Dead in the water

Kon, you are not a bad bloke, but just look at where your forum is going. Nowhere, that's where.
If you are happy with that, then good luck. Each time I check in here, what do I see? Sod all. Irrelevant. Stale and boring.
If you wish to survive you need to look at pepping it up a bit. Now I know that the old farts that rarely post here will not agree, but what are they doing for this forum? FA that's what.
Can't step on anyone's toes. Oh no, don't rock the boat.
Prospecting Australia has the monopoly on dead set boring with a bunch of nobodies posting crap to put you to sleep, so no point competing with that drivel.
Since it was sabotaged Finders (the oldest prospecting forum) has left a gap that this forum could perhaps replace, if not such a Nanny site.
So wade in all you old irrelevant farts and make a statement.

Hi Reg, You know what I have to agree some what.
I think the halcyon days of the forums have been?
One can sit all day and scroll through endless youtube and face book footage of gold mining/detecting/panning/opals in fact hundreds of hours of the stuff.
I also think it's a case of the hobby in decline; sure detector sales might be good re the gpx 6000 but how many people are getting out on a daily basis?
I would like to see more gold finds posted but in reality they're few and far between now. Members might get bored with my tiddlers but hey; that's their problem.
I'm happy the way this forum is run and to be honest the less turbulence the better, it's nice to be able to go away for a few days and not worry about what bun fights have erupted
So, steady as she goes everyone, relax and enjoy a beer  



cheers  moredeep

I've lost count of the great gold, coin and relic forums that have folded or are hanging on by a thread. Each of those I'd belonged to (and not just in Oz) have had the same difficulty as this one with almost all ending. And its more than just competitions with or without real prizes. FB has taken so many users away, and in particular, so many new chums.

The internet forums like this one have been fantastic with stored information and some incredibly knowledgeable and helpful people. I'm not sure of how to garner increased support but it may be a sign of the times. In my circumstances, I'm not getting out as much as I used to so I'm not posting finds. Some social posts are good to keep things ticking over but the core business is detecting and prospecting. I'll hang in and contribute as and when I can.

Reg, I understand the silence can be deafening at times, but times are what they are & even though few are the ones contributing to discussion on here lately, things will surely brighten up & take a turn for the better, for a forum can only be as good as its contributing members.
The only expectation I have from any member on here, is to respect the rule of "respect for one another" & less any write ups contravene the rules governing this forum, each member on here can contribute what they want, when they want.
I expect nothing more, nothing less, for no one on here is held to ransom.
Of course I'd like more members on here contributing in a positive manner, in way of discussion/write ups/pictures etc, etc (especially that of concerning the gold game) but, in saying that, its up to each & every individual to want to do their bit.

Cheers Kon

Yes it is slow, especially around this time of the year with so many people away on holiday with their families. Heaven help us if it did become like Finders. I found that forum embarrassing to read how people could treat each other like that. Little wonder it folded and the same would probably happen to this forum if it took the same approach as Finders.

If this forum folds then so be it, but it shouldn't lower itself to the shocking level of Finders just to spice things up a bit.

Regards Axtyr.

Ah, well, it was just a thought. I guess Facebook has taken over to a certain extent, but Facebook is a here one minute and gone the next situation whereas a forum is a library where information is stored. Perhaps the attention span of Facebook posters is limited.
Some may have found Finders a bit rough, but it was the first of the prospecting forums which eventually suffered from poor or little admin and succumbed to sabotage.

You have a lovely way with words Reg. Congrats for keeping the reputation of the disgruntled, tactless, grumpy old prospector alive!

When i signed up to this forum many years ago users would post the occasional find video on YouTube and there was essentially nothing else on there relating to prospecting.  These days any newbie with a Gold Monster or 3 specks in their pan has a channel with a fancy intro, pumping music, thousands of followers, etc.  This has most definitely drawn a lot of would be forum members astray and yes, many of the left over grey nomad crowd are on the other forum currently comparing sausages and mash that they cooked for dinner last night.  

