Steve Herschbach

The thing I am always trying to convey is no one detector is best for all people under all circumstances. Life does not work that way. If it did there would be one model of car and we all would drive it. Just because the GPZ 7000 came out all other gold detectors did not become obsolete. I think it is 80% operator and 20% detector and that is probably giving the detector too much credit.

As things stand right now the GPZ 7000 has some areas that would make a person consider other detectors:

1. The price
2. The weight
3. The lack of small coil option
4. The lack of large coil option
5. Lack of discrimination

Until we get the GPZ 10000 at 3 lbs for $1000 with full discrimination and full range of inexpensive coil options there will be plenty of room for alternatives.

Hi Clay,

I agree with you though I lack confidence in the Small Miner Exemption surviving much longer. Looks like low hanging fruit to me.

The Plano 108110 Bow Case gets mentioned a lot as a good case for the CTX 3030 http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/minelab/335875-storage-travel-case-ctx-3030-a.html I may have to get one for my GPZ.

Hi Jeff, welcome to the forum!

I know people distrust sales brochures but the chart below from the GPZ brochure really says it all. There is a catch however. If you are on relatively shallow ground, and there is a lot of that around, the SDC 2300 can do every bit as well as the GPZ 7000 or better. The extra GPZ depth matters but little in shallow ground. That 8" SDC coil can get around the base of rocks, down in depressions, and between roots where the 14" GPZ coil will not fit.

If it was a case of one or the other, cost is no object, I am going with the GPZ 7000. But I can see a person also just using the SDC 2300 exclusively as a hot sniper unit and doing very well with it, especially in rough high Sierra type terrain. Terrain gets discussed rarely but in really rough brushy ground slow and methodical with a smaller coil really has advantages.

I will keep my SDC for sure until a smaller coil is available for the GPZ but even then I suspect I will keep it anyway. It is just too handy for grab and go detecting or serious light weight hike in kind of stuff. Once a small coil for the GPZ comes out it will sort itself out. I have to admit at the end of the day I tend to go for power, and if the SDC just goes unused long enough it may get sold off. But it is going to probably take a year for me to sort that out!

When I visited Australia taking the gold home was no problem unless the total amount was measured in kilograms. A few ounces was no problem. Same with bringing gold through Canada.

You can all repay the effort of my taking photos and weighing things etc. by letting people know where they can find this stuff if they are interested. Thanks!

Bad for White's, good for First Texas. I would love to see First Texas introduce something that would rock the prospecting world. Minelab could use some stiff competition.

To put it in perspective however Minelab could dust off the old SD2200v2 and release it again and have an entry level PI as good or better than what the competition offers. Instead of others catching up Minelab seems to be consolidating its technological lead.

The budget process under way includes some proposed changes to the mining law that claim owners or those thinking of owning claims need to be aware of.

From BLM Bureau Highlights page 12 http://www.doi.gov/budget/appropriations/2016/highlights/upload/BH007.pdf

"The second legislative proposal institutes a leasing pro- cess under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 for certain minerals—gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, uranium, and molybdenum—currently covered by the General Mining Law of 1872. After enactment, mining for these metals on Federal lands will be governed by the new leasing process and subject to annual rental payments and a royalty of not less than five percent of gross proceeds. Half of the receipts will be distributed to the States in which the leases are located and the remaining half will be deposited in the Treasury. Existing mining claims will be exempt from the change to a leasing system. The proposal also increases the annual maintenance fees under the General Mining Law of 1872 and eliminates the fee exemption for miners holding ten or fewer mining claims. These changes will discourage speculators from holding claims that they do not intend to develop. Holders of existing mining claims for these minerals could voluntarily convert their claims to leases. The Office of Natural Resources Revenue will collect, account for, and disburse the hardrock royalty receipts."

Note that these are listed under a heading as changes relating to hardrock mining reform. Without seeing the actual proposed legislation it is not clear but it would seem unlikely that this would not end up applying to all claims on federal land, including placer claims. In the future there would be no new claims, only leases, subject to leasing fees and a royalty of not less than 5% of gross receipts. This means you could lose money and still owe a royalty. Furthermore the Small Miners Exemption would be eliminated, and annual fees increased for existing claims.

