GOLD AND JEMSTONE FOSSICKING TIPS AND LOCATIONS TO SHARE

[Bushtracker]

This one is here, to expand as all of you would like... I know their are MANY Gemstone and particularly Gold Nugget Fossickers among you. Here is a place to share at least tips on equipment.

A BIG ONE is MINELAB equipment advice, tips, and so on...

At least three Owners (cannot remember names on purpose, but also I have a mental problem with so many Owners) but three Owners have paid for trucks and Bushtrackers with their finds. I have been show CANS of nuggest... And given advice to stop showing ANYONE and get a better stash spot organized... I have seen something like a 10 oz teddy bear sitting up nugget, and more.. Here is a spot to talk about the gear, goods, and so on..

Cheers, stg

[Windrider]

On the subject of detectors in particular.
Given the high cost of a good detector such as the Minelab GPX 4500.

I wonder if any BT owners have a good commercial or private connection with Minelab or one of its dealers and if so as an enthusiast group - could BT owners with detecting interests negotiate a better buying price? Hmmm

Regards
John
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The price of freedom is often hard won yet rarely valued by those in receipt of its gift.

[surfy53]

I've never done any fossicking or detecting before, but we are both keen to get a detector.

Done some research and the brand that keeps topping the list is MineLab.

Don't want to pay a small fortune for one.....we'll do that when we strike it rich, so which one.

What about the xterra 705 or the eureka gold models. Has anyone had experience with these, please come forward.

Chris.
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I see through the lens of a camera.

[Bushtracker]

I have had near Professionals illustrate it by saying that the quality could make all the difference in finding the big score, sort of: That 8 0z nugget worth over $15,000 was just a litle out of range of the cheaper one When they put it that way, range, power, filtering, and the rest I was convinced the Minelab was the way to go for anyone serious.

Look, I cannot be bothered with digging up change at the beach or showgrounds as a casual pastime, I am too lazy for that.. I would be out there for gold and the excitement of the little nuggets maybe becoming BIG ones. I know nothing of these, but the research I have done myself in talking with the tins of gold type of people? All I know is what the Pros have described when they showed me their cans of nuggest, and according to them there are only 3 choices: Minelab, Minelab, and Minelab...

If I retire from horses I might just do it myself for fun and exploration and try and do the "Star Trek" thing and "Go Where No Man Has Gone Before" as that is where the pickens could be good

[aubs]

I am a long way into Prospecting now coming on 30 years worth of limited knowlege.

Research is one of the most important aspects of seeking out Gold and Gemstones.

Which detector is like asking you which caravan you should buy.

Minelab are the world leaders in Metal detecting equipment, detectors designed and built for Australian conditions. Jonathan Porter does a lot towards promoting Prosecting and is a wealth of knowlege and you can contact him from his web site if I am allowed

http://www.aurumaustralis.com/

Jonathan produces a DVD around the release of each new model to help the user to gain a better understanding of the detector, the DVD is a must item to purchase.

While out travelling I also use a Coining detector a Minelab E-trac a very complex machine cabable of telling you difference between pull tabs and the likes and coins. Most like to use the Xterra series and there are a lot of very profitable finds using them.

You cannot PM me for help but you can email me direct at
aunuggets@bigpond.com
I will help with as much info as I can.

My web site is www.australiangoldnuggets.com.au if you wish to have a look, I am very lazy in keeping it updated as you find the gold you sell it to help you find more so the turn over of nuggets is fairly quick.

Cheers
Paul
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Some things are worth keeping to yourself

[Bushie]

Paul,
You sound though you may have used a bit of differing gear. Does it make that much differnce to what you find? Is it about a better return for the better gear, or is is a just a slight better return for really good gear?

Not knowing but wondering, worth spending your loot on near best or just use quality medium grade gear?

Thanking you in advance, Bushie
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Life is better out Bush

[aubs]

Sorry for the late reply, I have just completed 2 prospecting trips 1 to Vic with moderate results and I got home from WA only last week.

Simply, I shall try and put it this way, the areas I have been in I would only take a BT, I try and prospect the more remote areas, simply that is many KMS beyond the end of the track. Buying a BT will get me to the end of the track for a camp site and from there I use a quad. I got home from WA with bruises over my shoulders a swollen left ankle, numerous tick bites and of course some very nice gold, still not enough to by the dream BT but it will happen.

I prefer to buy and use the best Australian Made product, why? designed and built for Australian conditions, Australian Warranties.