For what it's worth my advice would be (for those who care enough about this forum) to start more topics, post trip reports, ANY finds, etc.  That doesn't mean i'm going to lead the way!  I'm just a casual lurker at best who rarely gets a swing in these days, but i'll think about it 🤪

Reg Wilson wrote:Ah, well, it was just a thought. I guess Facebook has taken over to a certain extent, but Facebook is a here one minute and gone the next situation whereas a forum is a library where information is stored. Perhaps the attention span of Facebook posters is limited.
Some may have found Finders a bit rough, but it was the first of the prospecting forums which eventually suffered from poor or little admin and succumbed to sabotage.

I detest Farcebook as it is so poorly structured that you can't find what you want and keep getting junk you don't want, shoved down your throat. I have been physically inactive in the goldfields as I have a range of medical issues that prevent me from getting out there, but I am still interested in the exploits of those that are able to get out into the bush.

Thanks for the compliment Avon G. It at least got you off your A*s* to post in the first time for ... how long?

Gentlemen, lets keep things in perspective here please.
War overseas, an unpredictable climate with severe extremities from one day to the next, the never ending covid-19 saga, bringing grief to many & the worlds economies to the brink of recession/collapse. Are these current times not enough to contend with, must we take it out on one another as well?  
Reg, I'd like to think we're all human, each one with our good & our bad, but life is to short for wasting ones time on argument for the sake of argument alone. Lets concentrate on getting on with life, as well with one another.

Kon

Couldn't agree more Kon and just for the record i think you're doing a great job.

To answer your question Reg I last posted before Xmas to thank Kon and Jim for helping me track down goldfields information and I also in late November to assist a new member with info regarding Enfield. Sorry if this doesn't meet your standards, however priorities in life (eg. losing two family members) tend to have got the better of me.

Sorry I said anything.

I do not recall when I first joined this forum but I have quit and rejoined 4 times If I recall correctly since the days of the 15000.
Back in the early days things could get a bit heated when talking about the Infinium compared to the ML 2000..or the Gerald Wright Midas series machines. Arhh the good ole days of comparing other brands to the SD2000 in the Dunolly test patches. and when I used to argue with Ivanll and all the ML operators
Now things are calmer and we have all got to know each other a bit better. Yes things Are a bit quiet now but we have all got to know the game well and understand our machines and as a result we ask fewer questions.
    How many remember the GS15000 and people trying to compare it to the 2000 Every new detector that tried to get up and running in Australia had to contend with the Minelab boys trying to destroy  them. There was so much to talk about in those learning days.

Today I am not convinced that the detecting ability of the latest and greatest coin and relic machines is all that much better than  previous units...For eg the Sov XS series and GT are still a bloody good beach machines even when put up against the Vanquish and EQ,s and the 3030 etc. I do however concede that the ML PI's are sort of ok gold detectors

PS:
It does not take much of an effort to keep a forum running...Just bung in a post now and again Aye!!

Keep it up Adrian, you are one of the regulars here and "there" that do help things roll along, although at times stirring the pot a bit, I am sure.

I am struggling to find something worth talking about these days although I am happy that I mentioned my old GS15000 because it caused me to have a check on the old beast which revealed that I had left a set of batteries still fitted to it...A number of years, but all that had happened was that the battery holders had become brittle and had fallen apart. Lucky that the batteries had not rotted. So that has given me something to do today.

Have also recently purchased an ancient Garret Deep Seeker just for the hell of it and to see if I can still find stuff with that machine. Have not assembled it yet but it is in good nick for an much used oldie.

