Eureka GoldField Test Report1I first heard about this new addition to Minelab’s stable of detectors quite anumber of months back amidst the usual cacophony of a goldfield. Some weresaying one thing about it and others saying another and as is usual with rumours,
the truth often laying somewhere in between, this is pretty much what I discovered
when I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to try this new detector
out.
The first thing which I noticed in regards to its features was the retaining of thetriple frequency selection of 6.4, 20 and 60 kHz. This is a well tried and provenfeature which was first used on the XT 18000 making it a very versatile detector touse giving it a broader than usual operating range in different soil conditions. It
makes sense then that this feature has been retained, though improved somewhat
with the inclusion of a "Fast, Fixed and Slow track" selector switch , further
stretching the detectors ability to cope with a wider range of differing groundconditions thus building on the triple frequency's reputation. The second mostnotable thing which was strikingly apparent was the new battery system. The neweasy access rechargeable NIMH pack is a welcome relief from the old set up which
at times had you reaching for the nearest screw driver or pocket knife in which touse to prise open the often stubborn sliding cover of the previous models. The
pack itself has a small green LED light which glows brightly during charging but
which fades in intensity after full charge is achieved. It’s worth noting though thatin pitch black darkness this light "just" remains lit enough to still see it so underthese conditions do not expect to see it completely diminish. In daylight though, itappears to go completely out.
Another new feature is the easy mount system, one push of a button will have thecontrol box firmly mounted to the stem and just as easily it is released from it.
There is also supplied a rear mounting bracket with which to position the control
box rear of the handgrip and just under the armrest which adds to the betteroverall balance of the detector as a whole. The only trade off in doing so meansthat the controls are now out of relatively easy reach of the operating hand. Still,with the machine running auto tracking this is not much of a trade off to worry
about.
I made my mind up from the start to test this detector out on a variety of grounds
around the goldfields and to try a couple of things out such as how the detection
ability was affected by a full , compared to partially discharged battery and to see if
any improvements had been made in the discrimination department.
The first port of call was an old gold town site in the local area. Some good coins
and relics have come out of here in the past with the result being that the spot has
had a fair belting by numerous operators using all types of discriminating
detectors. To find something worthwhile here I considered to be quite a challenge
due to this previous heavy traffic and a good indication as to whether the Eureka
Gold’s discrimination, which is touted as being improved over previous models,
was of any advantage.
The ground here consists of a dark brown loamy topsoil covering of about 4 to 62

inches deep and with a gravelly type of wash beneath it. The ground changes in a
few areas from positive to negative but generally it is fairly consistent and after abrief "dummy" run on test targets I chose to run the machine in Fixed groundbalance on 6.4 kHz, the disc on 1/3 of its setting, the sensitivity on 90% and running
Boost on the selector.
Getting used to the discrimination was pretty easy. On junk, the constant hum of
the threshold would either drop out completely or drop and then ring off slightly
to iron and rubbish targets. Good retrievables such as musket balls, spoons, coins
etc were solid repeatable target signals with what I would call "a good depth ofsound" .
It’s interesting too , that a feature of the Eureka’s discriminator is its ability to self
adjust the actual depth level of its discrimination. To best describe this Ill quote an
extract from the manual. "Therefore in mild ground the detector will discriminate
accurately at greater depth, while in hot ground the discrimination depth isreduced to maintain reliable discrimination. At all times, however, the depth andsensitivity that the Eureka Gold picks up targets is not reduced."
It’s worth noting too that the tracking speed which is selected has a bearing on thedisc as well. In Fast track the first sweep or pass over a target is the most reliable, in
Slow track the first two passes are so but in Fixed it makes no difference how often
you pass over a given target. It is for the last reason mentioned why I chose to huntat this location in the Fixed mode as the ground here was fairly consistent in its
makeup and also there were multiple targets close together and by using Fixedmode I felt I was better able to separate them and analyse each more accurately. It
wasn't long into the test that I recovered my first good target of a musket ballwhich gave a strong solid signal and was recovered from 6 to 8 inches deep, below
the loam and solidly embedded in the clayish wash. A number of rubbish targets
later saw me unearth an 1863 penny from around the same depth followed soonafter by another musket ball and then a 1856 threepence which lay at about 6 to 7
inches deep in the same ground type. Other items recovered included old spoons,buttons and pieces of old buckles.
I was pretty impressed at the day’s end by the Eureka’s discriminator and believe it
to be much more advanced than those found on earlier models such as the FTs orXTs. I did try out the difference of full to partially discharged battery on a target
that I left for that purpose and could not tell the difference. To me it is something I
would not worry about.
The next place of trial was around an old reef working. Another hammered spot
which has been gone over countless times in the past but yielded much gold.
Unfortunately, though my previous three trips there had yielded naught so I wasagain keen to see whether the Eureka Gold could turn anything up.
Here, with the gold being predominantly small from detectable specks up to 7 orso grams, I decided to choose the 60 kHz setting. I chose Normal on the signal
switch , Boost was just a little too chattery, 100% on the sensitivity and Slow track
for the quiet areas and Fast for the more mineralized spots consisting of reddish

