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all the clues are on geovic ... 3 words
research research research, they will get you there....
research research research, they will get you there....
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Watch out for the big black panther / cat . Nearly as dangerous as the rogue trail bike riders in that area. But seriously , be very careful stepping on the thick bracken and leaf litter on the ground . You might end up down a mine shaft. We used to race around on trail bikes many years` ago and a mate rode straight into a big hole hidden by leaves and twigs. We were going at a fair pace and he just disappeared infront of me. He was a bit sore after it.
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Welcome James. Yes Blackwood, the place where I found my first gold 50 years ago. Some nice small nuggies by panning out stuff from in among the rocks in the stream, and the soil nearby. I was only 7 or 8 years old at the time. I'm not sure how much of the area is still accessible or legal to prospect in nowadays though, and you may want to check to see which waterways may or may not be on the exempted rivers and streams list here-
https://earthresources.vic.gov.au/l...ick/rivers-and-streams-where-you-cant-fossick
I'd imagine the SDC folk could do well around there, although I also remember gold pans full of .22 (and larger) casings like I've never seen in my life. A long-dead great uncle who used to take me to the spot explained to me that it was where the roos and other animals would come down at night to drink from the water, and shooters would be waiting to pop them off. He picked up one of those shells and showed me how to grip the open end between the base of my index and middle fingers and use it as a high pitched whistle if I ever got lost. Then he showed me how to dig up one of the huge scrub worms that live around there, and set a hook to catch a freshwater cray for lunch (Illegal now as they are protected), but mind boggling for a small kid who thought there were only Yabbies in freshwater.
There's some good gold around there, but as mentioned above, be careful of possibly hidden mineshafts. Back then there was thick undergrowth and blackberries to navigate through when trying to get into the spot. I remember once even picking an enormous amount of blackberries that I took home and my mother made a huge blackberry tart from- As nearly as exciting as gold for a young kid
Have fun mate :Y:
https://earthresources.vic.gov.au/l...ick/rivers-and-streams-where-you-cant-fossick
I'd imagine the SDC folk could do well around there, although I also remember gold pans full of .22 (and larger) casings like I've never seen in my life. A long-dead great uncle who used to take me to the spot explained to me that it was where the roos and other animals would come down at night to drink from the water, and shooters would be waiting to pop them off. He picked up one of those shells and showed me how to grip the open end between the base of my index and middle fingers and use it as a high pitched whistle if I ever got lost. Then he showed me how to dig up one of the huge scrub worms that live around there, and set a hook to catch a freshwater cray for lunch (Illegal now as they are protected), but mind boggling for a small kid who thought there were only Yabbies in freshwater.
There's some good gold around there, but as mentioned above, be careful of possibly hidden mineshafts. Back then there was thick undergrowth and blackberries to navigate through when trying to get into the spot. I remember once even picking an enormous amount of blackberries that I took home and my mother made a huge blackberry tart from- As nearly as exciting as gold for a young kid
Have fun mate :Y:
casper said:
this is a apology to the OP (original poster)
I am guilty - I've been a member of this forum from it's early days, the days when we freely shared our research (maps and all
YES 'X' marks the spot) and we also shared our success's, and supported and respected each other, [edit] and the "ground" that we were working, and how naive we turned out to be in [edit] in forgetting that this was (and it still is) an open forum, and yes many of us were "burned" by the sandbaggers, and now all that what we are left with is a mere shell of what the forum once was [edit]. The "search" function, either on here, or on the open web is a goldmine so as to speak and it is your friend - just as it was our friend back then [edit] and if you find something helpful on this forum about your research interest, and you will if you're diligent, then please acknowledge the original poster even although he may long ago have deserted the forum in dismay. Everyone has an opinion, and mine is that this forum is a mere shadow of it's former self - we no longer freely share - we merely obfuscate - I did...MEA CULPAcasper
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I don't think you were too harsh on Jamesgold Casper. You weren't rude or offensive, and your advice on research and pointing the way to Geovic was sound and helpful.