Hi Adrian,

Let us know what you do to fix her up i have an olde Garret A2B that sitting in the cupboard gathering dust, tried using it on the beach and it was a devil to set up and was wandering if all wasnt right with it

Cheers,Ron

Hi Reg,

Your the guru on tow coils and we all have read your stories and finds along the way...could we set up a do's and don'ts in regards to setting up a tow coil

On google there is many set ups and i imagine they all have their pros and cons

I have a chinese 250cc quad bike and hanging 4m out the front on an aluminium frame and wire guide ropes i dangle a 1200mm tow {push} coil which is a home made flat wound mono coil

I raise and lower the coil thru a rope and pulley system with knots in the rope to set the height

I've tried all sorts of drag coil set ups but fing the all rattle to pieces on rocks so came up with the suspended one which works fairly good on uneven ground but keeps you very busy

My next attempt is to drag two 100mm hdpe pipes spread apart set up like a sled and being longer than normal should even out all those horrid rocks that shake everything to pieces...should just glide over the tops

Most set ups drag a conveyor belt...some have wheels up front some have a pipe...these work well on sand and very small stones

Just so you know i use a slightly modded GPX4000 and its dead quiet

Reg, have you been thru some different set ups

Cheers,Ron

Hi All,

Dead, never!!!

Every winter in WA we spend it out there prospecting...that is we ,when at home spend time looking for hi AU's in mining reports and apply them to 40E's

There is always somewhere to go its never ending but the gold is getting thinner gone is the days of using a new model detector on old patches although some have done well

Finding good ground is relatively easy it just depends on the ground if its gonna give it up or not

Stocks and shares on the ASX are a good source for exploring as they do all the work for you...i use Hot Copper a forum to gain an insight to exploration and keep up with new exploring methods like UFF sampling...seems to work

Anyways rambling a bit...Cheers,Ron

flouro wrote:Hi Adrian,

Let us know what you do to fix her up i have an olde Garret A2B that sitting in the cupboard gathering dust, tried using it on the beach and it was a devil to set up and was wandering if all wasnt right with it

Cheers,Ron

The A2B and the Deep Seekers do not have the ground balance range to be able to balance out wet salt beach sand and the Disc mode does not ground balance.   This detector is an 15 khz Garrett Ground Hog that has been modified by the GMC to perform well in Aussie ground mineral conditions and has a lot of Aussie gold nuggets to its credit. The A in A2B means Aussie.
  At the beach you can run in the VLF Automatic retune GB mode up on the dry sand or wherever the ground balance will work.
You can try the TR Disc mode and use the disc setting to tune out (to some degree) the wet sand. You will have to Turn the Gain / sensitivity down.

 This from the Manual:    https://garrett.com/sites/default/files/2019-11/A2B-ADS-Goldhunter.pdf

In searching the beaches, the wetted sand is usually so conductive that the VLF Ground
Canceling Circuitry cannot tune
them out completely.  Also
, some beaches contain black
magnetic sand in scattered pockets.  These pockets
are usually of varying densities which also
prevents perfect ground canceling
One method which greatly
reduces most annoying beach
situations is to set the detector in AUTOMATIC
tuning.  As you scan, the disturbances are
somewhat “tuned out,” thus lessening their disturbing effects.

The first tow coil that I built was a small unit with just a 20" round coil using the first auto tracking detector, a VLF GT16000. I had seen a GS15000 used at Wedderburn that one of the early Minelab guys was experimenting with, and although it was not ideal because it did not track, it actually did find a small colour, and that was enough to spark my interest.
When the GT16000 became available I built my first 'sled' which detected a 6oz piece. Don McCoy from Minelab then built me a rectangular 30" coil that mounted in a sled was towed behind a 4 stroke ATV. I later sold that through Miners den in Melbourne when the SD2200 became available and I used a 38" round coil built by a friend to a Bruce Candy design.
The tow sled was built from plastic plumbing pipe, plastic welded, using replaceable skid liners of split poly pipe. The coil was enclosed in a protective wooden frame and height was adjustable, with a marking system which used a reservoir of agricultural dye sprayed by a 12v pump, controlled by a button on the handlebars of the tow vehicle. The tow vehicle was a Polaris diesel ATV, chosen because unlike a 4 stroke, the diesel did not interfere with the detector electronics when the alternator was switched off via an on- off switch. Using ear buds with industrial ear muffs over them the diesel noise was effectively shut out.
This system worked well in Victoria, however the abrasive ground in WA soon destroyed the sled, so a different system was built. Some very heavy conveyer belt was purchased from a mining scrap yard and the boxed coil was attached by large plastic nuts and bolts. A split poly pipe "bumper bar' protected the leading edge of the conveyer belt and rope was used to attach the contraption to the tow vehicle. This system was pretty much bullet proof and was improved even more when later the GPX4000 became available.
The beauty of this set up is that it can be used on any terrain and even long grass is not a problem as the weight of the conveyer belt flattens the grass, but it stands up again once the unit has passed over it. This is the combination that I still have and occasionally use.
Hope this has been informative.