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clay and country rock. I also ran Fixed for the almost neutral quartz piles where I
scanned for specimens. There were a lot of small metal fragments in this groundleft by the old timer’s picks and hammers and after digging up too many for myliking I turned the disc on to see how it performed on 60 kHz. Now whilst it did notsound exactly like it did at the old town site, I can say that it was useable andeventually understandable. In this area on the chosen settings the Eureka
performed really well. In tracking there were a few rolling piping sounds as thetracking adjusted but return sweeps saw these to be just that and after a while
understanding what was going on became second nature and no problem at all.
And yes, I did find some gold. Just when all was starting to look a little glum I spied,lying between two larger rocks, a piece of quartz with some unusual looking small
black crystals in its cavity. I picked it up to look at it and realizing it was reallynothing great was about to throw it away when I decided to scan it. Yep, there wasa signal and by looking carefully at it saw gold, about .5 to 1 grams worth of finegold poking out from under some green slate which was attached to it.
Test area three saw me in the bush just off a country road in a little known area
where I can only guess a small village used to be. The ground here is best describedas "savage" with much ironstone and mineralized clays wreaking havoc with any
type of machine whether it be PI or VLF. This soon saw me choosing 6.4 kHz andturning the sensitivity down to just 1/4 of its ability with the signal switch onNormal. Tracking was set to Fast. I have to admit that this ground was a struggle towork at times as many false signals were generated by its rapidly changing groundmake up. Positive, negative, neutral, positive patches all within inches of eachother soon had me wanting to walk away, but, having said that let me add that thisground would and has tested to the limits any machine built as well as its
operator’s patience and really it did not surprise me. Backing the sensitivity downeven a touch more saw a workable formula arise and a degree of stability
eventuate but generally I would not choose this sort of ground in which to run aVLF detector. I chose it for one reason only, to see if it could. The answer was "yes"but to 1/5 of its capability , which I might add is better than not at all and assuring
to know that you can at least have a go "anywhere". Did I find anything here? Yes, a1945 Florin.
My final trial saw me on some pipeclay heaps which again had seen much action in
the past with everything from Goldbugs to Goldstingers to Goldmasters go over itand now the Eureka Gold. I wasn't sure what to expect here with the ground being
dead quiet and easy to work with all those machines used to scour out the last bitsof gold that the old timers had left behind but reckoned it should prove a decent
trial. It was not long before I realized that the Eureka was a real little screamer
being able to be run absolutely flat out. 60 kHz, Boost and 100% sensitivity soon
saw small targets pop up everywhere. There may have been no big ones but I cantell you this, the place was alive. No 4 shotgun pellets were detecting quite audibly
from 1 to 3 inches deep and with nothing to cause confusion it was not long before
you would hear a target and be able to, with 90% accuracy, call it for what it was. I
recovered 4 small bits of gold in no time and I mean small. The 4 together added
up to just 1/10 of a gram. I lost count of the shotgun pellets and 22 slugs I
unearthed and there's one thing for sure, there's still plenty more gold in those4

heaps. I tried 20 kHz out here too as I had not done much with it previously andfound it to be just as stated. A perfect compromise between the stable 6.4 andhotter 60 kHz settings. Discrimination was reasonably good on 20 and depth just abit better than 60.
So, my final thoughts and verdict on this detector. Well, I can say that as far as VLFs
go the Eureka Gold is right up there with the best of them and in many instances
surpasses what is on offer by other manufacturers. Its versatility and ability to beused in varying ground types is unsurpassed and its discriminator in my opinion isfar superior to its predecessors of the XT range. Its sensitivity and target responseat the top end of the scale is exceptional with just a sniff of gold required to set itoff. Those out there who like high grading quartz refuse heaps will find the Eureka
Gold right at home performing this task as it absolutely howled on all thespecimens which I used in testing this machine for that purpose. Some may say"what's the use?" My reply is this, that over the years I have paid many a bill fromgold which I have extracted from specimens containing fine gold concentrations.
Many of which a PI will not register on. Another purpose where such highsensitivity comes into play is that of grading mullock heaps on the diggings. Manyleads were extremely rich in fine gold only and although PI machines are the Rolls
Royce for nuggets they are "blind" to many rich fine gold deposits. I know ofpeople who use high frequency VLFs to sample mullock dumps for fine or verysmall gold and when they find one which fits the bill they set about to washing themullock from which the gold is found and often recover much fine payable gold inthe process. Like they say "there is more than one way to skin a cat". The otherplace a good VLF is right at home is in highly junked areas. Everyone who has used
a PI will know that highly junked spots drive you insane as they not only pick up
targets below the coil from great distances but also from every other direction as
well. Slotting in amongst it all becomes nigh impossible at times leaving theoperator with the only option of walking away. A good VLF discriminator such as
the Eureka Gold is right at home in these situations and slots in nicely between thejunk being capable of isolating multiple targets which PI machines see as one. Most
pros I know of use a good VLF along with their PI detector for this very purpose.
So for those after a good VLF with disc ability which offers versatility for coin, relicand gold detecting and high sensitivity I can honestly recommend the Eureka Gold.

By B.T.

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