Anyone working the mxt e series in mariposa?

[CharlesP]

I have put in 30 straight hours working this thing hitting bedrock, and haven't even gotten a sniff of gold. I am beyond frustrated. When I was sluicing I was getting almost a half a gram a trip, and now nothing. Any advice will be implemented Pronto.

 

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[63bkpkr]

I do not want to beat a dead horse but the MXT is supposed to have some similar electronics to the GMT. With my GMT I find some small pieces of gold Also you can see the small birdshot found in the area of these gold flakes. some of the gold was under 6 to 8" of solid rock (rock may have helped in passing signals both directions?). So here comes the beating of the dead horse part: Have you made a test garden for yourself? Or if you do not have the location to bury targets how about just trying them on top of the ground to see what your detector does. Once you know what it does 'around home' then you could take a couple of your @ home targets with you to the hills to see what the detector does with them there. Comparing both areas may help, seeing if your machine will detect small targets @ home could help though if it will not find them at home then a trip back to Whites for a look see if the machine/coil is/are working properly. IMHO

Now for more truth - it took me some time to find gold with my GMT, I was even in the right area with it though I may have not been using it properly. I began to really adjust it and that and getting the coil over the gold kinda set me straight.

I mostly use the 4 x 6 DD shooter coil on my GMT though I own all three coils offered for it from Whites. Oh, the coin in the picture above is a U.S. dime.

Hope this is of some use................63bkpkr

 

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[CharlesP]

I do not want to beat a dead horse but the MXT is supposed to have some similar electronics to the GMT. With my GMT I find some small pieces of gold <img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=739227"/> Also you can see the small birdshot found in the area of these gold flakes. some of the gold was under 6 to 8" of solid rock (rock may have helped in passing signals both directions?). So here comes the beating of the dead horse part: Have you made a test garden for yourself? Or if you do not have the location to bury targets how about just trying them on top of the ground to see what your detector does. Once you know what it does 'around home' then you could take a couple of your @ home targets with you to the hills to see what the detector does with them there. Comparing both areas may help, seeing if your machine will detect small targets @ home could help though if it will not find them at home then a trip back to Whites for a look see if the machine/coil is/are working properly. IMHO

Now for more truth - it took me some time to find gold with my GMT, I was even in the right area with it though I may have not been using it properly. I began to really adjust it and that and getting the coil over the gold kinda set me straight.

I mostly use the 4 x 6 DD shooter coil on my GMT though I own all three coils offered for it from Whites. Oh, the coin in the picture above is a U.S. dime.

Hope this is of some use................63bkpkr

Thank you for beating that horse. I learn something from every post. I think your right I need to practice more. It's alot easier to focus in a controlled environment, than one loaded with hot rocks and iron. Lol. Thank you I will be doing what you suggested.

 

[kuger]

....Snelling rock piles are whats left from Doodlebug and bucket line Dredges.....those were not getting big gold(that area is not known for big gold)but moving enough material to make it pay.....

 

[Ca70]

Two small pickers for amount of time I put in made me decide this wasn't the ideal place. I knew the gold was small there. Not worth it . They were getting fine gold back in the day ,as stated in "kugers' post.
One of the reasons I decided to hit that place originally was similiar bucket lines were run up my way in Oroville. The tailings in Snelling , although very similiar did not provide decent detector finds as the oroville area had for past years .

Btw , the Jolly Roger phones are great.

 

[mjarvis]

Charles. Are you finding small lead shot ? Or similar small non-ferrous targets? If you are. You are on the right track. A small nugget sounds just like a small lead shot target of almost similar size. If you are finding these. Keep on it. I can dig 100 trash targets before a yellow one shows up. Maybe slow down your swing a bit. Small gold doesn't yell at you. It's a light whisper , but pronounced zip on the MXT.
Once you find your first gold with that unit , it just gets easier. People always say it. The first is the hardest. But it's very very true.
I sometimes use my MXT for small gold but, usually a GMT. But with the MXT I find I have to slow down a bit. It's not as hot on small targets as the GMT.

