Search the Community

I figured I'd take a look at the action going on with Minelab and patents with the pending release of the GM2000 and the possible other new gold detector(s) coming You can look at it here, just use Minelab as the search word. A coil being patented, interesting! With no wireless audio do they even need to do the FCC testing for the USA sales?

Here is the video link to the 2025 Codan/Minelab AGM. There is usually a few tid bids of what's to come in these, I just don't have time to watch this time. Codan 2025 Annual General Meeting on Vimeo

Looks like one of the new models for release from Minelab was in fact a new Vanquish model, not a gold detector like we were hoping. The race to the bottom is sure on, the lower end machines are truly becoming fantastic units, I can't imagine the GM2000 doesn't have wireless audio when this Vanquish has Bluetooth LE with Bluetooth LE earbuds supplied, it would just be very wrong. They specifically point out it supports the LC3 Codec, the reason for this information has to be as you can use general Bluetooth LE devices on it, it's probobably not locked down like the Manticore. VANQUISH 560 Metal Detector | Minelab There is the complete new Vanquish range too. Easy Fully-Automatic Waterproof Hunter VANQUISH® 560 sets a higher standard in the series, delivering increased power, precision and control. With Minelab's proven Multi-IQ® technology at the core, it detects across multiple frequencies simultaneously for accurate target response, and efficient recovery across variable ground. The V12X coil increases ground coverage and sensitivity, while four levels of Iron Bias control, five audio tones and handgrip vibration support isolation of valuable targets. IP68-rated and fully waterproof up to 5 m (16 ft), this lightweight and compact detector is ready for all-terrains. VANQUISH 560 featues a red LED monochrome display for enhanced visibility in low light, and delivers up to 10 hours of run time on a full charge. Bluetooth® LE Audio enables low-latency wireless performance, providing a serious detecting tool with intuitive handling and sharp response. VANQUISH 560 Tech Specs Search Modes Beach Park Field User Profile Operation Frequency Multi-IQ® Sensitivity 10 Levels Noise Cancel Auto Audio Features Wireless Audio Bluetooth LE Audio (LC3 Codec) Volume Control 10 Levels Ferrous Volume 10 Levels Target Tones 5 Tones Audio Output Options Built-in Loudspeaker, Wired 3.5 mm (1/8"") Headphones, Bluetooth LE Audio" Discrimination Discrimination Segments 30 Segments Target IDs Ferrous: -19 - 0, Non-Ferrous: 1 - 99 Depth Indicator 5 Levels Iron Bias 4 Levels Physical and Environmental Length Extended: 142 cm (56 in) Weight1.26 kg (2.6 lbs) Operating Temperature Range-10°C - 40°C (+14°F - +104°F) Storage Temperature Range-20°C - +70°C (-4°F - +158°F) Waterproof IP68 5m (16 ft) Collapsed 79 cm (31") Additional Features DisplayMonochrome LCD Display Backlight Yes Keypad Backlight Yes Flashlight Yes Vibration Yes Key Technologies Multi-IQ, Bluetooth LE Audio (LC3 Codec) Warranty 3 Years Control Box and Coil What's in the Box Standard Coil V12X 12" x 9" Double-D Elliptical Supplied Batteries Internal Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Supplied Accessories V12X 12"x9" Double-D Elliptical Coil, ML60 Bluetooth LE Ear Buds

Just a reminder. Minelab offers a 15% discount on any Minelab metal detector from the MAP (minimum advertised price) to U.S. active or honorably discharged members of the military. Proof of past or active service is required and must be verified by providing a copy of a DD 214 or Military ID to qualify. The discount applies only to a metal detector purchase - parts and accessories do not qualify. With discount the $799 Gold Monster 1000 is only $679.15. The Minelab GPZ 7000, normally $7999, ends up being $6799.15, a savings of $1199.85

