Please help - Reading a Map

Hi all,
I have just bought a MLab 5000 and heaps of maps to start this new wonderful hobby.
My question is, What am i supposed to do with the maps? I mean, where should i be looking?
Most of my maps are from John Tully but i'm not sure if i should detect where the diggings are or where there is quartz reefs??
Can i detect on quartz reefs even though there has been no past diggings??
Please help. Thanks March.

If it is a Buck reef, that is , all white quartz without any signs of mineralization then don't wast your time on it.
Look for quartz that is iron mineralised, shows signs of pyrites or signs of other crystal mineralisaton.

Just because there has not been any past digging on the reef is not proof positve that there is no gold in the area, but I must add that the old timers covered the goldfields like ants and if you have found the reef then they probably did also; Still, have a look around for signs of mineralization, although your best bet is to go to where gold was found close to the surface. If you go to where the mines were deep then all you will likely find is gold that was tossed out with the rubble, these areas can sometimes produce good speci gold in the tailings dumps.

Also many large nuggets were found near the surface close to a reef before the reef was located, so you might get lucky and find a long time hidden nugget in these areas......Don't hold your breath but!

Thanks Adrian, at least thats a start.
Would you know much about maps, what should i be looking out for or where should i be looking on the map?

march wrote:Hi all,
I have just bought a MLab 5000 and heaps of maps to start this new wonderful hobby.
My question is, What am i supposed to do with the maps? I mean, where should i be looking?
Please help. Thanks March.

hi mate
use these maps to find the shallow leads (diggings) and then detect the virgin ground working out from the diggings.
don't be afraid to work a long wat out from the diggings
if you look at the back of tully's books you will see some info on some leads (size of gold,depth of ground)
this will help find were course gold was found

you can also look at the diggings to see what sort of ground the oldtimers were digging in, then detect the same
sort of ground away from the diggings.
cheers

Thanks fencejumper.

If anyone else has some other answers, please reply.
Thank you.

You need to seek out someone in your area and see if they have any knowledge they would be interested in sharing with you ,preferably in the field

Yes thats true but it doesn't help when you live in the northern suburbs of melbourne!

Hi March, I to live in the North East and access in most cases means a drive for a couple of hours.

I was given some great advise late last year after spending many useless trip up north to the triangle.

Please do your self a favor and spend a couple of hundred bucks and book yourself into a GPA tour, they offer local ( Vic ) day tours and weekend tours.

Link http://www.goldprospectingaustralia.com.au/

I have no association with them, but believe me it was the best money I have spent.

Say Gday to Ronda and Mark for me

Peter

Thanks peter, that sounds like a good idea. I have spent around $7000 on my gear so a couple of hundred wont make a difference, but hopefully it will make a difference in finding some yellow metal. Starting to get a little frustrated as i haven't found any yet.
I just think i'm looking in the wrong places...........Thanks

Hi March No problem as I can relate to your pain
Did you get a training course when you purchased the 5000, these are also very good I have been told.

I my short time ( 6 months ) of detecting it was only after doing the GPA day trip I found my first piece of gold. Don't get to hung up on the location, learn how to use the detector and it will come. Once you start to find those tiny nails or that single piece of buck shot, then are you ready to really start and worry about the area as this is another craft all on its own, one that I'm just starting to come to terms with myself.

Keep in touch

Peter

Gday March


I am not familiar with John Tully maps but maps usually fall into two catagories, topographical and geological, the topographical maps show the ground in detail with variations in the amount of data depending on the scale of the map, they show things like tracks and features, mines and workings, dams, fences etc etc, like any map you have to study the legend in order to recognise the signs used for these features, also the border information provided on the map is used for navigation.

Geological maps show basically show the mineral makeup of the ground, this is represented in different colours that have different sybols, but once again you have to study the legend to see what the different colours and symbols mean, they often show more detail of mine areas than topographical maps, they still contain all the border information as the topo maps too.

It is rather important to know how to read a map, not only for the purpose of simply knowing where you are but also when you are looking for particular features you need to be understanding what the surrounding features are as well so that you can best locate what you are looking for, also as you delve further into this hobby you may want to know how to best turn the location you see on the map into a co ordinate that you can put onto your gps etc.

I have not gone into too much detail on the map information as there is a lot to know, and there are probably many holes in what I have told you, but too much info at the one time can be a bit overwhelming and more easily forgotten, you need to sit down and read the maps you have and look both at the features shown on the map and then go to the legend and see what the symbols mean.

There are many resources available for use in research, one of course is the Gold and Ghosts books by David Dehavilland, the thing is with these books is they not only give you a history of the area but in most cases it will give you a mudmap with fairly simple directions, with these directions and the area known, you can then select the map that you have and correlate the information from the book to the information shown on the map so you then have a bigger picture of the area you are going to and a navigation tool as well, a lot of people might say that they are a waste of time because all of these areas have been flogged by people over the years, that is not entirely correct and in any case we want to use the book for the purpose of educating a new detectorist, as this is a hobby that requires learnt skills any tool available that can direct you to a gold bearing area, a known productive area is of great benefit.

There are many other publications and books available, your local library and detector shop will most certainly carry some of these, or they can be sourced on ebay or similar online sites, any information resource that you can lay your hands on is the first step, then its study study study, get on here and ask questions until you feel you have the grasp of things, other resources of information are things like Google Earth, its a free download for the basic set up, you can get on to and see the areas you are interested in from a satellites view, some areas you can get some very good detail of the ground and some features can be seen that are not clear on the map, it is an excellent tool for researching areas that you will be walking around in at some stage.

As others have said it would be a good idea to get on to a tour if you can, there are many other things that you can learn, navigation skills, map reading and using a gps, bushcraft, and detector settings etc etc, and its a lot easier to learn and retain the information when you are shown first hand, also there are many detectorist that would be interested in partnering up with you so ask about, its better to be in the bush with someone else when you are learning even if its they are not super experienced they will know something you dont and often you will learn from eachother as well.

So as you can see there are many options available, but you have to take the initiative and do the legwork and study for yourself, no one is going to take you to their patch of gold and let you dig the nuggets up, as they have had to do all the study and legwork themselves and sometimes that can involve many hours of work just to locate an area that may or may not be productive.

cheers

stayyerAU

Thanks Stayyerau, i appreciate your help. I know its not an easy task but I'm very determined.
Hopefully i'll get there one day!

To answer Peters question, I'm still waiting on minelab to contact me, apparently they offer a day course when you buy a new 5000.
The other thing i have been thinking about is to join a club, I suppose that's one way to meet people that can point me in the right direction.....

Thanks for all the responses guys, I know its a hobby that can take a lot of time to work out,
I've got the bug and i haven't even found any gold! Imagine when i do!!!!

Being in a earthworks business is the only frustrating thing. If only i could use one of my machines to dig up some holes, i wouldn't have to break my back digging up junk.
Just kidding, its all part of the fun and i need to lose a couple of kilos anyway...
Thanks again.

march wrote:Thanks Stayyerau, i appreciate your help. I know its not an easy task but I'm very determined.
Hopefully i'll get there one day!

To answer Peters question, I'm still waiting on minelab to contact me, apparently they offer a day course when you buy a new 5000
Thanks again.

hi march
if you have recieved your hat and key ring.....give the number on the back of your key ring and ask to book in to the adventure club training day
it is held at talbot, this month's is on the 20th
cheers

Haven't got it yet, i will do when i get it thanks.