Unless the base is 16, gpm_init will fail if the string begins with "0b".
> php -r '$v = gmp_init("b83", 17); print("$v\n");'
Resource id #4
> php -r '$v = gmp_init("0b83", 17); print("$v\n");'
[nothing prints]
In may case, where I am explicitly specifying the base, the solution is to apply ltrim first:
> php -r '$v = gmp_init(ltrim("0b83", "0"), 17); print("$v\n");'
Resource id #4