Steve Herschbach

Thanks everyone for your responses. The results are posted at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/1262-results-of-gold-nugget-detector-survey/

A week ago I started an informal survey on seven US metal detecting oriented prospecting forums including this one. The survey here is at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/1244-if-you-found-a-gold-nugget-in-the-last-year-what-detectors-did-you-find-it-with/ This is what got posted on all the forums. I have been compiling results all evening and it is after midnight so I am calling it a night. However, I will release additional details on this forum, probably tomorrow morning. I would like to post a screenshot of the entire spreadsheet if I can figure out how to get it all on screen at once. Or I may just post a copy of the spreadsheet in the download area for forum members to access. I am proud to say that fully half the responses were on this forum alone, with the other six making up the remainder. There are a lot of active nugget hunters on this forum. The survey was not meant to prove anything per se. I was basically just curious to see what the detectors were that were employed to actually find gold nuggets in the last year. The survey has many shortcomings. It only polls people who were on the US forums in the last week who cared to respond. The forums have tended as a whole to be Minelab oriented and so it is not surprising results might skew in that direction. Still, I got a large number of responses and so some conclusions can be drawn. I eliminated duplicate and joke responses. I eliminated a couple borrowed units. It was winnowed down to just detectors that found gold for their owners in the last year. Everything else was pretty straight forward. The only thing of note is I put a couple Gold Bug SE responses under the Gold Bug Pro because they are basically the same detector. The SE was just a precursor model. Everything was compiled on a spreadsheet and totaled. 114 people responded as having used 220 detectors to find gold nuggets. That is an average of a couple detectors per person but the reality is a lot of people owned three detectors, and then quite a few just one detector. In general you could say many nugget hunters own a couple PI detectors (or a PI and a GPZ) plus a good VLF detector. If you really want to generalize things your could say people own a couple Minelab PI type detectors and a Fisher VLF. The Gold Bug 2 and the Gold Bug Pro were the runaway favorites in the VLF category. Tesoro is conspicuous in their absence. Only one Lobo ST listed. I was a bit surprised to see not one Garrett AT Gold listed. Except for a few ATX units Garrett is pretty much a no-show. White's does a little bit better but still only just over a dozen units out of 220. The TDI PI models are the most popular alternative to the Minelabs with 8 listed. As I noted Fisher totally dominates the VLF detectors with the Gold Bug 2 and Gold Bug Pro. And I was surprised at the very large numbers for both the SDC2300 and GPZ7000. The GPZ in particular due to it being very expensive and out for only the last 6 months. The adoption rate is phenomenal in my opinion. Here are two sets of results. The first is simplified for easy digestion. I have lumped similar models together and not listed onesies and twosies. The second list is the full per model breakdown. Make of it what you will, and thank you for participating! Simplified Results: 51 GPX5000/4500/4000 33 GPZ7000 33 SDC2300 32 Gold Bug 2 15 Gold Bug Pro 13 GP3500/3000/GPExtreme 8 White's TDI/TDIPro/TDISL/SPP 5 White's GMT/GM3/VSAT 5 Nokta FORS Gold 4 Makro Racer 4 X-Terra 705 3 Garrett ATX 3 XP DEUS Full Results: 33 GPZ7000 33 SDC 2300 32 Gold Bug 2 31 GPX5000 15 Gold Bug Pro 11 GPX4500 9 GPX4000 6 GP3000 5 GPExtreme 5 FORS Gold 4 Makro Racer 4 X-Terra 705 3 Garrett ATX 3 White's GMT 3 White's TDI 3 TDI Pro 3 XP DEUS 2 GP3500 2 Fisher F19 2 CTX3030 1 TDI SL 1 White's SPP 1 Troy X5 1 XT17000 1 SD2200V2 1 SD2100V2 1 Tesoro Lobo ST 1 White's GM3 1 White's V/SAT 1 Minelab F1A4 1 Garrett Scorpion

I had no problem working in alkali ground in Nevada but as the poster says actual salt flats are probably a whole extra level of issues. Especially in Australia. There are in my opinion just some things a GPX does better.