We quietly saw the Equinox 600 and 800 slip into discontinued status, although the way it works with dealers having stock etc the process takes a while and it's kept on the down low, the 700 and 900 are now the models to buy although I think I'd still rather an 800 than a 900, at least the guts of it, in a 900 shell, my personal preference with the 800's better target ID and stability. Now something I have been expecting looks to have happened, I've long thought the next release from Minelab won't be a GPZ 8000, they really don't need to rush this as they have no need to do so with the lack of competition other than a boost in sales it would give them but if history tells them anything a part of the market is heating up and they're missing out, the cheaper PI's. The Algoforce has caused a bigger impact than they were expecting I think, it's become very popular as a Minelab VLF priced PI machine. They've been fiercely fighting back with Notka with the release of better and higher spec low-end VLF machines but thus far have avoided eating into their profits with the PI's. We know the Nokta PI models are not far away now, they are without a doubt going to cause a shift in the market, they're touting them to be a GPX 6000 comparable machine and if they achieve that it's really going to be a different market than what we are used to with one brand dominating. The Axiom took me by surprise, they started out with high hopes and insane prices on it in Australia and NZ but over time they came back to earth, it's a far better detector than many people may think and really is biting at the heels of the GPX 6000 showing that a company like Nokta with enough R&D and staff talent could possibly match the 6000 or even beat it. With the Axiom and Algoforce being priced in the lower range for PI's especially the Axiom in the USA and Minelab's closest competitor price wise although more expensive being the SDC 2300 which both the Axiom and Algoforce in my opinion are better than it leaves Minelab in a bit of a pickle. The pending release of the GM2000 isn't a competitor to them regardless of marketing's wording, it's NOT a PI machine, it is however going to be a very good VLF machine as far as VLF machines go handling bad ground, but I would be shocked if it's PI level ground and hot rock handling, and I think expecting that is expecting far too much, especially if the Manticore is a stepping stone to what we are going to see. Now to why I think the next release from Minelab isn't a GPZ 8000 and something else, the SDC has silently disappeared off their new website, it was there last week and gone today so it did make its way onto the new website, but then was removed. Their current list of Gold Detectors. So, are we about to see an Algoforce, Axiom and possible Nokta competitor? Is the 6000 Nokta's competitor? We will soon see but they still have to answer the Axiom and Algoforce as they've lost a lot of potential sales to these detectors, the buyers of them didn't buy the very dated SDC which is older than the 7000.

Minelab have done a pretty significant update to their website. They had a snippet about their new Gold Monster 2000 we are waiting on in the share market report: Minelab recently soft-launched Gold Monster 2000, a new gold detector retailing at approximately twice the price of the Gold Monster 1000. Positioned as a premium entry-level product, it will be released to customers in Q1 FY26 and is expected to contribute to growth in FY26. They had good profit growth too, thanks to those of us paying the higher margins for their gold prospecting gear 🙂 Minelab achieved full-year revenue of $254.8 million, an increase of 16% versus the pcp. Pleasingly, segment profit margin increased to 39%, up from 35%, driven by benefits of scale, supported by a revenue mix of higher margin products – particularly from a higher proportion of gold detector products sold. You can read the stock market announcement here. Something possibly to be excited about is this line, four new products are scheduled for release in FY26. We were originally hoping these were metal detectors including the GPZ 8000 however this line dropped the excitement a little. FY26 is shaping up to be an exciting year with four new product releases scheduled across the recreational, gold, and countermine product ranges. Let's hope it's not just the GM2000 for the gold detectors. There is obviously something from recreational and countermine too so that drops it down to one possible new gold detector we don't know about already if we are very lucky, and it maybe the elusive GPZ 8000, four products, three product ranges and a Gold Monster model already known.... I wouldn't mind a CTX 4040. One last interesting thing, the Manticore is now listed as a Gold Detector, something they were resisting doing! 🙂 The website wasn't checked over well enough, it only took a few minutes to find the first fault.

Are Minelab about to discontinue the Equinox 800/600 altogether? The reason why I ask is because of the crazy deals on both versions of the original Equinox’s right now. Here in the UK, you buy the Equinox 800 and receive 3 coils in the bundle – the 6-inch, 11 inch and the 15 inches. Might not be the latest tech compared to the Manticore, but you’re definitely receiving a lot of bang for your buck!