Hemisteve left a great post, simple. Read it . Again

The 4x6 Shooter is the ticket as far as the MXT on gold goes. No need to change that. In mineralized ground, in Plumas smallest I've found with MXT and 4x6 coil is .8 grain. And it was a whisper . About 1 inch down. WITH good headphones. Not bad . Compared to the GMT , no contest. If I HAD to keep one detector, of all, of them I would probably keep the MXT. No BS. It does everything really good. No other can say that I feel. It doesn't find the smallest, nor the biggest - deepest gold. But it's not designed to do that.

What headset are you using ?

I have hunted the Snelling area on numerous occasions, with less than excellent success . A couple ok finds . Nothing great . Its not far from me , I need to get out that way more, and find new areas. Close drive from home, for a closer foothill hunt.

Family property in Tuolumne and Plumas areas are usually where I prospect..

Hey Ca70, I have an MXT and I'm thinking about getting the Sierra gold max coil or is a 4x6 shooter a better coil?? I want to use it to gold prospect, but I'm not sure and I've heard a lot of different answers. Any advice would be great thxs

 

[Ca70]

I don't own the Gold Max, but hear good things. As far as med / larger coils for the MXT I love the D2. Now, the 4x6 shooter is an awesome little coil. Not only, is it the only coil I use for gold on the MXT ( when,.. I use the MXT for prospecting ) I use it for trashy coin hunting as well. Great separation, gets in tight places amd sensitive on small gold. I don't think many would disagree its one of the best choices for the MXT , especially for prospecting.

As far as which one is better. They serve a different purpose. I feel the Max isn't going to be as sensitive on smaller targets as the shooter will be. The Max will punch deeper on larger targets though.

 

[63bkpkr]

MJ,
I own the GMT as well as the big Sierra Gold Max. The SGM is used for open country, it is quite heavy, it Really floats in water so it takes a lot of energy to hold it under the water. I use it very little but it is part of the arsenal of coils for the GMT so I own it...............63bkpkr

The smallest gold really drops out when using the SGM but it still finds small gold. I've a post on Tnet that discusses that. The smallest coil in the picture is the 4 x 6 and I use it a lot.

 

[mjarvis]

MJ,
I own the GMT as well as the big Sierra Gold Max. The SGM is used for open country, it is quite heavy, it Really floats in water so it takes a lot of energy to hold it under the water. I use it very little but it is part of the arsenal of coils for the GMT so I own it...............63bkpkr

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=739472"/> The smallest gold really drops out when using the SGM but it still finds small gold. I've a post on Tnet that discusses that. The smallest coil in the picture is the 4 x 6 and I use it a lot.

So what's a better coil for nugget hunting I have the MXT with just a 950 eclipse on it. Does the 4x6 shooter work well with that nugget finding?? Any suggestions are welcomed thxs matt

 

[mjarvis]

I don't own the Gold Max, but hear good things. As far as med / larger coils for the MXT I love the D2. Now, the 4x6 shooter is an awesome little coil. Not only, is it the only coil I use for gold on the MXT ( when,.. I use the MXT for prospecting ) I use it for trashy coin hunting as well. Great separation, gets in tight places amd sensitive on small gold. I don't think many would disagree its one of the best choices for the MXT , especially for prospecting.

As far as which one is better. They serve a different purpose. I feel the Max isn't going to be as sensitive on smaller targets as the shooter will be. The Max will punch deeper on larger targets though.

Thanks Ca70!! That's great info, I live around the American River and there's a whole bunch of tailing piles that I'd like to try some prospecting on those piles. That's why I wanted any feed back from the Tnet Site guys that could steer me in the rite direction. I'd like to have both but I can only get one. Thanks for the help!!!

 

[Jim Hemmingway]

Charles… as to your question… pump the coil over target-free ground regularly… you’ll soon learn to do it as a matter of habit. When you hear ground noise, you’ll know to repeat the ground balance sequence. This will prevent losing the fading signals you referred to above. Some were likely hotrocks or ground mineral anomalies, but some could have been tiny gold. Tracking can attenuate or even eliminate small faint signals… especially if you hover over them while trying to pinpoint and evaluate.

