New and my first trip.

Hey guys, my real name is rob. Im 24 and have just recently fell in love with prospecting. I went out and bought the 4500 gpx minelab.
i Went out for the first time today near whip sticks, Just a random spot to test out my new baby.
Tryed the mono coil With a few settings i got from the boys at miners den melb.
After about one hour my first target! junk galore though. Had about 20 more hits, all rusted metal pieces that were on the surface, i knew it was not gold. But still looked through the pile of leafs and dirt to see what it was. Finally then found by the looks of it a .22 bullet shell that was at least 1 foot deep. Got me excited for nothing! lol Still i was stoked to find my first bullet.
Anyways stayed for about 4hours, till the rained poured and i went home for the day. Alot of targets, plenty of junk but no nugget yet. Of course i didn't expect any haha! Also then realising how easy i can get lost being only 50 metres from the car... if it wasnt for my phone i could of been in trouble lol I think a need a compass or gps for my piece of mind.
Would love for any recommendations or help people have for me with the machine or places to give a go:) thanks all.

Hi Rob
Well your off to a good start by buying a great machine . Finding a .22 at 1 foot is also a good effort.Reading a goldfield takes time.Its like an apprenticeship. Getting a perfect swing also helps.Beginners tend to coil lift at the end of each swing and move too fast.The coil should be exactly parallel to the ground and slow that swing down (take half steps) .Know how deep the bottom (where the gold sits is below your feet) Type    The lay of the land    in the seach box and go to that post.Ive put info on what to look for.Listen for fient targets.Once your attuned to listening for quieter targets your chances improve immeasurably.
When you find a fient target use your boot to scrape the surface, this will improve the signal.When you start digging the hole should look like a saucer (no sharp edges).
Tully maps are the go in Victoria. Also getting a lesson from Coiltek or the like can also help.Hope this helps
Cheers Dig

Hey mate, big help! thank you!
i went to a few spots today and gave it another go. it was in a old mining place that was dug up, found alot of nails around it. Inside the hole i found a lead slug about foot deep on a steep hill(which took me 20mins to find it) and then a rusted horse show inside the hole that was also foot deep or so. I have a few questions, i got about 20 targets but all was peices of nails or looks like very old bullets being a foot deep. Some areas i left, because it was just beeping everywhere! Is it better to go over them areas and check it everything? Because the amount of old rusted peices of metal i found was non stop in some areas! Even at 24 i had to catch my breath a few times lol they were mostly half a foot deep.

Hi Rob,
The 4500 is a great machine and feel sure you will crack a nugget soon.
It would be worth your while typing "4500" into the search box top RH of page, there is a mine of information their.

Here is an example;
https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t7240-tuning-your-4500?highlight=4500


Good luck out there and YES be sure to read up on safety issues, eventually you will hit an area that has no mobile reception.
This time of the year especially you must carry water and VERY advisable a PLB.

Good luck, take care.

strykah wrote:Some areas i left, because it was just beeping everywhere! Is it better to go over them areas and check it everything? Because the amount of old rusted peices of metal i found was non stop in some areas! Even at 24 i had to catch my breath a few times lol they were mostly half a foot deep.

G'day strykah

I'm thinking everyone probably left the area for the same reason, of course there could be a piece of gold there somewhere but like you said you will need to remove every piece of junk to find it.

You have got a very good machine and with the 11" mono coil it is an effective weapon, you just have to work out which areas will give you the best results.

cheers dave

Hi Strykah and welcome to the site mate. The boys have given you some good advice and with the 4500 you should do well. But I would like to go in another direction of advice, and that is the code of conduct that is expected by all prospector. Have a Miners Right, Fill in your holes, Leave no rubbish behind ( what you bring in you take out), do not jump fences and get permission from land owners before detecting on their land. First check  to see if you are allowed to prospect in the area that you are planing to go to. ( Same State and National Parks have "No Go Zones". Parks Victoria have all the info of where you can and can not go detecting.) Stay away from  known "Historical" sites with a detector. Only park your car just of tracks (as close to the road as possible) and do not go Bush Bashing through the bush with your car.
This info is to give you a heads up on the Code of conduct that is on the back of your Miners Right and in the PMAV (Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria) Code of conduct that is also recognised by the State Government. If you are caught by Park Rangers for breaking any of these laws there is heavy and costly fined that go with it.
Also the reason why I brought this up is because the State Government and the Greens are trying at the moment  to bring in more State or National Parks into the Triangle and if we do not do the right thing by following the "Code of Conduct" the Greens use this as ammunition to fire back at us.
Mate, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you would do the wrong thing, I'm just giving you the heads up of what is expected of any prospector. If you are up Maryborough way I would be more that happy to take you out for a detect.
wombat