The Garrett AT Gold operates at 18 kHz on a single-frequency VLF platform specifically engineered for small gold nuggets in mineralized soils. You’ll master 44-point iron discrimination, Fast Track ground balance, and proportional audio feedback through its 5″ x 8″ DD coil that’s fully submersible to 10 feet. This detector excels in goldfields and stream benches but requires intermediate-to-advanced skills to leverage manual ground balance and interpret audio-only target responses. The detailed specifications below reveal how each feature contributes to your prospecting success.
Key Takeaways
- 18 kHz VLF frequency with 5″ x 8″ DD coil optimized for detecting small gold nuggets in mineralized soils.
- Features Fast Track automatic ground balance with manual fine-tuning for challenging terrain and high mineralization compensation.
- Offers 44-level iron discrimination with Disc 1/Disc 2 modes and three-tone audio for precise target identification.
- Fully waterproof to 10 feet, weighing 3.03 lb with adjustable shaft for shallow water prospecting environments.
- Best suited for intermediate-to-advanced users hunting fine gold in streams, bedrock cracks, and goldfield environments.
Core Specifications and Design Features
The Garrett AT Gold operates on an 18 kHz single-frequency VLF platform specifically tuned for small gold nuggets and low-to-medium conductivity targets—a deliberate engineering choice that prioritizes sensitivity to sub-gram specimens over general-purpose coin and relic hunting.
The 18 kHz frequency targets sub-gram gold nuggets in mineralized soil where general-purpose detectors struggle to maintain sensitivity.
You’ll work with a 5″ x 8″ DD PROformance elliptical coil that delivers superior target sensitivity in mineralized soil while maintaining stable operation in trash-dense goldfields. The Double-D coil technology provides enhanced ground balancing and a narrow detection pattern for pinpoint accuracy.
At 3.03 lb (1.4 kg), the telescopic three-piece shaft adjusts from 42–56 inches, letting you configure ideal swing geometry without fatigue. Full 10-foot submersible construction opens shallow creeks and wet environments. The detector features 8 sensitivity/depth adjustments that allow you to optimize performance based on ground conditions and target size. The unit includes a Graphic Target Analyzing display that shows target conductivity and discrimination patterns for real-time identification decisions.
Four AA batteries power extended backcountry sessions where grid power doesn’t exist.
Detection Modes and Target Identification System
Switch to Disc 1 or Disc 2 when iron contamination overwhelms your detection techniques, activating 44-level iron discrimination with Tone ID layering for improved target accuracy.
The Fast Track Ground Balance** compensates for mineralization in discrimination modes, while Electronic Pinpointing** operates as non-motion All Metal for precise recovery positioning.
The detector’s iron rejection feature eliminates unwanted iron signals, allowing you to focus on valuable targets while maintaining operational efficiency in heavily contaminated areas.
The upper scale displays a single segment indicator for each target found, while the lower scale shows your active discrimination pattern with dark segments representing targets that will trigger an audio response.
Iron Discrimination and Audio Technology
The AT Gold’s 44-point iron discrimination scale gives you surgical control over ferrous rejection, critical when hunting iron-littered goldfields where small nuggets hide among nails and bottle caps.
You’ll toggle the dedicated Iron Audio button to hear rejected targets as low tones, exposing masked iron beneath good signals without altering your discrimination pattern.
Pro Mode combines fast audio recovery with three-tone target ID—low for iron, mid for gold-range conductors, and high for larger brass and copper—so you can make instant dig decisions in trashy ground.
The proportional audio response varies with target characteristics, providing real-time feedback on size, shape, and burial depth to help you distinguish promising nuggets from worthless junk.
The discrimination system relies on phase shift analysis as the search coil’s magnetic signal interacts with buried metals, allowing the detector to differentiate between low-conductivity iron and high-conductivity precious metals based on their electrical properties.
High-Resolution Iron Separation
The system’s iron target separation works alongside Digital Target ID (0-99 scale) to display both conductivity readings and discrimination patterns simultaneously through Graphic Target Analyzing.
