Rob Allison

Hey Guys, The new 17" is super popular and in high demand here in the US. I just got another batch of them in, so if anyone is still wanting to get one before Christmas, contact me ASAP. These will not last more than about a week or so and the batch will be gone. https://www.robsdetectors.com/minelab-gpx-6000-17-searchcoil/ Thanks for all the comments of guys/gals using them. ROb

Thanks Guys for the recent comments. It's out there! Rob

Thanks guys for the comment. Hope all your belly's are full from all the Turkey! 🙂

Hey Guys, I believe this is one of my customers, really the only Minelab GPX 6000 that has been faulty that I have sold (knock on wood). Myself, Deb, Keith and Detector Center have been working to get him a 3rd unit ASAP. I could only imagine the frustration, but I have to give it to Deb at Minelab & Keith at Detector Center that they have done their absolute best to get this resolved. As frustrating has this can be, there is now a procedure that has to be followed when something is under warranty. Many years back, us as Minelab Dealers could just ship a unit from our own inventory to replace the detector and then deal with getting the faulty one replaced. Due to paperwork, warranty and such, this is no longer something that can be done. All detector must go back to Detector Center in PA for a replacement. Detector Center will not ship another unit out until the warranty/faulty unit is returned with all accessories/coils. It's my understanding they have been burned and never had units arrive back, but new replacements shipped out, so the the company is out 2 brand new units. This is about my kind of luck, so I understand the frustration of purchasing a detector that is $6000 and realize you got a bad one, let alone a second unit that was also bad. It's my understanding per the customer that the issue was not EMI, bad searchcoil, loose connections, improper use and such, but more so something potentially internally. I was never able to troubleshoot or physically see the unit in action, just a handful of short videos where the unit wasn't working properly. That all being said, hopefully the customer will see another Minelab GPX 6000 in his hands before the end of this week, or early next week at the latest due to the Holiday. I think most would agree, the Minelab brand is one of the best in the World, so I know there Quality control is good, so I can't comment on what might have happened. Rob

Hey Lunk, You're story traveled all the way to Arizona several weeks ago. I heard from several customers of your recent success and that you had over 100 gold nuggets from the Minelab GPX 6000 at that time. Congrats on an amazing haul of gold nuggets from Rye Patch. Just makes you wonder how many "tens of thousands" of nuggets that place has given up over the years. Kind of reminds me of our hunt out here in Arizona when the SDC 2300's first came out. I think we both had 20-25 nuggets each in just a few short days. Have you considered going back to that place? I'm not sure how many hours or days it took you as I know you spent a lot of time training, but 3/4's of an ounce is a nice run at Rye Patch for sure. Maybe we can schedule a hunt this season or early next year before you head out of AZ. Rob

Hey Steve, Well said. Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I will leave you with one of my favorite bible verses -

Hello All, I have a lot of video footage and pictures from earlier this season, mostly around the Summer time. I'm just getting some free time to get some of the stuff uploaded and posted. I figured this would be a nice nugget to post and see right before the Thanksgiving weekend. This piece was found under about a foot of hardpack, caliche gravels. This particular gold nuggets, as seen in the video was wedged in a bedrock crack/crevice. Just makes you think how many years (hundreds, thousands?) this piece has been hiding there. The nugget was difficult to remove from hand tools as we didn't want to damage the piece not knowing the actual size or shape. We ended up using a Hammer Drill with a chisel bit to extract the gold nugget. The nugget ended up weighing right at 1/4 ounce solid. We also found another smaller one, about 1/2 Gram in the same crack prior to this piece. I dug the first smaller one out, but knew it was way too loud of a signal on the GPZ 7000 for it to be that small nugget. Low and behold, we scanned over the spot again and the signal was pretty much just as load as originally. Tool used were the Minelab GPZ 7000, Minelab GPX 6000, Garrett AT Pinpointer, hand tools, picks and the Hammer Drill. Here is a short video below of the gold nugget find and extraction. Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks God we are able to enjoy such a wonderful hobby searching for gold. P.S. If you enjoy these video, Subscribe to our Nuggethunting channel to follow us. Thanks for watching. Any comments are appreciated.