Minelab have long had dominance of the landmine clearing metal detector market, it's a big part of their business and has been very profitable over recent years with the wars going on it in the world at the moment, some of that technology spins off to the consumer market, the SDC 2300 for example looks very military. It looks like Minelab are about to face some very serious competition for that dominance of the countermine market. The Aussies have been at it again with the CSIRO and a private business working together to make a new detector, the CSIRO is a government department tasked with scientific research. Here is the CSIRO story on it from their website. An early prototype detector. This looks to be another coil, a more flat design than the first photo with a better coil cable entry, a later model I'd guess, this is a screenshot from the video below. They made sure it won't be a roll over on its side detector, look at its support stand, I want one for my GM2000! Unique Technology Our Magnetic Resonance sensors offer next-gen detection capabilities. We detect explosives and drugs on a molecular level which translates to extremely high levels of accuracy. The people searching for landmines face similar problems we do but in a different way, we are trying to find something like a coin in amongst a lot of junk, we have discrimination to try help find that coin with target ID's, these mine detectors are trying to find mines in amongst all the typical trash we face looking for that coin, hundreds of targets to find one mine, the problem being you don't want to dig random targets wondering if they're a mine. The newer problem is now mines are being made out of plastic and not metal, making traditional detection with metal detectors no longer ideal as they have to be very sensitive to find very small bits of metal used in the mine manufacturing process.. This detector can identify the exact target its chasing, it can be tuned to find drugs, or the chemicals used in mines, not relying on metal at all, thereby bypassing all of the false signals from junk. A story on it from Physics World. A caption of the way it works, "MRead’s handheld detectors emit radio pulses at frequencies between 0.5 and 5 MHz, which are much higher than the kilohertz-range frequencies used by conventional metal detectors. The signal elicits the magnetic resonance response in atoms of sodium, potassium and chlorine, which are commonly found in explosives. A sensor inside the detector “listens out” for the particular fingerprint signal, locating a forgotten mine more precisely than is possible with conventional metal detectors." A news story on it from Australia And their website with a lot more information MRead It makes you wonder about the future of our hobby; we will be using metal detectors that can find a lot more than metal one day, will this sort of technology somehow help us with discrimination of targets rather than the traditional way. It can be tuned to find particular signals from a target, how cool would it be to have a target tune button to hold down and tune the coil to a certain target so in the field it focuses on finding that target, interesting stuff. The holy grail for many of us would be for a detector that can be tuned to only find gold.

Just got the official announcement! 🥳

This is what I read from the report: Promote new products & expand channels to market • Release next generation of detectors across recreational, gold and Countermine over the coming 6 to 18 months • Grow recreational market share via expansion of retail distribution footprint in US & Europe, leveraging eCommerce channel • Enhancing high-powered marketing, branding and consumer experience capability, while reinforcing brand presence and reputational strength overtime Any thoughts???? what do they mean by next gen, next gen of GPZ 7000? 😗 Here is the link: https://codan.com.au/ left is the report

News is getting around that Dave Watters has lost his ML dealership and will no longer be able to sell Minelab products. The Miners Den group were the largest sellers of Minelab product in Australia, bar none. They had shops in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Bendigo (where they originally started). Adelaide has closed already, not sure about the Sydney and Brisbane locations, if they have been divested of ownership or closed. There is some suggestion that MD was a bit behind in payments to Minelab but this is pure speculation I suspect. But Dave and Co were the biggest promoters of Minelab product, with online advertising on social media, weekly internet TV show etc etc... It may suggest a big shift away from dealerships to maximize profits, if even Miners Den is being shoved aside. A warning to all dealers I think. MD is going to continue, with Nokta being a major player. I imagine that Algoforce and Garrett should be talking as well.

See here I haven't read it yet other than a quick flick through, looks like we'll be waiting until FY2026 at least for a new GPZ, if there ever is one, they maybe just talking about a well overdue Multi frequency Gold Monster, seeing the Nox 800 and especially the Manticore are better than it even though they're coin and jewellery detectors or just more VLF's seeing that's a big part of their business at the moment, and models to compete with Noktas endless flow of new models, perhaps even an Algoforce competitor at the lower end of the PI market where they have a big gap.

