12 Weeks To Find First Gold (Persistence Pays).

[ProspectorPete]

If you go setting up trail cameras or throwing nails etc on the track then it's a cost to you for a start in time and money, if you get caught there could be repercussions or get into an unwanted dispute both verbal and physical.
Agree'd with RM Outback on calling the authorities, it means you've done your responsible part to stop what's going on and letting the right people deal with the situation and hopefully deal with him harshly for damage to the bush and stealing minerals from the crown, maybe report it to several authorities to make sure someone acts on it asap.

 

[Bjay]

I wouldn't go confronting the perpetrator as it could end up in a ugly situation for all involved.better off letting authorities deal with it.can be frustrating if they don't do anything but have been down that path of there not doing anything so I will and let's just say it didn't end up well for me.

 

[reynard]

Put up a trail cam get some good photo,s and do not confront him, you will not win that way. give copys of the photo,s to the DSE, DWEPL, or watever the department of name change calls its,self these days and make sure you tell them that the photo,s and a report is being sent to the relevant minister that may get some action and keep you "SAFE PLEASE".you are way tooooooo valuable to us all

 

[user 4485]

It's a hard one MG! On one hand I'd like to see the book thrown at these blokes who think they can do whatever they like without any thoughts towards others. My fear though is in reporting them it may just bring unwanted negative attention to the hobby, the area &/or uneducated/unwarranted knee-jerk responses?
For repeat offenders or where there is a trail of evidence I agree that it's best to hand it over to the right authorities though. Don't place yourself at risk. I've seen on a couple of occasions illegal activity but moved on as my thinking is if they have no concern in doing that then what else are they capable of? There was a bloke verbally & physically attacked in Victoria a couple of years ago for challenging a group of young fellas using a dredge. They are arrogant & think that they are entitled.
It's an an unfortunate part of the hobby & something that annoys me. I too struggle with exactly what to do about it. Keep trying to educate people through the forum is probably how I've done it. It does however seem even on here a lot believe it's still ok to do these things & those who speak out against it are just labelled do gooders etc. There's even a wanted ad on here right now where someone appears to be looking to set up a pressure nozzle to move dirt (hydraulic sluicing).
I think with some the light bulb will only come on when it's already too late?
You've earned a lot of respect on here in a short time MG & for good reason. Hopefully your attitudes rub off on others.

 

[Minelab Gold]

Wow - excellent responses by all, as for the teks nails on the track would hate for a kid going through the bush to get hurt, and yes indeed no point taking things into your own hands when seeing this type of behavior from someone who thinks they are above the law or no law at all. All the thoughts come to mind when looking at a situation like this. As for the 30.06 well I get that feeling when I am out there that any second if this guys see's someone he would just start letting a few shots go.

Do we take ourselves down to this guys level and start playing games by breaking laws, not at all. As much as this guy needs to learn a lesson I think the best way is the local or appropriate authorities can deal with this, these type of activities can endure a lot of costs - as mentioned from all the disturbance and disruption to every single part of the bush land he has pushed away and taken, is not acceptable on any level.

All the of the people who pay the costs of prospecting licenses and mining licenses and we come across these guys who think have their own rights, and think that they dont need to pay money for this. Just like all of you who operate under miners rights, you have every single right to manually dig a hole and look for gold - you all deserve it you paid for this privilege, costs you time and money to enjoy your hobby on a daily, weekly or monthly annually basis - for guys like this to slowly diminish your hobby.

I sent out numerous emails yesterday for my concerns on this matter to the following authorities

DELWP - Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning - Response from the C/S - Thank you for your recent enquiry at the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning Customer Service Centre. In order to provide you with the most up to date and accurate information your enquiry has been referred to a more specialised person from within the department, who will respond to you directly. (Earth Resource Centre)

Earth Resources - Direct - Thank you very much for contacting Earth Resources Regulation please call Balarat office on 53366804 about this matter.

PMAV - President - Talk to the local ranger if there are permits he will know if not he will take appropriate action

I have another 2 emails sent to other departments - lets just see what the mixed response is with our authorities - It appears that they are very helpful and seem to have passed the details on accordingly.

