Detection is not only about the objects in focus, but it is also very much amplified or disturbed by the environment. Soil being the medium of suspension for an underground gold object, its physical and chemical properties have a strong influence on metal detection in general. Here is the most important feature of soil, soil mineralization in terms of its contents, what it means, why it is important and how it interferes. 

What is Soil Mineralization

Our Earth’s soil is enriched with many compounds whose chemical composition may suggest they are metallic or non-metallic in nature. The sum total of all compounds present in the soil accounts for the mineralization of soil which can cause a change in its physical and chemical properties. 

Why is it important

Gold detectors have a sophisticated mechanism based on detecting the metallic components in the soil through the interaction of a magnetic field generated by the current in their coil. These can be the objects we are looking for, like gold coins, gold nugget, relics, statues, etc. And these can be the objects no one is looking for, like the metallic composition of the soil particles. If the soil in some region has heavy metallic contents, they will intervene with the results of the gold detector causing unnecessary distortion.

How it Interferes

Because gold metal detectors function on detecting the metallic components buried in the ground, the shape size and distance of the objects matter as well as quantity if they are in fine form. If the soil contains particles, they are mostly in fine or powdered form. But they can be enough in quantity to produce a background noise for the detectors. in most of the cases,  they generate enough metallic field to be noticed by the changing magnetic field of the equipment because they have the capacity to absorb electric currents and generate a magnetic field of themselves. So, the metallic components are included in the natural mineralization of soil and are more likely to interfere with the results.

How it is balanced

Ground balancing is a function which many modern and relatively expensive variants of gold metal detectors come with, which is specifically designed to tackle this problem. It balances the irregular metallic component of the soil, which means the mineralization of the ground is made compatible with the gold detector settings to avoid any irregular variance in the results. Some good quality detectors distinguish between ferrous and nonferrous compounds but at a point in time, it also becomes irrelevant because the intensity of the noise becomes annoying for the person in the field. So eliminating this irrelevant beeping of the device must be minimized by maintaining ground balance.