Gold Catcher

Here is what this area looks like. Caliche is a couple of feet down in some places but with small gold only, perhaps within reach of the 22X?

9 hours ago, mn90403 said:

Within this big 'patch' one of my favorite indicators to slow and grid became what I now call 'mottled granite' more than quartz.  If I saw this orange tinged granite pieces or soil it gave me many nuggets there over a couple of year period of time

I made the exact same observation, and even better when those super hot rocks are around as well together with the granite you are mentioning. Especially near the Desert Queen claim, not far away from Coolgardie. With quartz I never got lucky there.  It is a most amazing landscape. Mostly sand, but then all of the sudden these extreme hot rocks show up which scream like beer cans, occasionally together with granite. This entire area gave me many small nuggets, but all <=0.1-0.2 g, unfortunately without exception! A big concentric, like the 22 X, could perhaps punch down to the Caliche in some places where more of the gold is supposed to be. Would love to try out.

16 minutes ago, LuckyLundy said:

There’s gold out there, you just need to get your coil over it,

Nice job LL, congrats! Will be out there next weekend.

I am pretty sure I have not missed out on anything. Mt. Diabolo was a huge coal mining district, with only very few reports of lode gold and silver. Also, the Sierra Nevada is just a short drive away and that's of course where all the action is. That being said, perhaps I check it out. You never know until you know....

51 minutes ago, Redz said:

There are also gold mines on Mount Diablo

Really? I thought just some old minor lode mines, but nothing to speak of. Funny, I look at Mt. Diabolo every day from my house but I never prospected there. It's about 10 min away. Any placer gold?

I don't know about the 5000,  but all 7000/14 users I know use a bungee. I even use one for the SDC when I detect for longer, also to keep the coil control as good as I can. I can do without, but the coil control will decline over time. But the ergonomics matter much more than the weight, so the 6000 might be fine without bungee, or at least fine for longer. But weight aside, I love my hipstick so much that I would never go without it. It makes everything so easy without the need for a heavy harness, especially in the heat. Even the GM with hipstick is nice after many hours swinging.?

Great video series, And, thank you!

1 hour ago, VicR said:

OK - so there is a group on this forum who will be early adapters (me included) who will be getting the 6000 hopefully this month and another group who will wait to see some real world reports from people using this machine.

So my question is what should the early adapters be doing in the field and reporting on?

One thing i will be doing is using threshold and when i find a target see if i can still hear it without the threshold - it should be easy to get meaningful data. Also on same target switching between manual and auto sensitivity. What works best?

The big one is will the 6000 find gold other detectors cant see - will need a few mates with a Z, SDC, goldmonster and 5000 to test this one out on targets.

Any other ideas?

I am in particular interested in the 14DD coil and how it will handle EMI. I have some really bad spots where I picked up a few shallow nuggets with the 7000, but I can't punch deeper due to terrible EMI interference (Airforce base close by...). Based on what I heard, the 6000 with the DD could outperform the 7000, and probably every other detector out there when EMI (or conductive ground) is bad. In addition, I am of course interested in the overall handling of the 6000 and it's performance with the 11 inch mono in challenging ground conditions where the mineralization is highly variable. I hope the Geosense will make a difference.

9 minutes ago, Jonathan Porter said:

These are the sort of Youtubers who should be swinging the 6000, big following with simple but very effective honest real world material. I actually enjoy what these guys create, it’s highly relatable and realistic. 

I watch them all the time and always thought they are refreshingly real and entertaining. It was so sad though when their dog died a few episodes back! 

4 minutes ago, Dan Smith said:

I am actually offended that they let that out. If I were an executive at minelab I would pull that vid off YouTube in an instant. Total dogshit! Detexpert who? Couldn’t hear for the wind noise, dude had steel caps on, waving coil next to other detector on the ground. Could have at least been conducted in the field. So many things wrong/dumb and so little knowledge gained. There are quite a few good and enjoyable detector operators on YouTube atm with thousands of followers. If they want to create the right hype they should be handing the 6000 to them for some real first hand analysis in the field. I know that a new goldhound hour long movie would get me frothy???‍?? those YouTube vids got me started and the reason I chose minelab detectors. I think we have all been patient. Come on minelab!! Rant over.....

 I still don't know though if ML approved that clip, or if it was part of the official campaign. Debbie could have just shot the video on her own with good intentions.....

6 minutes ago, Jonathan Porter said:

When people  throw that kind of coin down on a high end metal detector they have an expectation based on the marketing hype, trying to follow a Detextspurt on Fakebook is not going to answer the fundamental questions that are inevitably going to crop up. Yeah I’ve bought a ‘Switch on and Go’ detector that makes me an instant EXSPURT out of the box, but where do I actually go and how do I swing it?

They could actually even feel betrayed by the marketing campaign, realizing it actually isn't that easy to find gold...

