Should I invest in a Minelab GPZ-7000?

[AU79 Prospector]

I have been toying with the idea of purchasing a Minelab GPZ-7000... but I am looking for honest feedback in my situation

- For those that haven't been following my YouTube videos - I prospect predominantly at an old hard rock mine known for big gold... every year someone will find a 1+ oz nugget in our club. Many many sub ouncers found. Back in the day, an eight POUND nugget was found on this site. So big gold is here (The vein literally cuts right through the claim)
- almost everyone metal detecting for nuggets use VLF detectors like the gold bug 2
- Mineralized trashy ground (old pieces of iron, horseshoes, etc from the old timers)
- Literally HUNDREDS of old tailings piles (Big nuggets have been found in them as well)
- I currently have a Nokta AU Gold finder (high frequency VLF detector) that I use predominantly to scan my course tailings... I know, for this purpose I should have spent less $$$ on a detector, but I didn't know better when I got started.

I feel that there may be some big chunks of gold sitting a depth below what the VLF detectors can search (there has to be with the amount of finds in the area). But... I am a NEWB to the extreme with a metal detector. The GPZ-7000 is definitely state of the art and obviously a great/expensive detector. But I have not even found a single nugget with my VLF detector (mainly because I've only used it for my tailings and a few short metal detecting sessions)

I see a few options
1) Forget it. Stick with panning/highbanking - your outta your league son.
2) Try to become proficient with a VLF. If you start finding nuggets, then consider taking the plunge (i'm leaning towards this)
3) Go big or go home. Spend the money, learn the detector, and potentially find a bonanza of nuggets that others have passed over with predominantly older VLF detectors. In the end, we all dream of finding MONSTER nuggets -- this will make this possibility much more likely, but at a significant cost.

What would you do? (Lets assume for the moment that you have the money for the purchase so that isn't an issue)

You guys have really helped guide me on many issues this last year, so I'm going to the well again =)

 

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[WaterScoop]

Find someone with one and ask if you could try it out before you invest.

Ask them how they like it then take it for a spin using some of your nuggets.
Compare it against what you are using now then you can make a better informed final decission.

 

[AU79 Prospector]

Find someone with one and ask if you could try it out before you invest.

Ask them how they like it then take it for a spin using some of your nuggets.
Compare it against what you are using now then you can make a better informed final decission.

View attachment 1535514

Good thought. I like the Gretzky quote in your profile "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take". I feel that is the perfect quote for this thread and why i have been thinking about it a lot recently

 

[bug]

You said there was a lot of trash in the ground, in that case I would stay away from a 7000
These detectors are not for high trash sites unless you just like to dig. Its pretty easy to get mentally overloaded from all the signals in trashy areas, and without any form of discrimination on the 7k, its a tough tough hunt.
A minelab 5000 is just as good at depth as the 7k but you will loose a little sensitivity on small or low conductive type nuggets- airy, crystalline, etc.
On an average nugget patch, I would say the old minelab GPX series took out 90 plus % of the meat and potatoes, so dont be fooled. The gpx is definitely a cheaper option if you want to shoot deep, and does have some discrimination in DD mode, which can be helpful in trashy areas.

 

[Terry Soloman]

My advice is to buy a GPX 5000. You'll save some big dollars. My second piece of advice is to buy it from a dealer that offers a day of field lessons with it as part of the deal, so you'll know what you're doing with it.

 

[WaterScoop]

I agree with Terry but also like to add to Support one of our sponsors.

Cheers

 

[Mgumby16]

AU79 -

Hope to see you at the up coming meeting. I have a GPX 4800 and i would be happy to let you use it some over the meeting weekend. That being said i have yet to find a nugget with it.

There is only one person in VA who has been able to regularly find nuggets with a detector (GPX 5000). He has detected about 25 different mine sites in VA with Claim 1, claim 9 and contrary being a few that he has detected and not found any nuggets. Of the 25 or so that he has detect only 4 have produced nuggets. None are CVGP claims.

He told me that in general the ground on claim 1 was no favorable for detecting nuggets, too much soft overburden. That being said he only spent about a day or two there and there are probably a few detectable nuggets somewhere there amongst the trash.

Claim 9 he said had great look ground and lots of elevated cobble in benches, but he was not able to find any nuggets. Once again it is a huge site so there are probably some there. Ive heard it said that it will take someone starting out possibly hundreds of hours and hundreds of trash targets dug before you find a nugget.

If i were you i would find an older minelab (GPX4000, 4500, 4800 or 5000) or a garrett atx or a Whites TDI, they are all significantly cheaper then a GPZ 7000.

Honestly for the money you would be better off buying a good used 4 inch dredge and using that. I have found all my nuggets with a dredge, and as a bonus the dredge gets fine gold to. With a metal detector you will be getting no fine gold and you will go day and weeks or more without seeing gold. Nugget shooting has been very frustrating for me lol.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions. I will be at the meeting in Feb as well.

 

[AU79 Prospector]

I should have just messaged you first =) Thanks for the advice, most appreciated!

 

[Reed Lukens]

AU79 -

Hope to see you at the up coming meeting. I have a GPX 4800 and i would be happy to let you use it some over the meeting weekend. That being said i have yet to find a nugget with it.

There is only one person in VA who has been able to regularly find nuggets with a detector (GPX 5000). He has detected about 25 different mine sites in VA with Claim 1, claim 9 and contrary being a few that he has detected and not found any nuggets. Of the 25 or so that he has detect only 4 have produced nuggets. None are CVGP claims.

He told me that in general the ground on claim 1 was no favorable for detecting nuggets, too much soft overburden. That being said he only spent about a day or two there and there are probably a few detectable nuggets somewhere there amongst the trash.

Claim 9 he said had great look ground and lots of elevated cobble in benches, but he was not able to find any nuggets. Once again it is a huge site so there are probably some there. Ive heard it said that it will take someone starting out possibly hundreds of hours and hundreds of trash targets dug before you find a nugget.

If i were you i would find an older minelab (GPX4000, 4500, 4800 or 5000) or a garrett atx or a Whites TDI, they are all significantly cheaper then a GPZ 7000.

Honestly for the money you would be better off buying a good used 4 inch dredge and using that. I have found all my nuggets with a dredge, and as a bonus the dredge gets fine gold to. With a metal detector you will be getting no fine gold and you will go day and weeks or more without seeing gold. Nugget shooting has been very frustrating for me lol.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions. I will be at the meeting in Feb as well.

Sounds like you should just sell him your detector for pennies on the dollar, you're not a detectorist... I used to be a detectorist myself, found lots of nuggets and have paid for all of my machines in gold many times over. Learning how to use one right can take months of persistence, but if you are willing to spend the time learning the machine in and out, and about every different coil and it's uses, it will pay for itself as long as you keep taking it out. Your first nugget ends the beginners learning curve, but there is a lot of knowledge that can only be learned over time. If you buy a detector just to let it sit in a closet, then you should just sell it and move on. I'm not a detectorist anymore either, the aches and pains have taken their toll. I do still coin hunt on the beaches, but my days of looking for nuggets by swinging a large detector in the middle of nowhere at this time are behind me. If you haven't found gold with your detector yet, then you haven't finished your schooling and given yourself the time needed to become a knowlegeable detectorist.