Are big nuggets only found on private property?

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

I was reading about some larger sized nuggets that have been found lately around Victorias Golden Triangle in THE VICTORIAN SEEKERS CLUB BI-MONTHLY NEWSLETTER. A couple of them were apparently found near Dunolly and weighed 65oz and 72oz.

This got me thinking, are big nuggets like these only found on private properties?

Some of the old workings and reefs are either on private property, no go zones or under a mining lease, so off limits for many prospectors.

I've watched many people on youtube unearthing really nice pieces but usually they don't say if it was found on private or public land. Its sort of going to be a bit of a downer if i find out most of the good stuff is on private property.

Dont get me wrong for most folks including myself this is a hobby. And as a hobby I should be grateful to get out in the bush away from all my work commitments and just relax, but it would be nice to know that theres a chance of finding something a bit bigger one day.

So has anyone any thoughts about finding 2 -3 oz nuggets or more in a state forest? Are they still out there in your honest opinion? Lets assume you have the best detector and 30 years of experience behind you. In other words, if there is gold in the ground you would likely find it.

Cheers

Jin

 

[Oldfella]

Hi Jin, decent sized nuggets usually turn up in places least expected, I have found a few in fossicking areas that are not privately owned. No one finds it all, so lots of research, patience, good technique will eventually pay off

Cheers

 

[Ridge Runner]

Jin, a lot of people have bad habits when it comes to detecting IE wrong sweep speed or not over lapping every sweep, some just wander about zig sagging all over the place, even with an Average Detector The Person who knows how to Use it will still find Gold. Even using the older Detectors Like The SD Series are still A Force to be Reckoned with and to this Day are still finding Gold, This is A Hobby where Knowledge Is The Key to Success,

 

[Moneybox]

Jin we are new to this game. Out introduction was to join in with the guys from DetectingWAgold on their annual muster. They took enough time to give us some pointers on soil types and technique. Nobody got very much gold at the muster but we were lucky enough to unearth a 0.8g nugget. We stayed on after the event at using the knowledge we gained and found another seven nuggets including the 35g one on our avatar. That was our first trip to well worked ground so I think there's still a few more out there with our name on them.

35g is not in the league you dream of but it's enough to get me excited.

 

[Ben78]

Big nuggets sound like trash, surface tin cans etc. It's very easy to walk away from those signals...

 

[Wintersnake]

Big nuggets sound like trash, surface tin cans etc. It's very easy to walk away from those signals...

Funny you mention tin cans, I was out the out the day in a area known to locals. Picked up the faintest of signals so started digging, 2 feet later the detector is giving a huge signal but not going into over load.
I'm thinking this is going to be huge! turns out to be a ally coke can............

I was annoyed to say the least, who buries a coke can 2 foot deep?

 

[Heatho]

The ground has been turned over so many times in some places that there can be junk anywhere at nearly any depth, sometimes old diggings get backfilled for safety reasons too.

 

[isolation]

The ground has been turned over so many times in some places that there can be junk anywhere at nearly any depth, sometimes old diggings get backfilled for safety reasons too.

I was wondering that myself. I went to check out some old diggings yesterday, and most of them definitely looked filled in. The rubbish I pinged was less around the backfilled holes than the two that were left open. I would have thought that even thought they had been filled in, there still would be a chance of a nugget/speckie around the filled in holes, soil turned over etc? Or should I stick to the untouched areas?

 

[nuggetino]

Well often it's highly productive areas that warrant being manipulated time and again to uncover fresh gold. I usually avoid those areas knowing full well there's still gold there. It's up to you. If you don't mind digging lots of junk at depth go for it there's certainly a chance you'll find gold if you put in the hard yards. I'd rather put the hard yards into leg work finding areas whch aren't riddled with deep junk and perhaps seen less traffick. It's more enjoyable for me. To each their own. Have fun

 

[Heatho]

As nuggetino said Isolation, be preppared to dig a lot of junk in those areas, though there will probably be some Gold among the junk.

 

[loamer]

those big nuggets were found on private property on a very historically rich area that for several reasons has/had been hard to get on. when they say 'around' dunolly, technically correct but draw a 20km circle around dunolly and its in that area. i can tell you this, it was not detectable at any existing surface level. around dunolly, you will see a lot of 'pushed' diggings from recent times. this was a process of getting a lease on public or private land, stripping back the diggings and hunting the source of the gold and/or to recover deeper gold towards the bedrock, usually with a detector. we all know there is still plenty of large deep gold - its just that a lot of it is out of range. several blokes have invested quite a bit of $ in making very large coils for this very reason. an interesting story - on one of these pushed areas a couple of years ago, one of the detecting crew thought they had seen a dropped packet of B&H smokes - the gold smoke packet. turns out- it was a very nice nugget. now, this all sounds very romantic and easy - it is not. it is very expensive work. do the maths and figure out the cost just of running some heavy machinery for days, restoration costs, time and effort (still have to make a quid). it can be profitable above expenses but not too many ultra rich full time prospectors. (a couple, but not many) another example - there is the old rifle range/gun club near dunolly that we pushed a few years back - it is no big secret -after costs total return - bugger all, but no big loss.