You’ll assess targets before digging, maximizing your efficiency in heavily mineralized terrain where precision matters most. The detector features 40 points of resolution for high-resolution iron discrimination, allowing you to distinguish between valuable targets and unwanted ferrous objects with exceptional accuracy.
The Iron Audio feature lets you hear discriminated iron signals, providing an additional layer of target assessment beyond visual indicators. This dual approach of visual and audio feedback helps you make more informed decisions about whether to dig, especially when hunting in areas with high iron contamination.
Iron Audio Feature
One dedicated pushbutton activates Iron Audio™, transforming how you’ll process ferrous trash in iron-contaminated sites. This feature assigns distinctive low tones to discriminated iron instead of keeping it silent, exposing masked bottle caps and flat iron that falsely mimic good targets.
You’ll control 0–40 points of iron discrimination via dedicated buttons while monitoring the High Resolution Iron Discrimination scale on your LCD.
In True All Metal mode, Iron Audio temporarily applies your current disc setting, shifting ferrous targets from medium to iron tones without sacrificing depth. In Discrimination modes, it reveals already-rejected iron as audible low tones.
Combined with 3-level Tone ID and 0–99 Digital Target Identification, you’ll rapidly distinguish genuine non-ferrous signals from iron falsing—critical for prospecting scenarios where subtle gold appears near hot rocks. The detector’s Ground Balance Window optimizes performance when hunting in highly mineralized soil conditions. The All-Metal Mode delivers maximum detection depth for locating deeply buried targets in challenging terrain.
Pro Mode Audio
While Iron Audio helps you identify ferrous trash through tone assignment, Pro Mode Audio takes your target evaluation capability several steps further by introducing proportional audio response.
Unlike standard binary beeps, Pro Mode delivers signal volume and tonal complexity that varies with target strength, giving you critical field intelligence about depth, size, and conductivity.
Audio Benefits for Advanced Target Evaluation:
- Depth judgment – Softer, narrower tones indicate deeper targets requiring aggressive recovery.
- Size discrimination – Wider, stronger audio signatures reveal larger objects worth investigating.
- Trash identification – Broken tone rolls expose bottle caps and iron-contaminated junk.
Pro Mode’s Audio Sensitivity reacts proportionally across your sweep, approximating all-metal information while maintaining discrimination.
You’ll recognize small gold through weak but repeatable responses, separating freedom-seeking finds from worthless trash.
Ground Balance Capabilities for Mineralized Soils
Mineralized soils demand robust ground balance capabilities, and the Garrett AT Gold delivers a high-resolution GB range spanning approximately 0–99 to accommodate everything from conductive wet salt beaches to ferrous-laden goldfields.
You’ll encounter typical mineralized ground values between 65–99, where ferrous black sand and red hot rocks challenge lesser detectors. Fast Track™ automatic ground balance lets you quickly adapt through simple coil bobbing while holding the GB button, eliminating chatter as you cross changing mineral zones.
When auto GB isn’t precise enough, manual fine-tuning gives you increment-level control—run slightly positive to boost weak nugget signals in extreme conditions. The adjustable Ground Balance Window™ spreads your setting across multiple values, smoothing false pops over uneven terrain.
These ground balance techniques directly counter mineralization effects that rob depth and stability.
Waterproof Construction and All-Terrain Performance
You’ll encounter challenging environments when prospecting—rain-soaked hillsides, muddy streambeds, and shallow pools where targets hide.
The AT Gold addresses these conditions with a fully submersible design rated to 10 feet, allowing you to sweep underwater while its sealed housing protects electronics from moisture, dust, and impact.
This waterproof construction transforms previously inaccessible freshwater zones into viable hunting ground without compromising detector performance or reliability.
Submersible to 10 Feet
The Garrett AT Gold achieves a 10-foot submersible rating across its coil, stem, and control housing—a waterproofing threshold that opens shallow-water prospecting zones inaccessible to standard land-only detectors.