Anyway - thank for the response from all - protect our fields for us and future generations.

On a positive note - I went out today and will shortly post up some finds.

 

[reynard]

please do not confuse these dirt bags with our legal and responsible hobby these people are thieves and deserve to be treated as such

 

[Minelab Gold]

Hey all,

Today I went back out into our fields where the dirt is still there and not taken away -

I ventured back to where the recent little hole of gold was found in the calcrete - the last time I was at this place - I was getting EMI - a lot of interference when the coil was on a certain angle - getting in the hole with the coil unlike soft ground we can just dig it away - the calcrete is very challenging because its is so tough. The only way to get flat is to crack away big chunks

When I arrived today - the flies were at their best - When I fired up the detector it was humming beautiful - When I went over the hole area in the lower part - I found that there were a few targets - again this sounded like EMI last time but today was so quiet very easily to distinguish as little targets.

It appears the signals are starting to run downwards from this hole where it first started. No super strong signals but appears to be detectable gold when I take 40 or 50mm off the top of the Calcrete layer in this downwards direction.

I wont go into specific details about what came out of the hole today and explain each image - if you have read this thread you will know every target is a yellow one.

1. Here from top to bottom are some images of the hole - the removed calcrete with visible gold - and some which werent visible I just cracked them when I returned home

All up another enjoyable day chipping away with hammer and chisel - 4 pieces in total - with more samples taken from in and around the hole, these samples now mark off more sections in the loam test that I am doing.

Late in the arvo I was getting more EMI - and appeared to be some more faint signals.

 

[RM Outback]

Bravo MG the right approach to the situation imo thanks for the feed back. The feed back is just as important as the reporting helps to give us an insight into the approach authorities take. Hopefully it'll give everyone the courage to do the same rather than turn a blind eye should we become aware of such activities.

 

[Minelab Gold]

Hi Guys,

We all have our own opinions, thats why I asked for all opinions - everyone is entirely entitled to this if we all had the same thoughts what a boring world we would live in.

As for the Tek Screws and 30.06 - Im pretty sure that this was just a figure of speech showing how much these guys care about their hobby and for someone to break the laws like he has, he is just lucky that these opinions dont become reality - If I wasnt such a nice guy he would be getting a few bags of sugar in his petrol tank. Words and actions are 2 different things.

Would I like to put the sugar in there certainly - will I do it no way.

I liked the story Reynard told us on the detecting day - many years in the fields doing his passion his other hobby for many years and now he wished he didnt shoot so many bullets - because now his other hobby which eventuated after shooting is detecting and he is probably digging his own bullets.

 

[Tathradj]

Reason why I suggested a trail Cam is it does not cause any confrontational issues.
As for spiking his fuel or some thing like that,
Not Good. It is lowering your self to that person's standards and you may find your self on the receiving end.
.
On a final note, Every one has had their comment so let's leave this thread alone and let MG keep up this fantastic
effort of his please. ?
It is one of the best threads I have seen in here for a while and rates as one of the highest as well. We would not
like to see it degrade into an abyss of fighting eh. ?
I will make sure of that.

 

[samrota]

WOW, just getting into this hobby. Your posts are inspiring to say the least. Very informative indeed.

Awesome finds. I can only hope can find a honey hole somewhere here in SA even a fraction of that calibre.

 

[Minelab Gold]

Hi All,

Another day in the fields - and what amazing weather, little bit muggy and flies all over the place, sun out and again flies increased their madness. Keeping relaxed while they swarm around and then we get a nice cooler change sun goes away - and yeah no more flies. The day starts to turn into evening suns almost down and we get hit with the good old mozzie's. Not sure what is worst I hate them both

As for the other part of the day - well need I say it was excellent hitting those targets to say the least. So lets no say to little and explain my findings today. When I arrived at location this early afternoon roughly 3:00pm - I ventured along this path and looking at the way the grounds run - I was actually heading to another area which I previously found gold - but thought to start from the top section and walk a different line to get there - just so I could assess the grounds and see if anything really stood out. While doing this I stopped to think, after seeing some signals on the ground- I know it is shallow all the way through this area so my thoughts are why not take a swing along the way.