I only use Minelab detectors, the GPX 4500 (for GOLD)and an E-trac (coins predecimal preferred).

I have been giving lessons and advice to those new to the game, many have and use American and German imports, they wonder why they dont find much, why it is our conditions, firstly our mineralized soils are really bad so imported gold type detectors struggle with the conditions, and depth required for the larger sized nuggets.

Coins, well we have a different mineral content in our coins, I have seen the Garret ACE250 miss 20cent coins regularly, though it finds most of the others but still does not match the depth of the Minelab detectors.

If anyone wants to learn more about detectors and prospecting for Gold or coins you can email me directly aunuggets@bigpond.com.

I have a gpx4500 detector for sale $4800 if anyone is interested.
_________________
Some things are worth keeping to yourself

[Grumblebum and the Dragon]

For gold detecting I stronly advise you to look at at PI Pulse Induction detector and one made by Minelab. The VLF detector like the X-Terra 70 or 705 are great coin and relic machine, they will detect gold at shallower depths than the PI machines but they do not handle the highly mineralised ground found in most of our goldfieds.

I have copied below and article I had published recently - geared at helping first times kick off with this great hobby.

Regards

John
The Beginners Guide to Gold Detecting
by
John Mack

So, you have got the ‘bug’, the so called ‘gold fever’ and you are burning up to get out there and start finding gold. Without the wisdom that comes from experience it is very easy to be seduced by cleverly constructed advertising that urges you to buy the latest Brand XYZ. They always go deeper and are more sensitive than any previous model regardless of price or quality. One of the latest advertising campaigns by Minelab asks the question “Why would you use a lesser machine”? Well, there are many reasons why those of you wanting to try out gold detecting for the very first time should not buy one – not initially anyway. I am not knocking Minelab machines – and they are the only machines I use and are the best detectors for the highly mineralised ground conditions in Oz. Equally important, you should also not rush out and buy one of the ‘el cheapo’ VLF machines imported from China, they may be OK for finding coins on a beach but are not serious contenders in the gold stakes.
An individual who is new and inexperienced to the detecting game who goes out and buys a GPX 4500 and a range of accessories is like someone who has just learned the basics of playing poker and then sits down and takes on a professional tournament player – they both play with the same pack of cards – but there the similarity ends and you know who will finish up in the money at the end of the day.
So why not buy a top of the range machine? Well to start with they are expensive, about the equivalent of 5 oz of gold, plus you then have to add some more for accessories. A couple of years ago the equivalent rate was a lot more gold but thankfully the gold price has significantly increased since then. If you have yet to experience ‘real life’ detecting in the goldfields you may well get disillusioned when you actually get out there and find out that getting gold is a lot harder than you thought. If that turns out to be the case and you become disillusioned, then you are stuck with an expensive machine.
So where to start? Before you even consider buying a detector I would recommend you read, read and then read more. Join a club – if one is available and visit the goldfields in your area. Take along a pan and have a poke about in the potential trap sites to find a few colours. If you are persistent and lady luck looks on you benevolently then you may recover your first gold. It may also give you an opportunity to meet other prospectors who may offer advice and guidance. Next, if finances allow, get yourself booked onto a gold hunting safari, either tag-along or fully catered. Here you will get some real experience whilst being coached and having mentors on hand to answer your questions.
Now you are ready to purchase your first machine. A good second-hand machine to start with is not a wasted investment, they can become the back-up detector, if and when you decide to upgrade. For the Aussie goldfields you cannot do better than a good second-hand Minelab SD or GP machine. They are all good machines that regularly produce the goods for those who use them. The SD 2100 is a manual tuning machine that still has many devotees.
The SD 2200 was the first of the auto ground balance machines. One of the key benefits of the Minelab range is that they are made for Australia’s mineralised soils and have a good reputation for reliability.
If you are just a weekend warrior or have limited time for detecting it may be hard to justify a top of the range detector. Whilst technology is undoubtedly producing superior machines today, some of the older models still perform very well and can usually be purchased at around one third of the cost of the latest machines. Plus, they can be ‘tweaked-up’ to provide even better performance at a moderate cost. A good goal is to let your finds accumulate to offset the cost of future upgrades.
Like anything else in life, you need to develop skills and knowledge in order to be successful, without this the best equipment in the world is of little use – and may even be a hindrance. Why? Because the best equipment, be it cameras, GPS units or gold detectors are sophisticated bits of equipment that have many variable operating functions. Start playing with these without knowing exactly what you are doing will do nothing for your success rate and will probably make it worse.
To be a good photographer you have to understand how light impacts on an image and when you can make the camera and the available light work to your advantage in taking stunning images you become a good photographer. In gold detecting you need to thoroughly know your machine, how to use it and the ability to interpret the signals it produces. This is best learned by RTFM (Read the F#####g Manual) several times and then spending time out in the goldfields with it before reading it again. Also working with experienced operators will be an invaluable help. You should dig all signals and not rely on the discrimination abilities of the machine you are using; this will help you decipher the difference in signal sounds.
You must have at least a basic understanding gold geology, what sort of geological formations gold is most likely to occur in and how it may have been distributed. To an experienced operator ‘good looking ground’ is as clear as if it were signposted. A concentration of quartz, ironstone or greenstone with outcropping reefs is always a good starting point for beginners. But, the old saying of “Gold is where you find it” is a truism based on experience. Finally – don’t expect to come home with a bag of nuggets – sure it is possible but then so is winning lotto! Persistence is the name of the game. Someone once commented to a well known pro golfer, “Wow! Lucky shot” to which he responded “Yeah, and you know what - the more I practice the luckier I get”!
As a beginner you should be practicing the basics of how to use the detector – its routine tuning, how to swing the coil and concentrating on listening for the signals. Good concentration and a positive frame of mind is a must for successful gold hunting. Swinging low and slow, keeping the coil just brushing over the ground is the way to go. To check the impact of the ‘swing speed’ on target recognition try just pushing a small target into typical mineralised ground a good few inches and then listen to the difference in signal strength at different swing speeds. By gently pushing a target into the soil at an angle, say 45˚, as opposed to digging a hole and burying it – you will have much less disturbance of the soil and a more accurate response. Do this for both your DD and mono coils.
