Nice to meet you. I'm a noob in Vic. :)

Hello!

I'm Sal. Ballarat local of the last 12 years or so.
Working at Sov Hill as a Mine Guide for a while sparked an interest in gold and history in Ballarat and recently I found a fondness for gemstones and other trinkets.
No geology or history quals, very green in prospecting and fossicking. Finding it all really interesting from what I've seen/read so far and I'm keen to crawl around the place and find a few odds n ends with friends.

First ever pan outside the training wheels Creek at Sovvy was at Happy Valley a few weeks ago to learn the gear. Second outing will be at Slaty Creek tomorrow! Wish me luck - hope I get to see my first colour in the wild!

Looking forward to seeing more pictures of pickers and pooches, and sharing our adventures with you all, too.
Nearly always up for a chat, hope to catch up with some of you folks in the rat.

The luckiest thing you will find, is a lifelong interest and challenge that will last you your entire life.
Hoping you also have some luck in finding some gold and gemstones along the way.

Welcome to PA, Sal.
Slaty Creek seems to be 'the gift that keeps on giving' for many Central Victorians, so I hope you see some yellow in your pan from your efforts there today.

Hawkear said:

The luckiest thing you will find, is a lifelong interest and challenge that will last you your entire life.
Hoping you also have some luck in finding some gold and gemstones along the way.

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Too right! Very keen to get outdoors a bit more and take on as much as I can.

Thank you! I hope so too!

grubstake said:

Welcome to PA, Sal.
Slaty Creek seems to be 'the gift that keeps on giving' for many Central Victorians, so I hope you see some yellow in your pan from your efforts there today.

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Thanks heaps!
Yeah I've heard and seen great things from people doing trips to Slaty Creek. Unfortunately no yellow today - no water in the creek for panning!
But we had a look around, walked the creek beds and found a small pocket of quartz crystals breaking apart a few large mineralised chunks. Beautiful area and was a good time.

welcome tumbleween, best time to check a creek or river out when it is dry
when they are running a banker (in flood) all you see is what is happening on the water surface ,whirlpools in back eddies, boiling water over rocks and what not
but a dry creek bed has a mountain of information for you ,it is a new page of learning with every step ,which you will learn how to read over time with perseverance , research and blisters

sand surfer said:

welcome tumbleween, best time to check a creek or river out when it is dry
when they are running a banker (in flood) all you see is what is happening on the water surface ,whirlpools in back eddies, boiling water over rocks and what not
but a dry creek bed has a mountain of information for you ,it is a new page of learning with every step ,which you will learn how to read over time with perseverance , research and blisters

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip!
Yeah we had a really great time checking out the different structures and geology of the creek bed and banks, looking at old workings and various other interesting bits while walking along the dry bed.
Not sure how to dry pan yet, or if there's other equipment needed for it, but I'm enjoying taking it all in and learning as we go.
Busted open a few quartz chunks, found a small geode with some tiny clear quartz structures which we were happy with for a first find, and I've been christened with my first cut from the edge of hard quartz! Haha

Got a friend with a detector and we'll hopefully get there again with them while it's dry to have another crawl around!