This was posted by Josh Reinke on Facebook yesterday. Update on the ICMJ: "As many of you know, the ICMJ has gone bankrupt. I have been waiting to find a replacement before making an announcement. As of now, no such luck. Here are the main contributing factors to this issue: -40% increase in printing bill the first month I took over. -All except one writer retired as soon as I took over. --20 year old business infrastructure that had to be redesigned. -60% increase in cost of doing business over the course of the 3 year term I was involved. It is very sad, this is very hard on all of us as a community and I apologize it has gone this way. I personally am $90k in debt because of this magazine, I put all of my means into it but it simply wasn't enough. Please do not ask me what I'm going to do. I don't know yet. I am trying to find someone to take over and continue the magazine. Yes, this will take deep pockets, no it's not for everyone. If you think you might be interested let me know. As I'm sure you all can imagine, this is not fun for me, my family and I are going through a hard time and appreciate your support, not anger. When we took over the magazine we thought it would change our lives for the better. Soon after, i realized I was working for free. Yes that's right, I ran the ICMJ for free for 3 years, I never took a check at all. I tried everything I could think of to revive it but no such luck. God bless everyone. Thanks On a positive note, the RGM (www.reinkegoldmining.com) is still growing and will now get all of my attention! I'm not going anywhere, the mining community is my home and I am going to continue providing my services."

I see the Minelab GPX 4500 is being discontinued. If the price goes down is it worth it to pick one up or has what replaced it that much better? Perhaps a premium will now be asked for the remaining new GPX 4500's? Is now the time to buy??

24% off all Prospecting detectors and supplies Nov 26th - Nov 28th, free shipping over $100. Be sure to use code GM24K 20% off all Sports products except new Vortex, free shipping over $100, good thru December 6th. Code Cyber20 https://garrett.com/store/

You have to have Facebook to watch this video but Aussie Detectorist one of the Minelab dealers in Australia was sacked as a Minelab dealer, he's blaming his dealership being revoked because he's been selling other brands such as Algoforce and Garrett and recommending them for those that suit them best. Facebook link I noticed the Minelab dealer (Lost Treasures) near my old place in Brisbane abruptly stopped selling Algoforce recently too, no idea why. I hope this isn't a sign of the future, one thing I've liked about Multi line dealers is they can be honest about which detector suits you best, it's not like many Minelab dealers are going to point you to another dealer to buy a detector better suited to your needs that they don't sell if that situation popped up. Pretty sad.

I have been working out of town lately and when I got home and was going through my mail I noticed that I haven't gotten my ICMJ since August. So I tried to call them and all I get is a busy signal, so I attempted to contact them online and nothing, the website is not responding. Does anyone out the know what's going on with them? Please only respond if you know.

I look forward every month the the great articles in ICMJ’S PROSPECTING AND MINING JOURNAL Does anyone know what might be happening with ICMJ? For me the online September issue never showed up. I've emailed them with no response and called them and their voicemail is full. Hope all is ok.

Garrett is giving away two detectors plus a a gold nugget from Freddy Dodge. https://garrett.com/garrett-gold-challenge? WIN SOME OF FREDDY DODGE’S GOLD! You’ve seen Freddy Dodge for years on Discovery Channel TV shows like “Gold Rush” and “Gold Rush: Mine Rescue with Freddy and Juan.” Now, you have a chance to win your own Garrett prospecting gear and some of Freddy’s gold! WHAT DO I WIN? Grand Prize: A brand new Garrett Axiom Lite pulse-induction gold detector; MS-3 Z-Lynk wireless headphones; a Garrett Deluxe Gold Pan Kit; a Garrett Nugget Scoop; two bags of Pioneer Paydirt to sift; a valuable gold nugget from Freddy Dodge’s personal collection; and various memorabilia autographed by Freddy and other professional gold prospectors. Second Prize: A brand new Garrett Goldmaster 24k metal detector with two searchcoils; a Garrett Deluxe Gold Pan Kit; two bags of Pioneer Paydirt to sift; a Garrett Nugget Scoop; and various memorabilia autographed by Freddy and other professional gold prospectors. To enter see “Garrett Gold Challenge” Contest Terms & Conditions document on the page link above for full details. WHEN WILL THIS TAKE PLACE? Winners will be drawn on or about Thursday, November 21st. You must enter on or before November 20th. Garrett will then coordinate shipment of prizes to the winners.