A few words on coil selection may help beginners to understand the differences between the coil types. A basic rule of thumb is the larger the coil diameter then the greater the depth obtained but with a reduced sensitivity to smaller nuggets. Conversely, smaller coils provide better sensitivity but less depth.
DD Coils are a lot more stable in ‘hot’ – or highly mineralised ground and have a detection zone that runs from the toe of the coil to the heel – like a narrow vertical slice at a constant depth from toe to heel.
The mono coils have a ‘cone’ shaped detection zone beneath the coil and at the deepest point will punch a little deeper that the DD. They are general y a more sensitive coil and can be a bit noisy in hot ground. Another point to be aware of with the mono coil is that to obtain the maximum depth possible it is necessary to have considerable overlap on your coil swing because of the cone shape of the detection area.
As you gain experience and start having a few wins you will naturally start to think about upgrading. This can take several forms. Some will opt for trading-in the current machine for a later model; others may consider ‘tweaking-up’ the current model.
Some of the best ways to improve the detectors powered by the standard 6 volt dry cell battery is to run them off a regulated 12v lithium-iron battery with a built in booster and using the latest coils. The standard 6 volt batteries start to lose voltage after a couple of hours detecting, many operators got round this by having two batteries and swapping them over at midday. These lithium-iron models are 12 volt batteries but are regulated down to your preferred operating voltage. I say ‘preferred’ as many people push the voltages up by as much as 15 – 20% higher than the original factory voltages. These batteries have been on the market a while, they are small, very light in comparison to the original 6 volt batteries. If desired they can easily be mounted on a belt pouch. The increased voltage provides more ‘punch’ and combined with the built-in booster a bit better depth and signal sensitivity. Another big plus is they will run all day at the set voltage – without dropping any power at all.
There is no doubt that coil design has improved considerably over the years which is why I use the latest coils. My rig consists of an SD 2200D with ‘Lucky Lark’ lithium–iron battery and combined booster manufactured by Reeds Prospecting in Perth. It is regulated down to 7.3 volts which seems to be the sweet-spot for this machine. I have three coils, a 14” elliptical DD Pro and a 12” elliptical mono coil both made by Nugget Finder and a little 10x5” DD Pro from Coiltek. They are all great coils. It is a sensitive and very stable set up and runs very well in highly mineralised ground with the DD coils. No doubt, that if I was a bit younger and detecting on a full time basis then I would undoubtedly be running one of the latest Minelab machines. But as a retiree and travelling full time I have many other demands on my time and so cannot justify the cost of a more recent model – much as I would like one.
Beginners would do well to initially focus initially on proven gold fields. One frequently hears the words “flogged out” but it is never all recovered and in high rainfall areas the ongoing erosion is always exposing a bit more new ground. Good maps, particularly geological maps, usually provide an indication of the ‘line of strike’ along a reef system. Try extending these out and then searching likely ground in these extensions. Improve you success rate by working the ‘harder’ ground – under bushes and by moving logs and trash - particularly metal trash on the surface – others may have seen it and not bothered moving it.
What do you need in the way of accessories? I would recommend you just start off with Just one coil – probably a standard 11” DD which is a bit easier to master compared to the noisier mono coils and is a good compromise of depth, sensitivity and stability.
You will need a good pick – if you are a handyman you could make your own from an old car spring – don’t bother with those little cast metal trenching tool style picks you in find in army surplus stores. One good thump into rocky ground and they will break. You will also need a good set of head phones, the full ear style help to block out wind noise allowing you to focus on those quiet signals.
Next, a strong ‘rare earth’ magnet is a great addition. They only cost about $20. Keep them in a plastic bottle with enough space for the magnet to move around in it. When you have a signal out of the ground just run the bottle containing the magnet through the exposed spoil and it will grab anything ferrous – wire, dozer blade chips or small tacks etc. After a quick inspection give the bottle a shake away from the hole and all the magnetic crud will just drop off. Some people stick them onto the end of their picks – then they always have to scrape the metal off the magnet.
One presumes that you have acquired a backpack or harness if you have an SD or GP series detector. It’s an important bit of gear for all the stuff you do – or should carry with you when out detecting. Plus it is an essential in providing a good anchor point for the ‘bungy strop’ – which is a ‘must have’ bit of gear. It is attached to the shoulder strap of the harness and the lower end clips onto the mid-point of the detector stem. It takes 90+% of the weight of the detector when correctly adjusted and makes for an effortless swing.
Some things you should consider carrying are as follows. A basic first-aid kit – if you don’t have one – and you should, then consult St John Ambulance for a suitable pack. Water keeps you refreshed – and alive if you get stranded for whatever reason. Matches are also an essential survival tool providing warmth and comfort and fire is a great signalling tool.
A small GPS – I always ‘mark’ the vehicle on the GPS as soon as I stop, it can then be switched off until you cannot find your vehicle when it time to head back! After a few hours wandering ‘head down bum up’ in thick country it is amazing how one clump of mulga looks the same as all the other clumps around you! Not that you should ever rely on the technology – it can and does break down. Always be conscious of your surroundings, where you parked, your general direction of travel, where the sun is, and how it moves in relation to time. The GPS should only ever be relied on as a back-up.
Consider also carrying a decent handheld 5 watt UHF radio and spare batteries – it keeps you in contact with others in your party and is another great emergency tool. If you have to use it in an emergency situation then climb to the highest ground possible for the best transmission and reception. I carry other stuff, a knife, some munchies, and a 10x magnification jeweller’s loupe for studying specimens or rock samples. Finally, if heading out alone, ALWAYS brief someone trustworthy on where you are going and when you plan on being back.
Detecting for gold is a great hobby, which can be profitable - but I have always preferred to focus on the other benefits. It’s great to be out in the bush, enjoying the natural environment and it provides great health benefits. Never knowing what you will find adds interest and anticipation and finding some gold is just another bonus.

