VicR

With regards Coiltek 6000 coils being white - just going on their picture below.

Looks like Nugget Finder will have a coil for the 6000 as well. Only information at the moment is the attached picture. Wonder if it will be a Minelab approved accessory?

Just spoke to local Adelaide Coiltek supplier and he has no pricing , weight or release date details yet. I'm on the list and will get a call as soon as they have some information.

Just received Coiltek email. "Want to unearth more gold with your Minelab GPX 6000? The wait is almost over! Three new sizes will be available - 10x5", 14x9" and 9" and your local authorised Coiltek dealer is now accepting pre-orders so get in quick to avoid delays! Stay tuned for more information on when these super-sensitive and highly anticipated coils will be available. " So looks like you can pre-order them in Australia. Wonder why they stuck with white for these coils? - is there a technical reason? Less heat build up inside the coil?

US Patent Application US2021/027335 filed 26th Feb 2021 mentioned in the last few posts references Australian Patent Application 2020900585 which was filed on 28/2/20. A full year before the US Patent Application but this Australian Application (and subsequent Aus Application 2020904645) both for a "a magnetic field transmitter of a metal detector" have lapsed in Australia. My original post refers to Australian Patent 2022900362 filed 18th Feb 2022 which is for "a metal detector coil". This latest Patent Application may be an amendment to the two now lapsed applications or it could be something completely different. From all this patent activity i am guessing that Minelab is banking on coil innovations as their next big thing. No new product name applications in the pipeline so could be some time away before we know anything concrete.

Not sure a wireless coil would be a great leap forward - i would be just thinking its just another gadget that i have to ensure is fully charged before going on a hunt. Think outside the square - how about a coil that can be adjusted in size? - two coils for the price of one.

Yes - could well be to do with a new generation of VLF detector - or it could be something else entirely out of left field. (translation of left field = something we don't know, we don't know)

Interesting that Minelab have just applied in Australia for a new patent titled "A Metatl Detector Coil". See below screen shot of the application. Now i am guessing that "Metatl" is suppose to be "Metal" and it is just a typing error and it should read "A Metal Detecting Coil". Anyway - still interesting as Minelab normally don't try to patent coils - usually the patents are for "an improved metal detector". The general consensus on this forum is that Minelab is not in the business of making exceptional coils - they leave that to the after market specialists while they mainly focus on the development of metal detectors . Looks like that may change in the future.

I agree with Phrunt - since switching from the GPX4500 to the GPX6000 i am picking up all these shot gun pellets that the GPX4500 did not see - but on the plus side the GPX6000 is finding so much more gold than the 4500 ever did.

Global pricing is always interesting - usually you will pitch a price at what the market will accept without affecting sales volume too much - that is maximising margin. You look at your costs ex works , import duties (can be very high for poorer countries), shipping costs , warehousing & distribution and exchange rates and arrive at a wholesale and retail price after looking at your competition and judging what pricing points will have an effect on sales volumes. In the gold market segment Minelab has limited competition and consumers are willing to pay big $ to maximise their chances of striking it rich - so Minelab are making hay while the sun shines. In the Oct issue of the Australian Gold magazine there were 10 pictures of SDC's, GPX500 and GPZ7000 in ads and articles - not one mention or advertisement of the GPX6000 - so looks like demand is still high for the 6000 in Australia as Minelab do not have to tickle sales with advertising. The share price is looking into the future and is a reflection of the uncertainty for next financial year (after 30th June 2022). Last years Codan AGM they were selling the concept of 5 new detectors - this year looks like just a consolidation and catch up phase - which possibly will see a stable profit (or a decline if DTC acquisition does not work out as planned) - so no great profit surge from new product launches & question marks around DTC results in a lower share price.

Markets dislike uncertainty - the recent purchase of DTC Communications by Codan is a risk that has some way to go before the market is comfortable that Codan can successfully integrate DTC into their business. Codan announced today that a new contract for DTC of $28m US had been won - with a 18% drop in share price looks like the market was not impressed with this news - maybe hoping for something bigger? Codans share price in the last 12 months has ranged from $9.20 to $19.43 AUD. Its finished the day at $10.95 AUD. Three years + ago you could purchase Codan between $3 & $4 AUD so maybe the price is going back to being a bit more realistic.

