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The Competition Heats Up


Norvic

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4 hours ago, Gold Catcher said:

I tend to agree with you Steve, but those areas I was describing also have a lot of trash, meaning not many people are detecting there due to the challenges with the ground. I suspect there is plenty of gold still there that is currently difficult to recover. But for most other areas I agree, and the Motherlode is a great example for that. However, I also think hunting gold where gold was found before remains a winning strategy, perhaps not the only one though.

GC

If the areas have tons of trash, like where I am hunting, then more horsepower is not really needed. You already have more targets than you need anyway. Which is why my Axiom will do me just fine. I need a new super duper detector to do what exactly? Find nails deeper? Unless the iron disc arrives, and I agree with you it won't, it's either use a good VLF, or just dig away and hope you get lucky. 

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A better detector won't of course help with trash (assuming disc is out of question).  But perhaps identifying gold close to (or attached to) hot rocks is something a better processing algorithm could achieve. The pic below is an example of what I am describing, taking from a hunting trip yesterday. All super iron rich volcanic tuff. Gold is often stuck to them or is in very close proximity. Some guys were up here with me, one with a 6000 and one with a GB2. They were just laughing....

01.thumb.jpg.5bf638e74e44de4c688ff3b895d33542.jpg

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Management had commented Minelab does plan to release a new gold detector in the second half of its fiscal year.  It would also be smart of them to announce it now to try to distract attention from the Axiom. While I don't know a new Monster does much distracting, doesn't it seem a likely candidate given its age? 

Even though I am not likely a first adopter this stuff is fun to follow, speculate on, and certainly excites the forum.  

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Seems like a few are convinced all the gold is gone from their patches but everybody goes back finds at least one where you think how did I miss that. What if current technology only sees 80% of the gold (mineralisation and other factors). Would people be happy finding another 20% from their multi ounce patches with a newer technology?
The 6000 is a great example where people thought that all the shallow gold was found with the SDC and smaller coils on other machines.

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3 hours ago, jasong said:

There are a ton of Minelab patents that are now quite a few years old and surely some of them are going to work their way into a new GPZ, or maybe a new detector entirely.

  • Offhand I remember some new ZVT type coil designs for increased sensitivity and greater EMI/ground immunity. The old, heavy coils might be a requirement of the 7000 circuit more than ZVT in specific, so I wouldn't necessarily assume all ZVT coils will always be as heavy as the 1st gens. 
  • Depth ID. I'm still hoping for this one. In some cases 90% of the trash is no deeper than 4-5" so even just rough depth discrim to avoid the shallow stuff would save me a ton of digging and time. I'll give up tiny surface dinks to save that time, and just not use depth discrim when I'm dink hunting. This is and has been close to the top of my request list since making such lists for the 7000 prior to it's release. I'd almost prefer it over target ID/target discrim but I'd definitely take both. :smile:
  • Hybrid machine. By recall there was something resembling a hybrid between either a PI and VLF or hybrid between ZVT and PI. Or both? I can't remember now. That would give you the ability to run a heavier DOD for patches, and a lighter mono for prospecting. Potentially also target ID/discrim if you could press a button and switch into VLF mode for IDs. 
  • A number of new signal processing algorithms for EMI and ground noise reduction. This is the most obvious way to increase performance - noise is the big target killer.

I know I'm forgetting some other stuff I thought was pretty cool too. But off the top of my head this is the stuff that I haven't really seen in any other machines yet and so have to assume some of it is going into a new prospecting flagship.

*Oh yeah: there was also that oddball patent about relating the location of the target to the coil in terms of XY coordinates, and then plotting the location of targets all onto a screen. Seems...eh, ho hum at first. But in the back of my mind I always hoped that was an indication of some kind of evolution from the coil-on-a-stick model to something automated (if just really low resolution) like a drone prospector or something. Now THAT is pie in the sky hot air imagination on my part, but hey, a guy can dream.

There are some university research papers online about a mine detector prototype they made that has a camera attached to the coil shaft and a smart phone uses it to map coil movement over the ground based on signal strength - it allows the system to create an image showing the size and shape of a target, it’s pretty low tech nowadays but would not be out of reach for anyone with a smartphone if they released it.

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9 minutes ago, GR Guy said:

Seems like a few are convinced all the gold is gone from their patches

Seems like nobody is saying "all" the gold is gone. It's about diminishing returns, that's all, and where you personally want to draw the line. I know lots of people who would be thrilled to hunt for days and to find just anything at all. My problem I guess is I've been a little spoiled over the years by too many one ounce plus days. I still get one now and then, but they are getting real rare.

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I'm reminded of a couple of posts that Gerry made.

One was about the 6000 at the end of a year.  It found more gold for him and his customers.

The second post was about the Axiom.  It found him more gold too.

I guess something is working.

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As always, it depends on individual perspectives. I kind of see it both ways. Improving what can be found on old patches, including opening up fields that are thus far difficult to detect (i.e. extensive hot rocks), but also trying to find new patches in unexplored areas (where no man has gone before). Re size, I am happy about all, and a 0.1 g nugget can make me as excited as much larger ones. After all, it is about finding gold, and I have not yet yawned about any nugget in my scoop. Gold is gold to me, small or large. But I am also not trying to pay bills with it. And I doubt that many really would be able to do so anyhow, despite of what they are hoping. At least not here in the US and by just doing metal detecting.

GC 

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GC, I think you have gold fever as bad as I have, after my years and finds, digging a 0.1g still excites, especially when it`s in a new area that has had no attention from our electronic gold rush nor any past rushes. I also must admit I went through a few years when I lost the fever, but one trip on a whim got it boiling again. 

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1 hour ago, Norvic said:

GC, I think you have gold fever as bad as I have, after my years and finds, digging a 0.1g still excites, especially when it`s in a new area that has had no attention from our electronic gold rush nor any past rushes. I also must admit I went through a few years when I lost the fever, but one trip on a whim got it boiling again. 

Exactly right, Norvic. I am the same way. Early in my detecting life someone once close to Jim Straight told me that Jim would get excited about every single nugget he found, didn't matter the size. That story has stayed in my mind ever since and has made a lasting impression on me, especially considering what gold he found over his career. A true gold prospector cherishes gold, no matter what.

GC

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