My first trip out with a 4500...48.9 gr

Hi Con ,

What a maiden voyage it was for your 4500 ... Congrats again on that magnificent piece !!!
I have full confidence that in the shortest possible time you will master the beast being able to flick into different settings as the ground allows .
As you mentioned earlier - great to see everyone get a few rattles as well ... Top effort by all .

One more thing ,,, lets call the knobs - dials instead , just so there is no misunderstanding . But it was fun fiddling around with them
Take care bro and seeya on the next hunt ... until then " The search continues " .
Well done Pal ,,,,
Regards
Glen & Dee

The nuggets had been soaking in the HCL acid for 24 hours and now I removed them and gave them a bit of a clean up with a toothpick and in the ultrasonic cleaner. The smaller ones have almost lost all the ironstone but the bigger one still has some ironstone and a few small quartz rocks. I gave them all a little weigh just to see how much shrinkage has already occurred and the 2.51 is now 2.36, the 0.43 is now 0.40 and the 48.19 has lost about 2.5 grams of rock and is down to 45.61. Still a little way to go so I'm hoping it doesn't drop below the 40 mark...

great looking piece Con

Thanks Dave, it almost looks like a lobster from that angle.

And thanks once again Glen for fiddling with my knobs oops sorry I meant "dials" and showing a newbie the ropes on where to set it up. Yes I'm all but hanging out until the next one. And also please give a very warm thanks to Dee for the best tasting tucker I've ever had out bush and for that Vodka/orange she made that knocked the living daylights out of me just before bedtime - the perfect nightcap

I think your latest rig may have been the one i got from snowy for graeme, he purchased my 5000. If it was, i see it still listed as for sale in the latest seekers magazine. I have mentioned to them that it was sold.
A great first outing for the 45. You will have to get used to big noises for small targets from now on.

G'day Con,

My daughter Kate said its a very nice bit of Gold -- So do I..

Cheers
Paul

Hi Rwork ,

The 4500 that Graeme had is the one that i purchased for my wife - nice smooth running machine that one

Regards
gullyhunter

Thanks Paul, but really is there such a thing as gold that doesn't look nice? Just doesn't exist.

Yes Rwork, Gullyhunter ended up with the 4500 that you are referring to, mine travelled down from interstate, and you are very right, the noises are certainly different from what I'm used to, like learning a new language.

Absolutly bloody awesome CostasDee. Good on you. Very very very well done. A great story to go with the pics. Really happy for you to "brake" in your new machine with such a great result first time out with it. You couldnt have asked for better. Got to love the 4500. What coil were you using? I dont recall reading that.
Good on you. Hope the run continues for you.

Good luck out there

JW

Cheers JW, yes she's broken in now and sorry I did forget to mention the coil. The 1st nugget was found with the standard Commander 11" mono and the next 2 were found with a Commander 15"x12" mono. I do like the bigger coils personally and that 15x12 is a nice slightly larger size but it does weigh a bit and you do feel it by the end of a hard day when your arm's about to drop off. Yet it does have a larger footprint and punches just a fraction bit deeper than the 11". Horses for courses though so if your working shallow ground there's no need to ware yourself down with the bigger coil, but it's nice to have handy if the ground gets deeper.

Thanks CostaDee, I take along a 15 x 12 mono too but havnt used it for quite a while. It does have a good size foot print & gobsmacks me to the small size gold it can pick up for its size. You are right that it is quite a heavy coil to swing all day. I use a hip stick with it that helps a lot. If you dont have a hip stick I recommend you get one. Best thing since sliced bread & makes swinging the larger heavier coils all day a breeze. It will save you sholder & elbow strain & possible permenant damage. If you are into even larger coils then a swing arm is a good addition as well with the hip stick. Here is a link if you wish to make your own swing arm. I changed mine a bit & put a swivel joint at the elbow where it connects to the detector stem. Works great. http://www.billandlindaprospecting.com/swingarm1.html

Good luck out there.

JW

G'day Costas

I just read your post for the first outing of the 4500, awesome mate, that's a great way to start, it sure gives you some confidence it the new machine ay. Well done again.

cheers dave

Thanks Dave, it sure is a great way to start, and although I am quite excited and looking forward to the next outing, I know that it would be pretty unbelievable to match the these results again and would be content just ending up with anything, whatever size, to go home with. That alone would be a change towards the positive direction for me.

I've taken the nugget out of the acid after 48 hours and given it a clean in the ultrasonic cleaner. I'm including the photo below so that new members that are curious about the results of acid treatment, can see the daily change to the nugget and as to how much ironstone is removed by the HCL (brickies acid) and over what period of time. Weight has gone down almost another 2 grams which is disappointing, but it's still the muck coming off and leaving the gold intact. I generally change the acid after the first day and then every 2nd day after that, so today I put it back in the same acid I had it in yesterday. At the end of the HCL, I plan to put it in the Ali-Brite to remove the remaining quartz and to re-lustre the nugget, as the HCL does leave the gold with a dull finish.