I bought one of the first GPX6000 that was available in South Australia - it has found gold in three states and has had a lot of use with no issues at all. Same with the Equinox800 - that gets a real workout & in sea water as well - no issues - not even a cracked coil ear. I must be just dumb lucky or Minelab double quality check any stock coming to their head office home state.

Love the comments - its the golden triangle, Victoria - not the outback - its as safe as houses & the place you go for a relaxing gold fossicking trip. Come on over.

Images for the patented tray for Minelab have been released. Looks like it is the top of the Silversaver that is pictured in Codans latest annual report.

Hi Drew - welcome to the forum. The best settings and coil selection for the 6000 are dependent on ground mineralisation & local EMI and whether you are targeting very small shallow targets or deep targets. Some swear by auto + & others like a quieter threshold so use the manual settings. I would definitely go over your patch with the 14" DD coil in auto + as i have had some surprising results with this coil. The 11" mono is a sweet light thing to use & is fun - 13 grams is pretty good for a beginning so keep on swinging and experimenting and thinking for yourself - you will pick up useful tips on this forum but it does not beat actual experience. Are you detecting AUS or USA?

For F22 Codan reports they will be spending $32.6M AUD on Engineering (I'm assuming this is the same as or incorporates R&D) with 54% or $17.6M AUD for Minelab - so approximately 30% of group net profits are being ploughed back into the business. there are a few new IP patents for Minelab so they are working on something - maybe the hint is where they are "Expanding MULTI-IQ® technology across the range" - at the moment they have expanded from Equinox to Vanquish - maybe they will expand multi IQ to a dedicated underwater detector & replace the Excal. It looks like F22 will be a consolidation year where they are focusing on increasing supply chain/manufacturing/inventory levels - nice problem to have - normally its the reverse with the pressure to move excess stock. There are no new trade mark names on the Aust IP website - so im guessing any new metal detecting products will be at least 6 to 12 months away.

Hi FON, I was told the target was a largish piece of lead (maybe an oz) at 400mm, it & other targets was buried many years ago by a very experience local detectorist - now i have recovered a .5gram nugget at about this depth (same as JP) at Tibooburra NSW (desert country) with the 11 inch coil so i was very surprised i could not pick it with the 11 and 17 inch mono coils on the 6000 but the DD 14 inch signal was clear as a bell. We had 2 6000 machines with us and both achieved the same results. Also the 11 and 17 inch coils did not sound overly unstable - only when you put them up in the air could you tell you were in a high EMI area. After the testing we went detecting - I kept the DD coil on and could go right up to an electric fence without hearing the pulsing - my mates with the 7000 and the 6000 with mono coil had to stay well clear of the fence as it made their machines very unstable. JP and Steve - thank you for sharing your insights and contributions. Makes me realise i need to understand the environment and ground better to make the correct coil & setting choices. Nothing beats experience. Also i have a unsubstantiated but credible rumour (apologies if this has already been report) that Minelab has already given a 3rd party permission to design and make coils for the GPX6000.

Hi G - i think you gave more away trade secrets as the test bed was in South Australia - so looking forward to visiting the Golden Triangle Victoria again when the borders are open and giving the 14 inch DD a go. Now where exactly was your patch?😊

When i used to work in Papua New Guinea the local saying was "expect the unexpected" which i think applies to metal detecting - you continue to learn and be surprised. Yesterday three of us decided to test the GPX6000 with 11 inch mono, 14 inch DD and 17 inch mono and GPZ7000 with 14 inch stock coil at a local test site that has targets in situ for a number of years. We were particularly interested in the deepest target that was buried at 400mm (about 16 inches) representing a large deep nugget. The 7000 could not detect it in difficult setting only in normal setting - i was told by the owner of the 7000 that normal is not his preferred setting. The 6000 could not detect this deep target with the 11 inch and even the 17 inch (we tried all settings) - but get this - the 14 inch DD with EMI cancel on could hear it as good as (if not better) than the 7000 in normal mode . We were not expecting this result. We though about this for a moment and the only conclusion we could come to was that the high environmental EMI was affecting the performance of the other coils & favoured the DD coil. Any other thoughts as to why we had this result?