The question is, how far will ML go into the gutter with this. They want to widen the customer base, including reaching those folks who watch those gold shows and truly enjoy it, but at the same time they don't want to loose credibility. After all, they have a huge reputation and are a great engineering company. A little bit of both might be a prudent approach, but IMO leaning too much into the "gold show folks" would be a huge mistake.

I think the slogan "All gold. All soil. All the time" tells you everything. We all on this forum know that one detector never fits all. It is a catchphrase for growing the customer base, likely directed to the African market. In fact, I think real detectorists would challenge that phrase anyhow, but will buy the 6000 regardless and hold the nose. After all, it will be an awesome machine.

Just now, Steve Herschbach said:

So you prefer this.....

I think you know my answer Steve ?. I think this is a real extreme and embarrassing example and would not attract anyone. But in principle, I think they want to steer away from the crowd who buys the new 6000 doesn't matter what.

1 hour ago, jasong said:

Like Ferrari hiring Bob the station wagon owner to demo a new highly anticipated model by grinding the gears and stalling the engine, instead of letting Michael Schumaker show off what it can really do. 

You could look at this also from a different perspective. ML designed this detector to reach a greater customer base, including people who are new to this field and who would likely get scared away by complicated settings. Like the Ferrari, but the average Joe being able to fully enjoy it, not just Michael Schumacher. This is exactly what I think their intention is. If they would show JP with the 6000 people would think it's just another high-end detector for the world's experts only. I actually think this is a smart strategy, although personally I would of course prefer JP on every advertisement for it, as one the real world's experts and who helped developing it. ?

8 hours ago, kac said:

Not a matter of not having more controls but the right controls. A turnoff for me is having a machine everyone else has that is so automatic that just leaves the chance of finding something just a matter of walking where they didn't. Removing the skill factor takes a lot away from the hobby for me.

Actually, the most difficult part is putting the coil above gold, at least here in the US. Many gold producing areas are depleted, and it gets harder and harder to find nuggets, unless you have access to private claims. You can still be succesfull but you have to do a lot of research and planing, much more so than in earlier days. What kind of detector you are then using is somewhat less important. I would say it contributes to about 30%, which of course can still make a big difference. So, even though the 6000 might make everyone a better detectorist due to automation, you still need to know where to look. 

6 hours ago, AussieMatt said:

Just thinking out loud here but wondering if anyone that has access to the GPX6000 could check to see if the GPZ covers will fit it (short term solution until GPX6 covers available) in particular the screen cover?

I know ?

I was thinking of the same thing. Will let you know as soon as I get my 6000. I sure hope that the screen is more scratch resistant than the one of the 7000. Also, I can just imagine what the speaker would look like after a day detecting in the dirt without cover.

1 hour ago, mn90403 said:

That picture is shopped.  I hope Minelab is not trying to shop the performance charts too.  If you don't have to know anything about detecting and you are an expert as soon as you purchase a 6000 then it's just like critical thinking ... it is what you say it is.  There is no comparison!

I am sure that for the initiated (like us) the 6000 will be a blessing. But beginners who get the 6000 as their first machine might get hooked on the automation. But perhaps this will be the new ML vision going forward: Don't worry about settings too much and let the machine do most (all) for you. Who knows, the new 7000 successor could equally have much more automation, and machines like the current 7000 and the 5000, with all their settings, would then disappear over time. IMHO this would be a pity. The current 7000 has just the right balance between automation and settings, the 5000 was overkill. But a new 7000 with just auto 1 and auto 2 and not much more, I just can't imagine that!

1 hour ago, Jonathan Porter said:

Achieving 100 000 views does not automatically insert someone into “detextspurt” category it just means they managaed to create something that was entertaining to a whole heap of clueless people!! 

The detectexperts of the future. Will get you 100k views in no time. Hey, at least looks more appealing than Klunkers bird.

23 minutes ago, VicR said:

Wonder why a threshold would give you more depth rather than no threshold?

IMO faint treshold variations are the most sensitive way to detect deep targets. You don't need a real audible signal response like you would need if the treshold were off.

Large portions in this general area are claimed up by small mining companies, some of them without any active operations, all at risk and speculative. This appears to be one of them. A market cap of only 10 M means they could easily be gone by tomorrow. The coarse gold producing sections are sporadic in the general area that the map shows, hard to track with few exceptions.

30 minutes ago, VicR said:

The threshold tone can be turned off or on in both the manual and automatic sensitivity modes.

Thank god for that! Personally, I want it on. All my detecting life I have been focusing on listening to threshold variations. It would be odd to just turn it off. This also bothers me on the GM, but since the GM only detects shallow stuff anyhow I have accepted and got used to it.

You will need the DD in California at many locations, trust me....

They must have read our thread. Now, the guy in the first pic actually has a pick and his cable is tightened ?