VicR

Maybe they have worked out the coil water proofing - add a high salt / beach mode and you have a competitor to FL AQ.

Taken from todays Codan (Minelab) stock exchange report for financial year ending 30th june 2020. Im assuming they are referring to the GPX6000. "DuringFY21, Minelab will introduce a new gold detector, which will include the best features from both the SDC 2300®and GPX platforms" So FY21 ends 30th June 2021 therefore we can expect product launch before 30th June. My guess is March 2021 - just before everyone heads over to Western Australian gold fields for the cooler months. Best Feature of SDC - very robust, deadly on small gold, compact, water proof. Best Feature of GPX - very stable in high mineral soils, can easily swap with wide range of coils to suit conditions, easy to swing. Add blue tooth headphones (and maybe some new Geo Sense -PI (what ever that is)) and presto you have the GPX 6000.

There is a Free Trade Agreement between Australia and USA so if the AQ is being made in the USA no import duty would apply just the normal 10% GST (Goods and Services Tax) which also applies to Minelab products. Any price differences between USA and Australia for non Minelab products is usually down to small volumes being sold through a small distributor who has larger margins than their US counterparts in order to survive. Based on my observations I would guess 80% + of the market in Australia is Minelab. If Fisher Labs want to keep the price down in Australia and gain some market share they should allow direct individual/personal imports from a large USA distributor.

Seta and GPX were both trade marked separately in 2009 but appear on the same detectors. Multi IQ and Equinox were both trade marked separately in 2017 but appear on the same detector. Geo Sense - PI and GPX 6000 - both names were filed for trade mark in July 2020 - Im guessing we are going to have a GPX 6000 incorporating Geo Sense - PI. What is Geo Sense - PI? Maybe its an adaption of ground penetrating radar (ultra wide band impulse radar) combined with pulse induction technology from the military MDS-10. Timing - Looking at prior trade mark applications for the equinox and vanquish - it took about 6 months for the trade mark to be granted and product was launched from 3 to 9 months after the granting of the trade mark. So GPX6000 should be granted by the end of 2020 with launch somewhere between March and September 2021.

Just over 2 years ago Minelab released Equinox which performs (imo) as good as (or better) than Etrac and CTX3030 which both cost way more, add that Equinox is fun to use and you have a market winner. Therefore there is a good chance that GPX6000 will make a similar technological leap and put us into a world not as we know it. Im sure Minelab realise that if they tick all the boxes from their market research they will have another market winner - a slight improvement to the GPX5000 will not be accepted by their savvy customers and a flop will affect Codans share price - so its serious business for these guys. Luckily South Australia does not have community Covid transmitted infections at the moment unlike Victoria where the state is closed down so with a bit of luck the Sept release date reported will not be affected. At the moment all we have is a price point and name. Will be interesting to see the real thing.

All valid points. You would not buy a GPX6000 if you had a GPX5000 and GPZ7000 unless the 6000 was significantly different in some way - a few extra bells and whistles over the 5000 will not cut it. Over a year ago the Minelab project manager for the Equinox approached me in one of Adelaide's park lands while i was detecting with the Equinox and asked for my opinion on how the new machine was performing. One of my comments was that it was "enjoyable" to use. He recommended that i give the 6" coil a go - which i thought - yeah sure. But when i eventually purchased the smaller coil he was right - for where i was detecting it was the right coil that would sniff out targets in high junk areas. We also discussed the weight issue of the GPZ which he nodded knowingly to - he didn't try to defend the GPZ. So i am sure Minelab will have this as one of their high priorities to make the new machine as fun/easy to use as possible. The GPX 5000 is 10 years old and technology has progressed so much in this time surely there will be a significant change? - otherwise people will not bother to update.

A share market analyst reviewing Codan (Minelab parent company) in June has the GPX 6000 (he mentions it by name) launching in September 2020 with a price tag of $8000AUD in Australia - so you would have the GPZ selling for $10,000AUD, GPX 6000 for $8000AUD and the GPX5000 for $6000. Also mentions the "capabilities" are different to the GPZ 7000 so that GPZ sales should not be significantly affected by the new model. I was in Codan/Minelab head office today in Adelaide to pick up a repair - had a bit of a snoop around in the front displays for any promo materials on the 6000 but had no luck.

Im sure everyone will have their wish list of what they want from the new machine.

Attached is trade mark application for GPX 6000 - as i have previously mentioned we have had sightings of unidentified Minelab Detector in Adelaide Hills (South Australia) with rumours that it is a new gold detector between the 5000 and 7000. Which makes sense from a marketing point of view - you keep the flagship GPZ 7000 but give the punters a better GPX 5000. So looks like its the GPX 6000 - time will tell whether it turns out to be a giant leap forward like the Equinox or just a slightly improved GPX 5000. JANUARY 2021 UPDATE - Minelab GPX 6000 Revealed!

Heard claims of recent sightings of disguised Minelab detector being field tested in Adelaide Hills (South Australia). Thought to be a gold detector positioned above GPX5000 and below GPZ7000 which makes sense from a marketing angle - doesn't obsolete the 7000 as the flagship model and the 5000 now becomes entry level machine for pulse induction with the 4500 being discontinued. Naturally this is all unsubstantiated rumour.