Anyone make a living from it

hotrock Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:21 am

l'm thinking about taking it up as a hobby not for a living, but l was wondering with the high gold price is there anyone that metal detects for a living in Victoria or is there not enough gold left, If there are would they use the latest GP 5000 and go after the tiny nuggets the other detectors could'nt find?

hotrock Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:22 am

hotrock wrote:l'm thinking about taking it up as a hobby not for a living, but l was wondering with the high gold price is there anyone that metal detects for a living in Victoria or is there not enough gold left, If there are would they use the latest GP 5000 and go after the tiny nuggets the other detectors could'nt find? The other question l have is has the amount of gold you have found more then covered the cost of buying your detector yet

Nature_Pete Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:03 am

Hi Hotrock,

I have to say that Ange and I have only just started, but I have enough lead to start a sinker factory! That may substitute the money spent on the hobby Razz

I have found only 1 piece that I would estimate at $15 worth. I am however, very interested to hear of anyone that does do it full-time. I recently met someone that does, he seems to make a living out of it. He also is a 'Trainer' for two days a week.

Nature Pete. Very Happy

Guest Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:21 am

i know a few people who make a living out off it but there's always that time you don't find much or nothing. a friend had made $40 grand in 3 months with 2 nuggets, he still has all his other gold that he pans ans detected. there's another bloke i know he finds an ounce a week but he has his own buisness as well as he told me it can't happen all the time (he's just lucky i think)....you need to be finding about half ounce a week i reckon to make a living out off it. i have been detecting for about 10 or 11 months and have made about $2,000 so there's no way i could make a living out of it. but if you could buy land that has a great history with gold that would be a different story...
cheers
stoppsy

kiwijw Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:51 am

Yer I reckon there would be a few out there making a living out of it but it wouldnt all be beer & skittles. As Stoppsy has said there would be long lean patches. Most would have a back up job or income to supplement the dry spells. Most of use would love to do it full time but the reality is a lot different with lifes other pressures & needing a certain amount of dollars coming in each week. We would all have to love the outdoors to do what we do & it sure takes us to some beautiful places. That in itself is a neat thing about what we do. The sites you see out in nature can be gobsmacking. The gold a bonus. Sure its great to find gold & that I guess is why a lot of us really do it but I dont dwell on finding a lot of gold. Sure it would be nice but as we know that isnt always the way. Depends where your mind set is re money & lifes experiances. There are those of course who just see the dollars & when it isnt forth coming in 5 minutes they give up.
I worked down in the Queenstown area of Central Otago in the South Island last winter. One of our better gold areas. Building a house during the day & detecting in my spare time after work & in the weekends. I made a pig of myself with the detecting as up home where I usualy live the gold isnt of the detecing kind.
Winter in Otago is pretty cold with snow on the ground in QT as I type this post. Dark by 5.30pm. I would finish work usualy at 5 & head straight to a spot to detect. I would have a head lamp with me & often would detect until 9 or 10 pm. Some times I would finish work at 4 to get a bit more daylight.
In the weekends I would be at it most of the day. The rain being the only thing that would stop me if it was too heavy. The snow wasnt a problem, just needed to be wrapped up warm & as long as the snow wasnt too deep on the ground. I was lucky & got gold every time I went out. Ok some times it wasnt a lot. I think my worst day was a whole day of walking bloody miles for two small pieces at .1 of a gram each. But the best I have done is in the pic below.

Anyone make a living from it 6hoursdetecting

Anyone make a living from it 6hoursdetecting

I would love to do it full time but land access has its own issues & NZ's goldfields aint all that big or as numerous compared to your goldfield areas.

Happy hunting

JW Smile

Guest Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:57 am

hotrock wrote:l'm thinking about taking it up as a hobby not for a living, but l was wondering with the high gold price is there anyone that metal detects for a living in Victoria or is there not enough gold left, If there are would they use the latest GP 5000 and go after the tiny nuggets the other detectors could'nt find?

