How deep will a metal detector/locator go?
This is the question most frequently asked. Unfortunately, it has no absolute answers. The following variables, in addition to your own detector’s capabilities, all have an effect on the answer. 1. Conductive properties of the soil: Heavily mineralized soil will tend to reduce the penetration power of your detector. Soil mineralization may vary greatly, and you may have to re-ground balance your detector to adjust for soil mineralization; unless, of course, your detector has automatic ground balancing. In this case, you may need to decrease sensitivity and/or increase discrimination on models like the Fisher 1266-X, which has extraordinary sensitivity. 2. The length of time an object is buried: Various chemicals in the soil have a corrosive action on metal. Some metals corrode faster than others. A modern zinc penny is attacked by these soil chemicals quite easily, whereas the action on copper and silver is much less, and corrosive action on gold is hardly noticeable, if at all. As the