This is a personal and U.S. centric perspective. When I started detecting over 50 years ago these were the main companies (alphabetical order): Compass Fisher Garrett Tesoro White’s Compass eventually went under, and was replaced by a newbie from Australia… Fisher Garrett Minelab Tesoro White’s Then much later Tesoro faded away and was replaced by another newcomer…. Fisher Garrett Minelab White’s XP And finally just a couple years ago, White’s shut their doors, with another newcomer becoming a major player…. Fisher Garrett Minelab Nokta XP Now again, this is just my personal opinion, and probably premature. The fact however is that First Texas (Fisher, Bounty Hunter, Teknetics) has been dying for ten years. Basically rehashing old product, with new attempts failing before they make it out of the starting gate. Given their marketing efforts, or l should say lack thereof, they are increasingly invisible and irrelevant. This was hammered home to me by the last three marketing questionnaires I got from XP and Minelab. They asked about the competition, Garrett, Nokta, each other, and even Quest. But no mention of First Texas brands. Clearly Minelab and XP no longer consider them to be competition. And unless Fisher pulls a rabbit out of their hat, and soon, I agree. But as far as I know all they have cooking is a PI and that’s not going to save the day. They need a top tier multi to get back in the game. Frankly, I think they are dead man walking - just my opinion. That being the case I really think we only have four serious competitors right now. Quest might be able to enter the ranks, but not yet. They have some good product, but no real visibility in this market. So for whatever it is worth, I think we are down from a Big 5 to a Big 4 at the moment. Either Quest or First Texas could reclaim the fifth position if either can advance their game beyond where they are at this time. Detector Company Movers and Shakers 2023 - the Big 4 Garrett Minelab Nokta XP

For the shareholders out there the Codan investor report came out today, things are looking positive across the board. Communication is really becoming their key business though, and that's shown in results and investment. I guess metal detectors one day will be a much smaller part of their business and they're prepared for that. The good news for us is they are intending to invest further into making more recreational and gold prospecting detectors in the future. You can read the full report here. No hints of any imminent releases unfortunately for those still hanging on for the GPZ 8000, might be holding on for a while yet. Interestingly if you follow many social media methods the older GPX series are having a massive resurgence at the moment due to the mods on them being highly successful, people selling their 6000s' and even 7000's to have a 5000 or 4500 again modded. Some even swapping their 6000 or 7000 detector to get an older model, Minelab won't like that, not good for sales that discontinued models are gathering the buying public's attention. The good bit is if they have no competition, at least they're having to compete with their own older discontinued models so it may drive some new innovation and another product to market.

In regards to Tom Dankowski’s statement regarding myself….https://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,152652,184080#msg-184080 I find this very interesting especially since I did NOT purchase the modified Tarsacci unit from Dimitar, I bought it used from a third party, who Dimitar custom made it for. Therefore, I had no said “agreement” with him. The gentleman called me recently and informed of his interest in selling the unit in order to free up some cash for the latest XP flagship. The gentleman suffers from significant hearing damage working around heavy equipment and being a professional musician. He could NOT differentiate the high tone from the mid tone. I suspect the same is for others…. This modification cuts the learning curve down SIGNIFICANTLY! I didn’t see a need for the unit until he sent me video samples of which I immediately noticed BIG difference in audio. My only intent was for the Tarsacci community to realize how much better the audio (((could))) be. However, things being as they are with Dimitar he is not in the habit of listening to his customers, just as he hasn’t, regarding a small coil, BEAST coil cover, arm strap, extra lower rod, hard copy manual, all of which I endlessly lobbied for to him for you guys (and you know who you are). Very strange this statement is made about me especially since I’ve done nothing but promote the Tarsacci. Even though I’ve pulled the forum due to maintenance cost and bad Tarsacci sales my YouTube videos bring Dimitar TONS of FREE promotion. Before I pulled them they were getting almost 5,000 minutes a month in view time. Now that I brought them back, in only 2 weeks people have spent over 31hrs have watching them. What people don’t realize is subscribers mean NOTHING, it’s VIEWERS. 80% of my viewers are NOT subscribers, Dimitar doesn’t get that….. And there’s more aspects, tricks of the Tarsacci that haven’t been addressed anywhere on the forum or YouTube that I still to publish yet, lack the motivation… APL

