alluvium

[noyungan]

Hi again,,
Should my last post attract brickbats and I don't reply its because in 10 minutes I'm off to central Qld for a break.. Its a the best forum tho..I wont have the puter with me ,,,gives the mother board a break, gives me a rest, and the missus will get more attention!!!
cyuh,, noyungan XXXXXXX

 

[noyungan]

Back from the north, did visit an area classed as diggings, but not very impressed.. That may all change when the power pack for the 3000 shows up and I get out there midst flies,ants, snakes and of course GOLD!! Gotta learn the machine,, but as with fishing, a first timer can get a fish, er gold!!
Something I've gleaned from this great forum-- the help in all matters is given generously and one thing I've noticed is that many detectorists use a 'second fiddle' acker a pan, sluice or highbanker...
To me that seems to split one's focus or does one get so proficient at the one that he can branch out to another method without loss??? Perhaps some detectorists or panners can explain the wisdom in doing it. Is either method on its own not a guarantee (?) of success??
Cheers and happy prospecting,,, noyungan.

 

[Goldpick]

There are never any guarantees of finding something when it comes to gold, the more successful detectorists and highbanker operators put plenty of research in before even attempting to go out into the field, and sometimes it pays off, but not always. You hear plenty of success stories on the forums, but not many of the countless trips that go without finding a speck of gold, and there would be plenty of those.

You will probably find that people operative sluices and highbankers get gold more regularly than someone operating a detector, but a majority of the time it is only fine gold, and in small amounts at that. That's fine, people are just happy to see a nice tale of gold in their pan, afterall, for a majority of us, this is a recreation, not a money making venture.

There are some areas that are suitable to both detectors and other mechanical means of recovering gold (sluices, highbankers), whilst other areas are simply not suitable for one or the other. It's just a case of having the right tool for the right application, hence why some operators have a range of gear to cover all bases.

For example, you may use a high frequency detector to check over larger classified material for missed nuggets that would otherwise clog up highbankers/sluices, depending on what sort of design you use. Plus a detector might also be used in the same situation to check for nuggets in bedrock crevices after digging up the wash. So in this case, two pieces of completely different equipment may actually compliment each other in the field.

 

[noyungan]

Hi goldpick,
The way you explained the relationship between gold,, detecting for gold,, panning/sluicing for gold made a lot of common sense , at least to me, and I enjoyed reading it. Sadly, some get a mindset on one avenue of prospecting and even when finding naught they will advise one n all that what they're doing is the best and only way..Real prospectors know the expression "where it tis, there it tis",lends itself strongly to your suggesting a variety of equipment to accommodate the vagaries of gold deposition.. A bit pointless skimming the surface electronically when fine to coarse gold is in a gutter 3 feet down. And vice versa.
Out panning one day and an old fella came along 'devining',, he'd even calculated there was wash 1 metre down.. After he'd gone my scepticism drove me to dig and sure enough 1 metre approx. the wash was there ...very little gold tho..Oh my aching back!! Cheers,,, Carl.

 

[G0lddigg@]

hey noyungan that old fella divining was that at creswick?

 

[noyungan]

Hi there GOLddigg, I met the old diviner first when I made a quick trip to Maryborough with the garrett deepseeker around 1982. He seem to take an interest in me,,prospecting wise,, and showed me his method of finding fine gold. He seemed to have a sixth sense on its whereabouts. Then he introduced me to the wires he cut from some number eight lying around in the bush.
Two pieces were about 4 foot long and two were about 3 foot long with about 6 inches bent down for the hands to grasp. On a narrow alluvial flat he placed the 4 foot pieces end to end on the ground running across the flat then taking one in each hand the other wires, he walked on the wires he set on the ground, and counted his steps from the moment the wires crossed to when they resumed straight ahead.
I forget the number of steps he took but he insisted the wash was 3 foot down. Anyway, he trotted off home and left me with the green machine, all the while I'm thinking about what he did..
Curiosity eventually beat scepticism so I got the pick & shovel and into it.. I finished it next morning,, and yes, I stood in a hole my belly button deep which equals roughly 3 feet. And yes,, there was about a foot of wash. With dreams of avarice I panned like mad to recover only a few very small pieces, flatout weighting them I guess.. We became sort of friends, invited me to his home and gold was always the topic..
Affairs took me back to QLD, but a couple of years later I returned to Maryborough only to learn the old fellar had passed away.. He was very old,, slim build with a slight bend, skin like leather. At our first meeting maybe, just maybe, he realised his time for panning was short and he had the urge to share his methods before he fell asleep in death. May he rest in peace..
Cheers and all the best,, Carl....(noyungan)