Discrimination or Target Identification

Prospecting detectors have some form of discrimination. However this should not be confused with the kind of discrimination that most multi purpose detectors have. These ones are normally GEB or VLF discriminators or motion discriminators. These can be used to identify iron trash items but only in cases where the ground is not highly mineralized or when the nuggets are a little bit bigger in size. There are some detectors that have a TR discriminator in them and this has the same inconvenience as the motion discriminator given that it can give false identification and signal gold as being iron trash. This does not mean that they cannot be used but the prospector will need to learn and know that the detector has this set back. The most important thing to remember though is to not search with the discriminator circuit on but to utilize it only to check the target to make sure that you are not confusing gold as trash. To be on the safe side it is suggested to always search with the detector on the all metal mode. Therefore, if this mode is used as the search mode, it is possible the prospector will pass over gold targets and not hear them. There is also another type of discriminator in prospecting detectors which are referred to as iron identifiers. These work at fair depths, however they will not bring down the total depth detection of the target. They are able to identify iron targets if it knows they are iron, however if the target is too deeply inside the earth, it will identify it as being gold. If your gold detector has this kind of iron identification can be used all the time without the worry of passing over smaller targets or targets that are deeper in the ground. However, this is not the best type of identification because if the ground is highly mineralized, it can also make a wrong reading. In these cases the sound of the iron is modified, nonetheless, you will be able to hear all the targets and they can be searched. As you go using your detector more and gaining experience you will be able to tell which targets are good and which ones are unwanted. And remember, if you are not sure, you should always dig, just in case. You never know really. Some of these units also come with an analog meter that is able to show you if the target is possibly iron.