Bigger Gold

[TimAu]

Hi all,

I have a question about finding bigger gold, and when I say bigger I am only talking anything over a gram.
All of my finds to date (about 150 odd) have all been under a gram with a few that don't even register on the scales, the weekend just gone I got a .02 and .04.

My question is, is there any reason why all of my finds are of a similar small size? Does anyone have any tips on getting bigger gold?

To add a bit more info I am using a GPX4500 with 11" mono, 8" mono and 8x15" mono, my finds to date have come from alluvial workings and slopes below reef workings and I do find plenty of bullets at reasonable depth.

Any suggestions appreciated! Thanks.

 

[RedDirtDigger]

Hi Tim, 150 nuggets and none of them over a gram, thats got to be some record. You obviously know how to detect. I guess the best advice i have is to move away from the diggings, try many different spots and do the usual things like detecting the bottom of slopes where they start to level off a bit and detect slowly if you find a flat step down the side of a slope. I feel a 11 round mono is an OK coil size. Swinging an 18 will give you more depth and a chance at big deep gold, however swinging an 18 can get frustrating. I would stick with the 11 mono and put an 18 on the end of the stick if you find a couple nuggets in or near deeper ground.
I am sure a bigger nugget is just around the corner.
Cheers RedDirtDigger

 

[TimAu]

Thanks, so when detecting slopes are there things that would make one slope more likely to hold gold than another? what should I be looking for here? The biggest problem I have is knowing where to look. My thinking has been above the diggings and below a reef but maybe that is ruling out too many areas for me..

 

[Guest]

Hi Tim,

I can not offer any advice with gold but with life in general, if you keep doing the same things you will keep getting the same results!

Which probably explains why I can only manage 1gm per day alluvial because I keep working the same types of places within a stream bed!

Its difficult to go away from an area that you know there is gold and you will always find some. The alternative is to detect/pan another area that gives nothing all day long, until you "learn" how to prospect another type of terrain/area.

Just my theory.

Cheers

 

[KarlS]

Its difficult to go away from an area that you know there is gold and you will always find some. The alternative is to detect/pan another area that gives nothing all day long, until you "learn" how to prospect another type of terrain/area.

You are so right mate. We go to same places where we go at least something, regardless how small more little . To try something new means risk of getting nothing for days effort. I'm like this but I recognize it and trying to change.
K5

 

[markgoldhunter]

tim I also use a 4500 but have had good sucsess with a nugget finder 18" round with response inverted. the larger coil is a bit heavier but you et used to it.

 

[muzz]

hi fellow gold digger
try to do a recon of the area your working and mark areas within the area witch are more likely to produce gold as to not waste all day working the whole hillside , check the wash at the bottom of a gully for any fine gold that may have washed down throught the hillside this will give a positive indication that gold in some form is still in the area , and navigate back up the hill rerember many old creekbeds may have been several meters higher before the old timers dug them out in the early years so move up the hill into fresh unworked area
just a waiting game till the big one comes your way by the sound of it .good luck

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Gents, can I just say, a little bit often can be a big return in the end.

 

[Badboybilly]

Tim just thank your lucky stars your finding gold,some of us are yet to find gold it's only a matter of time before the big ONE comes enjoy

 

[markgoldhunter]

badboybilly I can't agree more. appreciate every piece. I even have a 10x eyeglass to study each bit closely as they are all different and it's amazing how much character some bits of gold show with magnification.

 

[GoldCheddar2005]

The gold here I saw on another forum, someone complaining about where I went yesterday in the Whitsundays as a dud. What are they expecting to find riverwash?? You may not find that here, maybe a few spots southwards, but you may need to combat a few lizards with big teeth and bite big pieces out of bulls. I had a lot of fun in the said area yesterday, and it is very promising. Especially after talking to a landholder and getting access to the creeks up the hill behind them. Where there are old shafts, and plenty.

 

[Goldtarget]

I'm not a detectorist, but I fish and hunt, and the principle is the same, good info and extra time with someone who knows what they are doing can give you a big push, and its always a challenge. A new area or technique might just be the difference in taking home the big one. Obv the equipment is capable, perhaps some fine tuning on an instruction day or a book or video, any extra knowledge that places your machine over the top and the you can take it from there. I know chasing alluvial it can take some time to upscale the finds and they're will always be better days than others, but finding decent deposits takes time and a will to get better results, all to often repeat the same actions expecting a different result. Recently I took instruction on my vlf from a good relic hunter who knows the area and with an hour of helping me out my finds have increased. We don't know what we don't know having an old hand opens our eyes to possibility.

 

[TimAu]

Thanks guys, retirement stone what you said makes perfect sense, time to mix things up a bit. I went to Maryborough today as it is totally different ground than I am used to, plenty of bullets but no gold. I will keep at it.
If there's anyone that knows that area and knows what to look for and would be willing to catch up please let me know.
All gold is good and I love finding every bit but who doesn't want to find a "big" one.

 

[Autarky]

badboybilly I can't agree more. appreciate every piece. I even have a 10x eyeglass to study each bit closely as they are all different and it's amazing how much character some bits of gold show with magnification.

I've often said something very similar markgoldhunter. The first piece I ever panned, even at just 2 mm long, looks like a beautiful little nugget when under a good magnifying glass. It even has a name - The 'Hello Sailor' nugget, in memory of where it was found on the outskirts of Bendigo. Now I just have to work on size and quantity!

