Minelab GPZ 7000 Review is it Worth The Money?

Table Of Contents

Minelab 7000 – Testing and Conclusions So far

Gold Prospecting Seminars 2 Vacancies 11 12 and 13 July.

How to Obtain a Section 40E Permit to Metal Detect on 46% of WA Goldfields.

GoldTracker – Now being Used to Target and Peg Areas of Potential Gold Deposits.

Minelab 7000 – Testing and Conclusions So far

Well we have been using the 7000 for the last few months and testing it to see how it performs relative to the GPSX5000 and the SDC2300 as well with the small gold.

In General terms;

Small Gold

It definitely picks up the small gold and is marginally better with a 4.8 gram piece of gold (about 50mm deeper compared to the 5000) at depth but haven't tested it on big gold at depth.

Target Signal

The signal is quiet and difficult to hear if you are a bit deaf and the remote speaker is on the opposite side to your detecting arm. I dont like eaphones due to my deafness. However the Wireless speaker is Audible.

Ground Noise

It is difficult to remove all noise and there can be a continual light warbly interference in the machine if you dont know how to use the auto ground balance properly or how to ground balance the 7000.

Weight

It is a heavy machine about 40% heavier than a 5000 with an off market coil like the NuggetFinder (3.5kg compared to a 5000 at around 2.3kg), women who are not strong will struggle to use it and older folk with shoulder, back or hip problems might also struggle to use it, I suggest a hire and try before buying.

Value for Money

I am not convinced yet that there is an extra $4000 + value in the machine over the 5000 with a small coil and another big coil to get the deep gold, but in saying that I am starting to pick up some gold at a greater depth (21 grammer at between 450mm and 500mm in calcrete…still got a crook bac k!)than the 5000. Udo reckons the 5000 would have found it anyway if we had walked over it - maybe or maybe not.

Now that I have practised a lot more and spend some time on the ground with it I think it has come advantages but - as a buyer - would definitely hire and test it first before buying as the weight and cost disadvantages might not be worth the extra $6 0r $7000 over a second hand Minelab 5000 machine.

Anectdotally!!!…

The Reality is that we have seen a number of 7000’s on the market because they did not live up to the Minelab hype in the minds of the people who are selling them.

They struggle on salty ground. There has also been a fair bit of documentation put out to assist with ground balancing the 7000 due to the fact people cannot quieten them down.

Great for the small gold nuggets - we hear of people finding up to 300 small bits on a trip but Hey, that’s what the (Much) cheaper gpx5000 and SDC 2300 do, especially the 5000 with a hot coil like the NuggetFinder Sadie or 12x7” Mono.

We have had no reports of people finding deep gold beyond what the 5000 with a big NuggetFinder Mono coil would find EXCEPT in the various test beds around the place.

See the full review here Minelab GPZ 7000 Review.

That page also enables you to put up your own review if you agree or disagree with our findings.

Gold Prospecting Seminars Two Vacancies July 11,12,13 Seminar in Cue.

Two Positions are available in the final seminar of the Year that is the July 11 12 13 Gold Prospecting Seminar at Cue.

These have only just come up so there is no point in going to our waiting list as most of those were for specific dates and the seminar is on in only 20 days or so. I have asked a few people on the waiting list and it is difficult for them to get leave with such short notice. So I have opened the positions up to people who CAN come on the dates mentioned.

So if you are interested please return email and it is first in first served.

The cost is $620 per person.

This page discusses what information is provided at the seminars

Visit this page for more details Gold Prospecting Seminars Cue.

Section 40E - Gives you the Ability to Prospect on around 46% of Granted – Exploration Tenements

There is no excuse really to go illegally prospecting, especially when you consider that Tengraph Online has free access and it shows you where you can legally go prospecting and metal detecting (Last Newsletter) and Geomap is a freely downloadable software that enables you to do the same thing.

SECTION 40E PERMITS are explained more fully on this .

How to Apply for a Section 40E Permit to go Prospecting in WA

The Section 40e permit enables you to go prospecting on Exploration Leases (around 46% of leases in WA) for a small cost of $25.

As discussed in the last newsletter when a Lease is Granted (Green colour on Tengraph Online) then you cannot go metal detecting, fossicking or prospecting on that lease unless you have written permission from the leaseholder who owns the tenement.

The exception to this is Live Exploration Tenements (green on Tengraph and with the prefix “E”) where you can obtain a Section 40e Permit to go prospecting upon the tenement.

Now, that covers a major swathe of land in the goldfields of WA.

Here are the Highlights of the Section 40E Permit system.

• Only on Exploration (E) Tenements.
• Can apply for up to 10 Graticular Blocks.
• The Graticular blocks must be on the same E Lease.
• The Graticular Blocks must adjoin each other on at least one side.
• You can put up to 3 people on the Section 40E application – Obviously each person must have a miners right.
• The Permit is for 3 months.
• 21 Days must pass from the date of granting to allow objections by E holder.
• Must notify the Pastoralist – additional forms and the Pastoralist address are included to enable you to do that.
• A report must be completed at the end and sent to Dept of Mines and E Leaseholder and forms are included to do that as well .

Go to this page How to Apply for a Section 40E Permit to go Prospecting in WA to find out more and the page also has some videos to show you how to apply and link to the Department Mines Application forms and Information pamphlet on Section 40e permits.

There is absolutely no need to break the law and continually walk around looking over your shoulders when it is so simple to get access to massive tracts of land for such a small fee.

Goldtracker Being Used to Target Areas to Peg Leases

The Tengraph Tenements boundaries are now included and will be updated weekly on the App. so this is something that will make the job of understanding the current Tenement area much easier when you are using GoldTracker to find the best gold area.

GoldTracker - Gold Nugget potential identification software program.

A very interesting development in the Goldtracker story is that Tenements are being pegged in areas where formerly it was vacant ground.

This can be mapped by the Goldtracker using newly pegged ground such as Exploration Leases and comparing them to the Goldtracker Scores in the area and the Graticules that have NOT been pegged in the same location.

In fact, Udo and I have taken out an Exploration Lease based on the scores of Goldtracker with some basic research to confirm what the Goldtracker scores had already indicated. i.e THAT THE AREA HAD A HIGH POTENTIAL FOR GOLD MINERALISATION.

We have another two areas under review that we may also peg.

My point is that this is a serious tool to help identify areas of Potential gold mineralisation and if it is not in your armoury then you are missing out on a simple and powerful means to target the best areas for gold mineralisation.

Goldtracker also used for targeting best blocks for a Section 40E Permit Application.

Another method we have been using Goldtracker Scores is for Section 40E permits.

When we take out a Section 40E on an very large E Lease we identify the best graticules for Gold Mineralisation with the GoldTracker software for a few clicks that costs a few bucks. We don’t want to waste time in areas that do not have a high potential for Gold Mineralisation!

Regards

Udo and Bill

Nobody gets ALL the gold. There’s still plenty left for you.

ps – there is still plenty of gold being found here is a few stories on our facebook page but we have heard of more that people would prefer we do not share unfortunately.

Michaels Magic Specimen Found with Minelab 5000

Michaels 136 gram gold specimen

Bill’s 21 Grammer found with the Minelab 7000

>21 Gram Gold Nugget found with GPZ 7000

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