Still Running my Heavy GPZ 7000 and this is why

[nuggethunting]

Hey Guys,

   Well its that time of year where most of the US Prospectors are searching for gold, in the Southwest at least.  I managed to get out this weekend with some friends, just roaming around some old stomping grounds in hopes to turn up a few bits missed years prior.  I was toggling between my GPZ 7000 with the NF 12" coil and my GPX 6000 with the 11" coil.  My other two friends were using the GPZ 7000's with the stock 14x13" coils.  

Later in the day I can across some old piles left from prior mining and got a softer sounding signal and decided to investigate.  My friends both had a few dinks now, so I was behind on the gold count.  There's a lot of left behind rubbish in this area due to prior mining, hardrock and placering.  I figured it was just another deep nail or something, but as I got down deeper, the target was actually on bedrock below the pile.  I ended up scratching everything away from the bedrock and pinpointed the target in a crevice or depression (seen in picture below).  Low and behold, it was a nice gold nugget, 4.6 Dwt's, just shy of 1/4 Troy Ounce.  I was pleasantly surprised to say the least, didn't expect it.  

I thought this would be good time to see if my Minelab GPX 6000 would hear this target with the stock 11" coil on it.  I walked back to my truck, got the GPX 6000 and hiked back to the target location.  I figured this would be a crude, but interesting test as there is so much debate on depth and how now many believe the GPX 6000 is better.  I fired the GPX 6000, balanced and make sure the EMI was good, then scanned over the target area with the nugget back in it's original location.  I couldn't hear a peep of a signal, which honestly is what I figured.  I didn't expect to find it, or hear it with the GPX 6000.  I played around with a few settings and even had my buddies come over to check it out.  They both scanned their stock coils (GPZ 7000 with 14x13") over it, both heard the target, but it was still faint (not a super obvious signal).  

This is one reason it's hard for me to put down the GPZ 7000, I have found many nuggets at depth, but deal with the heavy, bulky unit.  I thought about going back and trying the 14" DD to see what it would have done, but for the most part, I never use the 14" DD, so it wouldn't have really proved anything to me, as I don't use it.  It would have been interesting to see what the 17" coil would have done, but I didn't have it with me.  I would think the 17" would have heard it.  

I'm swinging the GPZ 7000 with the NF 12" Round coil 90% of the time, the GPX 6000 about 10% of the time.  There are some bedrock gullies I have revisited in years, so I'm looking forward to spending more time there with the 6000 and 11" Mono coil.  I think I also might be able to pack the GPX 6000 into a few canyons as I wasn't easily able to do that with the GPZ 7000.  

Here are a few pictures below.  I didn't have a tape measure, but Doc's pick is 22" handle length.  I'm thinking between 18-20 inches was the true detection depth, but faint signal for sure. 

[way2cool]

Congrats on the gold.   I have been struggling back and forth on whether to get the 6000 or the 7000 the price would be about the same.  

[Beeper Bob]

Nice rough deep nugget, thank you for the comparison. New is not always better.

[Ridge Runner]

Rob

 The 7000 has proven its self over and over again and it’s great for more than the young in heart. I may be young in heart but old in body.

 Minelab knew when they came out with the 6000 a lot of young guys would go for it but even more older nugget hunters would jump on the bandwagon for the 6000 because of weight.

 To me and others like me it’s not about what’s the best detector but what’s best for me.

 I don’t have a 6000 but I do know I’d last longer in the field with it than with  it’s big brother.

 Chuck 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Ridge Runner

[BrownNugget]

I sold the 7000 to get my 6000 due to weight mostly and watching how the 6000 played out on reviews.  I’ll never know if I made the right decision but I can tell you I’m still digging deep targets at depth.  No deep gold yet.  The 6000 has impressed me with gold a few times.  Great story Rob and even better nugget.  That’s a great shape.  
Brownie 

[andyy]

Interesting report, Rob.  I'm still a hard core GPZ lover.   The weight sucks, but I'll deal with it so long as I know it can find the good gold that my GPX5000 used to miss.  I'm sure the the 6K is an improvement.  I just need a bigger jump in technology for me personally.   With how good the NF coils were on the GPX units, I have no doubt that they have improved upon the stock GPZ coil.  Please keep us updated on your experiments.

Andyy

[nuggethunting]

Hey Guys,

   Thanks for the comments.   I'm really loving the Nugget Finder 12" Round Searchcoil on my GPZ 7000.   I've done very well with it, so it's hard to put down.  I'm still detecting with the GPX 6000 also, but mostly with the GPZ 7000 in the area I'm hunting right now (more hotrocks, greater depth to bedrock and high mineralization).  

Rob