Surprise, Surprise

Its been some time before finally finding & making the time to go out late yesterday arvo for a swing of the coil around Castlemain Vic.
Although getting tougher to find with each passing year, I happened to walk/swing over an ironstone impregnated speci, trapped in clay in amongst a reef line of slate/ironstone, leading down to & crossing into and over a heavily surfaced/worked out gully.
The speci consisting of ironstone/gold, mostly of gold, were found at a depth of only 10 inches down, trapped within a pocket of clay with the GPZ 7000, but considering the steady heat Victoria is currently experiencing, coupled to hot ground conditions,  I couldn't be happier.
I'll put up another picture after having the bit of colour cleaned better.
Take care out there & best of luck in pursuit of the golden ointment.

Cheers Kon

well done kon, that's a nice little chunk.
It's classified as big gold these days especially around these parts


cheers moredeep

Thanks & yes you could be right there moredeep. From now on, I'm going to bring higher magnification glasses in order to see the size of things better

Cheers Kon

I've already bought my glasses Kon in fact every size,the eyes ain't what they used to be and the gold is getting smaller.I notice now younger people are joining us and I have to ask them to check if its gold I've found.
That's a really nice nugget thanks for sharing.

How things change a nugget had to be in ounces, then it went to DWT ,grams, point grams 0 pt. gm , 00 pt. but how can you go for a triple zero. Well the grand kids will need a pan and magnifying glass or microscope to get a nugget.

Yes deutran, it can be a nuisance at times carrying a pair of reading glasses on you whilst trying to dig, in order to see some of the smaller stuff found, for the old eyeballs aren't exactly what they use to be, but I can't say I don't enjoy being out there in amongst the thrill of the hunt. I'm lucky in a way for the young fellas out with me most times I go out, which helps with a second set of eyeballs around.
I've been saying it for a long time now geof, we're one step closer to finding panning size colour with our detectors, for that's what's mostly left in the ground now within reach, but we continue to soldier on in hope.    

Cheers Kon

That's a nice little piece there Kon. Well done.

Regards Axtyr.

Thanks Axtyr. Nice it is, just not enough of them out there.

Cheers Kon

Very nice piece Kon

Well done Kon, any gold is excitable gold. There will be more there where you got that one.

Thanks GemQ.  Could be Nightjar, Now I just have to find the time or make the time to get back up there & give the thrashed to death bit of ground, an even better thrashing. My only fear is & highly likely, it will be I who ends up getting a good thrashing from the ground & not the ground itself.  

Cheers gents,  Kon

Kon61gold wrote:Yes deutran, it can be a nuisance at times carrying a pair of reading glasses on you whilst trying to dig, in order to see some of the smaller stuff found, for the old eyeballs aren't exactly what they use to be, but I can't say I don't enjoy being out there in amongst the thrill of the hunt. I'm lucky in a way for the young fellas out with me most times I go out, which helps with a second set of eyeballs around.
I've been saying it for a long time now geof, we're one step closer to finding panning size colour with our detectors, for that's what's mostly left in the ground now within reach, but we continue to soldier on in hope.    

Cheers Kon

I carry a pair of magnifying specs from the local $2 shop, some are inside a cylinderical capsule for protection. $10 vs prescription glasses.

Time you updated Kon, showing us your latest find.

Haven't been out for a while now Nightjar, but looking forward to getting out for a swing of the coil, when the opportunity arises.
Keep in mind this is Victoria we're talking about not WA, where the average ratio of gold finds are approx. 50 bits of trash, for each tiny nugget found (& if that)
The threat of covid-19 over the last 2 years & now inflation at an all time high, might explain why very little in way of gold finds are coming up on here for display.
I can only hope things get better over time.
Now if you're referring to my last nugget find, of which my son took possession of, were the last thing I ever saw of it.    

