Hi, Some Questions

Hi,

I love the feel and look of gold and if it smelt I would like that too.

Fairly new to gold prospecting. Had a 2000 back in 1997 but only for a few trips due to other commitments. Now I have a 5000 but am really surprised at the lack of advancement in technology. Guess this is due to the near monopoly at this end of the product range.

I have a few questions which I thank you in advance for your responses.

Been heading to Talbot and Dunolly a fair bit lately - heaps of sharp ground noise. Is this typical of what everyone is experiencing? The good guys at Maryborough Coiltek suggest it may be due to all the rain. Really annoying watching the Minelab video where they imply that they have elliminated noise when using Fine. They should come out with me to Amherst and listen to it screech.

I have met a few people on the goldfields and the feedback is that they are only finding small pieces - i.e. less than 0.5 grams. Is this what I should expect or are there still larger pieces out there?

I have the Doug Stone Atlas which is good for getting lost and a few of the John Tulley maps whch are accurate but everywhere I go the ground is thrashed. Should I be looking outside the maps or just persevere on the thrashed ground?

Ground depth is something that I am struggling to understand. I sort of assume that where I am is ok due to all the holes that are already there. In general terms I am thinking that the top of the slopes are shallower and the gullys are deeper. Is this roughly correct?

I would love to spend a day with someone who knows what they are doing and can show me what to look for and the correct technique so that in future I can liberate some nice pieces from the ground and take them home.

Also thinking of buying a NF 17x11 Mono. Presently using the Commander 11 Mono but when I test it with a 1.5 gram nugget it does not respond until about 100mm. It seems even less effective with debris on the ground.

Cheers,

John

Hi John
I can confirm what you are saying,have even been to talbot myself.Many areas now just getting a target is the highlight of your day so you are not alone.Most days if we find gold they are sub-grammers so a lot of time on the ground is needed before something larger turns up.Some of us are fortunate to have this time so if you see posts of reasonable finds its usually putting in the hours.
The 17"x11" is brilliant on the 5000.The field is very broad,great ground coverage and particularly sensitive to small deep nuggets and good where there is scrub.Don't doubt the depth either as its very cable.
Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks. I will keep plugging away at the 0.2 grammers until I get the NF.

Any advice on the other stuff?

Cheers,

John

Hi John
You have a machine capable of finding gold everyday.With time on the ground the law of average says that as long as you are finding gold the bigger ones will turn up however rare they are now.
Ground balance is very important as often as possible to achieve correct depth and prevent missing targets as its the faint signals that make or break the day.Often you may think the machine is ground balanced when it isn,t.It doesn't take much to loose a signal.
In hot ground work small areas slowly,a fast swing will signal the ironstone too much making target identification harder.A good target will signal well even on a very slow coil sweep.
Good luck John

Todays tiddlers

Thank you Steve,

I will focus on doing what you suggest.

Nice days work. Congrats.

Cheers,

John

Hi Steve,

Just got home from two days in the bush.
Tuesday was ok. Picked up a couple of sub one grammers with my dad. First time he has been a part of finding gold.
Today was better. A nice nugget just under 6 grams.
I have photos on my iphone but not sure how to insert them here.
Thanks for your input.
Cheers,
John

6 Grams,now thats a great find hope you can post your finds,well done.

Steve,

I would like to but I am a bit confused about how to upload images.

John

Hi John
Your generalisation on depth is pretty good.If you remember from school how rivers are shallow when its steep and get deeper as the area flattens out.Soil sitting on the slopes is the same.You will notice a the bottom of slopes where the Mullocks are its deeper.The bottom where the gold sits will be in general twice as deep as the height of the mullock.So if the mullock is .5 of a metre high unless you are using a big coil with open timings you wont bottom.Generally from the mullock the next feature moving up is costeans (trenches)thats where they tried to find the run.(generally this ground will be still too deep.Next up the slope will be potholes  or surfacing.Its around this in general is good ground of the right depth.
Another good method is to look for the ring of gravels around the base of trees.(these are dragged from the Bottom by the trees growth.(they also show you what gravel is on the bottom)You can now by noticing differences in colour get on the run.Gold forms often when two different rocks meet.This happened as the gold in quartz protruded on the ridge above you.(frost cracked it and erosion sent it down the slope.(so the ring of gravels around the trees bring this back to the top.
In general once the gravel ring arent around the base of trees the area is too deep.By looking at the above you will now know what you are walking over which is the key to improving you chances.
Test pit your machines.
Knowing what your machine is doing underground is imperative to good detecting.(timings on GPX machines have confused this issue further)Run your machine using favourite coils over a test pit.(Coiltek can direct you to one at Prices Rd ).Knowing the depth you machince is detecting is imperative.At least get an idea using a small them medium coil.
Knowing whats under your feet and that you are bottoming improves your chances immeasuralby,and thats helps
Cheers Dig

Thanks Dig great info.

Thanks Dig,

Appreciate you sharing your knowledge. Very useful info.
Can I ask what you mean by 'open timings'?

Also re the photos. I tried to upload them but it seems to have set up an account with serving.com.
I have loaded the photos on that but have no idea how to get them from there to here.