Interesting discussion by Minelab testers as to how much influence they think they have on the final product design. It looks to me that Minelab is willing to change their design quite late in the product development cycle based on the following information from Australian Government IP Design website - the only other explanation is that Minelab has another GPX6000 type product they are going to launch. The first design of the GPX6000 was 202013037 which was filed on the 28th May 2020. A revised design 202014625 was lodged 3 months later on the 25th August 2020 - just 7 to 8 months before product started being delivered to customers. The only change in the design i can spot looks like the strengthening of the main body of the detector clamp to the shaft & maybe a different speaker grill. Maybe the more eagle eyed can find more. So in my mind this lends to the belief that - field testing showed there was a problem (strength?) with design of the main body/ shaft connection. - Minelab is willing to change (improve) the design even at quite a late stage of the game. Now some people will say 7 to 8 months is not late to change the design - my experience from developing new products to be manufactured in Asia and distributed globally the standard lead times from final sign off of design and placing of work orders is 6 months minimum - it normally was up to 8 months. So those changes were done just before the big green cant return button was pushed. So take heart testers - im sure your feedback data is being crunched and analysed by Minelab - they have a lot riding on it.

Tried out the 17 inch coil 2 days ago - only for 4 hours before rain set in. First impressions I was able to swing for 4 hours with no bungy cord without affecting my crook shoulder. It appears to be as quiet as the 11 inch coil in area of high EMI and high mineralised ground. Pinpointing was easier than i thought it would be. The shaft did move a few times but i was in steep grassy area - would work better in flatter/easier country. Only pinged on one buckshot pellet - the 11 inch coil constantly gives me about 10 pellets for the same time detecting so "may" not be as sensitive to very small targets. Certainly can cover lots more ground. Definitely need to swing it more to decide if it is worth the $528 AUD.

Tomorrow I pick up a 17 x 13 mono coil for the GPX6000 in Adelaide, South Australia. Only 2 available in this first delivery which have already been snapped up - so looks like stock will be slowly rationed out. Just wish i could get to NSW or Victoria to give it a better try out than the flogged fields in SA.

To be clear i wasn't being critical of the YouTube test video, i think he did a good job. I am just curious as to why his comparison test results significantly differed from my field experience of the GPX6000 ( have had the 6000 for 3 months and have found gold in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria). Maybe the 0.5gram nugget i found at 250mm was flatter and positioned better in the soil. Maybe the the patch i was on was less mineralised than the test video patch. Maybe the nugget in the test is surrounded by air then soil and not just soil which disrupts both detectors from performing at their optimum - lots of people comment that air testing is not reliable. Both the 6000 and 7000 would have been designed to find nuggets surrounded by earth /minerals. ( like to hear what people with more tech knowledge than me think of this theory) I would like to see field tests where a 7000 finds a target and can the 6000 see it as well and vice versa. That would be interesting. My mate and i both had the 6000 at Tibooburra - we only detected for 3 days before we had to get back to South Australia because of a snap Covid lock down - we were planning longer but in the 3 days we chatted to 2 other guys who were detecting , they had a SDC2300 and a 7000 - every day we came back with 2 to 3 times more to what they were finding - now that doesn't prove anything , its just an observation. Tibooburra is renown for small gold so may favour the 6000 - one day i found 14 nuggets for 0.52 grams in total (one at 0.01 gram) - constant pinging on gold targets really aided me in getting to know the new 6000. Getting back to the topic - i am on the list to get the 17 inch mono which i am told there is still no information on when it will be available - its going to be interesting to see how this new coil performs and I'm hoping i can detect all day with it without a bungy cord - its suppose to be lighter than the 14 inch DD so should be ok.

Using GPX6000 at Tibooburra NSW 11" mono, Auto +, threshold on, I found 0.5 grams at about 250mm (10 inches). sounded clear as a bell. Not sure why the tester could not pick up 1.0 gram piece at 200mm. I have become use to the threshold noises of Auto+ and am now confident that i will hear the sound which tells me to slow down and have another wave - once i do this its like the detector is saying, ok - he wants me to have a good look at this spot - and the signal gets louder if its a target. Is that the Geo Sense?

There are shortages everywhere at the moment - place a order for a new car in Australia and you will be lucky to see it in 5 or 6 months. There are 2 reasons for this. - Huge global manufacturers last year incorrectly forecasted what their sales will be (and therefore what amount of product they will make) for last year and this year. - There is a global shortage of computer chips. So Coiltek - an extremely small company that manufactures out of a 50 foot x 80 foot shed - has admitted they have the same issues as the big boys - incorrect sales forecast and computer chip shortages. Im sure Coiltek is working through this as quickly as they can. Look on the bright side - this sales boom will eventually lead to a cashed up Coiltek who will spend more on product development which can only be good for detectorists.