You’ll maintain full target ID, audio response, and pinpointing functions underwater, enabling aquatic prospecting in gold-bearing streambeds and river crevices.
This shallow water detecting capability delivers three tactical advantages:
- Direct access to submerged bedrock cracks where placer gold settles below wading depth
- Mid-stream gravel bar hunting up to 10 feet without surface-supplied air equipment
- Transition flexibility between dry land, splash zones, and full submersion without gear changes
The weatherproof sealed connector system excludes water, mud, and sediment during submersion.
You’re restricted to freshwater environments—rivers, creeks, ponds—where this depth range covers productive shallow-snorkel and surf-line prospecting zones.
Rugged Housing for Extremes
Beyond its shallow-water rating, Garrett engineered the AT Gold’s housing as a sealed all-terrain system that maintains operational integrity across dust storms, mud bogs, freezing rain, and desert heat.
Proprietary sealing methods prevent moisture infiltration and particulate intrusion into sensitive electronics, delivering rugged reliability when you’re miles from civilization. The corrosion-resistant casing withstands repeated submersion cycles in both freshwater and saltwater without degrading performance.
You’ll find the housing eliminates operational failures during extended prospecting sessions in extreme environments—no protective covers required. This three-year warranty-backed construction supports multi-season field use across rocky outcrops, sandy washes, and humid jungle terrain.
Temperature fluctuations and environmental abuse won’t compromise detection accuracy, giving you unrestricted access to remote gold deposits regardless of conditions.
Freshwater Hunting Applications
Garrett’s sealed construction extends beyond environmental protection to deliver full submersion capability in freshwater environments up to 10 feet (3 meters).
The 18 kHz operating frequency and PROformance DD coil optimize detection in freshwater conditions where you’ll encounter:
- Small gold nuggets and fine jewelry in river gravels—thumbtack-sized targets at 18 cm, silver coins at 29 cm
- Mineralized streambeds and wet sand managed through Fast Track™ automatic ground balance
- Iron-contaminated swim areas filtered by 44-point high-resolution iron discrimination
The compact 5″ x 8″ DD configuration reduces current drag while maintaining depth in moving water.
All-Metal Mode maximizes sensitivity for target types commonly lost in rivers and lakes.
Electronic pinpointing maintains recovery accuracy underwater, while the Ground Balance Window feature handles changes from dry shoreline to submerged hunting without performance degradation.
Target Depth Indicators and Detection Examples
When you’re scanning targets with the AT Gold, understanding its depth indicator system is critical for efficient digging decisions and realistic recovery expectations.
The LCD displays target depth in 2″ increments, calibrated for coin-size objects. Larger targets read shallower than actual burial depth due to stronger signal response, while smaller items—like sub-grain nuggets—often display deeper than reality.
Detection examples include standard coins reaching 8–10″ in moderate soil, while larger relics extend considerably deeper. Small gold nuggets appear at shallow to moderate depths, heavily influenced by mineralization levels.
Mixed-metal or irregularly shaped targets produce fluctuating depth readings and unstable Target IDs. Always cross-reference depth displays with audio strength and pinpointing sweeps—orientation, soil conditions, and target geometry directly affect accuracy.
Operating Frequency Advantages for Gold Prospecting
- Enhanced response to tiny, irregular nuggets that fall below lower-frequency detection thresholds.
- Improved sensitivity to thin gold chains and fine specimen gold with weak signal signatures.
- Four micro frequency shifts (F1–F4) to eliminate EMI without sacrificing gold nugget detection performance.
Combined with True All Metal Mode and Fast Track ground balancing, the 18 kHz operation maximizes your ability to hear faint signals in mineralized goldfield soils.
Electronic Pinpointing and Recovery Speed
Speed defines success in gold prospecting—the faster you pinpoint and recover targets, the more ground you cover and the higher your odds of finding keeper nuggets.
The AT Gold’s electronic pinpointing function delivers pinpoint accuracy by detuning to the target as you hold the PINPOINT button, tightening the signal to a small footprint. Proportional audio and LCD bar graph guide you to center, while the depth indicator helps you choose your excavation approach.