John

Hi John
Machines pre GPX machines had just one timing(This is the time thats taken to go from transmit to recieve)Other than that the pulse train or group of frequencies repeatedly transmitted is the main change with each model.In general they added more higher frequencies and put in less low frequencies
Basically the machines got more sensitive with each generation.Couple this with the electronics to run monos quieter and we get to todays model.
In doing so you have to be aware that each timing sens, enhance etc is a lesser timing.The time between transmit and recieve is less therefore depth capability is less.(radius of coil increases depth but decreases sensitivity)
Thats why I suggest everyone running GPX machines read up on their manual and also test pit them.Detecting is much the same as golf (not one club does it all)Not one coil does it all.Knowing what your machine and coil is doing is invaluable plus where the "bottom "is  the key for every operator.
The Jps qldsandys tunas granites geofjunks stoppsys etc know their machines and get results because of this.The more knowledge you have the more your "luck" increases.
Cheers Dig

Thanks again Dig,

So if I am correct in understanding your post there is a time/location to run the machine through various settings and perhaps even in normal to maximise depth.
The six grammer was about 12 inches down between the mullocks and the costeans on a slight slope so it sounds deep enough to warrant a bigger coil.
I did try the normal setting but it was too noisy. I didn't try the DD because I don't think it has any depth punch at all.

So much to learn!

Cheers,

John

Hi John
If you are getting to 12 inches with the settings and coil you have on you are doing OK.You have found the gold on the bottom.Thats a good size piece so there is a possiblity of more .The ground will get deeper as the bottom drops away further down the slope.In deeper ground go to a medium coil 16 round etc,but you might have to wait.Theres a lot of moisture around at the moment and this makes the ground noisier. As you move up slopes run smaller coils like 11 round and 14 x 9 It takes 4 to 6 week for rain either sink in or evaporate after a drenching.After that its prime time for detecting.When you get time bury lead in the bank of a creek or edge of surfacing and know what you machine does on each timing.This will help you down the track
Cheers Dig

Thanks Dig.

Tuesday

Wednesday

That was harder than finding it.
John

Not so good this week.
Tiny piece on Monday.

Picked up the new NF 17x11 Tuesday morning.
By Wednesday morning I was swinging it like a sand wedge. May take some getting used to.
Switched back to the 11 mono and picked up another small bit this afternoon.

Tried a spot on a Tulley map with no diggings nearby. Still there were detector holes everywhere. Where to go?  
John

Better few days and the weather was great. Flys and mosquitos were bad.

Seven little pieces and the Queen pellet. Hoping this stops the spread of baby pellets.
Cheers,
John

Looks like your doing well looney. Thanks Dig. For all the info. Some golden advice, cheers

Hi Waveform,
Numbers are good but it would be nice if they were bigger. Still exciting digging up the little bits but last couple of weeks I have not had to go deeper than about 3 inches. Nothing like getting down 9 inches and hearing that sweet gold sound still in the ground.
Not sure if I am hearing the deep ones. Not sure if I have the right temperament for this. Probably need to join a group and see how others do it but I suspect most will be hobbyists only and I prefer the isolation and freedom of being alone.
Will not be posting any more updates unless I get a big one. To Dig and Steve thanks and if you ever want to join me in the place where I have been getting them feel free to contact me.
Cheers,
John

Hi John, I think it does take a lot of patience as a hobby. I guess it depends on your expectations as well. I know I have tried to slow down and enjoy the bush and birds by taking regular breaks. I wouldn't worry to much about the holes you see as you will come to realise that the gold will always be there people can't find it all over large areas. Even in a small patch you have worked over thoroughly someone else can come in even with the same machine but because the ground is different and emi may not be as bad or their technique is better they could pull some out. It will probably be the small ones or the big ones down deep. Earlier you mentioned the fine timings not working as well as they were advertised and being noisy but they are not optimal timings for heavily mineralised soil. Sensitive smooth and enhance are better in these. I have run in horrific soils that were drenched and sensitive smooth with a larger coil meant I could have it humming along fine. I guess the more experienced good guy know when to switch timings or what turning the gain down and changing other filters affect the machine in the soil they are working. Every time I try normal I find it noisey but I don't know if normal with a gain of 6-8 on a 11inch round with a low number stab. is better than enhance or fine. Their are other filters as well like quiet audio that I don't understand its effects in terms of depth or sensitivity with this coil or that. Good thing is, its fun learning about all of it and if you go above and beyond then at least you potentially benefit. Cheers and HH.

Hi John ,I am a new member and have detected the area you mentioned . Lot of work with a little luck .Did hit a patch ,well it was all lined up in a row ,with heaps of
unfilled holes within 1- 2 meters ,don't know how they missed it ,they may have dug up a big one and headed for the bank. Any how the biggest piece was a 19 grammer . By the way it was a sd2200d with a 12 inch or 14 inch coiltex dd. Most of it was sitting on top of the ground ,except for the 19g piece ,about 75mm under
the ground . Really looked like a bomb site ,but people still miss some . Best of luck .
Gordie

Good on ya Gordie,

Same mate, most of the stuff I find now is just sitting on the ground. Big yellow chunks everywhere.
Although I have to admit I did get the 'GPX 5000 Pellet Finder' out of the car the other day because I needed to find some more pellets.
Found this.

Almost a perfect sphere and the same size as a slightly larger pellet.
In my life I doubt that I could cover 5% of the Talbot area so you may not have been where I have. So where did you say you where, exactly?

Cheers,

John

Dig24crt ... that is some of the best advice, and definitely the best explanation that I have ever read on 'how to read the ground' and your immediate surrounds etc. Congratulations!!!

Newbies or not, this advice is definitely worth memorising and sticking in the grey-matter for those important outings!!