November, 2008

As a couple we have been detecting since the first detectors came on the commercial market around 1979, and we have discovered that by upgrading our machines regularly we have noticed improvements as each new Minelab model is released.

This year was no exception, in fact it was an extraordinary year, with a large amount of gold being found. The first piece of approx 0.5 of a gram from a virgin patch was found while practically running back for morning tea, (we were using the Coiltek 24 inch UFO as always for patch finding).

The photos show some of the gold that we found with the new Minelab 4500 and using firstly the Coiltek 24 inch UFO, then a smaller Coiltek coil. We have revisited old areas with the new machines and this latest model of Minelab has been extremely sensitive in picking up new pieces in old areas. We are looking forward to trying the two new Coiltek coils next year.

Thanks Trevor for your help advice and enthusiasm. We will continue to upgrade as each new model is released because for us it normally more than pays for the cost the first year, and this year with 67 ounces being found and approximately 1500 pieces, it has paid for new machines for some years to come.

September, 2008

Using a Minelab 4500 and the Coiltek GS 18.5" coil I have been searching around a group of small quartz reefs in an isolated area away from prominent gold locations. The 1800's diggers had dug a few shallow holes in a couple locations but there were no signs of significant old workings or detector holes. I had visited the area a few times and found one small piece of gold (1 gram) in quartz, just enough to keep me searching

On my next trip while detecting in a small gully below some quartz blows I got good solid signal and out popped a rough 20 gram solid nugget that was 30cm deep. Excited I detected the area around the find. Within a few swings a broad deep signal sounded. I dug through heavy wet clay down to almost 2 feet (60cm) and the target was still deeper. The signal response was now booming but smooth.

I wanted the target to be gold, but my mind was telling me I was probably a lump of iron. I kept digging and the hole was over 2 feet deep when I felt my pick blade hit a large solid object. I did not want to damage the target if it was gold so I dug through the wet clay with my hand and pulled out the lump. It was heavy in the hand and I could see gold on one tip through the clay.

I have never found any nuggets close to this size. It took my breath away. Shaking, I sat down looking at it to reassure myself it was really gold. A beautiful slab of gold.

The nugget tipped the scales at just under 14 ounces. I measured the depth of hole with my pick handle, The nugget was detected 26 inches down.

The GS 18.5 is the coil I prefer for general detecting. It is light so I can detect all day without fatigue. It size and shape allows me to efficiently cover a lot of ground in a day and weave through thick grass and under bushes. The coil detects deep and yet is sensitive enough to signal strongly on shallow nuggets (some less then 0.1 gram in size.)

The GS 18.5 is the ideal patch hunting coil, its ability to find deep gold and very small nuggets gives me the best chance of finding that first nugget that may indicate a run of gold or a patch.

2008

I do a lot of detecting around the local area and in W.A with varying degree of success.

I recently purchased one of your 18x12'' mono GOLDSTALKER™ series coils to use with a GP3500, I have been very impressed by the new coils capabilities, i.e. located a 50 gram nugget at 30 inches depth in flogged diggings close to town.

I had previously found some 5 and 10 gram solid pieces in the area and had chained the area using a Coiltek 17'' elliptical DD, an 8'' and 11 inch minelab mono coils, a Coiltek 18 DD pro older series, and a 20'' nugget finder DD xp series, all failed to locate the nugget because of it slightly porous character.

I believe the extra sensitivity of the new 18 Goldstalker Mono Plus, its rugged construction, quietness and stability of operation on quiet to medium mineralised ground, old diggings (disturbed soil composition) and ability to find gold targets as small as 0.1-0.2 grams, make it one of the best mono coils I have ever used.

I have no hesitation in recommending your new series of Coils to any serious detecting enthusiast.

Cheers from
Grahame

P.S. This pic is of a large nugget (50 grams), all this gold together is 113 grams, for a couple of days on an old flogged patch in the Dunolly area.

I have recently finished a 10 week sabbatical, during which I spent 10 days in WA on a Gold Prospecting tour. I was there introduced to your GOLDSTALKER™ Range. Having been a serious recreational prospector for a number of years, I am a little sceptical of claims made about coils etc, but the GPE guys raved about the new coils, and let me use one on my GPX 4500.

I was hooked within minutes, the stability and ease of use of the 14x9" GOLDSTALKER™ Mono Coil was obvious and amazing. I bought a second hand coil on the spot and then ended using it for the rest of the trip ending up with 18 nuggets - the most for our group. I then went to Alaska for two weeks, having by this time bought both coil types, and prospected on private property in the interior. Almost all the (American) prospectors with me were using GOLDSTALKER™ coils, and swore by them. A lot of gold was found - my total was over 6 ounces, including a 2.6 and 1.1 ouncer!

So, thanks for the great coils.

Kind regards,
Leigh

I have just arrived back in Vic after 3 weeks in W.A using your new 14" DD Pro 'Elite' Coil. It has proved a very good coil for me on thrashed ground, medium to heavily mineralised ground and ground with many thousands of hot rocks. For 3 weeks the return of gold was as follows: 40 grams of small nuggets, from half gram to 6 grams in size plus a lovely 7 ounce gold specie.

The new configuration of the elite series coil has proved quiet and stable with minimal noise from coil bashing or tapping on rocks ground tree trunks etc, also it is much easier to distinguish hot rocks from ground noise , or target response causing a lot less digging for mineralised stones iron nodules etc. in conjunction with the 17 GOLDSTALKER™ mono since April the 1st I have recovered 6 ounces of gold nuggets, plus a 7 ounce specie. As you can imagine I am a very happy little Vegemite.

As I have said before I am using a GP3500 and with your new coils I have found more gold on flogged ground than some of my friends using 4000 and 4500s thanks heaps guys keep up the good work, cheers!

I am writing this to commend COILTEK on their 12x8" Platypus Coil.

It is an elliptical waterproof, DD coil with an open web design. This was very important to us over here in the mother load country of California.

A good friend sent me a prototype coil to try out and I have to tell you, I would not give this coil up. I started finding gold with this very fine coil the first time out. I found a 3/4 oz nugget and have been finding gold ever since.

In the fall and spring, the grass is very wet and we need a fully waterproof DD coil. At the time Coiltek came out with the platypus, it was the only one on the market that was a waterproof DD for the mineralised ground we have here.

I use a 2200 and DD's are the only coil that will work in this soil with that detector. Here's some results with the Platypus, some I found and some from a hunting partner. But all were found with the platpus DD coil.

Sincerely Gary Baldridge - AKA GRUBSTAKE

2008

...When I looked in the hole, it was almost filled entirely with water. After getting as much of the water out that I possibly could, I checked the target with the Joey. To my surprise, there was no blanking. The target just screamed on that Joey coil! The kind of scream that sounds good. The hole was deep. I could not even get my pick down in the bottom of the hole to dig any more. I took out a plastic treasure scoop and went to work.

I was reaching deep down into that hole. It felt like I was almost up to my shoulder, scraping the bottom of the hole to loosen up the material and scooping out as much material as I could. Each scoop was half water and half of the clay type mud with a little quartz cobble in it. As I was lifting out a scoop of material, water was draining off the top of the scoop as it rose from the depths and I started to see GOLD!

--------> Read More (Adobe Acrobat document)