Reg Wilson wrote:The first tow coil that I built was a small unit with just a 20" round coil using the first auto tracking detector, a VLF GT16000. I had seen a GS15000 used at Wedderburn that one of the early Minelab guys was experimenting with, and although it was not ideal because it did not track, it actually did find a small colour, and that was enough to spark my interest.
When the GT16000 became available I built my first 'sled' which detected a 6oz piece. Don McCoy from Minelab then built me a rectangular 30" coil that mounted in a sled was towed behind a 4 stroke ATV. I later sold that through Miners den in Melbourne when the SD2200 became available and I used a 38" round coil built by a friend to a Bruce Candy design.
The tow sled was built from plastic plumbing pipe, plastic welded, using replaceable skid liners of split poly pipe. The coil was enclosed in a protective wooden frame and height was adjustable, with a marking system which used a reservoir of agricultural dye sprayed by a 12v pump, controlled by a button on the handlebars of the tow vehicle. The tow vehicle was a Polaris diesel ATV, chosen because unlike a 4 stroke, the diesel did not interfere with the detector electronics when the alternator was switched off via an on- off switch. Using ear buds with industrial ear muffs over them the diesel noise was effectively shut out.
This system worked well in Victoria, however the abrasive ground in WA soon destroyed the sled, so a different system was built. Some very heavy conveyer belt was purchased from a mining scrap yard and the boxed coil was attached by large plastic nuts and bolts. A split poly pipe "bumper bar' protected the leading edge of the conveyer belt and rope was used to attach the contraption to the tow vehicle. This system was pretty much bullet proof and was improved even more when later the GPX4000 became available.
The beauty of this set up is that it can be used on any terrain and even long grass is not a problem as the weight of the conveyer belt flattens the grass, but it stands up again once the unit has passed over it. This is the combination that I still have and occasionally use.
Hope this has been informative.

Hi Reg,

Its a long road to get everything right, but like you say different setups for different ground conditions

I would have thought that adding the extra split pipe for a wear plate would have done the trick...i will have to get thicker hdpe and split that because i think that's the way to go, especially on rocky ground...i guess i will find out!

I have not gone the diesel way yet because if you get far enough back from the motor you lose the noise

I am in the process of making DD and anti interference coils ...with the help of a friend, but with crabbing fishing and rebuilding a 6m boat trailer its hard to find time

Im sure there is some other setups that work out there...i know of one where he dangles the coils just in front of quad and pushes the button for the winch to wind up or down to set the height of the coil...dont know which coil he's using but its on a honda quad

Cheers for now Ron

adrian ss wrote:

flouro wrote:Hi Adrian,

Let us know what you do to fix her up i have an olde Garret A2B that sitting in the cupboard gathering dust, tried using it on the beach and it was a devil to set up and was wandering if all wasnt right with it

Cheers,Ron

The A2B and the Deep Seekers do not have the ground balance range to be able to balance out wet salt beach sand and the Disc mode does not ground balance.   This detector is an 15 khz Garrett Ground Hog that has been modified by the GMC to perform well in Aussie ground mineral conditions and has a lot of Aussie gold nuggets to its credit. The A in A2B means Aussie.
  At the beach you can run in the VLF Automatic retune GB mode up on the dry sand or wherever the ground balance will work.
You can try the TR Disc mode and use the disc setting to tune out (to some degree) the wet sand. You will have to Turn the Gain / sensitivity down.

