Find Small, Thin Targets with the Manticore Low Conductors Mode

Small, thin metal objects can produce less imposing signals than large coins or buckles. They can also occupy the same broad conductivity region as foil and other rubbish, so aggressive rejection risks silencing potentially interesting targets.

This exercise uses the Minelab Manticore’s All-Terrain Low Conductors mode to investigate faint or modest responses on a ploughed field. Rather than memorising “good” numbers, you will compare the same undug signal in two modes and judge it through audio, repeatability and the 2D ID Map.

All settings are conservative starting points. Adjust them for local soil, moisture, mineralisation, electromagnetic interference, firmware, coil choice and your experience.

Suitable terrain and conditions

Use a freshly ploughed, rolled or lightly cultivated field where detecting and recovery are expressly permitted. Relatively open ground makes careful cross-sweeping easier, while disturbed soil can leave targets at awkward angles and varying depths.

Confirm the landowner’s instructions, boundaries, livestock and crop restrictions before starting. Avoid protected or prohibited land and known archaeological features.

Reporting, heritage and treasure rules vary worldwide; follow those for the country or region where you are detecting. In England and Wales, the Portable Antiquities Scheme and official Treasure guidance provide useful UK-specific information, but these arrangements are not universal.

Conservative starting settings

• Search Mode: All-Terrain General for the initial pass
• Comparison mode: All-Terrain Low Conductors
• Frequency: Multi-IQ+
• Sensitivity: 18–22, reducing it until the detector is stable
• Recovery Speed: Retain each mode’s default
• Ferrous Limits and discrimination: Mode defaults
• Coil: M11; an M8 or M9 may help where targets are crowded
• Audio: Familiar tones with audible ferrous context

Run Noise Cancel with the coil stationary and clear of metal. Ground balance over a clean patch with no target response. Keep the digging tool and finds pouch away from the coil during comparisons.

Exercise: compare five uncertain targets

1. Survey in All-Terrain General

Mark a lane approximately 20 metres long using removable non-metallic markers. Sweep slowly along one side of a furrow and return along the next, overlapping the coil coverage.

Keep the coil reasonably level rather than following every sharp rise and dip.

Find five compact signals that are repeatable but less bold than the obvious high-conductive targets. Do not select signals by Target ID alone. Mark each position without digging.

2. Record the General-mode response

For the first target, make four passes from one direction and four at 90 degrees. Note:

• Whether the audio repeats on every pass
• Whether the response has a clear centre
• The range, rather than a single flash, of Target IDs
• Whether the 2D trace remains near the central conductive line or spreads into the ferrous regions

Clear the 2D map between targets if you have assigned Clear ID Map to a soft key. Otherwise, use the normal menu control available on your firmware. This prevents earlier traces from confusing the comparison.

3. Change only the Search Mode

Switch to the All-Terrain Minelab Manticore low conductors mode  without altering Sensitivity, Ferrous Limits or discrimination. Repeat the same eight passes at the same coil height and speed.

Minelab describes this mode as suitable for small or thin objects, including fine gold jewellery and hammered coins. That does not mean every low-conductive response is valuable: foil, fragments and irregular rubbish can occupy the same region.

4. Compare, then recover responsibly

Repeat the process for all five targets. Give each signal a simple result:

• Clearer
• Similar
• Less clear
• Ferrous or irregular

Where recovery is permitted, investigate a representative mixture rather than only the neatest traces.

Pinpoint first, keep the excavation small, check the removed soil and refill the hole completely. Secure sharp waste in a puncture-resistant container.

What the results mean

A promising response normally has a discernible centre and repeats from more than one direction, although disturbed soil and an angled object can make one direction stronger.

A compact trace near the centre line supports a non-ferrous interpretation, but it cannot identify the object.

According to Minelab, the 2D Map’s horizontal axis represents conductivity from 0–99, while vertical displacement conveys ferrous characteristics. Low conductivity simply places a response towards the left; it does not mean low quality or low importance.

If the Minelab Manticore low conductors mode makes several small responses easier to hear without destabilising the detector, it is a useful mode for that section of field. If it increases distracting ground noise, reduce Sensitivity slightly or return to General.

Avoid rejecting an entire conductivity range merely because you recover foil—the next similarly placed response may come from a very different object.

Why this works

Testing the same undug targets removes much of the variation caused by depth, size and orientation. Changing only the Search Mode lets you hear whether its weighting improves low-conductive responses in your actual soil.

Recovering a representative sample then connects the sounds and traces with real objects rather than assumptions.

Common mistakes

• Treating one Target ID as a guaranteed identification
• Rejecting the foil range when searching for small or thin targets
• Changing Sensitivity and Search Mode simultaneously
• Sweeping too quickly over rough furrows
• Lifting the coil at the ends of each swing
• Testing only perfect two-way signals
• Leaving sharp fragments loose in a pocket

Before you leave

• Permission, boundaries and local restrictions confirmed
• Noise Cancel and ground balance completed
• Five undug signals compared in both modes
• Coil height and sweep speed kept consistent
• Signals checked from two directions
• A representative permitted sample recovered
• Every hole refilled and the surface left tidy
• All markers and rubbish removed
• Potentially reportable finds handled under local law

P.S. Please leave a comment below, if you have any other tips, which may help other detectorists, thanks