After walking about 3 mtrs after turning the machine on and letting Coil get its full potential of power and swinging down into this area, I hit my first target, these are the targets that you all love to hear - we know screamers often indicate close to the surface or very large - this one was that nice mellow but noticeable

1. After digging away - again always keeping an eye on each layer that you go through to see the minerals/rocks/soil makeup - this hole was roughly 10 inches deep - and you can see the very light soils, sands and quartz gravel wash through this material - virgin ground indeed - target acquired and on the coil - when I sprinkled the material on the sound of the target hitting the coil and you can see the color poking through. Amazing indeed - but still yet to be seen the size and shape

2. And there we are - a nice little nugget

3. This was next to the hole which was surprising to see a concentration and the rock size close to where this was found, always assess in and around the hole to see what the grounds can show.

4. And in these images you can see a small section around where this gold was found, cleaning and scraping to increase depth for any potential other targets close to this gold. Maybe if this was a small pocket which contained more then scraping away could reveal just that, when ever I dig the target out again in these images it is good practice to dig a little further even if there are no more targets - just to see if you can get an understanding of the hard layer below the gold if it is not visible or even might hit red clays 50 or so mm further. The rocks continued to become more compacted and solid but still no true hard base, only rocks became larger and a mixture of slight water worn to water worn - with coarse material as well. And in the last image you can see where I covered the hole

5. After further inspection no more targets were found near the previous target - when I continued around the other side of the pile, I hit another soft mellow but easily distinguished target - again preparation of the area, scrape, dig keep visual on the material you are going through and what you hit as you get deeper. This hole was gravels increasing, after going through top soils, then into a gravel quartz corner pocket right along side there was a white clay base material. Roughly to 6-7 inches after sticks leaves etc was removed away

6. Target out and on the coil - and there we are another piece only meters away from the first target - first 2 targets for the day looking good so far.

7. And another target - very faint - almost to the point couldnt hear it - luckily to have removed the sticks etc - 3rd for the day lets see what we can establish here, we have gone from gravels no clay or hard base, to a white clay base corner with gravel contained, now signs of red clays iron oxide minerals. You can see the red arrow of the previous gold find - Again this hole was roughly 5 inches - and the material was a reddish clay with white streaks - and mixed with little pieces of quartz iron mineral rocks. And target is on the coil - Kinder Surprise

8. And there we are 3rd target hit and another piece of Gold - great start to the afternoon - they are getting smaller in size but hey still gold

9. After these targets were hit - I found a large piece of steel - well compared to the gold it was large - like and old steel wedge type nail. And a piece of lead, then the 6th target was noticable sitting on top of the ground, and old 12 gauge shell end.

10. And just to the right of this 12 gauge shell - again another nice soft mellow sound, time to remove some sticks branches and clear the area, after scanning the ground as good as I could, this target was further down from the previous ones, maybe 4 or so meters - In this first image - the target was somewhere in this section - I had removed a few sticks prior but there was just enough to get this target on the coil without moving them. You can also see in these images how the material changes - from the wash material sands, quartz etc and then turning into the reds. The depth would have been 6 inches after removal of all material above. relatively shallow and now we know that within the area. from hole one to this hole we indeed are seeing a pattern of the base material being very shallow - excellent for our detectors to hit these targets.

11. Target out of the hole - after hitting the hard base red clay. And there we are on the coil again kinder surprise - lets break it open and see what is revealed - good to assume it is gold

12. After breaking it open and letting you all see these images for the first time as the gold is revealed is truly unique.

13. And after spending another hour or so scouting around with a few more targets other than the yellow - was a great day - when I returned home and cleaned the pieces that I found - always good to see what they really look like when all sands/dirts/clays cleaned off. You can see the ironstone inclusions in some of these pieces - I think all but the little ball have the inclusions - again another great day

Good habit to inspect the gold in field, look at the terrain, scrape and clean around the find, dig further to see the ground level under the gold, fill hole.

14. And these were the other targets for the afternoon. Some cool old bullet casings - the one on the top right - I should have laid it sideways for you all to see - it is very old and has markings Kynoch - roughly 14 inches deep.