 

[Redfin]

there is the old rifle range/gun club near dunolly that we pushed a few years back - it is no big secret -after costs total return - bugger all, but no big loss.

Bad luck, that is good country, in that general vicinity is a paddock we call the 'egg farm' as it produced a nugget as big as a duck egg [nice new Isuzu DMax ute - with change]. Unfortunately is changed hands some years ago, an approach will be made when the 7000 is in the boot.

 

[isolation]

I'd rather put the hard yards into leg work finding areas whch aren't riddled with deep junk and perhaps seen less traffick.

I've been doing a lot of that lately

Thanks

 

[Wintersnake]

The ground has been turned over so many times in some places that there can be junk anywhere at nearly any depth, sometimes old diggings get backfilled for safety reasons too.

I guess I got a bit over excited with the can because I pinged 1 x 5 gm and 3 x 1.5 - 2 gm 10 feet from the spot.

 

[Heatho]

The ground has been turned over so many times in some places that there can be junk anywhere at nearly any depth, sometimes old diggings get backfilled for safety reasons too.

I guess I got a bit over excited with the can because I pinged 1 x 5 gm and 3 x 1.5 - 2 gm 10 feet from the spot.

Was worth investigating, if you already found Gold there, could have been a huge nugget.

 

[Guest]

those big nuggets were found on private property on a very historically rich area that for several reasons has/had been hard to get on. when they say 'around' dunolly, technically correct but draw a 20km circle around dunolly and its in that area. i can tell you this, it was not detectable at any existing surface level. around dunolly, you will see a lot of 'pushed' diggings from recent times. this was a process of getting a lease on public or private land, stripping back the diggings and hunting the source of the gold and/or to recover deeper gold towards the bedrock, usually with a detector. we all know there is still plenty of large deep gold - its just that a lot of it is out of range. several blokes have invested quite a bit of $ in making very large coils for this very reason. an interesting story - on one of these pushed areas a couple of years ago, one of the detecting crew thought they had seen a dropped packet of B&H smokes - the gold smoke packet. turns out- it was a very nice nugget. now, this all sounds very romantic and easy - it is not. it is very expensive work. do the maths and figure out the cost just of running some heavy machinery for days, restoration costs, time and effort (still have to make a quid). it can be profitable above expenses but not too many ultra rich full time prospectors. (a couple, but not many) another example - there is the old rifle range/gun club near dunolly that we pushed a few years back - it is no big secret -after costs total return - bugger all, but no big loss.

Thanks Loamer,

This helped me a lot. I was curious to know if they were found on private property. I often see huge nuggets that are in the newspapers or on forums and it gets one a bit excited. But often the story behind the find is a little different. It seems that finding an area in the bush and stumbling across a 65oz piece that hundreds a people have detected over and didn't notice is probably rarer than the glossy articles make out it to be. Hence all the people rushing to buying detectors when a big find goes public. A few of the other comments from my post say that a lot of people wander around aimlessly and probably don't know what their doing so i guess theres still hope. Any way look forward to finding grammers for now. Interesting comments about stripping back the land also.

 

[Ronk]

well just a point about detecting with my old ML sd2100 , when first got it, i used to walk off with it like you see on you tube but after lots of disappointment when others were finding gold in WA and we wern't we: Wife and I , slowed down and eventually we were searching a 10ft by 10 ft area and taking considerable time to do it and that started to produce results so time to scan from left to right was about 10 seconds and then half a boot step forward and do it again , with my old 2100 this worked out well and we ended up finding about 4oz while we were in WA , we found our own little spot and were bringing home some nuggets each day after about 3 days one of the other campers found our spot and found more gold that we had missed right under where we had already found gold

so go slow and low and have a better detector or the best you can get and dont tell anyone where you found it

cheers

 

[Guest]

well just a point about detecting with my old ML sd2100 , when first got it, i used to walk off with it like you see on you tube but after lots of disappointment when others were finding gold in WA and we wern't we: Wife and I , slowed down and eventually we were searching a 10ft by 10 ft area and taking considerable time to do it and that started to produce results so time to scan from left to right was about 10 seconds and then half a boot step forward and do it again , with my old 2100 this worked out well and we ended up finding about 4oz while we were in WA , we found our own little spot and were bringing home some nuggets each day after about 3 days one of the other campers found our spot and found more gold that we had missed right under where we had already found gold

so go slow and low and have a better detector or the best you can get and dont tell anyone where you found it

cheers

Yes This is going to be my strategy too. Research the area well, Think like a nugget (where will I travel now i'm free from my source) and go slow and steady.