Metal Detecting

Metal detectors and detecting have come a long way in recent years, and can be very useful in giving you an indication of good spots to dig for gold. As with computer software, each year sees new, improved metal detectors, with more specialist models coming on the market. The Internet has greatly increased our choice and it is well worth a browse to see what is available. Get a good search program on the job and you will have more than enough to choose from. Models offered come from many manufacturers, Minelab, Fisher, Tesoro, Whites, Garrett, and many others. They range from the top Minelab model around $NZ5,795, to the Warehouse model at around $80.00. Metal Detectors, and books on how to use them, along with gold pans and accessories, are available from the Nature Discoveries shops, and from Detection Solutions, 1/27 Fortunes Road, Pakuranga, Auckland. Phone (09) 576 8000.

Nature Discoveries have three shops: The Palms, Shirley Mall, on the corner of Marshlands and Shirley Road, Christchurch. Phone (03) 385 1565 Meridian Centre, on the corner of George & Hanover Streets, Dunedin. Phone (03) 477 1515, and North City Plaza, 4 Titahi Bay, Porirua. Phone (04) 237 0237. Nature Discoveries in Christchurch also have a metal detector that you can hire out.

Each detector is different, but here are some principles that apply to them all. 

Decide how much area you want to cover and stick to that. It is better to be methodical than impulsive because then you can be sure of where you have or have not been. Some treasure hunters take a ball of string and lay it out on the area of beach or ground and divide it into squares with their string. They then sweep their detector head over each square in turn, putting a marker in the last one they swept if they go for a break. It is a very effective way to find treasure but it’s not so easy when you want to find gold in a creek bed. It’s hard to set out string squares in a creek but you could try on some of the shingle beaches. Four pegs marking off a square at a time would do the trick too. Just keep bringing the far two pegs forward to mark off each new square as you move backwards.

The principle of the metal detector is simple. A coil of wire in the sensing head is connected to an electronic circuit which senses any changes in the electromagnetic properties of the coil. Under normal conditions, the properties are stable, but when it is brought near any metal, they change, and the differences are registered on a meter, usually with an audible tone. A second method is to have one coil transmit a signal into the ground, and a second coil to receive it. Under normal conditions, the second coil is adjusted so that it does not receive any transmitted signal. Only when something in the ground reflects the signal is it detected.

More details about this process in our book, "Gold for the Taking."
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