Excellent day - even if the yellow didnt prevail - had a clear course of what I was going to do today and actioned it well. A little off the track but these decisions are made in the fields when we assess what is in front of us.

All the best - and hope you enjoy the images and get some little advice on the way I look and assess certain aspects in the fields.

Regards M.G

 

[LORD]

Congrats MG, thats a good day in anyone's book !!

 

[Wishfull]

Yep cheers to that !

 

[JD Gold]

Inspirational MG! Thanks for sharing your adventures, keep it up - I believe I can speak for many readers here; we appreciate your contributions immensely. All the best, JD.

 

[limpalot]

Take a picture of the SOB and put it on facebook or u tube.

 

[Dignit]

Well done MG. Great finds. You are living the dream. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tathradj]

Here you are about the centre fire shells.
455 Webley,

 

[Minelab Gold]

Thanks Tathradj,

Its great to see the make of the old shells we find and try to see if they have date markings as well.

Good one

 

[Minelab Gold]

After getting ready today to head out for a few hours - one thing that I forgot to put in my back pack which I didnt notice until arriving in the field. After walking 1.5km from the vehicle - my usual thing is to have a drink prior to prospecting. And what do you know - the water bottle was left on the table at home. Hence why I am home early to write this post.

The flies were again at their very best to annoy me, no spray left in the bottle in the back pack. I felt like today was one of those days where maybe I should just head back home - but surely I can have a swing for an hour

I started basically where I left off the other day after getting those 4 pieces of Gold - working my way around the other side of a tree not too far from the last piece of gold found in the red clay level.

As I continued kicking or brushing away any large sticks that were in the way of a good solid coverage of the ground, I sweeped around and in between 2 tree's right where the ground appeared to dip a little and what sounded like a very faint little blip on the radar. Not very noticeable, I didnt keep swinging away usually when I hear this change I pretty much scrape away to get closer.

When I scraped away the compost material which has accumulated over many years out of this area, I was surprised to see the thickness being 4 inches - you can see in the images how much compost overburden build up was removed.

Finally have the ground showing with a nice section to swing, when I went over the area surely this signal was there and very clear - the sound was much like we get from a wire/thin type object - Digging around the small tree roots to get the target out - there were clays and gravels mixed and what appeared to be concentrated pocket of gravels caught in the section of clays.

1. Here you can see the amount of buildup on top in this low lying area. And also the hole with the red and white clay

2. Target out and somewhere here in the pile - this target would have been 7 to 8 inches below top surface level - 3 or 4 inches into the ground under the compost.

3. And there we have it in the hand and again the first target for the day - after getting this target and continuing for maybe another half hour - I only removed one more target - 8 to 10 inches down and it was our trusty old rust

Based on the signal response I would have to say this target in the ground would have been sitting sideways - giving that wirey type signal sound. If it was flat then it would have been that sweet mellow even response in both directions.

4. After arriving home and cleaning again like the last pieces found in this spot - all with ironstone inclusions - nice looking piece though

Out of 16 times visiting this spot 15 times have produced gold finds. The more real estate we cover the better our odds become or should become, when we ask the question, how long have you been prospecting for? some people advise roughly 5 years, and then we ask how many times per year would you get out and they say 4 or 5 times, I have had dry patches while prospecting where we dont find gold for days and weeks, but we maintain that focus on narrowing down the window each and every time, don't dismiss an area just because you dont find gold the first time there or within the first couple of days.

If I had a dry patch for days to weeks but hunting everyday - and the guy who can only get out 4 to 5 times per year - this is why some people either hit it very lucky on their first outings or they dont hit gold at all for quite some time, take this time into perspective in days and weeks, not in months or years. He may not find gold for 3 years if he only gets out 4 times a year, but really he hasnt found gold for 15 days

Better your odd's raise the level of probability in your favor so you can reduce that window size every time you get out there.

Enjoy the weekend and I hope you all close that window and potentially open new ones, hit some good yellow which has been sitting waiting for you to walk over it.

As always be safe and well, take care and talk with you soon.

Regards M.G