I have found several tiny nuggets in the .03 gram range with my 7000, but I am not certain of their weight. My $20 .01 gram eBay scale gives inconsistent results with these little guys. Wow, the 7000 is an amazing machine. 

When I am working a patch and get a distinct surface signal I will often give a quick check with my GB2 to eliminate the obvious iron flakes. However, the 7000 does not like the GB2 and goes wild whenever it is near. I use a trick. When I am in a remote area without RF/EMI interference I run my 7000 start-up routine with the GB2 turned on. The 7000 picks out the 72KHz signal, cancels it  and the two machines are compatible. This allows me to use my GB2 as a discrimination tool with my 7000.

General Hercules would be perfect.

Hey Kate, Check this fellow out:

For individual items or small caches of gold, silver, bronze, iron, etc. the Minelab CTX 3030 is excellent.

I think we have successfully convinced Guilliaume World to go main stream with quality proven detectors. He was smart to ask.

Tomorrow I suspect we will see the Titan Ger 400 advertised as a sure fire device to find hot babes in bars.

All new to me and fascinating. Thank you Steve!

I have found Merrill's light hiking boots to be metal free and comfortable. I lived with my old "beeper boots" for too long. You do get some odd looks in the shoe store with your pin pointer ;-)

Nice find Rob! An oldie and a goodie!

Well done Dave. Looks like a perfect morning.

The 705 with the 18.75 kHz coil is a fantastic gold machine. In Alaska last month one fellow left his GPZ home and took a 705. He found nuggets of all sizes including a 1.8 ounce solid gold nugget. At one-tenth the cost of a GPZ and less than three pounds you can swing it all day ..... and all night in Alaska. The extra $160 for true full-metal mode, automatic GB and a back light is worth it. You can not go wrong with a 705. If I were to get a fourth machine I would probably get a 705.

Thanks Steve, you have just confirmed several of my suspicions. The amount of rust and the location of the rust on nails and flat iron sheets also seems to add to the signal problems.

Steve, well done, this is a comprehensive summary of Minelab's patent filings.

Minelab's last two major patent filings 2/11/16 and 8/6/15 are bold intellectual property grabs covering all mathematical modelling methods and techniques (with any number of variables) for metal detection and discrimination.  The breath of these patents is staggering. Competitors will be boxed out of much innovation if these patents are granted. I doubt any single competitor has the resources to fight these patents although a strong case might be made they are too broad and cover an infinite number of techniques that have not yet been reduced to practice.

Minelab anad Bruce Candy are lapping the competition on the IP front.

Gold has responded well to the Brexit vote and the fear the whole EU could be effected. However with China's growth slowing and their demand for commodities decreasing, the world is wondering if a recession is near. Gold retreated with the other commodities last fall. Gold and Silver are now recovering. Silver was particularly hit hard with the gold/silver ration getting very wide. The big gap is beginning to close. With the British pound closing at $1.29 there are many Englishmen tonight who wish they had bought gold.

If it was not so sad it would be humorous to watch the battle of the fiat currencies. Holders a particular currency want to see their money stay strong. However, each nation's "economic policy makers" want to see their currency devalued to make their exports more attractive and maintain full employment. We now have a Federal Reserve that has a goal of 2% annual inflation.

Gold's future as a store of wealth is strong.

Well done NB! Nice score in the bottom of the ninth.

Steve,

We had a few beautiful sunny days in the high 60's and low 70's mixed with a few rainy days with highs in the low 50's. It is magnificent rolling tundra country with some steep valleys just perfect for gold hunting. The fishing was incredible with Dolly Varden Trout, Arctic Char, Grayling and Pike. I had never had Pike before ...... light, flaky and yummy. The musk ox have it great in the summer. They hang out all day grazing and occasionally playing in the residual patches of snow. I will be back.

Fred,

I am beginning to love iron but mostly the old mining artifacts: broken shovels, picks, chisels, ore cart parts, rails, spikes, etc.

Just back from the Nome, Alaska area. Hard work (low and slow - listen carefully - focus) and little luck yielded a nice range of specimen nuggets.

The were a few areas with hot rocks but most spots had acceptable slightly-mineralized soil conditions for my GPZ and GB2. It did seem I dug a lot of rusty 3-4" nails in the 24-36" range but only one nugget this deep. Does the GPZ and other detectors pick up rusty nails deeper than nuggets? Is there something about their shape and electrical/magnetic properties that make them easier targets?

I love the General and subscribed to his You Tube channel. He inspires me with his energy and passion. Best happy dance routines since Walter Huston.

Well done Rick! This is one of the coolest and showiest specimens I have ever seen.

Looking wonderful Bob. Follow that seam! This is going to be a fun story to follow. Good Luck!

In the recent Minelab video: "Meet The Metal Detectives - Inside Engineering at Minelab Electronics", this coil design is on a CAD machine is the start of the video. Two Minelab testers (at the 2:30 point in the video) are shown using these coils. You have to stop the video to see them.

The real issue is pricing.

Note: One reply stated that this picture was a GPX 5000 18" coil. I do not think so. The GPX has an external cord and these pictures clearly show an internal cord. The GPX is also a Mono-coil machine. This coil is clearly a GPZ Super-D coil design. It would be a lot of work to produce a fake coil as a joke. Looks like the real deal to me.

Here is what is posted MD-Hunter blog:

Minelab GPZ 19. NEW 2016 (price $1,500?)

Thank you Roustabout!

Hi Lucky,

Good to see you in Rye Patch a few weeks ago. Many thanks again for all the tips and and help. I ended with six small but beautiful  nuggets. Chuck and I saw two gopher snakes but glad we did not encounter any buzz tails. What an amazing outing you and Robin just had. Great nugget collection! I agree with you on the joy of many small nuggets ... and I like doing my happy dance ;-)  

 Keep swinging! It is always great when you share your finds. Thx

Randy

With the new 19" coil it will be interesting to see the trade-off between small gold sensitivity and depth. The new ZVT (Zero Voltage Transmission) technology does not seem to as sensitive to the traditional trade-offs. Understanding the shape of the larger coil's "sweet spot" will be interesting too. Will power consumption be the same? Where will the trade-offs be?????

Well done Lunk! A nice scoop of birthday nuggets. And Happy 300th!

Quartzsite can be a harsh mistress but she was a sweetie for you today.