There is plenty of gold left a bloke that thinks there isnt is very nieve, and the GPX5000 isnt the only Minelab detector that can find small nuggets, it comes down to how competant the operator is. And I dont know how many pro prospectors are on here if any, but Jonathon Porter is a member of this forum and is also a professional gold prospector so I reckon if hes around would be the best man to ask or reply to this question.

cheers

Tributer Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:19 am

I don't think many people at all rely on gold only to make a living. If you did you probably are a miner with a lease or happy to live on very little.
What is common is people are on a pension or work part of the year and do a 5 month stint in WA and then detect a couple days a week on average close to home in the Triangle or the southern WA fields in summer. Those not living near the goldfields combine the WA winter season trip with a few weeks at a time here and there if they do not live in VIC or WA.

Of course there are many variations to the pattern depending on what state you live in but most serious people spend most of winter swinging for all their worth in the WA goldfelds. (or the Palmer, Georgetown or Cloncurry and north or NT)

Tributer

kon61 Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:26 pm

G'day Hotrock.

You've hit the nail on the head within your first sentence."Taking it up as a hobby" and it is to be treated as such.As for the gold side many a so called pro have devoted much research,time and money in chasing the yellow only to find many a costly drought in between.Few are the ones that can say Ive struck it rich.For what is considered superb results for one are considered meager dividends by others. Top advice given here by other fellow members. Top finds there JW well done.

Cheers kon61.

blueyonder Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:11 pm

Gidday Hotrock.I have certainly more than paid for my Infinium,beach scoop(Beach-Brute Pro) and coils with the gold rings and coins recovered.No nuggets yet though!
Any danger of some Queenstown tips Kiwijw?Heading there shortly.I know that there are some dedicated fossicking areas on several of the creeks where you can detect for free.Any gold outside those areas belongs to the Crown apparently and to prospect you need a licence@ $1600 a pop!
Won't be going down that road but am keen to get into the hills above some of the goldbearing creeks,snow permitting.How did you find getting permission from the sheep-station owners? How about the rivers/creeks that don't have claims on them?Did you do any good in them or stick to the terraces,scree or tussock country?..Cheers..Dave

goldquest Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:36 pm

hi Hotrock, I think that the only people who make a good living with our hobby are retailers of metal detectors and accessories, we must be content to find some little nugget every now and then and in the meantime we can enjoy nature and open spaces, the secret is to keep your expectations very low and the gold will come. Very Happy

Cheers
Goldquest

bundy06 Tue Jul 12, 2011 8:23 pm

Gidday M8
I have been chasing the magic yellow since 1993 an have thoroughly enjoyed every minute.In 1996-7 Iwas sluicing in Victoria and doing alright,then the government changed some of the rules and that affected me and my ideas.the reason I put that in is this, what ever you think will work there is always something to get in the way. Most full timers on the wand have been detecting since Adam was a boy,they know when, where and how and very few if trueful will say they have made a consistant pay every week.Now there is still a lot of yellow in the ground and has been said any of the minelab PI's will find most of it,there is a lot of reading research and sweat & tears involved. Sluicing can also provide good gold and is great during the hot summer months.Try it as a hobby and if you think you are finding some worth while then see what it cost you to get it that should give you an idea if it is worth doing to earn a living.Remember when it's a hobby if you don't find anything it's still been a good day out with good mates and maybe an ale or three over a fire at night talking about the big one still out there But if it's your living you might be having bread and dripping for dinner.Finally apprentices do an apprenticeship for a reason so they will make a good living in their tradeso do we in our hobby
Cheers Dave cheers

Guest Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:16 pm

I have been gold prospecting for 25 years mainly in Victoria! Never been to WA.
I often get asked how much do i make & could you make a living out of it!
In my experience NO, i have produced 10 ounces of gold, that is a hell of alot of holidays, week ends, Public Holidays & RDOS.
As a buisness i would be broke! I kind of added up all my expenses including owning and purchasing a 4WD, its cost me $25,000 an ounce! affraid

Many experienced prospectors i know admit the gold is getting harder to find each year, people who got ounces in the eighties are now getting subgrammers!
The green lobby is hell bent on shutting down the goldfields, especially in Victoria! There is a growing number of prospectors out there looking for a diminishing
resource!
For the found gold photographs in the eighties and early 90s they use to show the gold against a gold pan or Beer can, now they are down to a photo against a 5 cent coin!
I recall seeing a photo in 1995 of a 462 ounce nugget form a claim in Victoria, heavy machinery deep ground!
Many have no real propspecting skills, other than following the hoards to the well known heavilly done over same locations!
Prospecting for new ground can be a very long time between drinks! I am not trying to be negative, just giving an honest opinion on the facts, its nearly every week someone is
asking this same question! I hate my real job too and would love a life of freedom full time proffessional prospecting would offer away from the overcrowdwd cities of Australia!

