Hey 
As I’m currently getting a claim I was wondering what the best detector/coil combination is to find all the fancy bits of colour…
Thanks
Pax
Depends on your claim & what, if any gold it has, & how big & how deep the gold is. How much bedrock & how deep the bedrock is. The decent gold will be sitting on the bed rock, unless it has already been cleaned out. Which is most likely the case. Most likely been dredged so I don’t like your chances with a detector to be honest. If you do find gold you will be hard pressed to get you claim costs back.
You do come across as a real novice & totally caught up in gold fever. It isn’t as simple as you may hope it is & the gold wont be flowing in like you wish it to be. But best of luck to you.
I wouldn’t even know where to start with you as far as what detector to use. There are cheap ones & ones that can do the job but come at a price. No one detector does it all & they aren’t wonder machines. The gold has to be there in the first place & you need to know how to use it & where to look & what your detector can & can’t do. That comes from time out in the field which adds up to experience. That doesn’t happen over night.
JW 
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Yep… But I have to start somewhere…
So, what should I start with? Something that is not rubbish and can be great for all the years to come?
Well, as the detector hire just came up again I read that again and saw that you’d recommend the Gold Monster 1000 or the SDC 2300 for Noobs like me…
I checked them and think that the SBC 2300 would be amazing as you can fold it down and put it into a backpack!?
But a lot more money than the Gold Monster… Hmm… Time for more research until my claim is approved…
lets hope your claim is a gold bearing river, i once sold a dredge to a guy , who thought gold was all rivers
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But gold is in all rivers,
Yes, that’s what I heard, too…
Like some random guy on Youtube saying that… And that’s certainly not true or anywhere near being true… Like “You just have to know where to look and you will find gold in any river!”… 
I am gobsmacked you would get a claim when you have no idea of what you are doing in regards to finding & recovering gold. You need to learn to walk before you run. If I was you I would start off with a gold pan & a sluice box. Maybe try a bit of sniping. Have a play in the public areas. That would be your cheapest way to start & learn.
I get the feeling that you know nothing about detectors & there abilities.
If you think the SDC 2300 is costly then take a look at the GPX 6000 & the GPZ 7000. You have a lot to learn & like I said before, it wont happen over night. There is a lot more to it than you are thinking.
Where abouts is the claim you are applying for & what is the ground like. Have you ever been there & seen it. What is the access like & have you done any test pans?
JW
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I just picked an almost random creek and put a claim there… 
are you serious , did you test pan it , snipe or have a look to see if the old timers showed any interest in it
think hes gotta be taking the mickey , or maybe couple nuggies short of an oz
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Hey Pax … hope you do well on your new claim… I recommend the gold monster as a great entry level detector .its pretty cheap and can pick up very small bits of gold 0.2 grammers + . Suggest getting a piece of gold and stick it to a plastic card and use it as a niose reference … get to know what gold sounds like compared to iron stone and iron rubbish , that sweet sound of gold you will learn to recognize … yes get down to bedrock and methidically cover every inch of ground … rip up every crevious and suck up every signal with a gold sucker … thats the best way to learn your ground …every creek is different and I time you will learn its characteristics …then move onto a dredge maube start with a 2 inch and go up in size until your pulling out an ounce a day …lol! Sniping down the length of your claim is a good idea …flaot down with a gopro recording and play it back on your PC identifiying good areas …shallow bedrock is the key … maybe bring in an experience prospector to look over your claim … Good Luck Pax … better than sitting on the couch watching Gold rush aye!
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Thanks Mal!
That plastic card is a great idea!
And yes, already in touch with an experienced prospector to come along and help me figure out all the great places to look!
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How challenging is the MINELAB Excalibur II to use compared to the gold monster?
As I thought that could be a 2in1 for normal creek work and for diving work… Only if it’s noob-friendly, of course…
honestly unless your looking for rings, coins,( in sand or gravel) and larger gold objects for example 1/2 to 1+ oz nuggets at depth underwater on bed rock your going to waste your money , you also need to understand how to set this machine up so maybe 100+ hours of use and you will get the hang of it, the gold monster is a turn on and go machine that you can give to someone who has no experience on auto functions and they should find maybe a small bit of gold or trash with a bit of luck after a few hours. the gold monster is the best dedicated vlf gold detector you can buy for that price range.
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Get yourself the Algoforce 1500, best combination of price and performance on the market.
The Excalibur isn’t a gold detector like the Gold monster is. The Equinox 800 is a good gold detector with the 6" coil & is water proof down to 3 meters. You will need to get the water proof headphones for it as they are an extra, as is the 6" coil.
You didn’t state where this river/creek is that you are claiming. Do you even know if it is gold bearing & is it North Island or South Island?
JW
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I don’t actually need a waterproof detector for the claim as it’s quite dry there… I just thought that it could make sense to have a 2-in-1 detector I can take with me for diving, but I’ll just get started with the gold monster for now
thx