What About The Garrett Infinium For gold Prospecting?

[Hard Prospector]

I've been using my Whites TDI for some time now and have been very pleased with its performance but have always wondered about the Garrett PI detector. Any input, opinions and experience with the Infinium would be appreciated. Thanks....Rob

 

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[Treasure finder]

Thanks for the insight Reg, helpful to lots of us. I was a Microwave Radio Tech in the Army, somehow they didn't teach us anything
about metal detector designs, shame on them.
Rich

 

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[UncleMatt]

The guys over at geotech1.com put out a book not long ago that is now my Bible on MD technologies. I highly recommend it.

 

[Vick]

Steve, i will appreciate a bit of advice here. I have never used a metal detector before. I am after some gold at a very specific location. I have a sample of the sedimentary rock from the site, containing a very prominent layer of gold, about 8mm thick, running through it. I have read more forums about metal detectors than I care to remember. From what I could gather is that the Infinium is not a bad choice. Obviously not the best, but for the price – and me being a complete novice – not the worse choice. I bought a new Infinium yesterday awaiting delivery. It will come with the standard coil as I did not specify differently. It's not a Gold Pack, just stock standard.
I am of the opinion that the ground is medium mineralised, flat and dry with a rock here and there.
Please be kind enough to recommend a suitable coil. I take it that I can, for the time being, use the standard coil, or will that be a complete waste of time?
Any tips will be appreciated.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Well, with only medium mineralization a VLF would probably serve as well or better than the Infinium, but sounds like water under the bridge. I need a waterproof ground balancing PI before February and was considering getting another Infinium since I have about given up on White's producing a waterproof TDI. Now I am waiting to see what the new Garrett about to be released brings to he table.

Long story short if I do get another Infinium I will get an 8" mono to go with it. But what you need depends on what you are doing, not on what I am doing.

 

[kellygang]

I suppose I am a little late coming in on this but as all you guys seem to have enormous experience with detectors can you tell me why the Minelabs are so expensive after all they have a coil, a battery, a broomstick, some wires and a box of goodies which I guess are circuit boards?

 

[Clay Diggins]

It's the "box of goodies" kellygang.

They do have an appreciable markup on the broomstick, coil and battery. They can mark up those parts because of whats in the box of goodies.

They invented and own the technology that's in that box of goodies. If other companies want to make a modern PI metal detector with some of the capabilities of the GPX series of Minelab detectors they have to pay Minelab to rent their technology.

You can get aftermarket replacements for the battery, coil and broomstick but that box of goodies is all theirs.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

That battery happens to be a huge, very powerful Lithium-ion battery which alone cost more than some detectors. And part of what makes the Minelab work is using very high tolerance components which cost more.

But that is not important. There is no law that says retail is related to cost. You charge what the market will bear, and lacking serious competition Minelab can pretty much charge whatever they want. They could charge $1000 more for a GPX 5000 and I would still buy one. Mine paid for itself again this summer with just one nugget I found.

 

[Hard Prospector]

Steve,
Looking forward to reading about this summer's prospecting in your Journal.

 

[[email protected]]

Go get him Steve...

 

[Rik601]

Not in hot ground like I have the hot rocks are so numerous you can't even use a VLF detector and they cannot not be tuned out the only unit that works in my hot ground area is a PI !!

 

[McArthurJohn]

i know this is an old thread, but had to chime in. ive found as much gold with my "low powered" garret infinium, my whites TDI pro and my old tesoro stingray as ive found with my minelab GPX-4000 and GPX-4500. ive found gold with my garrett infinium as dep or deeper than my minelabs!.....all depends on where your searching and the conditions i guess.

as far as deep seeking coils, i want one about 50ft long we can pull across the desert with 4 wheelers and find the deep stuff.....HAHAHAHAH!

McArthurJohn AKA Nuggetdigger AKA Bushman

 

[Terry Soloman]

i know this is an old thread, but had to chime in. ive found as much gold with my "low powered" garret infinium, my whites TDI pro and my old tesoro stingray as ive found with my minelab GPX-4000 and GPX-4500. ive found gold with my garrett infinium as dep or deeper than my minelabs!....

If this is true, I would suggest you take some lessons and learn how to use your Minelab machines correctly. The GPX 4000 is a MUCH deeper and sensitive nuggetshooter than ANY Garrett or Whites Pulse machines.

 

[rjtyree]

"You will find everything that you would find with a TDI, using the Dual Field or Tesoro Sand Shark - at HALF the price"

Terry, that statement clearly indicates to me that you have never encountered conditions requiring the use of the ground balance on the Garrett Infinium or White's TDI. Lacking that experience you lack an understanding of the value of a ground balance circuit on a pulse induction metal detector. You therefore accuse Garrett and White's of ripping people off by charging twice as much as you believe they are worth, since machine costing half as much perform just fine for you in your limited experience. You are like a person in low mineral ground using a Gold Bug 2 complaining that a GPX 5000 is a rip off because it can't find any gold that the Gold Bug 2 will easily find. After all, the GPX 5000 costs over six times as much as a Gold Bug 2 so it should do what a Gold Bug 2 does, right? You think $1600 is charging too much for a detector and are fine with almost $6000?