Before everyone goes ballistic keep in mind proposals like these have been floated for decades and so it is not a given it will come to pass. The big boys will certainly fight the leasing and royalty portions. However, they will not care about the Small Miners Exemption. If you do, you may want to dig deeper into the proposals and keep an eye on their progress. This would have a devastating impact on club ownership of claims in particular.

Here is where the lower rod clamps to the upper rod. I guess you could cut CTX rod off and use if you had that plastic mating sleeve and end up with a really long rod assembly. Note that the male end protrudes along one side just like the upper portion of the rod, so it can only plug into the lower rod one way.

It fully assembled at 52" is too much the next simplest step is to pull apart where lower rod clamps to upper rod and fold double. This gets you to 32" long. You want to protect cable at bend to prevent kinking or rubbing against edges of rod openings. This is probably the most practical stowed position and so a padded case 32" long would be nice and have room for chargers, etc.

There is a thread on it at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/375-gold-over-5000-per-ounce/

But short answer is always have it for sale and make sure people know it. Then set your price and stay firm. People will say "oh, that is too much!" And my answer is always "well, thanks for looking" or "thanks for the offer."

As long as you do not care if you sell it or not you can almost always eventually get your price. There are people who can buy my house with pocket change. When you find them price is no object - they either want it or they do not. The key is be content to keep your gold but be willing to sell it, but only on your terms. Selling under the gun is always a bad idea.

Yes, it breaks down into three basic components, the longest being the middle rod section at 25.5" long. It all fit comfortably in my not overly large backpack. However, when fully assembled even when collapsed the GPZ will not fit in normal detector carry bags. It is 51.3" long in the laid flat stowed position fully assembled.

White's was issued a patent recently on a hybrid VLF/PI design but I am not sure how related they are. Still, good information to be gleaned http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/118-half-sine-metal-detector-technology-hybrid-induction-balance-pulse-induction-metal-detector/

If I could own one and only one detector to prospect for gold and the only choices I had were the ATX and SDC 2300 I would have to go with the ATX personally. It has its issues but at the end of the day it has three coil options. I really like my SDC 2300 but that hard wired 8" coil really limits its viability when it comes to owning one and only one detector.

The SDC in the Eureka Gold box with optional coils would be a game changer. As would a 4 lb ATX under $2000.

Here is to the hunt!

"There's gold, and it's haunting and haunting, It's luring me on as of old. Yet it isn't the gold that I'm wanting, so much as just finding the gold."

Robert Service - Spell of the Yukon

I do have to mention the other perspective that does exist. I get that most people do not live where there is much gold or are not that into it.

But for a serious prospector a GPZ does not represent much more than an investment. The only question is how long to hit break even. I do sell my gold regularly, and never sell for less than $2000 per ounce these days. So five ounces to hit the $9999 mark. Maybe another ounce for gas, food, etc. How long to get six ounces?

One just never knows. It could take me two years, or it could be the first nugget. But for many prospectors, especially in Australia, going after 6 ounces is not exactly an earth shattering thing. And when it is all said and done the detector will have retained some value on the used market, that can be rolled over into the GPZ 7500 whenever it appears.

I will let you know. I just got my shiny new GPZ 7000 and I am not counting gold found with the prototype. Starting today, how long until I hit the six ounce mark? We shall see.

There is a lot in what you say Rick. On the other hand, I think the rapidity of the price escalation has set people back. Most detectors cost hundreds of dollars. I remember seeing my first thousand dollar detector and thinking that was crazy. It really is only the Minelab PI detectors with their lock on high end performance that is driving the sky high prices. When you finally get your head around $5795 the jump to $9999 does come as a shock.

Whatever. No matter where we are in life most of us see things we would like to have but can't afford. Or simply will not spend the money on. Most of my friends have bigger houses, bigger trucks, and bigger RVs than I. There really is more to it than just the detector and no reason a person can't do well with whatever they can afford.

From http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/641-official-minelab-gpz-7000-introduction-video-7-minutes/

They are removable, each side is an independent compression washer system. If removed there would be large holes - the spline piece you can see on the right side slides through the hole.

The inside distance between the ear lugs on the CTX coil is about 15/16" and the distance between the ears on the GPX coil is 2-5/16".

