Detecting in Hills

Over in the West I hear it is pretty flat, yet in Vic in the goldfields it is undulating and in gullies, whilst in gippsland it is very hilly.

So given that our detectors only go down to a metre - maybe, what is the best way to detect in the hills?

Jeff

I have spent most of my detecting life working steep hilly terrain in the south west slopes of NSW.

While you may be asking how to actually detect and move on hilly terrain Jeff, i offer the following;

Detect across slope and moving slowly down hill. Working up or down slope will bugger you real quick (unless you adjust your bungy cord for up and then down hill)

Reading the depth of the ground is important with deep slope deposits often ocurring in certain parts of a slope. Ridge tops, midslope benches (flat spots) and slope bottoms are places to linger.

Hilly country often has thick vegetation, elliptical coils are often better. If vegetation is not an issue round coils are far easier to use on steep slopes for extended periods compared to elliptical coils with a long toe.

Many gold bearing creeks in hilly terrain have multiple old terraces up to 100 metres above creek level where gold was left. Some are often only a few meteres wide and difficult to find. If you find any worked terraces detect at that level down the length of creeks. The odd river rounded pieces of gravel on a slope means its time to linger.

Numerous gold bearing streams in the NSW SW slopes occur below "deep leads" (old river gravels under basalt) in the basalt capped ridges above, be aware and research if deep leads are located in the hilly area you are going to visit.

In hilly country 1800's prospectors very often made use of water races. Always follow races to their end because they indicate where the richest gold bearing terraces were.

It is easy to miss diggings and mines in hilly country and spend all your time walking rather then detecting. Research your area well on google earth and your relevant state minerals GIS databases before your trip. Carry a GPS with corrdinates of likely spots keyed in and carry a photo map in your pocket.

Where i detect you cannot work creek lines in Summer, the snakes are that thick on the ground. So its slopes and ridge tops in summer and creek lines in winter unless the creeks are open and not lined with thick grass.

You slip over a lot when detecting steep terrain. protect your detector box with good padding and don't have your pick razor sharp.

Of course you also need to use the well known rules with gold in creeks, detecting the slopes on the inside of bends, the ground between where creeks intersect and searching when the bedrock is striking at right angles to the creek direction etc etc.

These are simple things but they have helped me save energy and to find some yella in steep country at different times.

Cheers Tributer

Excellent post Tributer, thank you for taking the time and sharing your knowledge.
I will apply some of this in my search. Thanks also to Jefgold for asking the question.

Cheers
Grey.

I agree - an excellent post, no matter what we know we can always learn something extra

I do follow a lot of what you said, but know I can look for other things. I was in the hills the other day and detecting below a mine to where they are dug out the stream. Following it down, I noticed that they had dug out various channels and then stopped. Detecting above one of these stopped channels resulted in a nice 2 grammer.

You have to be in the vicinity of gold then think about where it would go. The diggings that you see are only those areas that have been found, there are many areas still to be found.

Jeff