GPZ success query

When reading the published successes of the Z I start wondering if every Z user is as fortunate.. What percentage of Z purchasers find the gold ??? What percentage kick the sticks but never get a grain of gold?? Past gold fields were awash with success stories,, is that prevalent today with modern detectors?? I'm interested to know the facts...... noyungan

noyungan wrote: When reading the published successes of the Z I start wondering if every Z user is as fortunate.. What percentage of Z purchasers find the gold ??? What percentage kick the sticks but never get a grain of gold?? Past gold fields were awash with success stories,, is that prevalent today with modern detectors?? I'm interested to know the facts...... noyungan

It's a bit of an odd question, but yes my Z works very well, and my 4500 rests peacefully if the back of the vehicle as a spare machine.

No detector will find gold where there is none, and in fact there are plenty of people with a variety of detectors that struggle to find gold or are still looking for there first piece, I read on detector forums now and again that someone is still looking for there first piece after a year or so.

Anyone that says its easy usually has never done it, you need to be constant and persistent if you want to find gold.

If you happen to stumble on a virgin patch then mostly any detector will the job, but in an area that has be thoroughly detected before then you need something better and even better skills.

cheers dave

G'day noyungan

I'll try to keep my waffling to a minimum here & give you my thoughts as to what I'v experienced so far with the GPZ 7000.
Firstly, what is a published success story for one person, can be a far different story to another.  Dave pretty much summed it up well.
Success in locating detectable gold depends/relies on research, experience of operator, as well as the amount of ground time one puts in, towards hunting down & locating the golden ointment. This is why success, is different to every GPZ user. (one being more or less fortunate than the other).
What percentage of GPZ Purchasers/users find gold? My opinion, 100% Why I say this is because anyone who knows & understands of how to best operate the GPZ, over ground that is known for producing detectable nuggety gold in the past, is bound to find some type/size of colour, even over
previously flogged ground, less another experienced, thorough GPZ user has been over that same ground before you.  
The only percentage of GPZ users kicking the sticks out of the way & never getting a grain of gold, would have to be in amongst the most inexperienced of operator detectorists.  As a matter of fact, it is the ones who go out of their way to kick the sticks/clean or push back an area of debris, accessing ground that might not have been accessed before with a detector coil combo, that gains the upper hand at maybe hearing a further positive gold ground signal, that may never had been heard otherwise.
Of course past goldfields were awash with success stories of metal detectors finding more of this or that, for there was a lot more of this & that laying about to be found, for as the saying goes, "first in first served" has appleid to this very day, as it applied back in the early 1850s, but much less so, over ground that has already been worked/detected over time & time again throughout the decades. This is why gold finds, cannot be as prevalent today, as it was yesteryear, even using the best of what modern detecting technology can offer today, for every nugget found & taken out of the ground, does not grow back.
Fret not though, for many a various reason/excuse, no one has gotten, or gets it all & all/any of us prospectors/detectorists in search of the Golden Ointment, (& for what ever the reason or excuse might be) tend to leave something behind, for another to find.

Cheers Kon.    

I guess that it would be like fishing.

"10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish."

Cheers

Doug

Doug was spot on..definately a 90/10 rule applies.

Since we have started to train people it has given me quite an insight into people prospecting and why they do it etc etc. My personal opinion is that THE most important part of metal detecting is the belief that you will get onto metal. I actually believe it's more important than the detector you use...or perhaps more accurately you can use the top of the line gear but if your head isn't right then your just there for the exercise.

As others have probably already said...the 7 is an awesome detector and if I was only bush chooking around it would be my first choice. Having said that, my daily driver on pushing jobs is still the 4500!

The other part of your question...and maybe it's the main point??.....is there as much gold being found today.....yes and no...mostly no....late 70's and 80's 1oz pieces were normal..these day's it's 0.2gr and people are doing a dance on youtube!! Back then gemstones were a bigger deal than gold prospecting (for awhile anyway) and there were not that many into it...these day's there are thousands on the goldfields. However, for what it's worth, I don't see any of them as competition...most have no skill...no idea and little drive....but then again, they are not trying to put food on the table...it's about the adventure. In our work as professional prospectors we see and hear about the other side of prospecting...good gold...virgin patches still being found....and plenty going broke as well!