I’ve searched minesites where the ground balance can drop within a few steps from GB80s over diabase down to the mid GB60s over weathered country rock. Units with a GRAB feature really do help to alleviate the hassle of maintaining ground balance over these conditions. But in lieu of that feature on the older MXT models… autotracking is a useful convenience over highly variable ground where otherwise trying to maintain a "manual" (locked) ground balance is a questionable chore that gets old pretty fast. So I occasionally use it here… knowing that either way some weak signals will be overlooked… but at least I won’t be spending a good part of my time fiddling around with controls. To avoid losing signals that you do locate when using autotrack, pull the trigger to disable it prior to doing multiple coil sweeps over a target.

The one place where autotracking should not be used is over ground replete with subsurface corroded iron… for example around mining camps. Rust is a form of a highly magnetic susceptible mineral called maghemite. Tracking into this stuff offsets the unit’s proper ground balance, creating instability characterized by constant spurious noise that cannot be attributed to excessive gain. If you ever experience this problem at iron-infested sites, the solution is to ground balance the unit over target-free ground and immediately "lock" the ground balance switch.

If small gold prevails in your area, you may want to switch over to a unit better able to detect it… such as the GMT or Goldbug 2. Preferences aside… my Goldbug2 will detect small stuff that MXT cannot see. I expect the GMT will do the same… but also like that it has more ground balance options than Goldbug2, and the audio "pig grunt" indicating the 85%+ likelihood of iron is a nice target evaluation feature that doesn’t subtract from the all-metal mode’s detection depth.

I’m sure you entertain similar ideas Charles, but it’s nice to get some feedback as to how others generally see things. The photo below is not intended as a boast… it was found many years ago… but rather as an encouragement. I was feeling discouraged at the end of a long tramp in the bush… thinking it a complete waste of my time… and then promptly found this piece. Stay the course and good luck!!

Jim.

​

 

[Ca70]

Ok , Bucket tailings too.

63bkpkr, uses a GMT on gold , (as do I )and uses the 4x6 shooter, and the SGM coil on the GMT. I have a GMT and use neither of those coils. Both great coils for the GMT . I will probably own one or the other in the future for my GMT . He can provide info I cant on either coil for the GMT. My GMT ,I use as a bedrock or close to bedrock MD'er. Hence the coil I usually use is the Sierra 9x2 Hotfoot coil (no longer made). It gets really small stuff in moderate ground , shallow. (As the 4x6 shooter will) Or, Ill use the stock 6x10, but rarely. If I go deep for bigger gold I go for the Minelab GP series. Majority of my finds are small, and I reach for the GMT, sometimes the Gold Bug .

You have the MXT. As do I . I dont use the MXT for prospecting as many of the folks on here do. But when I do , the only coil I will use is the 4x6 Shooter FOR the MXT. Im looking for small gold at the bottom of it's travels through the substrate.
The Shooter coil for the MXT is great, it will not punch deep. It is designed to hunt "quality ground, not a quantity of ground".

If I was hunting tailings from Bucket Line Dredges. I am usually looking for larger targets in between and with the large stuff that was classified off the Dredge. Anything smaller was "usually" captured in the sluices. If not , it escaped in a clay ball or conglomerate and, over time make it's way down through those larger cobbles left in the tailings.
Large targets dont have that chance to work their way down as well as the small stuff.

A Larger , or stock coil is going to give you a little more range on those larger targets, deeper.Those small elusive , more abundant finds, are going to be close to the end of their travels . Close to bedrock or something that acts as bedrock. Not amongst much larger river rock .Usually.

Nothing is exact though. "Gold is where you find it " We all say it .
Did that make sense ? I had two late nights at work. I'm a little tired tonight. :-)


For GOLD . I am either a GMT guy or a Minelab GP guy. I am probably not giving the MXT it's due in the gold fields. It's seen to much grass and dry sand beaches> This thread has really made me want to try to hone my gold skills with my MXT. It deserves some more mountain time.