Hey Bud, Always great watching you and Gary dig gold and nuggets. The Yuba is a awesome area and loaded with gold. I have a friend, which I believe still has the claims on the Yuba and used to dredge some good sized nuggets, but at depths of 15-20 foot down and car sized boulders they had to move. I think now they are diving and sniping with the Minelab SDC 2300's due to the dredging regulations now. Rob

Hey Smithsgold, Thanks, that video was from earlier this year during the Summer season. That being said, I have about 2-3 hours of footage from that time until more recent that I need to get uploaded. Hopefully everyone enjoys seeing a few nuggets dug out of the ground. I just watched the new video you uploaded, always great videos. Rob

Thanks Guys for the comments.

Hey Guys, Thanks for the comments. I Brake for Bedrock - Na, just hit a nice little pocket earlier this year. They are always nice to find, but not super common. I have a bunch of video footage I still haven't uploaded from earlier this season. Rob

Hello All, Here is a short video of a very nice crack/crevice we found earlier this year during the Summer Monsoons. Prior to this find, we were just weekend warriors placering various areas and metal detecting for nuggets finding a small handful of nuggets per day. We were not finding anything to really write home about, just the common US nuggets from about a quarter gram and up to 3-4 grams. Working one of these dry creeks, we were hitting a few nuggets in the cracks, but found one we decided to chase down deeper. Normally we don't do this, as digging down several feet or more to bedrock can be a lot of work, especially if you don't recover anything. We had a wild hair, so we decided to do so and this spot paid off very well. As you can see in the video below, the crack started off with two amazing gold nuggets, one was 2.2 ounces solid (just a flat lump) and the other was 1.01 ounces. The gold nuggets were almost side by side in the same crevice as shown. We ended up finding 3-4 smaller gram sized nuggets in the same crevice, but the bedrock popped right up and the gold just disappeared. It was a great moral boost for the Summer season, as it's normally pretty hot and nasty during the Summer Monsoons in the Southwestern US. The tools we normally use are shovels, metal rake, crevice tools, metal detector(s) and pinpointer. We were using the Minelab GPZ 7000 with the new Nugget Finder Z Search 12" coil in this video. The pinpointer we typically use is the Garrett AT Pinpointer (Orange one). Hope you all enjoy the video. If you would like to follow us on Youtube, make sure you "Subscribe" to our channel to see all the new videos. Wishing you all a Happy upcoming Thanksgiving and a wonderful prospecting season. Hope you all have some lunkers under your coils this season! Rob

Hey Guys, Thanks for all the info. From my findings to date, Southwestern US region, the GPX 6000 is super sensitive, light and easy to use. However, I'm picking up much more ground noise, more EMI and twice as much hotrocks (mostly ironstones and basalts) vs. the GPZ 7000. I love both detectors, I'm very partial to the GPZ due to all the years I have used it and success with it. The new NF coil really makes it much lighter and a bit more sensitive over the stock 14x13. I'm using the GPX 6000 for more prospecting and exploring due to the lightweight and increased sensitivity to small gold. If I find a patch or rich gully, I can also pack in the GPZ to check out areas with more depth. I'm sure we are going to see a lot more smaller gold being found this season due to the GPX 6000. Rob https://www.robsdetectors.com/minelab-gpx-6000-17-searchcoil/

Hello All, The new Minelab 17" Elliptical Searchcoils for the Minelab GPX 6000 have been flying off the shelves, definitely high demand. Due to the high demand, I haven't had much time to use one, everyone ends of taking mine ... LOL I haven't seen much larger gold being found at depth yet, but I'm sure it is. Curious how people and past customers are doing with this new 17" Searchcoil beyond covering more ground quicker? We still have a few left in stock from the last large shipment and more on the way if anyone is still searching for a new "Christmas present.!" Hahaha Would love to see some pictures or at least hear about any success with the new searchcoil. Wishing you all much success on the goldfield. 17" Searchcoil available here - https://www.robsdetectors.com/minelab-gpx-6000-17-searchcoil/ Rob

Hey Gerry, I have to give you all the credit in the world, you are the furthest from a "armchair" dealer for sure. You are out promoting and using the Minelab GPX 6000 to it's fullest potential. Congrats on the success at Rye Patch, some beautiful gold for sure. Rob