 This from the Manual:    https://garrett.com/sites/default/files/2019-11/A2B-ADS-Goldhunter.pdf

In searching the beaches, the wetted sand is usually so conductive that the VLF Ground
Canceling Circuitry cannot tune
them out completely.  Also
, some beaches contain black
magnetic sand in scattered pockets.  These pockets
are usually of varying densities which also
prevents perfect ground canceling
One method which greatly
reduces most annoying beach
situations is to set the detector in AUTOMATIC
tuning.  As you scan, the disturbances are
somewhat “tuned out,” thus lessening their disturbing effects.

Hi Adrian,

No wonder i had trouble, speaking of trouble ,i have trouble reading their waffle...i usually give them a quick read and start turning buttons and keep turning till something happens in the right direction, usually trying over a test piece....but the Aussie2b doesn't work for me yet

I picked up an olde GP3000 for $20 which had been stored for a while and all the insulation on the coax of the coil had disintergrated...so patched her up and fitted her to one of my reeds batteries and she fired up...so i guess i could use her on the beach

I do have trouble not to perve when working the beach so tend to go when no-one is around..safer that way

Cheers,Ron

Ron, don't waste your time building a DD coil for sledding. The late Jim Stewart brought a big DD over to the West when I had my mono sled there. We tested the DD on the sled and it was hopeless at anything over a crawl. The response is way to slow for sledding. The coil speed on a mono is really good enabling a detecting speed of about 5-6 kms per hour. At that speed my big mono will pick up bits as small as a couple of grams quite easily.
The 4000 that you are using is the best PI for the job.
You will be amazed at how fast skid liners wear out in WA.

Ron, I used a QED on a beach in Vietnam. It had a setting where no ground balance is used whatsoever. I could detect from dry to wet sand with no problem at all and the depth was remarkable. Found Russian coins at silly depths. Easiest beach detecting ever.

Reg Wilson wrote:Ron, I used a QED on a beach in Vietnam. It had a setting where no ground balance is used whatsoever. I could detect from dry to wet sand with no problem at all and the depth was remarkable. Found Russian coins at silly depths. Easiest beach detecting ever.

Hi Reg,

The olde QED, jees i gave mine up, yes they work but it was back to my trusted GPX4000 for me

If i remember rightly the later QED's had the ability to shut off the ground balance, i never got try that setting

Mine was number 17 off the floor and the battery box was an absolute pain....would definetly find the small stuff but try to pinpoint and half the day was gone

Horses for courses and it didn't fit so had to go...if only!

Ron

Ron, yes, unfortunately the early model QED that you had lacked the beach setting and the power system was crap. The PL3 was a vast improvement but the next PL4 was (and is) a dog.

flouro wrote:

adrian ss wrote:

flouro wrote:Hi Adrian,

Let us know what you do to fix her up i have an olde Garret A2B that sitting in the cupboard gathering dust, tried using it on the beach and it was a devil to set up and was wandering if all wasnt right with it

Cheers,Ron

The A2B and the Deep Seekers do not have the ground balance range to be able to balance out wet salt beach sand and the Disc mode does not ground balance.   This detector is an 15 khz Garrett Ground Hog that has been modified by the GMC to perform well in Aussie ground mineral conditions and has a lot of Aussie gold nuggets to its credit. The A in A2B means Aussie.
  At the beach you can run in the VLF Automatic retune GB mode up on the dry sand or wherever the ground balance will work.
You can try the TR Disc mode and use the disc setting to tune out (to some degree) the wet sand. You will have to Turn the Gain / sensitivity down.

 This from the Manual:    https://garrett.com/sites/default/files/2019-11/A2B-ADS-Goldhunter.pdf

In searching the beaches, the wetted sand is usually so conductive that the VLF Ground
Canceling Circuitry cannot tune
them out completely.  Also
, some beaches contain black
magnetic sand in scattered pockets.  These pockets
are usually of varying densities which also
prevents perfect ground canceling
One method which greatly
reduces most annoying beach
situations is to set the detector in AUTOMATIC
tuning.  As you scan, the disturbances are
somewhat “tuned out,” thus lessening their disturbing effects.