I will add the pictures after re-sizing - John
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Sometimes I wake up Grumpy
Other times I let her sleep in!!

[Grumblebum and the Dragon]

These images go with the article above

Cheers John








_________________
Sometimes I wake up Grumpy
Other times I let her sleep in!!

[Grumblebum and the Dragon]

Just spent a few days in Opalton - 124k south of Winton in Qld. Still a pioneering 'township' of 20-ish resident plus the seasonal blow-ins doing a bit of noodling, prospecting or just rock kickers.

You can camp anywhere but the "Bush Camp" offers a few old stone and iron one roomed sheds that some people park next to. There is a small demountable shower/toilet block and water (muddyish and marked as un-potable) is available - same water is also available down at the dam where is is a hose outlet and overhead downpipe. Fees are $2.00 per day pp.

Its a large area with heaps of old working. There is a public fossicking area where some people of staked small mining claims - these are usually well marked. Otherwise dig or noodle where you like.

It is quite easy to find some nice colours just wandering around with the eyeball focussed downwards. Talk to Patricia Gregory she will set you right on the 'where, what and how' She sells stuff, after she has someone cut and sets her opal, and had some beaut specimens that she had found just by walking around.


Boulder Opal


Matrix Opal

Cheers John
_________________
Sometimes I wake up Grumpy
Other times I let her sleep in!!