Hey Guys, Thanks for all the comments. JP - I agree, I'm still old school like with the SD2000, hunt very methodically - low and slow. I guess this is why it's hard for me to part completely with the GPZ 7000. I believe she's a powerhouse if you can handle the weight and really pay attention to what the detector is telling you. I also agree with Steve when he originally stated that most of the US prospectors would benefit mostly from the GPX 6000 over the 7000 due to it's features (hyper sensitivity to small gold and specimens, light weight, super easy to operate). I will continue to toggle back in forth depending on the ground and type of gold I'm chasing. There are handfuls of small gullies where I cleaned a bunch of nuggets up, so I'm looking forward to getting back to a few of these locations this season with the GPX 6000. P.S. If I could tell any electronic prospector something I learned over the years - Focus on what you have (detector) and use it to it's best ability. You can't worry about what you don't have or what you might miss. I hear way too many prospectors say well I could miss a specimen, I could miss a small nugget, I could miss a deep one. You can worry yourself to death about a "potential" signal that your detector never heard. Rob

Hey Guys, Well its that time of year where most of the US Prospectors are searching for gold, in the Southwest at least. I managed to get out this weekend with some friends, just roaming around some old stomping grounds in hopes to turn up a few bits missed years prior. I was toggling between my GPZ 7000 with the NF 12" coil and my GPX 6000 with the 11" coil. My other two friends were using the GPZ 7000's with the stock 14x13" coils. Later in the day I can across some old piles left from prior mining and got a softer sounding signal and decided to investigate. My friends both had a few dinks now, so I was behind on the gold count. There's a lot of left behind rubbish in this area due to prior mining, hardrock and placering. I figured it was just another deep nail or something, but as I got down deeper, the target was actually on bedrock below the pile. I ended up scratching everything away from the bedrock and pinpointed the target in a crevice or depression (seen in picture below). Low and behold, it was a nice gold nugget, 4.6 Dwt's, just shy of 1/4 Troy Ounce. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least, didn't expect it. I thought this would be good time to see if my Minelab GPX 6000 would hear this target with the stock 11" coil on it. I walked back to my truck, got the GPX 6000 and hiked back to the target location. I figured this would be a crude, but interesting test as there is so much debate on depth and how now many believe the GPX 6000 is better. I fired the GPX 6000, balanced and make sure the EMI was good, then scanned over the target area with the nugget back in it's original location. I couldn't hear a peep of a signal, which honestly is what I figured. I didn't expect to find it, or hear it with the GPX 6000. I played around with a few settings and even had my buddies come over to check it out. They both scanned their stock coils (GPZ 7000 with 14x13") over it, both heard the target, but it was still faint (not a super obvious signal). This is one reason it's hard for me to put down the GPZ 7000, I have found many nuggets at depth, but deal with the heavy, bulky unit. I thought about going back and trying the 14" DD to see what it would have done, but for the most part, I never use the 14" DD, so it wouldn't have really proved anything to me, as I don't use it. It would have been interesting to see what the 17" coil would have done, but I didn't have it with me. I would think the 17" would have heard it. I'm swinging the GPZ 7000 with the NF 12" Round coil 90% of the time, the GPX 6000 about 10% of the time. There are some bedrock gullies I have revisited in years, so I'm looking forward to spending more time there with the 6000 and 11" Mono coil. I think I also might be able to pack the GPX 6000 into a few canyons as I wasn't easily able to do that with the GPZ 7000. Here are a few pictures below. I didn't have a tape measure, but Doc's pick is 22" handle length. I'm thinking between 18-20 inches was the true detection depth, but faint signal for sure.

Hey Gerry, Ya, great addition to the information I posted about warranty/repairs. The Minelab Dealers Conferences were great, especially when they were just US based for US dealers. I wasn't a big fan of having the Conferences bunched up, International and US. I felt like it took most of all the attention from the US dealers, that have their own issues and concerns. I have to give you a lot of credit, you are one of very few dealers that would honestly express your concerns with them in a public setting. I can remember all the times you would let the big shots have it. It always seemed like 90% of the dealers would talk a big game outside the conference doors, but once it was time to tell them our concerns, it was like "Crickets!" On another note, we both have won many "Customer Awards" from Minelab Americas, including the Customer Care Champion awards, which I still have 2 sitting on my desk. That being said, I'm still chasing you for that "Eagle" Award, the highest award any dealers is awarded. Congrats for sure! Rob

