642 ounce nugget found at Crusoe Reservoir, Bendigo!!!

Heard several reports of a whopper 642 ouncer, found behind the reservoir, Crusoe Gully, Kangaroo Flat in Bendigo.

One bloke says he saw a pic of it, shaped like a horseshoe, with a bit of quartz on one end.

I know of a 20 ouncer and other bits found there last year, so it wouldnt surprise me, also the old timers got a 400 ouncer there.

Apparently it was found with a sd 2100.

How long ago, or how old is the news claimpeg.
Cheers Cobber

About 2 weeks ago.

I'm guessing that the only reason we didn't hear about it sooner was that the 2100 wasn't 'modded'.

On the lighter side, it shows that a machine that actually works in the environment it was designed for is really all you need.
Congrats to the finder!

Cheers,



Marco

I reckon the sd 2100 was the best detector ever made!

Claimpeg wrote:I reckon the sd 2100 was the best detector ever made!

I won't disagree with you although I feel the 4500 is the more versatile and just as able ...but value-wise, the SD2100 is certainly hard to beat. I theorise that the reason the SDs find large bits so regularly is because they are less sensitive to smaller targets (with the standard coil & setup), hence they'll miss smaller targets (both junk and small nuggets). That means less digging and less small gold... You'll beep on the big stuff more often and ...Presto! But in recent years they seem to have found some large nuggets. The owners certainly aren't complaining!

Cheers,



Marco

Are the Easter Holidays coming up ???????, seems to be a bit of a Trend around the "Triangle" , Big Nuggets appearing just like that
Call me a cynic
Oh well, it may be true , I guess stranger things have happened, Well done to the finder if thats the case, Your name was on it.
goldiggin2 Do I sound Green with envy ? well yes I am.

Claimpeg is there any info on the depth which it was found at, i doubt you could keep the lid on such a large nugget find its not exactly a speck, good luck to the finder i just hope it wasnt this guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdeG9uaOtGw

really annoying.

Nero,
Your response is the way I was thinking. I owned a 2100 for 3 years & thought it was the ant's pants. Didn't find a lot of gold with it. Listened to all the experts & not so experts & changed coils constantly to no avail. Sold the 2100 & bought the 3500. On a recent prospecting expedition I ran my 17" x 11" Coiltek Wallaby ( the coil aguably the best for this machine) & found jack squat. My mate found a 0.5 gm spikey bit that I had walked over with no reaction from my machine. 1/2 an hour later we ran all our coils over his spikey bit. My standard coil registered his spikey bit, my Coiltek 11" round mono registered it along with the 17" x 11" mono registering it. This makes me think that coil choice & settings has more to do with finding gold than the actual machine. I ran the Wallaby on my 2100 & now wonder would I have been better off selling that coil & staying with the standard coil. It is all speculation but to me it does raise some question.

Recently I pinged 3 bits with my standard set up on an outing with Hassa which makes me wonder what is the advantage of these after market coils, unless you are cleaning up a patch.

Hi All
SDs with 18dds did find the majority of big deep nuggets in the Triangle.Its only been in the last 5 to 6 years that Monos have been more popular.Sure there were people using Monos.There where two types of detectorists.Those that used DDs and kept their machine as quiet as possible and those that used Monos and listened thru the noise for targets.
My theory as to why here in Vic big deep nuggets are only rare occurences is that
1Using big Monos on Normal timings with latter machines (that have pulse trains more bias to High Frequencies)You wont pick the deep targets from the associated noise.An conversly buy using modern timings like sens smooth on the 4000 and enhance on the 4500 you will have quiter machines but these timing are not full depth timings.
Radius of the coil is still the best way to get depth,but to get the 1 metre mark and use the modern timings I believe you have to up the radius of the coil again.From memory JPs Clermont dig with the 4000 is a good example of this.
I believe there are still Big nuggets out there ,But like fishing you have to use the right bait to get the right fish.
Cheers Dig

Seeing is believing. I need to see a video of it in the back of a ute in the main drag of bendigo or something first.

If its true it would be a time to celebrate because it would be the first nugget in a while that has gained Austarlian Heritage status and as such cannot be sold offshore or ever broken down or smeltered down.

Tributer

Hi Golddigging2
Not that cynical, a nugget on page 3 on the Heraldsun was always a good indicator that a new machine was out

Cheers dig

Tributer wrote:Seeing is believing. I need to see a video of it in the back of a ute in the main drag of bendigo or something first.

If its true it would be a time to celebrate because it would be the first nugget in a while that has gained Austarlian Heritage status and as such cannot be sold offshore or ever broken down or smeltered down.

Tributer

good point Trib... so what happens then? the state buys it off you for a paulty sum? pays you spot price? just takes it or what?

