Reg Wilson

It appears that the market is now open in Europe and most likely America with the price taking another jump upward. It is now over $5400 in Aussie dollars.

Ah... Ah... Ah... Choooo. Pass me a tissue please.

The first detector I ever used was a Whites Coinmaster 600D (is that right) in the late seventies which was a borrowed unit. I found my first gold with that machine, then purchased a Bountyhunter Red Baron RB7 which had a great discriminator, reasonable depth, smooth operation and hip mounted. Found quite a bit of gold in trashy areas using that machine. Chasing the bigger stuff I then bought a Garret Deepseaker and big coil which was a whole new ball game learning to get the 'boogy' out of this beast, but boogy it had when mastered. (Not sure I ever got to be as good as some I knew). Added a Garret Groundhog with a small coil for scrubby areas and smaller gold. The next step was meeting the initial Minelab guys and picking up a GS15000 which began a whole new 'ball game'. And now we have the situation of a rocketing gold price when it is harder than ever to find it. Where to from here?

Today the gold price topped $5,000 Aussie dollars per ounce. That is ten times the price I got for my early gold finds. No point in wishing that I had kept some of the bigger bits, as if "wishes were horses, beggars would ride". Such a price and the steep rise tells us that the world is a shaky place, and it seems that the biggest idiots are doing the shaking.

Barrie loaned me a 2200d when they first came on the market as I was at that time still using a 2000, not liking the 2100 all that much. After a couple of hours use I returned with a 14oz piece saying that I quite liked the auto tracking and the general feel of the machine. He and young Rohan were a bit blown away, and naturally I purchased a new detector from him.

https://www.google.com/search?q=minelab+test+testbeds&sca_esv=0e6c95793fec7b9e&sxsrf=AHTn8zq0jfw2vDsqTaU8icORxXxZ17T_iw%3A1740724453898&source=hp&ei=5VjBZ5rtM47R1e8Pi5Ho8QM&iflsig=ACkRmUkAAAAAZ8Fm9d5A6w44WHb1-ig6l3I2qkKOcZc-&oq=minelab+test+beds&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IhFtaW5lbGFiIHRlc3QgYmVkcyoCCAAyBxAhGKABGApImHJQAFjiQHAAeACQAQCYAYIJoAH4bqoBBjYtMTYuMbgBAcgBAPgBAZgCEaACxHDCAgsQABiABBiRAhiKBcICFxAuGIAEGJECGLEDGNEDGIMBGMcBGIoFwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAg4QLhiABBixAxiDARiKBcICDhAuGIAEGLEDGNEDGMcBwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAgUQLhiABMICERAuGIAEGJECGMcBGIoFGK8BwgILEC4YgAQYsQMYgwHCAgUQABiABMICERAuGIAEGLEDGNEDGIMBGMcBwgIREAAYgAQYkQIYsQMYgwEYigXCAggQLhiABBixA8ICBhAAGBYYHsICBRAhGKABwgIFECEYnwWYAwCSBwg1LTYuMTAuMaAHpogB&sclient=gws-wiz

The Nexus coil above is discontinued and has been replaced by one that they claim is even better. The two cable system has been retained but the spoke design is quite different. Very expensive coils with the largest 42" concentric being about au$5,500. Mind you it only has to pull a 2oz colour to be in profit. https://www.nexusdetectors.com/contact.html

There have been some complaints about the 6000 being a bit flimsy, but that has never been a problem to me because I treat it with care and don't go bashing about the bush. With the 6000 I gently feel my way over the ground and about the bushes. This is a detector that the more I use it the more I like and understand it. It really suits my style of prospecting.

I did a lot of testing back in the day when we were promised a 19" coil after the introduction of The 7000. How many of you remember the hype when we were promised a 19" coil that would be lighter than the 14" and would give a big advantage over the standard 14" on depth? And what did we eventually get? I remember when I got the box. What on earth have we got in here besides the coil I wondered, feeling the weight of the package? The answer was... the coil, nothing else.... that was what the bugger weighed. So, after serious testing where the graphs ran depressingly similar is was obvious that the 5" extra coil size was providing sod all depth advantage for the arm breaking weight. If it was not a 'dog coil' why are they advertised for sale widely as 'very little use' for less than half new price when Xcoils hold their value?

A recent 2 1/2 oz bit found while sledding with a big home built mono behind a Polaris diesel using 4000 electronics. Yesterday detected 7 small bits not worth photographing using a 6000. (petrol money)

Well JP you are a cagey old devil. I still am none the wiser as to whether you use Xcoils, and no doubt will only ever get a politician's answer. Of course being a dealer you have to be careful of any criticism, a restriction that I do not have, so my beef with the 7000 being a heavy barge of a detector and the 19" coil being a 'dog' still remains. It would be a brave man who would defend the 19" coil today with it's only value being a chip donor for an Xcoil.

If Minelab do come out with something to surpass the 7000 no doubt I will buy one. Both the 7 and 6 both paid for themselves quick smart, so I have no doubt a new model will do also. Although the Codan version of Minelab give me the 'Jimmy Britts' I am just a prospecting 'whore' and will swallow any objections that I may have. I wonder whether J P will still be a tester or maybe some new younger 'pretty boy' will replace him, after all he is getting a bit long in the tooth to be the figure head these days.

Stop fossicking and get cracking at prospecting. There are places in NZ that have produced better gold than that.

Anyone who is lucky enough to have Xcoils to suit SD-GPX have the secret weapon to bring these earlier machine up to a level very close to 7000 or 6000. I was the last Aussie dealer for Xcoils before they went over to suppling direct from Kazakhstan, and as such had the last SD-GPX coils built. Just recently I loaned a big spiral to a couple of young local prospectors who know what they are doing and have found the gold to prove it. They ran this coil on their 5000's and could not believe the depth that they were achieving. If Xcoils were still available for their machines they would order immediately, but unfortunately due to demand for the 7000 coils they don't at this stage envision going back to producing the earlier ones. Luckily the young guys are honourable and will reluctantly return my coil. I have an even better and bigger 'one off' top secret coil that I loan to no one.' Perhaps Simon, bring close to the Xcoil crew, may be able to talk them into building special coils to suit the new release 4500's. That would be interesting. A PS to Goldseeker. I detected the Harris property (with permission) many years ago and found some good large gold , it is to my everlasting shame that I missed the real big stuff that was 'moonlighted' by a well known identity some time later. This 'upstanding' member of the local community shall remain un named, but he and his low mates cheated the landowner and paid no percentage.

Well we had the Eureka rebellion here, and although they got clobbered it did lead to some big changes. The resultant mind set that came down from those heady days is that many of us are not real keen on having some folk peeing down our necks while telling us it is raining. Maybe it's genetic, but being descended from the poor buggers dragged out here in chains has perhaps made us a little cynical. The world is weird. A South African lobs in Australia, and with a few mates they build the best detectors in the world, but with success comes the inevitable, Corporation and greed. Now we have a similar beginning with the best detector coils in the world coming from humble origins in Eastern Europe. All BS aside this is pretty remarkable. So when is Uncle Sam gonna pull his finger out and impress us?