So yes, the CTX coil fits into that space with room to spare. in fact, the little tits just fit into the holes on the CTX ears and the coil pivots. I could make it work with little effort. Note that the cable enters offside on the CTX not dead center like GPZ. The cost may make it moot for all but people for whom cost is no object.

Sadly, the competition is still struggling to catch up to the GPX 5000 and this just puts them farther behind. I have thought the ATX in a package designed specifically for prospecting and with better coils would have and still could give the GPX detectors a run for the money.

A repackaged SDC with larger coil options would be welcome but would still not be a GPZ. The SDC and GPZ are both better on small gold than the ATX. That said I think the ATX is currently the bang-for-buck PI detector and if it was all I had I would still do well. Value is a very subjective thing though. My Take On The GPZ 7000 explains my reasoning but others have to make their own decisions based on their budget and probable time spent in the field.

See also Garrett ATX vs Minelab GPX 5000

I have sold my GPX 5000 and all accessories and having the ATX actually made that decision easier. The 20" x 15" mono coil on the ATX can help me in cases where I want ground coverage which at this point was about the only reason I had to hang onto the GPX.

Minelab GPZ 7000 and CTX 3030

The Minelab GPZ 7000 weighs 7.32 lbs and the Minelab CTX 3030 weighs 5.2 lbs. Both are almost perfectly balanced. Where is the weight difference?

The Minelab GPZ 14 coil comes complete with lower rod attached. I assume if you buy one new it will also come with a scuff cover like all Minelab coils but I do not know this for sure. A scuff cover does come on the coil when you purchase the GPZ 7000.

The coil assembly with scuff cover and lower rod weighs exactly 3.0 lbs as weighed on my digital postal scale. The lower rod assembly with nuts and washers weighs 4.8 ounces. The scuff cover weighs 4.3 ounces. The coil alone without rod and scuff cover is 2 lbs 6.9 oz.

Compare this to the stock 11" DD coil on the Minelab CTX 3030 at 1 lb 6.2 oz with scuff cover and you can begin to see why the GPZ 7000 weighs what it does. To get proper balance for that 3 lb coil there has to be offsetting weight behind the handle. Even the 17" coil for the CTX 3030 only weighs 1 lb 15.8 oz.

Now lets look at the detector bodies:

The GPZ body is obviously longer than the CTX body. The GPZ body with battery weighs 4 lbs 0.3 oz and the CTX body with battery weighs 3 lbs 6.2 oz.

The GPZ battery is larger and at 72 Wh has nearly twice the capacity of the 34 Wh CTX battery. The GPZ battery weighs 13.0 oz. versus 9.0 oz for the CTX battery so you are getting twice the power for only 50% more weight. The batteries are interchangeable so you can use your CTX battery as a backup on the GPZ 7000 or buy a GPZ battery to get extra running time on a CTX 3030.

The smaller battery and a smaller coil option have the potential to easily shave over a pound off the total weight GPZ 7000. I can imagine say something like a 8" x 11" semi-elliptical coil and the smaller battery making a nice balanced combo.

The longer 38" two piece rod from the GPZ 7000 will plug into the CTX 3030 for a gain of 6" over the 32" single piece CTX rod. However, the way the coils mount is totally different though in theory they could be made to work.

GPZ 7000 coil and rod plugged onto CTX 3030

14" x 13" GPZ 14 Coil for GPZ 7000 with Lower Rod and Scuff Cover

Although you'd have to tear it it apart to confirm (and that's not going to happen), I'd bet a lot of that extra weight is the increased copper wire in the GPZ coil. 

No doubt about it.

Interesting tidbit. Yes, the longer rod assembly from the GPZ 7000 will plug into the CTX 3030. The CTX 3030 rod is 32" and the combined two piece GPZ rod is 38"

GPZ Coil & Rod Assembly Plugged Into CTX 3030

However, the wide yoke could be difficult to mate properly to a CTX coil as the mounts are nothing alike. I am sure it could be done, but given the likely cost of this lower rod assembly plus need to "make it fit" this probably is not a viable option for most people wanting a longer lower rod for the CTX 3030.

Happy Birthday Ray!