Never give up! - My first Nugget

Reading a few threads here reminded me of when I got my first detector close on 25 years ago.

Thankgod I'm a stubborn bugger as although I had been panning for a number of years prior, it must have been two years before I found my first nugget with a detector.
Many new detectorist try for a few weekends at thier closets field then give up in frustration.

How long did it take you to find your first nugget and how can we convince new detectorists to stick at it?

Gday all,

It took me a year to find my first nugget! It was with a xt18000. I honestly thought all I had to do was go out to the goldfields and start cleaning up "wrong", mate I have a pile of horseshoes/bullets/buckles/tobacco tins/match tins/handmade nails and wire I could start a salvage shop.
Dont get put off its a great hobby. You get a bit of exercise and some fresh air which cant be bad for you.
As madtuna says being a stubborn bugger helps.

The thrill of digging that first nugget was worth the wait, I will never forget it.

Ya gotta get out there, research and patience, you will find your share.

Regards

Jim.

G'Day

I got my GP3500 last August and headed for Clermont to visit friends and had one day detecting. Got Nuthin.

Then headed for Georgetown where we were to meet up with my cousin.

We were there three days before I found about a six grammer and another two or three days before I found a 7.5 grammer. My wife now has that hung around her neck, so I need to find something large enough to be uncomfortable to wear.

We went back to Clermont for a week and got zip.

Have been around Gympie three or four times since then and have no gold but heaps of lead.

Could be worse I suppose

Waz

Way back I borrowed a Garrett Ground Hog and went off to Cue and found
a 4& 5 gramer. Came home and bought a Garret A2B and then went 2 years
before the next bit turned up , by then I was using a Fisher Gold Bug.
Now use a GP 4000.
Cheers Greg.

hi all,
10 years before i found my first nugget, started with the whites 500 or 600 forget which, ground hog, A2B, a couple of others then got a second hand sd2000, 9 grammer first trip then a 55 grammer second trip, i now have a 3500 and maybe a 4500 soon as i picked 3 ozs on the weekend, so dont give up, i started detecting when i was single now i have 5 children and 8 grandchildren ..gim,

The second time I went out. It was my birthday too. Within 10 mins I pulled up a 0.75 grammer.

Third time I went out I got a 0.2 grammer within about 5mins.

Still can't believe how sensitive these detectors are! I'm using the 4500.

good to read
ive been out about 1/2 a dozen times or mor with our gp3000 for some boot buckles , horse shoes nails and .22 casings ect , closest ive come so far is the other end of the .22 lead shot lol..thought i had a chance when i heard it lol

sounds like i have a while to go so will stick with it.still learning where to look.have been mainly around areas with heaps of mines , some i havent seen the bottom of!!!

Some people are lucky and find gold within the first few trips. Unfortunately this gives a false sense of ease when finding gold. Its not precious metal for no reason.
Many times you will hear that your equipment only makes up 10% of your chances of finding gold. 90% is swinging over it. Finding your first bit will suddenly home you in on the things you may have been missing. When you do get the first bit, please make sure you look hard at the ground around the area to give yourself a better understanding of why it was where you found it.
The old timers were very good at following the trail of gold up to its source, but it was time consuming and labour intensive. We have technology that speeds up the process but, we still have to think like an old timer to get an understanding of where to look and better still, once we learn where they were looking and why, then we can look further afield and into areas that they may have overlooked.
It took me a year or two before I started finding gold and it wasnt because I didn't know how to use the detector. It was because I didn't know where to concentrate my efforts.
Without trying to sound like I know it all.(I don't) I now find gold with some type of regularity. Learning to read the ground is the largest tip that I can give to anyone. Again, I say your first bit will lead you to many more.
Brett.

A few years ago when I started detecting I became very impatient. No gold and more trips into the bush still no gold. Then one day I got my first .5gram with my secondhand Minelab SD2000. I still own this detector with a lot of gold and at times when I don't get any gold I do feel like giving up. Then I look at the positive side of detecting. Fresh air, exercise and the concentration all play a vital part in our health. With that in mind I try not to give up.