Hey Guys/Gals, Well I'm out in the field writing this, but I got a call from a customer today that purchased a GPX 6000 from us. His detector was going bonkers, tried everything to get it to settle down. Sounds like there is an issue and I contacted my Minelab Rep Deb. Any customer having issues on their GPX 6000 needs to contact Detector Center, or start by calling - Customer Service - Minelab Americas 1-877-767-6522 and hit # 2 You should be put in contact with Detector Center in PA, which they will send you a RMA and label to return the unit. Once they inspect/test the unit, Deb stated they will ship you a replacement. Contact the dealer you purchased from for further information on getting a Minelab GPX 6000 fixed (warranty issue/replacement). P.S. Also, it sounds like when using the external speaker on the Minelab GPX 6000, you can/will experience a lot more EMI, sometimes enough to drive you nuts. I haven't experienced this due to always using the headphones. Hope this helps, Rob

Excellent find Gerry! It's a real beauty for sure. Rob

Hey Guys, I have been hearing this, but have yet to have one of my customer with that problem yet. Many are thinking it was a certain batch of serial numbers or units that could be defective. I just got another batch in, so I'm hoping none of these are part of that group, if that is really the case. Goldseeker5000 - Humm .... Rob

Hey Phrunt, I agree, we kind of went off subject, rather than addressing the question that was asked. I still remember when I was swinging my GPX 5000, my favorite timing was Special/Sensitive Extra, Fixed Ground Balance, Normal or Quiet Audio, Gain in the range of 12-14 for the most part and other settings I would just toggle around from time to time. Most of your settings like Threshold, Volume and such shouldn't change much after the initial setup. My favorite coil for general prospecting and exploring new ground was the NF or Coiltek 14x9 Mono Elliptical. I also ran Doc's Goldscreamer Power Pack Li-Ion Battery system, Signal Enhancer volume around 1/4 and a good quality headset, such as Sun Ray Pro Gold's or DetectorPro Black Widow's. What's really nice is the GPX 5000 is like an equalizer, you can raise/lower any of the settings at any point in time, allowing for a lot of experimenting over various targets. If you got a target, loud or faint, you could change the timings and see what responds better. You could change the audio settings and see if it sparks up the target response, check to see if Auto Balance or Fixed gets a better response. I found on deeper gold, max depth stuff, Normal or Sharp worked best. For small gold or bedrock hunting, I was 99% of the time in Sensitive/Extra, but a few times when the ground was really hot, I would try Fine Gold. Just some thoughts on the GPX 5000 and some of my settings. Keep in mind, there are so many combinations, I remember reading or hearing with all the timings/settings you could have hundreds of different combinations. Rob

Hey Steve, I agree, not great on small gold, but when using the small Minelab Goldsearch 8" Round Mono, my Cousin and I were able to find them between 5-7 grains (smallest) on exposed bedrock. We found many of them this since in the Bradshaw Mountains, AZ hunting small, exposed bedrock drainages back in the mid-to late 90's. I can still remember purchasing my first Minelab SD 2000 from "Frugal Floyd Allen out of New River, long time good friend. Believe it or not, I still have the receipt in my safe that shows I paid $3850 for this unit back then. My parents wouldn't loan me the money, so I had to get a loan from a family member to afford this unit back then. It was well worth it, being on some of the old VLF patches first paid for the unit quickly, mostly on 1-2 Dwt sized nuggets outside the depth range of a VLF detector. Good old days .... Rob

Hey Steve, Great post and what an awesome nugget! I also used to run my GPX 5000 in Sensitive/Extra for the most part with smaller coils up to around 14x9 Mono. The smaller coils, like the NF Sadie or Minelab 8" Round Mono, I could find them on bedrock under a grain at times, but like you mentioned 1-2 grainers no problem. The Fine Gold setting was misleading, many as you stated did think it was best for small gold, but Sensitive/Extra was much better on low to moderate mineralized ground vs. the Fine Gold.

You have one of the first Minelab Pulse Induction metal detectors made. They were not that great on small gold, but worked excellent on high mineralization and depth. Also, it was the first detector in the PI series, so it was new technology and made many goldfields around the World almost virgin again. I still remember using the Minelab SD 2000, good old days. I doubt there is much resale value on them, maybe $500 as many of the SD 2100/2200's and GP series sell used for $800-1200. P.S. You can still get all the parts that will keep it running (coils, batteries, shafts and more). Hope this helps, Rob