Good book I am sure. I have several of Clive's and they are all very good. Thanks for posting!

This thread was started specifically for owners of the GPZ to pass on thoughts and experiences with the machine. And mind you it was not a request for complaints specifically although it seems to have been taken that way. Since there appears to be a huge desire by others to weigh in I have started a new thread for that purpose at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/1259-things-metal-detector-manufacturers-could-do-better/ Any non GPZ owners weighing in here going forward can expect their posts to get moved to that location.

When I started the GPZ 7000 thread at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/1230-minelab-gpz-7000-the-controversy-ends/ it was for owners of the detectors who have had time on it to air their opinions. It became apparent lots of other people wanted to weigh in with their opinions. I am therefore starting this thread for everyone else who owns anything else or not to voice whatever opinions they have on the detectors or companies themselves. Say anything you want, no holds barred really, but it would be nice if it was kept constructive. I prefer myself to keep things upbeat and positive. It is just who I am and I have tried to keep the forum as a whole along those lines. But I do not want people to feel like certain opinions or viewpoints are not welcome and so this is the place for whatever opinions you may have about any detector manufacturer or their products. I am not going to get involved as long as people do not get personal. This in no way is my relenting on my overall expectations for the forum as a whole. There is a time and a place for everything however and going forward this is the thread on which to air suggestions, complaints, issues, or just plain gripes. Again, all I ask is keep it civil. Thank you. Just to get you going here are some new metal detector bumper stickers for you.... First Texas - Even we don't know how many we make or what they're for! Garrett - We already made a flagship detector so quit asking for one. Minelab - The most hated name in detecting! Tesoro - Search for the past with detectors from the past. White's - Anything happen while we were sleeping?

Good advice. The GPZ is not the be all and end all of nugget detectors. The GPX may very well suit many people better for a variety of reasons. The GPZ did not replace the GPX which is why Minelab continues to market and sell the GPX 5000 and now also the GPX 4500.

I like his advice.... "When asked about what characteristics make for a good gold prospector, he said - determination, patience, and having low expectations."

Never was an issue for me. The GPX like the GPZ retains its settings when turned off. 90% of the time with either unit I just turn it on and go detecting. The GPZ though I do have to tell it to start recording my path via the GPS each session.

Half my posts this year have been from the field as I continue to rack up the hours and the gold with the GPZ. I have reached that point where the GPZ and I are one and it talks to me in a language I thoroughly understand. I am really enjoying using this machine. All I can say is that I truly am sorry that some of you are having issues.

Hi Jason, I never said Minelab should not be held accountable by those having issues. And I am not making excuses for them. Just stating what is. Thank you for you well considered and stated opinions. You are not going unheard, and you are just going to have to trust me when I say the GPZ is in absolutely no way an abandoned item.

It is all so puzzling since Fisher, Garrett, Tesoro, and White's never make mistakes and communicate with their customers on a near daily basis about what they are doing. Why can't Minelab be more like them? Truth is they are all the same, the only difference is you pay more for a Minelab, and that makes people resentful. The only company that has been breaking the mold on customer communications is Nokta/Makro.

I prefer the design of your Wacko Pick though a little shorter stubbier pick point would suit me better.

Maybe some grayish pyrites with the goldish pyrites? That would be arsenopyrite. Again, very common in gold ores and also very conductive. Arsenopyrite will often signal strongly with a VLF detector.

Would not be surprised if an assay showed some gold values. Looks like a typical mixed sulphides, probably with some copper, gold, and silver values. In Alaska you could also count on some lead and zinc. I used to have a garage full of the stuff but left most of it up north with the local rock club when I moved. But normally it is minimal ounces per ton stuff, nothing to get excited about unless you have a mountain full of it, and in California even that would not matter. But fun nonetheless. Common pyrite is just iron sulphide but there are various other "pyrites" that all have a similar hackly golden appearance. Chalcopyrite is a common copper ore that looks a lot like regular pyrite and with the copper staining that may be some of what you are looking at.