Miners Den phone rings hot all day of want to be millionairs! Nice to dream i know!

I should add, if i had of channelled my prospecting funds in to negative gearing real estate property investment i would not have to work at all now, i could find gold for a loss and still survive!
No Regrets on gold mining , best adventures i have ever had!

Guest Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:20 pm

The few people I know in Victoria who make a living from finding gold also supplement their income by working as trainers or selling detectors, like goldquest said. The latest detectors will increase your chances of finding very small gold for sure, but the smaller the gold the lesser its dollar value.

Last month I spent $200 in petrol getting to detecting spots in central Victoria - total gold finds worth maybe $40-50, and certainly not from lack of research or trying. On the other hand, there are blokes in WA who are sitting in the middle of no-where, detecting all day, living cheaply and making a reasonable income from it. Depends if you consider it a hobby or a job, and depends which state you live in.

big fella Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:37 am

G'Day
If i was doing this full time my name would be little fella not much food on the table
Big Fella

Guest Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:53 am

If you want to make detecting for gold your full time job then you need to be able to get out into the gold fields for months on end and be self supporting if you are going out into remote WA. That place will wipe you out fast if you donot know what you are doing. The last thing you want to be doing is trapsing back and forth each week getting supplies. You have to stay out there and work your arse off; Big returns for hard work and small returns for hobby work

kon61 Wed Jul 13, 2011 1:46 am

G'day Big Fella.

I was in tears upon reading your post. I'm already a little fella and If I were doing this full time I'd be a dwarf (not much food on the table).

Cheers kon61.

big fella Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:12 am

G'Day kon61
Sometimes we just have to tell it how it is
Big Fella

kon61 Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:46 am

So true it is.

Cheers Big fella kon61.

Guest Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:59 am

Ar jeez nar I dunno weva yous blokes iz avin a go ut me or not Sad

goldquest Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:45 pm

Hi guys, I prefer to keep it as a hobby because I enjoy it and if at the end of the day I find something it is a bonus. I'm 65 and I worked as a photographer all my life, I certainly did not intend to start now to break my back in the middle of nowhere in search of an elusive big nugget.
I know my limits and I'm happy with what I find here in Victoria. Very Happy

Cheers
Goldquest

Guest Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:04 pm

I kind of agree with that although spending 6 grand plus on a detector sort of takes you out of the hobby league, or, you az got more money than sense. Still, its nice to find a bit of gold now and again and if ya reckon that a 6 gs machine will do it for ya then go for it as long as it doesn't break the bank coz then yer missus will kick ya art ov bed.
We all use the detectors that we have for various reasons but the one thing they all have in common is that they get us out into the bush and open spaces away from the rat race for a while and that alone, for me at least, has a waaaay better effect Very Happy

than takin a valium

Guest Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:21 pm

Monoloop68 wrote:I have been gold prospecting for 25 years mainly in Victoria! Never been to WA.
I often get asked how much do i make & could you make a living out of it!
In my experience NO, i have produced 10 ounces of gold, that is a hell of alot of holidays, week ends, Public Holidays & RDOS.
As a buisness i would be broke! I kind of added up all my expenses including owning and purchasing a 4WD, its cost me $25,000 an ounce!

Many experienced prospectors i know admit the gold is getting harder to find each year, people who got ounces in the eighties are now getting subgrammers!
The green lobby is hell bent on shutting down the goldfields, especially in Victoria! There is a growing number of prospectors out there looking for a diminishing
resource!
For the found gold photographs in the eighties and early 90s they use to show the gold against a gold pan or Beer can, now they are down to a photo against a 5 cent coin!
I recall seeing a photo in 1995 of a 462 ounce nugget form a claim in Victoria, heavy machinery deep ground!
Many have no real propspecting skills, other than following the hoards to the well known heavilly done over same locations!
Prospecting for new ground can be a very long time between drinks! I am not trying to be negative, just giving an honest opinion on the facts, its nearly every week someone is
asking this same question! I hate my real job too and would love a life of freedom full time proffessional prospecting would offer away from the overcrowdwd cities of Australia!

Miners Den phone rings hot all day of want to be millionairs! Nice to dream i know!

I should add, if i had of channelled my prospecting funds in to negative gearing real estate property investment i would not have to work at all now, i could find gold for a loss and still survive!
No Regrets on gold mining , best adventures i have ever had!

just one with a can !!

Anyone make a living from it 51oz002

clearer pic

Anyone make a living from it 51oz004

51 oz NOT MINE!!! was found 910mm down

mulgadansa Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:47 pm

Gday Troops
I started detecting/prospecting in 1978 - dead easy then, there was gold lying around everywhere. Went full time for about seven years, including a year of full time sluicing.
Kids came along, so gave it away until about three years ago when I retired.
Went back to the Murchison/East Murchison over the last three years with a 4500 and it is just staggering how much work has been done by detectorists since I gave it away in 1985!!!
I still think you could make a good living from it but you wouldn't want to have any debt and you'd need to know what you're doing.
cheers
Brett

goldquest Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:23 pm

mulgadansa wrote:Gday Troops
I started detecting/prospecting in 1978 - dead easy then, there was gold lying around everywhere. Went full time for about seven years, including a year of full time sluicing.
Kids came along, so gave it away until about three years ago when I retired.
Went back to the Murchison/East Murchison over the last three years with a 4500 and it is just staggering how much work has been done by detectorists since I gave it away in 1985!!!
I still think you could make a good living from it but you wouldn't want to have any debt and you'd need to know what you're doing.
cheers
Brett

Mulgadansa, perhaps you forgot to dimension that the house must be paid in full that you should not have children in school age to perhaps few thousand dollars in the bank for the raining days. Wink

Cheers
Goldquest

Acan Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:16 pm

There are a few making a good living. Many are not on forums as they are too busy.

Plus they live lives far away and out in the bush or desert. No internet.

As stated earlier you need to be self sufficient. Pack your gear and have the means to stay out and away for many weeks - if not months.

This is not the life if you have a mortgage, kids, regular job and debt.

Many are on their own and like it this way, no debt and only things they own are what they carry and move around with. 4WD, caravan/camper, latest gear, detectors etc. Plus some good size bank accounts, when they come to town and cash in. Then stock up and out again.

Just imagine the numbers.

Just imagine the numbers if the moons were aligned.

You pulled 26 grams for 4 hours detecting.

This is 4 hours work for $1,000, $250 per hour excellent rate.

Lets say you put in 8 hours work, you net $2,000.

Now lets say you only work 28 weeks for the year or a total of 200 days and get the same return.

26 grams very 4 hours, 52 grams every 8 hours - a good days work.

This would be $400,000 tax free per year.

You bloody ripper. Why do we work for the boss when we could do our own thing!

Life would be good. Just a thought. I am having a very serious thought. Acan jocolor

kiwijw Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:50 am

Acan wrote:You pulled 26 grams for 4 hours detecting.

This is 4 hours work for $1,000, $250 per hour excellent rate.

Lets say you put in 8 hours work, you net $2,000.

Now lets say you only work 28 weeks for the year or a total of 200 days and get the same return.

26 grams very 4 hours, 52 grams every 8 hours - a good days work.

This would be $400,000 tax free per year.

You bloody ripper. Why do we work for the boss when we could do our own thing!

Life would be good. Just a thought. I am having a very serious thought. Acan

Hi Guys, Acan it looks like you are using my finds above as your example. The reality is that that was quite exceptional & very much not the norm. The 4 hours was actual swing time but wasnt including the time & cost of getting to that spot, so I have sort of glamourfied it. I just stumbled on to a wee patch.....but that of course is what keeps us doing what we do. You never know what you may stumble across out there. There are of course the many many hours & costs either side of that find when you are finding nothing so when you balance it all out & get an average the truth is a lot different. But the buzz you get when you have a few hours like that seems to make it all worth while & very gratifying. For every piece of gold found & removed from the ground is one less piece for any body to find & the gold isnt replacing itself....
I am a builder by trade & this is deffinatly just a hobby, but things could have been a lot different. At the age of 33 I had built up a mini rental property empire of 4 houses & growing. But at the age of 42 & with four sons my wife had an affair & ended our marriage of 14 years & took me to the cleaners. That had a devastating affect on me both financialy & emotionaly & that fallout will always be with me. If I still had those rentals I know what I would be doing full time.