Hi Adrian,

No wonder i had trouble, speaking of trouble ,i have trouble reading their waffle...i usually give them a quick read and start turning buttons and keep turning till something happens in the right direction, usually trying over a test piece....but the Aussie2b doesn't work for me yet

I picked up an olde GP3000 for $20 which had been stored for a while and all the insulation on the coax of the coil had disintergrated...so patched her up and fitted her to one of my reeds batteries and she fired up...so i guess i could use her on the beach

I do have trouble not to perve when working the beach so tend to go when no-one is around..safer that way

Cheers,Ron

Yeah mate the eye candy can be a distraction but ya just have to remember why you are there and focus focus focus Let them come to you and don't try ta detect where they are relaxing on the sand, You may find that they have big boy friends.

That was a cheep 3000 mate

Changes to Online behaviors:
The forum activity isn't what it used to be but this site still retains and offers a tremendous amount of information for those seeking it. When I was working in the prospecting trade, I was asked to step back from the forums as some of the trolls we dealt with in the stores would post here and stir up trouble.  But I'm not out in the goldfields nearly as often as I used to be.  Some here comment that gold is getting harder to find and the government is still adding new regulations and squeezing local prospectors to the point where there's less access and less joy involved.  Those I worked with have said repeatedly that the Prospecting industry is dying as far as non-professional prospecting is going.  Now we see less newcomers adopting this hobby.  So with less people going out there we don't see nearly as many posts online on the forums.  Not as many questions asked and answered.  Some of the notable regulars don't post online any more at all because they became "flack magnets" for online snipers.

Facebook has a few groups but those are mostly populated with dealers trying to make a sale or folks trying to keep tabs on things rather than contribute new experiences ...yet they don't post as often there as they used to. There isn't as much arriving in the technology front either.  Prices for metal detectors haven't come down.  In fact, they would seem to be rising and I'm not seeing nearly as many new products or innovations as we used to.  Another thing to consider is the rising price of gold and the potential rise of other metals like silver now that we consume so much more of it and mining is producing less of it. Two and a half years of Covid Lockdowns (including home detentions for all) have crushed many goldfield towns as far as the tourist dollar goes.  I suspect that this was the beginning of the end for some clubs and it certainly derailed a lot of routine fossickers and their outdoor adventures. The latest generation of potential young prospectors are said to be too addicted to a regular internet feed to be interested in leaving the city for a few hours or days. I wouldn't have believed this if I hadn't personally witnessed it myself.

With robbery, break-ins, theft and crime increasing, those members finding great gold will be less likely to post about it online.  There are some who actively peruse Facebook to seek out homes ideal for breakins.  So those members tempted to post images of their finds or wanting to share details about where they go will be less common.  I posted here on this forum, asking if the local Parramatta prospecting club (one of Australia's first prospecting clubs ever formed) was still around anymore and I don't believe anyone answered (LINK).  Many of those members are/were getting on in years.  I suspect many would have given up their hobby or are unable to attend meetings any more, let alone be able to get out to the bush for club events.  It's terribly sad too because those folks had some incredible knowledge to share. Even looking online right now, most of the groups and clubs are gone.  I can remember being told by veteran prospectors that when the older members are gone, they'll take some incredible knowledge with them.