If Minelab had believed as you do the SD 2000 would never have been developed and everyone in Australia would be swinging a Sand Shark. I do not for one second believe the Infinium or TDI are nearly as good as a GPX 5000 and I recommend anyone who can afford it should get one. If you want to shop used you can get used older model Minelabs for about twice the price of an Infinium or TDI. That right there should tell people how good the Minelabs are.

The fact is however is that the TDI and Infinium are the clear second choices after Minelab. For people in places that require the use of a ground balance circuit on a PI - and that quite clearly is not you Terry - they are low priced options. By definition a non-ground balancing PI will outperform a ground balancing PI in conditions that do not require the ground balance circuit. The TDI with the ground balance turned off will get more depth in ground that does not require the ground balance. The GPX 5000 will go dramatically deeper with the ground balance system shut off in ground that does not require the system. But then, you have probably never encountered that ground with your GPX 5000, have you Terry?

One reason I very much prefer the TDI compared to the Infinium is I can turn the ground balance off on the TDI. The TDI outperforms the Dual Field under most conditions that do not require ground balancing when you turn the ground balance off. When you encounter conditions where engaging the ground balance provides an advantage, only then do you do so. Again, you clearly do not understand what the advantages are of a ground balance setting on a PI nor understand when it should or should not be used. There is a reason it can be turned on or off. Sometimes you need it, most times you do not.

Never encountering something does not mean it does not exist. What makes you interesting Terry is your professed lack of humbleness. You actually are proud of that? Well maybe if you would be a little more humble you would be a little more open to learning things. You can't learn when you are convinced you already know it all.

Your pronouncements fly because for most people under most conditions they are indeed good advice. I do agree that most people are better served by a good VLF. I do think they should just dig deeper and get a Minelab if they can afford to do it. But I know the engineers who worked on the Infinium and the TDI because I tested prototypes of both machines. Frankly I find the implication that the machines are worthless and that the companies are ripping people off by selling them at higher prices insulting. A lot of people put in some work developing those machines. I know the engineers are to a large degree prohibited for speaking up for themselves so I feel compelled to speak out on the subject. I would hate to see your lack of experience pass off as fact to people who do not know any better.

Steve Herschbach

while you maybe technically correct about the tdi and infinium.....the chipy aspects of your comments are not welcomed either...

 

[supertraq]

Sand Shark is a joke..

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Sand Shark is a joke..

Back in the day, it was a respectable beach machine.

 

[supertraq]

Well thats darn good,shame you didn't get the coil over a gold ring. It finds gold but don't make gold.
Wayne

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Supertraq (Wayne) you have been here more than long enough to know our rules, and Terry's post your attacking Terry about is over 7 years old.

Please post by our rules!

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hi Rob… my comments are predicated strictly on silver hunting. The depth / sens so desirable for comparatively small gold is not nearly so important for our larger silver. Both these units acquire excellent depth on silver in tougher ground mineral here, with the added advantage of decent high conductive iron handling… mostly elongated re: nails, spikes, drill rods… as described in the silver report mentioned above. You may want to see even more Infinium information at this link http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/c...erfields-ontario-revised-february-2011-a.html.

As Steve says, unless you have a need for a waterproof unit, I’d stick with your TDI for gold hunting. At bare thresholds it is the more sensitive and deeperseeking unit. It has flexibility with its manual GB adjustments to variable ground conditions, such that reduced GB settings over more moderate ground minerals can improve depth to low conductives and improve threshold stability. The TDI definitely feels lighter on the arm.

Infinium can certainly be used for gold hunting over tough ground minerals where VLFs struggle, and in areas where hotrocks are prevalent. The threshold can be increased to improve signal response such that it matches the TDI over a wide range of target sizes. But a threshold increase must be compensated with a corresponding reduction in headphone volume to preference.

Infinium has a limited coil selection. The sensitive 8” round mono is a lightweight, good all-around nugget hunter. The 14” mono isn’t quite as sensitive to small stuff, but improves coverage and goes deeper on larger pieces. I’m not fussy on Infinium’s DD coils for prospecting applications… the 14" is too heavy and insensitive, while the others are not deepseeking, and the 14" DD has a tendency to signal large iron as a good target compared to the mono coils. But fortunately the mono coils have handled any mineralizations encountered here to date. I wish Garrett had produced an 8” to 10” elliptical mono for searching in and around rocks and brush. And as Steve notes, a larger coil to improve depth and coverage.

Infinium cannot selectively eliminate either high or low conductive target signals, an important TDI attribute in elevated EMI environs or when searching mining camps where trash abounds. Multiple hi-low / lo-hi Infinium signals in high-density trash sites are a challenge that TDI easily handles by comparison.

Neither of these units is a Minelab for depth / sens. But in bad ground / hotrock areas where the gold size is sufficient to generate a signal, either of these units is a significant improvement over VLFs that struggle in those conditions.

Jim.

Nice write-up Jim, good to see you posting some more.

All the best,

Lanny