I genuinely believe that there is more gold in the ground than has ever been found....I do not believe you need a ten thousand dollar detector to find it...but it sure helps.

Hi to all who replied,
Thanks for giving me honest no bull---- answers. I have taken note that there is more to detecting than having the latest and best technology.. I gain the point that the detector doesn"t "find" the gold but the detector is the instrument by which a positive , keen,. operator uses to detect the gold .
An illustration: we go for groceries with a car,, but the car does not get the groceries,,, the driver navigates the car to the groceries,, and if he is not a skillful driver he may end up a light pole and never get what he has the car for..
It must also mean that anyone with a proven good detector can get a bit of gold that the less enthused operator missed due to lack of dedication ... Hence persistence, long hours out detecting, keeping positive is really very important..... Thanks for helping me to understand the importance of dedication... noyungan

Your'e not far off in your statement there Doug. Ask any successful fisherman, why he's so successful at bringing back fish and I'm sure the answer will be, because I'm out there fishing twice a week, as compared to someone who goes out fishing once a month. Same thing applies to detecting/prospecting for gold or any other hobby for that matter.(fishing time as compared to detecting time)  Unfortunately, not all of us have that privilege.  

Cheers Kon.

Success in finding gold no matter what detector you use is directly related to time on the ground, mathematically speaking and fairly obvious is that the more ground you cover effectively the better your chances of getting on to something, some people are definitely luckier than others but for those of us who are not "tin asses" then its simply perseverance, persistence and good old leg work that will give you results in the end.

Experience will give you confidence in yourself and your detector, so don't let the fact that you don't have the latest and greatest detector in hand as even that might perform well for some but maybe not so well for others, its better that you learn to properly operate the detector you have and to walk the ground, take your time and investigate every signal before you walk away from it, just enjoy the experience go with the flow and don't be too serious or stressed out about finding the gold, and it will come in time.

cheers

au-fever

yep your on it kon, when I go I treat it as a job (a bloody fun one) 7 till 4ish half hr for lunch, silly mabie yes BUT it finds the gold, when I first started detecting 3hrs whould pull me up but now the nuggets seem to roll in and yes the 7000 has played a massave part in that, murphys law states that if you swing for long enough you will sooner or later walk over it

[quote="noyungan"] When reading the published successes of the Z I start wondering if every Z user is as fortunate.. What percentage of Z purchasers find the gold ??? What percentage kick the sticks but never get a grain of gold?? Past gold fields were awash with success stories,, is that prevalent today with modern detectors?? I'm interested to know the facts...... noyungan[/quote]

First of all, do you own a 7000 your self? Also what make you think that there is a percentage of the Z owners that kick the stick and don't find gold, I speak for myself, I never publicised my finding, I do not go metal detecting for the glory or for other people compliment, so I suppose there is other people that like to keep their finding for them self.
I own the 7000 since the day that has been released, I never regretted one day about buying it.
I have been detecting since the SD2200d days, I went through every new model that Minelab released, in my opinion the Z is the best ever, but like I said is only my opinion.

When you start asking questions like this
You are not successful like you want to be
Which means, you are not getting out and prospecting enough

Like the saying goes, you and I are in the 90% category
The other 10% will tell you get out there and do the yards

But like a successful fisherman, some just have the knack and do it easy.