Master the “X” cross-sweep in motion mode before engaging pinpoint, then use the DD coil’s forward-push or pull-back edge technique to locate targets at the coil’s front or rear.
Pair these recovery techniques with a Garrett PRO-POINTER handheld unit to minimize hole size and maximize your daily target count in mineralized ground.
Standard Package Contents and Warranty Coverage
Before you can swing your AT Gold in mineralized ground, you need to confirm the factory box contains every component required for immediate field deployment.
Your standard package accessories include the weatherproof control housing with shaft assembly, 5″ × 8″ PROformance DD search coil, Garrett MasterSound headphones, coil hardware kit, and four AA alkaline batteries.
The instruction manual covers assembly, operating modes, and maintenance protocols.
Core warranty details you should verify:
- Coverage duration: Most dealers cite 3-year manufacturer protection, though some retailers list 2-year limited terms
- Scope limits: Defects in materials and workmanship only—excludes user damage and wear items
- Claim process: Requires proof of purchase and routing through authorized dealer or Garrett service center
Regional dealer bundles may add bonus items beyond factory specifications.
Ideal Applications and User Recommendations
While general-purpose detectors sacrifice depth for versatility, the AT Gold inverts that compromise—it trades maximum coin depth for unmatched sensitivity to sub-gram gold in the highly mineralized ground where nuggets actually hide.
You’ll excel applying gold prospecting techniques in stream benches, bedrock cracks, and black-sand contact zones where 18 kHz frequency and True All Metal mode reveal pickers that lower-frequency machines miss.
The waterproof housing enables freshwater hunting strategies in shallow creeks and rain-soaked gulches without protective covers.
You’re best served if you’re an intermediate-to-advanced prospector willing to master manual ground balance and audio-only target identification in hot ground.
Coastal hunters and deep-field coin shooters should look elsewhere—AT Gold owns the niche prospecting zone where fine gold concentrates in mineralized, low-trash environments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the at Gold Be Used for Saltwater Beach Hunting?
The AT Gold’s beach hunting capabilities hit a wall in saltwater. You’ll lose 30-50% depth and face constant false signals due to extreme mineralization. Its 18 kHz frequency and saltwater performance simply weren’t engineered for coastal freedom.
How Does Battery Life Compare Between All-Metal and Discrimination Modes?
All-Metal mode consumes more power than discrimination settings, reducing your battery performance by approximately 10-15% during extended hunts. You’ll maximize mode efficiency by switching to discrimination when conditions permit selective target filtering.
Are Aftermarket Coils Compatible With the at Gold Detector?
Yes, you’ll find aftermarket coils compatible with your AT Gold, but verify SKU labeling carefully—compatibility issues arise when coils designed for ACE, Apex, or ATX platforms meet AT-series connectors and electronics incorrectly.
What Is the Learning Curve for Beginners Using This Detector?
You’ll face a moderate learning curve; expect several outings to master tone recognition and Target ID interpretation. Start with factory settings, practice over known targets, and explore online learning resources and beginner tips to accelerate your proficiency quickly.
How Does the at Gold Perform on Silver Versus Copper Coins?
You’ll find copper identification sharper due to AT Gold’s 18 kHz frequency bias, while silver detection depth suffers compared to lower-frequency machines—though both register distinct Target ID numbers for clear differentiation.
References
- https://seriousdetecting.com/products/garrett-at-gold-metal-detector
- https://detectorwarehouse.com/products/garrett-at-gold
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3sA0aeq_jo
- https://kellycodetectors.com/blog/garrett-at-gold-review/
- https://www.guldstrom.com/garrett-at-gold/
- https://garrett.com/sport/at-all-terrain/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrjueW3K0Yw
- https://www.metaldetector.com/pages/garrett-at-pro-versus-garrett-at-gold-comparison
- https://www.metalix.ca/detectors/garrett/garrett-at-gold/
- https://www.metaldetector.com/products/garrett-at-gold-metal-detector