Regards, Kerri

I was fortunate to have found 3 nuggets - 6.6 grams total, on my first trip out in May '09. After returning, I went out a week later and found 1 3/4 ozs. A total of 28 pieces ranging from .4 - 7.1 grams. 20 nuggets at 32.1 grams and 8 specimens at 50 grams (gold content using Specific gravity test - 22.3 grams)

I did immerse myself into it six weeks prior by reading/learning all that I could about it. The forums helped a lot, and a lot of what I read in forums I experienced myself. e.g. In regards to "Detector V User". My mate has a 4500 using a 16" NF mono and an 8" mono coil. He went over this patch 2-3 times finding a few nuggets about 27 grams total. I watched him, and he was just moving too fast and wondering about the patch. I have a 2200d using a 11" dd coil. I went over the same patch very slowly and methodically in 3-4 different directions and found 25 nuggets around 48 grams all around the holes he had dug, lol. My mate just watched dumbfounded, thought there was something wrong with his detector, lol.

Reading the ground is just as important as going over a patch slowly, methodically, and listening for the faintest signal. I would find a nugget and then look at the ground to see how it could have got there and then follow it through (electronic loaming) and find another one and so on, until it ran out. Above this patch there was a 30ft (at least) mine shaft and by all indications it looked liked the old timers had found gold here.

Never Give Up - You have to enjoy/love the whole process even when your not finding any gold. I'm very new to this, but I loved every minite of it and I don't mind saying, I shed a tear when I left the goldfields. It was the journey not the destination (gold) so much that I loved.

Cheers
tony

Hi Tony,
Good on you. I bet when you found your first bit of gold, you got the shakes and then gold fever took over.
Once you start this very enjoyable hobby it would be very hard to give it up, and one should say, Never give up".
I am very happy for you Tony finding all those bits of gold especially when you are new at this detecting hobby.

Cheers,
Kerri.

Hi Kerri
Well...I didn't get the shakes, and I guess gold fever took over, I had a kinda warm fuzzy feeling all over. It felt like the beginning of something I was going to enjoy doing for some time. It's funny, I had immersed myself into so much that when I found my first nugget it felt like I'd been doing it for years. Another funny thing is, the nugget looks like a penis. No really, everyone I show it too says it looks like a penis. I'll have to post a pic when I figure out how to do it. And of all the other ones.

tony

Hi All,
I had started a topic a little while ago titled 'your first find' I had not seen this topic, I will learn to read more closely. lol
It is an amazing feeling to reteive something from the ground that has layed there for so long!!

I have only taken up detecting since the release of the 4500 and is my first machine, I had used my fathers fisher once or twice when I was younger and found some old pick heads and chisels etc.
It was on my third outing that I found gold, a couple of clean nuggets that both wieghed about 3g each.
My biggest find so far is about 12g, after purchasing a new coil recently I found a couple of sub-grammers first trip out.

It was funny, while walking around in thick scrub, I came to a bit of a clearing that looked really nice. I discovered a recently dug hole (not filled in) and thought someone has been here and was going to walk away, then thought no-one gets it all. So fired the machine up and ran over their hole and on the other side of the tree a signal, I was expecting lead, But gold.
So it just goes to show us that we do need a positive mind set and a don't be discouraged attitude.
When things seem to be getting tough, we need to take a pace back and have a breather, Look around and remember why we are out in the bush in the first place.

Ha Ha now I am sure that everyone is anxious to see old mates penis......photo of his nugget I mean!!!

Cheers

Some pics of my first nugget (little dick) and more from my first trip out.

Little dick







cheers...tony

Hi Tony,

I am impressed with your first finds. Your photos of your nuggets are excellent that includes the gold nuggets you found. And yes that first piece does look like a penis. If that was me finding that piece of gold I would have felt . With gold pieces and nuggets you can always make out some sort of shape such as a penis an animal or bird.

Cheers,
Kerri.

Not really first nugget but first speak id guess, found it will panning on the Turon River next to Coles bridge nearly 25 years ago U should have seen the pace pick up when i got that little speck like a bloke possessed the looks from the local driving across the bridge was priceless .
First nugget was about a year latter at Nundle in the first bucket of wash dirt this led me to buy a Garret AB2 grd hog (Still have it in the roof space). Never found anything with the Garret and only used it for coin shooting in schools etc (ended up paying for it self with dropped coins).
Went back to sluicing and panning for years just dint have the folding stuff for a Minelab would always read about the new ones and the gold found but just outa my reach, but about 3 years ago I bit the bullet and brought a 4000 (second hand) and had my first piece in 2 weeks (huge 0.8Grammer).
The funny thing is i weighed up all those micro specks of gold and the grand total came to 5Grams LMAO for 20+ years of back braking work, my first big trip away with the 4000 netted me the same amount but in 8 days.
Funny old hobby i guess
Regards
John