I recently heard from a reliable source at Garrett that they have already stopped production on the ATX, Sea Hunter, and Golden Eye Cache Coil for the GTI 2500. Next in line is the 2500 itself and the AT Gold. The AT MAX and Pro models are still available with no current plans to discontinue. Only the Marketing Department knows why. It makes me wonder if they’re going to produce a Submersible Axiom, now that they have a waterproof pod. Is the Vortex replacing the AT Gold? 25 kHz is better than 18. I really liked the Ground Balance Window on the Gold. You could hunt a big wash full of black sand and still find metal. The last time I checked, there were very few detectors left for Deep-water Diving, the Sea Hunter, the Pulse Dive with the small coil, and the Excalibur. Maybe diving with a Metal Detector isn’t as popular as it once was. BTW, don’t call Customer Service and ask about the Vortex. The answers are above their Pay Scale!

I saw this and wondered if they’re talking smf or just several single frequencies. Anyone heard anything?

When I started this forum most people did not know that Bounty Hunter, Fisher, and Teknetics were in reality all the same company - First Texas. That holding company purchased those brands to trade off the cachet of their established names and brand following. It is therefore ironic to me that they are now abandoning the separate brands to a large degree. The once separate websites now all point back to just one - the new First Texas umbrella website. The old Bounty Hunter website http://detecting.com/ The old Fisher website http://www.fisherlab.com/ both redirect to subsections on the main First Texas website. The old Teknetics website is still up at https://www.tekneticsdirect.com/ but no doubt the new First Texas Teknetics subsection will replace it someday. First Texas is obviously abandoning small dealers fully now in favor of big box and direct sales. They have been repeatedly selling various models direct on Amazon and the FT website at under dealer cost. Hard to be a dealer when your number one competitor is your supplier. The Teknetics site long since morphed into factory direct sales and now the new site has everything factory direct, often with huge discounts. The main FT website does have a dealer application page still. It mentions a dealer listing page but I have not been able to find one. Maybe that is because of this requirement: To earn a spot on our dealer website page, dealers must have placed orders for a minimum of 20 units and sustain an annual sales goal of 100 units. Your dealer listing on our website will exclude your website address if your landing page promotes detectors from other brands. 100 units a year plus no mention of other brands on landing page specifically excludes small dealers. Only sell 80 a year? Too bad. I'm a businessman and business is business so I am not posting this as a swipe at First Texas. More a recognition of things changing with the times. The fact is many so-called dealers are just order takers competing on under the table price discounting out of garages and basements, not real brick and mortar operators. I understand why the companies, and not just First Texas, will be weeding these people out. Everything will go big box and factory direct eventually with only a few of the biggest online independent dealers hanging on over the next ten years. As price competition heats up so will the need to cut extra pockets out of the distribution chain. First Texas might be ahead of the curve on this a little but they are not the only company making these moves. Minelab is heavily promoting direct sales via Amazon and Garrett has a new factory direct website. My advice to anyone thinking of becoming a small metal detector dealer? Don't. Great deal on the Fisher F70, regular $375 and below dealer cost at $199 - almost makes me want to buy one, it's such a smoking deal! https://firsttexasproducts.com/products/fisher-f70-metal-detector-with-dual-coil-and-coil-cover-combo?variant=47452772335896