This forum is the correct place for all new threads and posts on all subjects related to prospecting and metal detecting. Only long inactive threads go to the Archive, at which time I file them under the appropriate heading. That is why you really do not need the New Content button. There is never new content in the Archive, only on the main forum.

This is an informal survey, just out of curiosity. For those of you who have been out prospecting in the last year (back to Sept 2014) and actually have found gold nuggets, what detector or detectors did you find the gold with? The poll is not meant to prove anything. I am just wondering what detectors are most commonly in use now for finding gold nuggets by those who are actually finding the gold. I am posting this on the most of the active US forums so please do not post your answer in more than one place. In a week I will compile all the answers from all the forums and post the results back to each one. Thanks in advance for you participation. I own a number of units but so far in the last year my gold was found with the Minelab GPZ 7000, SDC 2300, and a few nuggets in trashy areas with the Makro Racer.

Wow!

That is actually the thing to do with any detector that scans for the quietest frequency. The ones you mention plus ATX, CTX, GPZ, etc. I turn on my pinpointer, toss a few feet away, and do the frequency scan procedure. It does work.

Good info John, thanks. If you can find ground where the TDI Pro can run with the ground balance off it is a very powerful detector indeed. You lose any ability to use tones (gb off is monotone) or the conductivity switch, but with ground balance off the TDI Pro is one of the most powerful beach detectors ever made. It is the closet thing you can get to Eric Fosters old Deepstar detectors, which are so old now even if you could find one it would be a questionable purchase. Better off with a TDI Pro with a warranty. A lot of people are very frustrated that White's never produced a waterproof TDI. And of course on any mild ground the same thing applies. Ground balance off will add significant depth. I know you know all this. It is for anyone else reading.

Hi Ivan, I think the .com version was the right link but somebody forgot to pay their bill? The .org is a different website. Got no idea about the "bad" dealer in the Phoenix area. Not my neck of the woods. Really odd sometimes the people that get into business. Kind of a "business would be great if you didn't have to deal with customers" sort of attitude. Back to the subject at hand. Official White's Electronics Forum http://forums.whiteselectronics.com/forum.php

They have said all along the Gold Racer would be out in later 2015 so this certainly makes sense, especially if they want to catch the Christmas sales season. It bodes well that it is taking this amount of time. It would indicate the Gold Racer is not just a Racer with a different stock coil and a paint job. We were told up front that it would sport a 10" x 5" coil but other than that all is still under wraps.

Thanks Rob, good to know. I hope business is great but do smell the roses when you can! Say hi to Dawn and Dennis for me. Welcome to the forum Keith! To be honest you got the benefit of a good Google response. Interesting to see an east coast dealer stocking GPZ accessories. Are they seeing any use outside the prospecting world? Seems like the extreme sensitivity to tiny ferrous stuff would be an issue, but that is all high tones. Dig low tones only might work in certain relic hunting situations but unfortunately that trick would be no good nugget hunting.

Well, I have been getting in the hours and have wore out my GPZ 7000 scuff cover / coil cover / skidplate. New genuine Minelab covers are like everything else GPZ rare as hen's teeth. Part number 3011-0286 and very few places on the internet can be found that advertise having them in stock. $62 retail, and Ft. Bedford claims to have them in stock for $48 http://www.fortbedfordmetaldetectors.com/minelab-gpz7000-14x13-coil-cover Miner John has an aftermarket coil at http://razorbackcoils.webs.com/apps/webstore/products/show/5908106 that Chris alerted us to back in May http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/930-gpz-7000-coil-cover-available/ for about the same price. It is twice as thick and has fewer slots that would let dirt get in between the coil and scuff cover. Has anyone tried these out and can report on them?

AZO Gold Basin Outing added http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/calendar/1-calendar/10-2015