water.

Hi Reg,
I appreciate your comment, but as I stated earlier, all the rivers, streams, creeks around here are on the banned list.
I have pans, yabbie pump, sieves etc, which I manage to use from time to time, but also have a hibanker, two sluices and a little 4 stroke pump which are useless to me now as they are regarded a mechanical, ie, not hand operated only.
I'm going to spend more time swinging for screamers from now on,,, lol.
Cheers, Ron.

 

[Troutman]

Hi Ron,

I have a 705 which has paid for itself several times over in modern coin finds plus it has had many jewellery finds, but it is hopeless on our highly mineralised Australian soil even with the DD gold coil. It has never found gold.

We have used a borrowed GM 1000 to find a couple of ounces of tiny tiny gold in a very specific location where even the SDC 2300 and GPZ 7000 could find no more gold. The spot originally yielded over an ounce of small gold (about 140) pieces with the SDC and then another 2 ounces with the GM 1000.

The GM discrimination is not to be trusted and it is easily fooled by hot rocks. We just dug lots of false signals and hundreds of good signals. It has plenty of trouble in mineralised soils.

As said by others above you probably need to get hold of one (rent or borrow) and try it on the actual ground you want to search. You may find it works or maybe not. My understanding of the machine is that it was not designed by Minelab for Australian soils, but for milder soils in other countries. Some guys do find gold small gold with it in Oz though.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Graham

 

[ctxkid]

Pretty hard to be a prospector and avoid disappointment.

dont go out expecting to get rich = no disappointment

 

[Ded Driver]

2nd that ctxkid :Y: