Finding a good spot

Hey guys
I've noticed the guys that use detectors have been asking what to do once they find a patch as you know when finding a patch when sluicing is a different ball game it's like it never runs out and one minute you get small amounts then the next sluice you have a good one.....lately I have never had a sluice without some gold in it.....it's hard to move on when this is the case and if I do go to a new spot I just keep thinking that I could be 1 shovel away from a good nugget.....Ahhhhhhhh it's so frustrating....
Will it ever run out for the guys detecting?????????
I have also noticed that the patches for the guys detecting are getting smaller and harder to find will there be a day when they will be panning with us for the fine gold and metal detectors are put in storage I don't know much about detectors and heard the gpx 5000 was made to find smaller gold if this is the way it's headed how long before everyones back to basics......I'm not a big fan on detecting I find it a bit boring even though they get some great gold I like the history of gold in Australia and the methods they used....
I sit back sometimes and wonder how good would it be going back in time with a detector and water pump...and as madtuna said to me at Xmas they would shoot you on the spot........
dave

Skysite im going to make a statment that is relevent in Vic .maybe not in other states!! " nuggets make up 20%of the gold in a given area" I did a lot of research back in the 70s when i was detecting and i formed the opinion that the above statment is true!! On many occasions i have asked guys to let me wash the gutter they have foung nuggets in and while not always correct the fine gold has been in excess of what was there in nuggets

Went out with a mate on the weekend, he was using a 4500,myself a highbanker. From ground he went over I pulled 3.8gms including a 1.2gm piece.Most times the sluice always out does the detector.But when you find a patch careful who you tell, it will still be there,fill your holes(crossed sticks don't work) and hide it well.

1.2 gram peice prospekta nice going im still finding the specs but hoping to find some little nuggies this easter..

I'm with you Skysite. I have a detector but use it mainly for relic hunting. Walking around in the bush picking up wire and lead is not my idea of fun, when I can go back to my childhood, dig holes, play in water, build dams and get dirty in the mud plus I know I am going to find some colour.

All those little bits add up and the occasional nugget helps.

I tried the crossed sticks once they worked great, however, someone left a wreath on them.

Ha Ha fly dead and buried........good luck out there at Easter mate should produce a bit of colour with all the water that's run through the turon can't wait for the pics...
Dave

Finding a good spot ----
The plans had been made over a few months and we had a good spot way up in the Bathurst hills but who would have thought that the skies would open and deliver the wettest period for nearly 30 of the driest years on record.
We arrived at the caravan park to be greeted by the creek in flood “not a worry up here the water goes down quickly “said a local, so with that knowledge ringing in our ears we set up camp between squalls. The morning duly arrived and sticking our heads out of the tents we were greeted by the chortlings of wild wood ducks as they paddled past!! This water event had even congregated the locals on to higher ground, expounding their gems of life “ yep I wouldn’t have camped down there” “ any fool could see that was goin’ to happen” ect.ect.! Nothing to do but shift the camp to higher ground and to be fair the locals helped!
Now it is uncommon to have the creeks up here in what were a continuous flood as well as the rivers they drained into. We actually laughed when we spoke of the Aussie Farmers motto “it’s either to dry or it’s too wet”. So what to do? We scouted around trying to find some good looking ground but in the end we had to admit defeat! NOT LIKELY ha ha! It was a short trip to a landowner who had not been visited in many a year but we got a friendly reception as we pulled up in front of the homestead .After inquiring what the hell we were doing prospecting in this weather, he gave us permission to have a go on his land but he said “all the gold is long gone” shaking his head slowly as his words were met with deafening silence from us.
Uphill and down dale for a couple of days put us in a little valley a few kilometres from the house where we could see the ‘ol timers had done a fair bit of work and being guided by the work that they had done it was obvious that the gold had shed from only one side of the mountain into this little valley. They had put a dam at the top of the valley and had used the water to sluice the ground to the bed rock, which in places wasn’t that deep so we set to sampling the gutter to see what they had left us. Note books, pans and shovels were the order of the day and in no time at all we had pages of what looked like chook scratching but to us they were indeed pure gold.
The Billy was slung on to a fire that was refusing to kick to life till my mate pulled out a fire lighter! Now not the kind of one you are thinking of, these were small squares of inner tube soaked for a few weeks in turpentine and they make the greatest fire makers, so with the sweet tea to revive us we set about comparing our test notes. It became clear the ‘ol timers did a good job as we found the closer to the bed rock we got the gold disappeared so we then knew we were chasing flood gold in this gutter and fine gold at that.
It was after lunch on the third day when we had enough knowledge of this area to start setting up our Banjos and getting into some gold getting! As we dug down the length of the little gutter we as usual tested as we went and our original testing was verified, that is as we were costeaning across the gutter we also took notes as to where the gold lay in the depth of the wash so we knew we only had to take the first 6’’ of the top to get the flood gold there was no point digging any deeper but when the gutter had drop offs we did check but found nothing.
As the day wore on it was just a nod between mates that needed no words, it was time to clean up. This area has very little black sands so cleaning up was no chore but as the clean up progressed it was obvious that we weren’t gona be rich!!LOL! I estimated the ground was going about .75gms per hour but we had a few days work ahead of us and as long as the rain held off we would do ok.
Three days later saw us getting into the spoil of the ‘ol timers and yes they did lose a fair bit of gold the sand was getting too deep and the water was a nuisance as well so we packed up our gear and bade farewell to the land owner. We did show him the gold we got and his comment “geeze I haven’t seen that much gold in a long time “.
I haven’t weighed the gold yet but it looks good---- the real gold that was had in abundance was the mateship, the laughs, camp-fire and a few coldies with true friends and it is true “every day you open your eyes is a good day”

Murachu well put mate cheers.