Changes in Metals that may influence the future course of Hobby-Prospecting...
The Commodity Exchange shows there's less Silver available for the mints to use. The actual US Mint and the US Treasury just claimed they couldn't even obtain enough Silver blanks from vendors to meet production.  One of the December shipping documents made public showed none of the nine top repositories in the US were able to buy or even sell Silver.  Zero silver bought in and Zero silver sold.  I was speaking with staff at ABC Bullion in Sydney last month and they'd run out of some of their more popular ingot sizes (eg 500g) and Perth Mint seemed unable to deliver 1oz coins to local dealers.   Elon Musk, who requires vast amounts of Silver for Vehicle and Spacecraft manufacture, just bought a Silver Mine and a LOT of physical Silver because he can see the writing on the wall.  The US Economic downturn is on the horizon with numbers expected to be announced after Q1 2023 that might prove chilling.  JP Morgan was just fined (again) for over a Billion Dollars for manipulating the metals market.  But with the new US economic figures suggest that the United States is likely to default on their debts in early 2023. If this happens, the US dollar will stop rising in value and Silver should stop rising alongside it for the moment... but as the dollar value drops, gold will soar in price.  It's already approaching near-record levels again. When the price of gold rises against the US dollar, you can expect a lot more people to become interested in finding it. To meet the needs of demand for Silver with electronics and the new Solar industry, they've started alloying Silver with Copper and now Gold.

A new type of currency is being touted called "CBDC" - a Central Bank Digital Coin (AKA: Central Bank Digital Currency).  This is a "digital currency" that would act much like Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies but it would be regulated.  The USA, Australia and Europe are all interested in developing this.  It will replace our existing cash now that people have stopped carrying cash since Covid began. It probably won't be gold-backed and they can "print" as much of it as they like.  And the ATO can track every cent and where it was spent. It's pretty Orwellian.  It does make me wonder if the possession of physical gold over a certain amount might once again become illegal.  Russia, China and India are buying billions of dollars gold wherever they can find it, to produce their own Gold-backed digital currency. That sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? However...

The USGS (US Geological Survey) revised their predictions a few years ago and still state that existing Gold Mines are due to reach exhaustion by 2031.  Zinc should run out around 2031, at the same time as gold.  Gold can be found deeper in the Earth's crust but we just don't have the technology to dig that far down.  Copper won't run out until about 2048. But they still claim Silver will become extinct around 2023-2025.  If that's true, and if it happens, Silver might becomes an incredibly valuable asset.  But Gold will also continue to rise in value.   These changes would occur amidst a GFC (a World Recession) and even a Depression... which Australia is uniquely well positioned to mostly avoid.  But I imagine that if the price of Gold rises, doubles or even triples... then we will certainly see an entirely new wave of interest in prospecting and the forums that remain online.  If Mines are unable to meet demand or if they run dry, even small gold, fine gold and nuggets found scattered on the surface will be in demand by all. This forum and the information it contains will become a "treasure trove" for the next generation of Gold seekers.  Every nugget found, no matter how small, would become much more valuable.

If new detector technology becomes available in the near future, it would likely lead a new boom in electronic prospecting. There have been some advances ten years ago that still haven't migrated to the retail models on the shelves today. But access to land is becoming less likely in places where it was previously permitted. I don't see posts from NAPFA online any more and some of old time posters are probably just Lurkers now. And of course, forum activity has dropped significantly for some of the reasons listed above. It's probably up to existing management and members to maintain activity here until the next boom starts.

Well said nero.
Times have changed a lot since I started gold fossicking way back in the late 50s as a kid when my Grandfather taught me how and where  to dig, pan, sluice for gold and how to recognize particular gemstones. By the time I was 14 in 1960 I was swinging a ww2 mine detector  in the bush around Korong vale and Wedderburn hoping to find a nugget or two. Found mainly junk and snakes.
    Time passed and I worked my way through many metal detectors and managed to pick up a bit of gold here and there but no really big  nuggets. Had a great time in the bush and wrote a few stories for AGG&T. Joined a few Gold prospecting forums  here and in the States met many people and acquired new friends and continued to learn more and more about this great occupation/hobby.
     The one thing that has remained constant though is that there will always be a lot of dirt and rocks to dig for a small gold return, but as you said, the small bits are becoming more valuable as the deep gold becomes more difficult to reach.

If what you said about silver is correct then maybe those lumpy bits I purchased back in the 70s might actually be worth something one day.

Reg, you and your ilk on Finders is why I left that forum and also this one. I drop in here every now and then to see what is going. I would rather see the forum die of boredom than die of what you and your mates did to Finders.