Cheers and good luck to all,
Autarky.

 

[Twapster]

Hi all,

I have a question about finding bigger gold, and when I say bigger I am only talking anything over a gram.
All of my finds to date (about 150 odd) have all been under a gram with a few that don't even register on the scales, the weekend just gone I got a .02 and .04.

My question is, is there any reason why all of my finds are of a similar small size? Does anyone have any tips on getting bigger gold?

To add a bit more info I am using a GPX4500 with 11" mono, 8" mono and 8x15" mono, my finds to date have come from alluvial workings and slopes below reef workings and I do find plenty of bullets at reasonable depth.

Any suggestions appreciated! Thanks.

You are hunting small gold zones. To find larger gold it will have to be higher up so start looking higher. You wont find as much but the ones you do find will be bigger.

 

[nuggetino]

Yep do your research as others say and detect areas known for producing larger gold. All my nuggets found in SA have been around the 2 gram mark and it's no surprise as nuggets of this size were most common on this gold field.

 

[TimAu]

You are hunting small gold zones. To find larger gold it will have to be higher up so start looking higher. You wont find as much but the ones you do find will be bigger.

I guess I have just been looking wherever... The biggest problem I have is knowing where to look and why, everything makes sense on a map then you get on the ground and it all changes and becomes confusing. I have read a lot about what to look for but it becomes information overload once you get on the ground.

Is it a waste of time looking in areas containing deep shafts? When you say look higher is this when chasing reef gold? I would have thought bigger alluvial gold would be lower on the hill?

 

[loamer]

You need to understand the difference between alluvial and eluvial. Eluvial is generally bigger gold closer to a reef or reef line. (google the terms).

When you are standing at the top of a known reef working or reef line (not a deep lead), think of where the gold has shed. When you do your research on reefs, a lot of gold was exposed or very close to the surface. It has shed from there. The old timers initially ignored this gold in places as the lower alluvial was easier to find. Once that ran out or got harder to get, they returned to the reefs and worked them. Hence the trick of loaming UP from the alluvial, into the higher ground, in search of eluvial. An old trick is to simply sit where the higher reef-lines are and picture gold as being three sizes. Big (bowling ball), middle (cricket ball), small (balloon). Picture rolling each size and then imagine how far they can go. The bigger stuff (and this also depends on the slope) is usually higher, the small stuff is at the bottom. Gold is lazy and like water follows the path of least resistance, so look for how the water flows. I may not detect in the heavy rain, but by jeez I go and look at spots to see how the water flows. Also look for water traps - flat spots, plant growth etc. where water gets trapped, so can gold.

These are just indications of where the gold may be. It beats wandering around having a poke around. Be methodical- walk around the contours of the hill in a planned zig zag pattern NOT straight up and down. You are trying to cut across a run of gold. There are no set patterns - found them inches apart to feet apart. Deeper, bigger gold will happen, as long as you are methodical. Get bored? Either give it a miss or have a hard think about the process. If the area permits, have a play on the mullock heaps, then resume your pattern search.

As for deep leads, and there are a host of reports on these, the gold will 9/10 not be close to the surface. Elevated stream beds are the same - detecting around deep leads is a waste of time unless its to check the mullock. Using geovic, it gives you a fair indication of where deep leads are. I know for a fact I am living on a deep lead- too deep for any detector BUT I also know where it starts out in shallow leads.

 

[TimAu]

Thanks Loamer, sorry I should have phrased my question about reef gold and alluvial gold better, I ment to say that I understand how bigger eluvial gold would be found higher being closer to the source but when talking about alluvial gold I would have thought the bigger gold would be found lower. I picture alluvial gold as having travelled many miles to its resting place, please correct me if this is wrong.

At what point does eluvial gold become alluvial?

Would the big smooth nuggets being found with detectors have come from a reef near by or would they have travelled miles to get there?

I am waiting for that light bulb moment where everything suddenly makes sense

 

[loamer]

Alluvail can tarvel for miles as you state. The rounded bigger nuggets have clearly been the subject of erosion. Alluvial is generally defined as being the subject of water movement, hence the creeks, even the old elevated creek beds gold is small rounded alluvial, although they are higher up. Eluvial is generally accepted as being subject gold that has been the subject of disintegtation where water was not the main reason for the break down - ice, wind, etc. The two can and do go hand in hand. I give Nuggety Gully near Tarnagulla Vic as an example. Big surface gold, small alluvial all together where it had shed from reefs very close by - Greek Reef etc. This area is within about 200 metres square. It is a compact area that has had exceptionally good gold and there are certain areas there that I am convinced are still shedding. Finds are harder to find as there has been some significant lease work but nevertheless, it is a classic alluvial/eluvial mixture.

It all makes sense eventually. I have a spot near this Gully where an exposed reef sits in the creek line. It is/has shed and although uneconomical to mine, still is shedding small gold. Close to this are deep reefs, shallow diggings and small surface nuggets are being pulled. (lots of rubbish though).

Just remember, rounded bigger have been subject to water action and not all alluvial is small. The more rough, ragged, eluvial and the source is probably close by. If i hit a rough gold area, its game on for the hunt.