Kon  

It were too good of a day to not make an effort to get back to the same location where I had found that 2 gm bit above & giving it another going over, but today with the intention of going over the same area with the Z, including that of covering some of the shoulder/side walls, working further down within the main bedded down to slate/clay worked out gully (so I thought)
Well, half an hour or so of working the ground in & around of where I had found that first bit of gold for nothing more (less a shallow buried .22 bit of lead about 6 inches down & a badly rusted out old nail almost a foot+ down in the wash) I had heard nothing more.
I then decided to work along the inner left hand shoulder heading down the main gully, in the hope of maybe hearing something more.
+ or - working 100 meters further down the main gully & continuing to work the gullies inner shoulder bank wall, I  came across the faintest of positive target signals smack bang right on/in the shoulder part, of which one could basically say on the scrape. Lift the coil an inch or so above ground & the faint positive target signal response, could no longer be heard.
Now thinking this were another small bit of junk, dug up & thrown out from the main centre of gully workings, I were just about to walk away from, but lucky I decided not to for the faint but clear target signal response, got the better of me, so I decided to scrape away at it first with my boot,(removing some leaf/twigs from the surface) before laying the scraper end of the pick in.
Cut a long story short, about 10 inches down into more hard compact clay & with another 5 inches or so more (bedding down & onto slate running up higher on the side bank wall & onto the small section of flat above, out came another blighter of a nugget.
This time one could say it were the 2 gram nuggets'  bigger sister or brother, but they certainly didn't look like twins, for the first bit of gold (2 grammer, were course & rough looking) meaning the reef that shed it from, could be near by, but this second bit of gold, were fairly water worn with a smooth texture, possibly having travelled much further down away from its main source, or maybe coming from, or feeding in from another source altogether.  
It always does my head in, to think every now & then what we could all be walking over a few inches more further down & not being able to hear such targets. But I guess what we cant hear or know of as being down there, don't hurt hey or does it?      
Anyways enough of my waffling & here's a picture of the blighter of a nuggy in question.

 congratulation kon an ouncer.
It's getting to be a special club these days.
well done m8.


cheers    moredeep

Thanks moredeep. I certainly didn't expect that size/type of slug to come to light, for as it got louder in response, all I kept saying to myself, where are you nail, I still can't see ya?

Cheers Kon

Well done and nice to see a good sized and shaped nugget.

More to come???

One can only hope there's more to come Detectist.  Due to one to many family commitments, I don't get out as much as I'd like to these days, but always look forward to my next venture out.
Hopefully going over some of my past gold producing localities, brings in some more luck down the track. Here's to hope  

Cheers Kon

geof_junk wrote:How things change a nugget had to be in ounces, then it went to DWT ,grams, point grams 0 pt. gm , 00 pt. but how can you go for a triple zero. Well the grand kids will need a pan and magnifying glass or microscope to get a nugget.

Now that is a nugget.

Thanks geof. Like all detectorists know, it can be a long break between drinks. Also knowing what this particular locality has produced in the past does help, for in this instance, I were particularly set up for the faintest of signal responses at depth, whilst running the Z low & slow in extra deep.
Hitting upon an ounce slug of gold is one lucky thing for sure, knowing that there's sections or pockets of ground at greater depth, which may or may not contain gold & possibly just out of reach of our detectors/coil timings, can be somewhat frustrating.
The only thing ever thrashed to death or worked out, in or over any gold bearing locality, is not the locality itself (as some might think), but the limitations of our detectors. This is why I believe, there'll always be left some gold in the ground, to be found with each new generation detectors.  


Cheers Kon

Lovely find

Thanks deutran. Shame that slugs of gold this size & above, are now found far & few in between years, but, I have no doubt, there's still the odd one out there awaiting to be uncovered.  

Cheers Kon

Drool, drool. Ripper of a nugget Kon. Congrats.

Regards Axtyr.

Wow! What a find

Cheers,
Oldfella

Thanks gents. Went back to the same locality for another go at it this arvo (before the rain sets in) using different timings/coils, for zilch. Not a brass razoo.

Kon