Minelab Eureka Gold - The Down and Dirty
by KEVIN HOAGLAND
Being in the Detector industry for as many years as I have I am always asked what are some of my favorite detectors over the years.
One detector that has always stood out for me is the Minelab Eureka Gold. Actually it is my favorite VLF detector of all time for a number of reasons.
Firstly, it was the first and only true three frequency gold detector. As many of you know that have been to my trainings or read my articles there is a simple fact about VLF detecting that cannot be denied. To paraphrase Bruce Candy the inventor of Minelab “The higher the frequency the shallower a detector works to find small target and the lower the frequency the deeper in the ground a detector will work to find larger more conductive targets.”
Let me share some history of my detecting and why the Eureka Gold filled a need I desperately had.
Prior to the Eureka Gold and before pulse induction detectors were in the market place I hunted with three to four different detectors on every patch I hit.
Starting with a medium frequency detector I would hunt the area and if I found a nugget it became the patch which meant gridding and hunting the grid in at least three directions to assure that I was getting everything I could out of the ground. Directional Detecting assure that you are not missing targets that may be missed because of orientation.
After hunting with the medium frequency detector I would go back to my truck and pull out a lower frequency detector and hunt the exact same grid area again. This allowed me to pull targets out that were below the operating capacity of the first detector.
Once detected with the other detectors I would head back to the truck and hunt the area once again with a high frequency detector to pull what is commonly known as fly poop gold.
Each of these detectors had their own method of operations, ground balancing, swing speed, sensitivity settings were all different and I would have to constantly stay on top of every machine to assure that I had all of the settings correct for optimal performance.
Enters the Eureka Gold. One detector, three separate frequencies, ACCU-TRAK Ground Balance, adjustable balance speed and one of the most important features to me, threshold tone control.
One Detector that covered all the bases.
The Eureka features 6.4kHz for really great depth (I still believe it is the lowest frequency VLF gold detector in the industry) 20kHz for good depth on and great frequency for general detecting and patch hunting and lastly 60kHz for very small nugget close to the surface.
The Minelab ACCU-TRAK ground balance is a full spectrum auto ground balance that takes no time to adapt to its use plus it has the advantage of also having a fixed ground balance for areas of constant soil mineralization that coupled with the audio booster has always performed excellent in helping me to find targets that are almost nonexistent in some of the worst soils.
Slow and fast balance speed help greatly in working areas from low to high mineralized soils and in my hunting by just changing the balance speed made the difference in finding gold.
The Eureka Gold does have an iron reject or discrimination mode as well but to be honest I have to this day never used it. I dig everything no matter what.
Highly adjustable sensitivity and threshold round out the Eureka Gold in a package that just made sense at the time and still does today.
Nugget hunting with the Eureka Gold could not be simpler. Choose a frequency, set in auto ground tracking, all metal, slow track and turn it on. Pump the detector up and down a few times until you have a constant sound, adjust threshold, sensitivity back to threshold and go detecting.
For more information on properly setting up a detector for sensitivity and threshold please refer to pages CU-24 through CU-31 of your GPAA Mining Guide. I go into great detail in getting the most out of your detector.
I’ll see you, Out there
Kevin Hoagland
Executive Director of Development
GPAA-LDMA
Since 1984 - Member LDMA/GPAA/GPAA Lifetime