My first weekend with the GOLD MONSTER 1000

Hi there fellow gold hunters.  I was recently approached by Minelab about whether I would be interested in trialling the new Minelab GOLD MONSTER 1000 (GM 1000) in my New Zealand conditions and give a product review.  For me that was a no brainer...absolutely, YES!

The GM 1000 is an entry level gold hunting detector to which Minelab have focused on simplicity in its set up and operation.  Basically it’s a ‘switch-on-and-go’ detector with automatic settings to get the newbie up and running straight out of the blocks.  Operating at 45kHz, it’s going to be very sensitive.

It does have some nice features that are simple to use for the first timer.  It has two detect modes - Deep All Metal Mode and Gold Mode that you can simply and easily change with the push of a button with your thumb, on the fly, as you continue to detect uninterrupted.  The Gold Chance Indicator on the top bar of the display screen operates all the time regardless if you are in Deep All Metal Mode or Gold Mode.  The Indicator will show from the centre towards the left if it is iron (ferrous), and from the centre to the right if it is non-iron (non-ferrous).  If in Gold Mode and it’s ferrous, there will be no positive audio signal but the Indicator will give a reading from the centre to the left.  If it is non-ferrous then it will give a positive audio signal and the Indicator will give a reading from the centre to the right.  This is a great feature for those detecting for gold in high iron trash areas as your ears just won’t be getting a bashing from each and every iron signal, which I like.  Just the non-ferrous (which are hopefully gold) signals.  In Deep All Metal Mode it will give a positive audio signal on all metals but the Indicator will still signal ferrous to the left and non-ferrous to the right.

Deep All Metal Mode is more sensitive and gives more depth so it is my preferred setting.  I ended up having great confidence in the Gold Chance Indicator readings on iron.  Nothing that the rear earth magnet on my pick handle wouldn't sort out any way!

It has 10 manual sensitivity settings to help get you dialled in for smooth operation.  There is no threshold hum.  At setting 11 it goes into Auto Sensitivity and at 12 it goes into Auto+ Sensitivity.
The assembly of the detector from the box is very simple.  A three piece rod set up that easily threads together.  The control box and arm cuff slide up and down the shaft and are locked in place by bolt clamps when you are happy with the length of the coil on the ground out in front of you for a comfortable swing.

Saturday arrived with a slight frost as we are well and truly into autumn, clear blue cloudless skies and no wind – a perfect detecting day.  I was out the door and on the way to my chosen spot.  Two hours later I was rigging up and into it.  Push the on button and then waited about 10 seconds for the auto noise cancel.  As our ground is very mild I set the sensitivity right up to 10.  Headphones on at maximum, then I was detecting.

First signal was a hot rock, so I backed the sensitivity off to 6 and the signal was gone.  Above 6 it was a very positive hit.  It was discriminating out but I dug it anyway as you never know what it may be masking.

With the GM 1000 operating at 45kHz it is very sensitive, so it has a love affair with shotgun pellets.  At just on one hour, I had my first small bit of gold. It could well have been another shotgun pellet.  One scrape and it had moved - a tiny quartz specimen bit.

That was it for hours then just lots of junk and pellets.

I put on my headlamp and continued on in the dark.  Then I got a signal.  Down about 4 inches and past those pesky pellets.  BINGO, another larger specimen piece.  So I ended up with two bits for the GM 1000 on Saturday.

On Sunday, I headed to another area which was exposed schist bed rock that the old timers had ground sluiced down to.  I targeted a spot where I had done well with the GP 3000, the 4500 and even got a couple of bits with the 7000.  So I thought that if there was anything left it was going to be small.  Within 5 minutes, I had my first faint signal from under an overhanging schist rock that had acted like a giant riffle in a sluice box and where I got a lot of gold when I first found it.

That was the first of a total of 14 pieces in three hours.

I was gobsmacked.  It wasn’t a lot in weight at 14 bits for 0.49 of a gram, but no catch and release.  I found all this gold with the large 10x6 coil and nothing was deeper than 5 cm (2 inches).  I took along the 5” round coil but never gave it a go.

So I was very happy with the performance of the GOLD MONSTER 1000.  Very simple operation, lightweight and at 45kHz it is going to find that gold missed by even the mighty GPZ, and that is saying something, and at a fraction of the cost for a newbie.

Good luck out there!

kiwijw.