Nonetheless hopes this helps a little. I love Bucket line tailings. tedious work but can pay very nicely.



A find from a California Bucket Line dredge tailing field. ( 2011 ,location withheld, obvious reasons )

 

[mjarvis]

Great post Ca70! That's some really good info, I think I'll get me a 4x6 shooter coil. I wish I could afford another detector like a mine lab but those machines dong come easy. I don't want to get down on my MXT for prospecting due to what you have said that others use the GBII or the GMT. I wanted it for the multi-purpose features it offered, knowing that, I was curious about the other coils out there that could offer better field focus on the nuggets small or larger. I hope I didn't make the wrong choice on the purchase of the MXT. I like it but I really wanted it for prospecting first, then the other stuff. I guess I really need more time with it to hone my skills. Thanks for the good info I'll look for more of your posts.
Mj

 

[nuggetshooter323]

If you want to do coin & jewelry as well as nugget hunting, then the MXT is a good choice. It has a good coil selection (Whites brand as well as after market),it does it's three modes very well, it's very a very good multi-platform machine. But when you can afford it, and if you want to maximize your time in the gold fields, get a machine more dedicated to gold prospecting, like the GMT, GB II, and the GB Pro.

 

[Ca70]

Your MXT is a great machine . As I said "does everything really good". "nuggetshooter323" said it straight up . If you are going to "coin somethimes, relic sometimes, nugget shoot sometimes" . the MXT IS the best choice out there . As many will agree. But if you are going to dedicate your detecting time to placer gold , then the GMT, Gold Bug series MD'ers are the choice. Nothing wrong with having more than one detector.

If you fall onto a pile of cash while walking your dog, cat , turtle etc.., then , a Minelab GPX, or a used GP.

I started my detecting hobby not for coins but in reverse, (as the hobby usually goes ) detecting for gold 20 years ago. I thought we could cover more ground in the off season.

Detecting for gold IS the hardest form of MD'ing. It TAKES patience. the first find is the hardest. It took me just over a year to find my first small nugget 20 years ago with a antiquated Whites machine, friends laughing at me drinking beer in camp while panning concentrates from the days dredge operation. The joke stopped after I pulled two nice finds right in our camp over the weekend.

As i said , for gold , I'd start with the 4x6 Shooter for gold , save up for a dedicated gold machine too.

 

[Oakview2]

....Snelling rock piles are whats left from Doodlebug and bucket line Dredges.....those were not getting big gold(that area is not known for big gold)but moving enough material to make it pay.....

Kuger

Does the Merced irrigation district own those tailing piles My next trip to Coulterville, I hope to go up 99 so I can see the piles in person..

 

[phintar]

I recently got an MXT and was wondering all of the same questions... This thread has been really helpful! Thank you all

 

[kuger]

Kuger

Does the Merced irrigation district own that piles My next to Coulterville, I hope to go up 99 so I can see the piles in person..

I am not sure Oak?I know a lot of them are Private property.Ya should take a drive,its a neat drive and they are pretty neat.....boggles the mind!!My grandmother remembered the constant clatter and roar they made when she was a young girl and they ran 24 hrs a day.....I can only imagine!!

 

[mjarvis]

I recently got an MXT and was wondering all of the same questions... This thread has been really helpful! Thank you all

Hey phintar. I recently got an MXT and just learning how to use it. Great stuff of YouTube for how to's check them out you'll find them as good!! Good luck

 

[phintar]

Mjarvis, I have looked all over youtube, but some of them seem to be setups and im not sure that i trust all of the videos, but good info non the less... I found it hard to find a video on using it for prospecting, but this thread seems to have some good info on it. Maybe you could give me some links to some prospecting videos that you found helpful?

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Hey guys,
Here's a web page from one of our local clubs. Under the "MXT" heading on the sidebar, are instructions on how to set-up your MXT to look for nuggets using the "Coin & Jewelry" mode. It looks like you dig a lot less iron trash with it. GPOC information page