Hi All,
Just updating thread with another interesting day out
In this image I hit a nice smooth target and you can see the fresh scrape mark - thought to get camera after I scraped and snap a pic - notice this area has mullock piles all around this area much like when miners would bring water up from creek so they could process shallow alluvial in a clay bottom hole - then they would keep scraping their tailings from panning out of the hole and keep the water up.
This image is 180degree from this hole - see the area where a previous detector operator has scraped maybe a 3mtr x 3mtr area - this shows us that someone to work this section is a good sign that they found something - most will spend a little extra effort on an area if they hit gold
When turning back towards the hole - see I have marked where a previous operator has dug targets - one hole still had a target - turned out to be a thick nail - when doing this it also helps to determine some peoples mindset - maybe they dug 2 targets and hit rust and the third they threw back in the hole and walked away
And this is what came out of the hole - only 2 feet away from previous operator - nice soft target but easily distinguished above the over burden compost top soil.
Cleaning the area to continue the search by raking with the pick - moving compost and sticks etc across then back over the area after detecting now creating a window to work the complete hole area
Dont let anyone tell you that you kick the material away with your feet until you hit solid ground because the gold wont sit in the light compost top soil material - check out this hole where I have circled - this next target sounded like a nail very wobbly in one direction - and screamed because it was so close to the surface - look at the small indent into the top soil - maybe 1 inch deep
This is why we check and verify every target no matter what material it is in - unless you have visual on the target you wont know what it can be. Nice looking piece of Gold
On the other side of this hole up on the mullock on a flat section - this guy who cut the wood must have walked across this piece of gold - first handful look whats sitting on top looking right at me. Small piece of gold - extremely faint even when the top 1 inch was scraped - this is a sub grammer 0.35g and was 5-6 inches down
All up 3 little bits with a total of 3.6g - and from the same hole area which was roughly 3mtr x 3mtr area - and when we look at the gold that came from here we can see 2 different locations of where the gold originated water worn moving constantly grinding over the years and the other piece a lot more reef primary type gold - this again shows us that the area that the gold was found was indeed the central water hole for a few miners who were working different locations in the area but in close proximity. We can also tell this because of the different classification of the rock in the mullock piles
And just what we all love to dig - get excited on all targets because anyone of them can be gold - but more so the excitement increases when the target stays in the ground and you are 1 foot down in solid wash - and then boom a piece of lead or a solid piece of steel 2 feet deep and it could of easily been a 2oz nugget or more - the joys of prospecting
The other day - target, target, target in a short while - today a lot of nothing which is the above image for a few hours then the last hour 3 pieces in same hole - remember for new operators - the more real estate you cover narrows your search down - just gotta persevere be patient and persistent and work the area thoroughly. Think that every target could be gold - dont ever get in the habit of trying to guess what it is and walk away. Low and slow move a stick or ten - scrape some compost top soil to increase your depth.
Search not only the mullocks but in the lower lying area's, most new operators will drive to the closest gold field with their new detector, see the closest workings with mullocks and start walking for hours over the mullocks in their search. Remember the miners were bringing the top material up to get to the paydirt and you will find some gold in mullocks, they would usually go by weight of the shovel load and the clatter of the gold hitting the wheel barrow and this would be their way of knowing they have hit rich pay dirt. Imagine that Shovel feels heavy yep we have hit the paydirt - what it must have been like lifting a full shovel load of gold. Imagine back in the day your mate say's hey the barrow is full push it so we can fill it again - and he say's i'm not pushing it the things too heavy.
All the best - happy hunting - minimal overlap - full concentration - balance the sound central and think that every little movement your waiting for that signal check and check again. your concentrating that much that any little blip in threshold may just be that target.