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The hand and foot and the up yours nuggy's speak for themselves and the quartz nuggy was our first at any depth

Sorry about the focus

About 10yrs ago my mate convinced me into buying a 2100.We travelled to wedderburn to see Barry and got their too early so pulled over to wait for a while.My mate looked in the bush and said"What about here".I laughed and said "oh well why not".I walked in about 20mts put the coil down and got a signal.I hit the ground and a 7.5grammer just fell out the side and rolled down the mullock heap.We got another 8 small pieces that day and 32 pieces for the week.My mate thought I was havin him on with that first nugget and I think he still doesnt believe me to this day as during the drive down he was explaining how difficult it was to find gold.Since then weve never done that well but consistently find small bits.

Finally got my first nugget on friday, Man what a feeling! was like relief and excitment at the same time. If anyone was around they would have thought i was a nut case the way i was carrying on! It wieghed in at a staggering 0.4 grams but after 8 months or more of coming home empty handed, i was rapt.


Never Give Up.


Cheers Matt

Hi all,

Good on ya Matt!

Jim

Well done Matt, Now may they keep comming in!!!

I have found rather than taking photo's of nuggets, Scanning them with a colour piece of paper for backing works really well, I use green backing (Green & Gold obviously) Should have a pic in the gallery if you want to check it out.

Cheers

Thanks guys,

Thats a good idea goldstalker but my scanner doesnt work for some reason . Was tryin to take a photo but couldn't get a good focus up close.

Cheers Matt

Mattymatt wrote:Thanks guys, Was tryin to take a photo but couldn't get a good focus up close.
Cheers Matt

Nice feeling aint' it

You have set macro on the good old digital cam for that close up pic

ARARAT wrote:Nice feeling aint' it

You have set macro on the good old digital cam for that close up pic

Thanks ararat will give that a go.

Matt

hi all tony de you win the prize with goldstalker a close second.

to answer madtunas questions,

1. READ THE MANUAL as tony did, and get to know you machine,- before you get out in the paddock.

second question of - how can we encourage newchums - simple, HELP THEM. if you are interested and havent read my experience at clermont last july, click on my username and read my messages, you will see how i helped a newchum and wife. i was in the mood to be generous with my time, helped these newchums, and as my story goes, they have gone from strength to strength. any newchums wanting to question me after reading my messages, feel free to PM me and if i can help you, i will.

best of luck to all you newchums, just starting out, keep your pecker up (or tonys) ... kev

Took me three days to find my first nuggets whilst gold detecting for the first time. I was literally leaving the area and pulled over on the side of the road to detect a gully that had been hard hit by a flash flood. Just a couple of programmers but they looked nice and I sold them years ago so I don't have much to show (no pics, sorry!).

Cheers,

Marco

Hi Madtuna.

Dam good point.Firstly i would like to say, that it took me three and a half years, before i found my first gold nugget, with an old Minelab FT 1600.Boy,did i do some research prior to that,eg,Gold occurrence,Type of ground type of rocks elluvial,alluvial,trappers, low spots,high spots,flow or run of gold,reef lines,type of reef lines etc.etc.If you want to save yourself some time,try to go with someone who has found gold in a certain area and can show you the ropes.I've been at it for 19 years now,and believe me when i say i've found my share of gold in many a different place around Australia swinging a detector.But all said and done,until you actually find,that
first bit of gold in the ground yourself,i believe you'll have a slim chance of understanding why that gold occurred there in the first place.
As to why people come into this game and then give up so quickly,all i can say is;one,treat gold prospecting just like any other hobby,meaning a hobby that you enjoy doing,not finding it a drag,or it's costing me to much time,wear and tear,or to much money.No hobby comes without a cost. two,as for patience,well,true to say that's a virtue in man and in this game if you lack it,don't even attempt gold prospecting. And three,just like every other hobby,do it for all the right reasons not for the wrong.

Happy Prospecting.

Mattymatt wrote:Finally got my first nugget on friday, Man what a feeling! was like relief and excitment at the same time. If anyone was around they would have thought i was a nut case the way i was carrying on! It wieghed in at a staggering 0.4 grams but after 8 months or more of coming home empty handed, i was rapt.


Never Give Up.


Cheers M[

Tryin to work out photo bucket. Cheers Matt

Ps got a couple more since this one.

I Think i've worked it out.

Cheers Matt