Hi again,
I appreciate all your comments fellers, I had no intention expecting you to divulge finds but merely to get valued opinions on the Z.
And uncle bob, you're right I don't get out much mainly because I live southern Qld And when I get out I travel to Victoria . So it's not a case of an hours drive hauling a van..I love detecting Victoria..
And sadly ,uncle bob, on my last trip back home (not my home) to where I live a fish tailing van saw me do a 360* roll wiping out the lot.. So-- have no van now. The only visible signs of the rollover was a scratch behind right elbow but in 7 months after I was hospitalised 4 times and undergone strengthening exercises and trauma counseling.,, I really thought my prospecting days were done...My attitude sunk so low that I sold my sdc2300 (which I loved) but lately I'm feeling like swinging again and that means another machine and that's what my query is all about,, decision making!!!
The best I did with the 2300 was 104 bits in 3 weeks plus 1,000,000 bird shot.I won't say the weight.. At that time I worked for 2 hours then 3/4 hour rest and a cuppa and then into it again as best as an 83 y.o. can go.. And nobody is going to tell me to hang the spurs up!!!
It helps me decide on a detector the opinions you all kindly give me,, the psycologist helped with her very upbuilding assessment as well ,, so all in all I am a lucky man ,, not rich, but I enjoy life especially out there among the mallee..
All the very best to you and everyone for their enlightening comments... noyungan

Sorry to hear and good to know you are better now.

I really hate that the manufacturers DO NOT install stabilisers in all caravans.
That should be mandatory.
Just like a car has a stabiliser and so should the caravan.

My mate is 85 with two hip replacements and cannot prospect anymore because of that, but he said to me if he could, he would be doing exactly what you have said.

If the body is able, then age is no barrier.

I'm thinking go for another 2300...if it ain't broke...don't fix it.

as some have alluded to above, regular detecting does improve your chances. going back 17 years, i was only able to get out once a year on holidays, it used to take me two weeks to - get in the zone - and then the nuggets started flowing much freeier.
and yes, the more you detect, the more confidence you get, and the more time you have to detect enables you to slow down, enjoy what you are doing, and so check out more sus noises, and get more gold. anyway thats been my experience, enjoy ... kev

Hi all
Thank you uncle bob for your kind encouraging post,, I knew you would appreciate what I was on about once you got a few facts (albeit painful ones).
All the posts on this forum have an interesting content if we (I) look for it. But I have to say I always enjoy comments from Kon61. Why??? I can only answer that by saying that over the recent years of my involvement I find his expressions not dogmatic, full of common sense, to the point,practical, and no nonsense kindness.
Uncle Bob,, I can imagine how your friend feels due to hip problems, that certainly does curtail his wand waveing days, and if he has the operation I hope he gets great benefit from it... I know what 85 feels like cos that's where I am now.. I count my blessings as I still mow the grass, whipper snip, garden and I was building wicking garden geds until a week ago when a cataract op was done on the right eye.. The left one gets done next Friday. When the eyes are right I'll be into "It".
May all everyone's days be bountiful..... noyungan

howdy goldquest,
the answer to your question ,' do you own a GPZ', no, I do not but after digesting comments on the Z I like the appeal it has and no, I can't get one today, but who knows what the morrow brings.
Obviously you work at detecting and I admire your dedication, after all, we make our own luck and usually means dedication to whatever we are doing..
I enjoyed your encouraging post,, may your dedication continue to be weighed on the scales in ounces, perhaps kilograms.. All the best,,, noyungan

Perhaps you could hire a 7k noyungan and try it out first.
What will grab you first is the weight and since your finds will generally be relative to the time spent swinging I'm wondering if it could inflame some of those injuries you suffered.

If you find it does cause old pains to flare up you could possibly look at a real lite-weight machine such as the QED. It has been good for some older folks who suffer RSI from decades of swinging.

Cheers
Kev.

Goodmorning Alchemist:
Your post warrants consideration,, Hiring things never seems to appeal to me but I can see that in my case I may well condescend to doing just that.. As yet I have not read up on the QED and the market appears to be awash with detectors but I don't believe in sending a "boy to a man's job" and that is why I am giving the Z consideration. Although I do have a friend in Vic who continues with a SD2000 and is quite happy with results... Perhaps the maxim "you have got to walk over it " applies still regardless which machine being used and of course detector refinements since the Garratt green machine makes life easier and more satisfying gold wise... And also to be considered is the deeper ground which the Z has opened up...
Thank you Kev for your interest,,,, all the best to you,,, noyungan