Looks like all the big nuggets found now days in Australia will at least stay in the country unlike the hand of Faith
Under the Act, gold nuggets worth over $250 000 fall within a wide range
of significant cultural heritage material.
These are known as Australian protected objects, and
require an export permit if they are to leave the country for sale,
exhibition or any other purpose.
There are penalties under the Act for
knowingly exporting an Australian protected object without an export
permit.
Mark

Hey Claimpeg that nugget wasn't found by someone called Steve was it
Mark

Must have been found with a QED

I think the laws still allow for you to sell it offshore if the local museums can't afford to pay a reasonable price for it. But first you must exhaust all avenues of local sale. Part of the problem with the sale of the Hand Of Faith (Weight: 874.82 Troy Ounces) was that the owners were unable to obtain an 'acceptable' offer (whatever that might have been) for it at the time and wanted to sell it ASAP. In November, 1980 numerous newspapers ran articles questioning the sale of such an "important item of cultural heritige/value" to an overseas buyer. Since the sale had not been concluded, many people urged the government to buy the item and display it in the middle of Melbourne as a unique tourist attraction. At the very least, they wanted a museum to purchase the nugget, to keep it here. The same lamentations also occurred after the Welcome Stranger had been chopped up and melted.

But the museums back then were generally run buy a cheesy bunch of lads who felt that nobody else would pony up the cash so they sat back smugly thinking they'd get it themselves. They also made bids at around 1/3 the value of the nugget. Probably thinking they might win it at such a low price. But the Casino in Vegas concluded the sale when no better offer was made. The new owners promptly insured their $1 Million purchase for $3 Million before it was placed on the plane to leave Australia. They've since been displaying a FAKE replica at the Golden Nugget Casino (with two armed guards at all times) until very recently when the Casino was subject to a takeover and the new owners stumbled across the real Hand of Faith in the Casino vault. Hence, all those pictures on the internet taken at the casino show the fake nugget.

The owners of this new nugget would probably be bound and encouraged by laws in Australia to sell their new find to a local collector, museum or business. No doubt there's more attractive offers from wealthy overseas bidders if a local museum won't pay for it. The only thing in the way would be a Mineral Export Permit. Those are relatively easy to obtain when approached from the right direction. Most people are just happy to get a fair price for their find, but the vast majority of gold found in Australia is melted down by either the finders (detectorists) or the various bullion dealers (not to mention the Perth Mint). There's been a few people caught out for selling nuggets to overseas buyers (usually to people in the USA) without the right Export Permit. In one case I heard that the Australian Federal Police retrieved a sizeable nugget from its US Buyer and returned it to the Aussie seller, warning him that if he did it again he'd be charged. He later sold the nugget again, but had to obtain the right Export Permit the second time around.

Cheers,


Marco

If the government dont want to pay the value of the nugget then send it over seas it would be worth millions,

If this isnt a hoax i wonder where it was really found.

Goldnomad wrote:Must have been found with a QED

Please Goldnomad, What is a QED AND Has a photo surfaced yet? from The Cynic ! golddiggin2

Goldnomad wrote:Must have been found with a QED

I can see the headlines in the Fantasy Times.

"Vapour detector locates vapour nugget"

to Queensland Sandy, What? Not another cynic !! Perhaps we are kindred spirits. Love It. goldiggin2

Oh well, on the off chance it ain't a hoax (wouldn't want to be the cynic that missed the rush) will
probably see a few of you out there tommorow

I don't care if it's true or not - at least it a better topic than the 4500 successor. God, am I sick of that.
Jig.

"Oh well, on the off chance it ain't a hoax (wouldn't want to be the
cynic that missed the rush) will
probably see a few of you out there
tommorow"


Just remember that the fenced area around Crusoe Reservoir is a no-go area for detecting and the Bendigo
Council have water wardens patrolling it regularly.

Robert

I rang the council and they said as long as i fill in my holes they dont have a problem with detecting there, ive been going there for years, never been told to leave.

G'day nero_design;

Well said about the Hand of Faith.Shame on our government to let an important and valuable item of historical significance slip through our fingers,and for what,a fist full of short term,extra dollars,to keep it in the country.
Just ask the owners of the Golden Nugget casino,how much revenue,the Hand of Faith has brought in from tourism alone,I'm sure you could multiply it by 10 times,that what they paid for the nugget.So much for considering and protecting our tourism industry,not to mention losing an item of great heritage and significant historical importance for Australia.


Cheers kon61

This is the second rumour you have started this month claimpeg you got kicked out so you want lots of detectorists to go there to annoy the rangers,sour grapes. Ron.

Ive NEVER been kicked out of Crusoe, one bloke claimed he was last year, but i dont know anyone who has ever had a problem there.....i park my car out the front, must have been seen lots of times, they obviously dont care.

Those rumuors CP get people to sell there 4500's for the pending release of the new machine to drive the price down on second hand machines then announce a monster nugget found with an SD machine drives the price up on these, you really want a 4500 bad. Ron

ive got a 4000, i wont be buying ANY detector, including the new one, unless there is a BIG increase in depth on big targets.