Happy hunting

JW Smile

Acan Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:01 am

Hi KJW,,

Thanks for your thoughts. I did not do my numbers based on our finds, these were based on others plus a average of fulltime detectgors, plus some on this site who are consistently recovering good amounts of th golden slugs. Plus some others who do not go on this site or at leaqt have the time to post messages. They also keep things close to their chest.

The game changes when you would decide to do this fulltime, have the skill to find sites and work them long and hard. Finding virgin territry will only enhance the finds.

I am sorry to hear about your personal past and life can at times be a real pain. Hopefuuly ypou can move on and find the elusive nuggets, your pictures above seem like you are on the right track.

I do not know what is going on in the world currently , but I have 4 friends all in their late 40's and into their early 50's, they have all decided to divorce and go their own ways. It maybe the economic times, kids grown up and left home and now time to split?

I know that f I was in that position I would be out prospecting the fields and taking it as it came.

All the best. Acan jocolor

Nature_Pete Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:23 am

Hi Guys,

I have given this thread a little thought as it reminded me of one of my good mates. He considered professional fishing like the AFC, ABT and all the DVD's (He is very good at what he does fishing wise). One issue that arose is the stress of 'not catching fish'. If you don't perform, you don't get sponsership and so on. The same as any professional sport/hobby ie, motorsport, bike racing etc.

I feel that detecting would be very similar in that fashion, that if you don't find - you don't eat. Therefore, what we all enjoy as a hobby becomes serious and expensive. To me, that's one very large gamble and you'd have to be pretty damn sure that you had the goods to perform.

Just my thoughts,

Nature Pete. Very Happy

goldquest Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:24 pm

Nature_Pete wrote:Hi Guys,

I have given this thread a little thought as it reminded me of one of my good mates. He considered professional fishing like the AFC, ABT and all the DVD's (He is very good at what he does fishing wise). One issue that arose is the stress of 'not catching fish'. If you don't perform, you don't get sponsership and so on. The same as any professional sport/hobby ie, motorsport, bike racing etc.

I feel that detecting would be very similar in that fashion, that if you don't find - you don't eat. Therefore, what we all enjoy as a hobby becomes serious and expensive. To me, that's one very large gamble and you'd have to be pretty damn sure that you had the goods to perform.

Just my thoughts,

Nature Pete.

Hi Nature Pete, I fully agree with you, until you do it as a hobby you satisfied with what you find, if you find it, when you want it to become a profession begins stress and if you can not find anything for a few days things get serious.
Regarding all the good numbers that Acan has mentioned, would be beautiful if it were realistic, but if it were realistic we would all be rich and there would be little to find for newcomers.
However, dreaming is good and after all the dreams do not cost anything.
But this is only my opinion. Very Happy

Cheers
Goldquest

Guest Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:45 pm

I used to play in a dart team with a mate who was brilliant dart player. He aspired to be professional and ended up No3 in Australia at one stage..his wife used to go to all the tournaments with him urging him on because they HAD to win the prizemoney..and they had kids...he ended up hateing darts and his game deteriorated to the point he could not let go of a dart....what had been a great hobby turned into something he absolutely hated and doesnt even play socially now....
Moral is.. very little difference if you put the pressure on yourself to HAVE to find gold to survive....dont do it and certainly not in Victoria....
I also believe there is still much gold in the ground BUT what is left of the decent stuff is too deep for the current range of detectors <I use a GPX5000>....how good would it be to remove the top metre of every bit of ground we all detect....it would be a whole new ball game..but it's not going to happen here in Victoria and very likely you will have less ground with even more competitors for the fly poop we now call nuggets which the Old Timers would have called colour....have a look at the depth the major nuggets apart from the Welcome Stranger and a few notable exceptions were found at in Victoria....how many would have been found with a metal detector without mining?....be honest...I believe in Victoria at least using a detector can only hope to ever be a hobby and unless you can get access to where the real stuff is always will be....look at those white test/drill sites we find out in the Forrests....have a look and see how deep they drill..much deeper than any detector can detect...just my opinion....getting out in the bush as a hobby is the absolute best experience just like playing amateur darts and not professional!..Hoo Roo

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