Still hoping (fingers crossed) that it doesn't drop below the "40gm" mark, but there's still a bit of ironstone and quartz to come off so I'm preparing for possible inevitable.

What is this obsession about number 40.....?


Someone says life starts at 40..... Some starts midlife crisis at 40....

WHO CARES....if it drops bellow 40...... That is a ripper of the nugget.

GoldEN

I'll say it will be 40.65 grms. when it's clean.
It's shape reminds me of a crispy seafood stick, mmmm. No, maybe a battered flathead tail.

40.65 you reckon shiraz....maybe we should run a competition to see who gets closest? And before anyone suggests it, the answer is NO, it's only for fun, the prize WILL NOT be the nugget.

Ok,here we go...my guess is 40.01 Absolutely beautiful chunk senor Dee I would be happy with a bit half that size

Cheers..Dave

Congratulations!!
Beautiful looking piece of gold!
I bet you can't wait to get back out there.
I wish you all the best for next time & Cheers for the inspiring picture.
I need it after digging so much trash lately...

G'day CostaDee I recon it will come up at about 41.5 grams I only want to see it up close if I win.

Cheers.

Mike.

Thanks again guys and I like all the guesses as they're all over the 40gm mark at the moment but I'm hoping you're right Mike, as yours is the highest so far. It shed almost another gram in the last 24 hours so almost all the ironstone is off now, but I'll bathe it for another day to finalise the ironstone part of it and then reinspect it before the HFL (Ali-Brite) for the quartz removal and re-shine. I can see now that there are some quartz rocks inside it and one in particular has a gold vein running through it. Anyway it's spent 36 hours in the HCL now and looks like:

I'd say another 2gms max before it becomes as clean as a whistle Costas. It sure is a stunning looking nugget.

Cheers Kon.

It's turning out to be quite nice looking now Kon. If you look back at the photo when it was in my hand, and you see a lump of what looked like rusty twisted lead, and compare it to now, it like chalk and cheese. You really do wonder if an old timer some time ago, did pick it up and thought it was rubbish and tossed it away. Oh well, their small loss, my large gain.

Costas,them there days,if they didn't hear the clang on their shovels,feel the weight in their hands,or most importantly eye ball the glint of color,it would end up on the mullock heap.

Cheers Kon.

40.4500g

I took it out of the HCL acid last night, but it had a margin of ironstone still on it, so I put it back in for another 12 hours. This morning I pulled it out and gave it a final clean up. In the photo, it appears to have some ironstone staining but in reality there is hardly any ironstone left on the nugget.



I am in 2 minds at the moment, whether to clean it up totally and just leave the gold or whether to leave it more natural. It looks magnificent with the quartz still embedded into the nugget and the gold wrapping around the quartz rock and it's always an option to totally remove it later by re-bathing it in the Ali-Brite, but if I remove it now it's a one way street and it's gone for good. So I've decided to bath it in the Ali-Brite for 1 day, just to clean up the stains in the quartz, but hopefully not long enough to eat away the quartz itself. I'll do one more photo tomorrow of the final product, after it's bath in the HFL acid, but I suppose the weight guessing competition will now sadly have to be cancelled, due to a midstream changing of the rules.

Costas,it now looks like quite an attractive gold specimen as it is and like you said,you always have the option of cleaning it further if and when desired down the track.

Cheers Kon.

HI Con,

What a ripper of a maiden run for you and the 45 Well done mate!!!! Nothing better that picking up a machine and going out and finding gold with it on its first use, it really brings up the confidence level.
I'm keepin my eye on you....

Cheers Mick

Well done CostasDee it seems your time with the SD2200 has served you well. Glad you could up grade!

Willo

Hi again guys and once again thanks for your well wishes.

I've halted the "acid" process now. All up it spent 3.5 days (about 84 hours) in the HCL acid and then a further approx 12 hours in the Ali-Brite. I'd say 99% of the ironstone has been removed and quite a few of the loose quartz rocks, but there are still some to give it charm and character. It has transformed from the ugly looking blob that it was, to what appears to be an almost crystalline specimen. Not having dealt with crystalline nuggets before, I am not too sure if it is or it isn't, but it does look like a great piece all the same.





Once again, thanks for the words of praise guys and I hope for you all to find golden nuggets similar to this, so that the "member's find" section fills with success stories. This just shows that there are still some out there somewhere, and your next swing could just unearth one more of these beauties.