I only found my first small gold nugget using a metal detector last week- A full two years after starting into the hobby and joining the forum. For a while I did what most people do- buy some maps and go where everybody else goes, and has gone, for week after week, year after year, detecting the same old tired ground, over and over, and over again. Along the way I learned about my detector, about hot rocks, false signals, EMI, clay domes, geology, and that in those places especially, there's more junk than there is gold.
I have pigheadedly continued on with a large coil on a GPX5000, determined in my search to find a large nugget to name after my wife. Many times I have been tempted to strap on a small coil and look for "sub-grammers", but being true to myself I knew that I would never be happy simply joining the race to the bottom, whereby it has to be easy gold to the point of putting on ridiculously ever smaller/ more sensitive coils to find the most ridiculous crumbs called gold ever seen through a magnifying glass.
The turning point for me was one night when I logged in and saw something that Reg wrote, as ever in his blunt and forthright way. Something along the lines of "most people detect, very few prospect". It ate at me at first (maybe your reply to Jamesgold will eat at him too), and it would have been easy to just hate Reg Wilson like so many of the green eyed monsters in the prospecting world do. But, I thought about it, and asked myself why it was that it hurt me so much, and it still ate at me. The answer of course, as is often the case when somebody says something that cuts deep, is that it was true.
I have made an effort from then on to learn to prospect and not just detect. I don't buy maps anymore, I use Geovic & National Map, I read mining surveyor reports from the 1800's and 1900's, I find articles in Trove, and I have spent countless hours reading geological papers, and trying to understand why it is that gold occurs where it does. For the first time last week I went somewhere based purely on my own research, based only on what I have learned over the last two years. And bugger me if I didn't find a 1.5g tiddler, with a 25" DDX NF of all coils. The sweetest part is, there isn't a mineshaft, unfilled hole or evidence of anyone having ever fossicked, detected, or prospected there before.
You pointed James in the right direction, and nobody deserves an "X marks the spot" answer :Y:
-D.S
I only found my first small gold nugget using a metal detector last week- A full two years after starting into the hobby and joining the forum. For a while I did what most people do- buy some maps and go where everybody else goes, and has gone, for week after week, year after year, detecting the same old tired ground, over and over, and over again. Along the way I learned about my detector, about hot rocks, false signals, EMI, clay domes, geology, and that in those places especially, there's more junk than there is gold.
I have pigheadedly continued on with a large coil on a GPX5000, determined in my search to find a large nugget to name after my wife. Many times I have been tempted to strap on a small coil and look for "sub-grammers", but being true to myself I knew that I would never be happy simply joining the race to the bottom, whereby it has to be easy gold to the point of putting on ridiculously ever smaller/ more sensitive coils to find the most ridiculous crumbs called gold ever seen through a magnifying glass.
The turning point for me was one night when I logged in and saw something that Reg wrote, as ever in his blunt and forthright way. Something along the lines of "most people detect, very few prospect". It ate at me at first (maybe your reply to Jamesgold will eat at him too), and it would have been easy to just hate Reg Wilson like so many of the green eyed monsters in the prospecting world do. But, I thought about it, and asked myself why it was that it hurt me so much, and it still ate at me. The answer of course, as is often the case when somebody says something that cuts deep, is that it was true.
I have made an effort from then on to learn to prospect and not just detect. I don't buy maps anymore, I use Geovic & National Map, I read mining surveyor reports from the 1800's and 1900's, I find articles in Trove, and I have spent countless hours reading geological papers, and trying to understand why it is that gold occurs where it does. For the first time last week I went somewhere based purely on my own research, based only on what I have learned over the last two years. And bugger me if I didn't find a 1.5g tiddler, with a 25" DDX NF of all coils. The sweetest part is, there isn't a mineshaft, unfilled hole or evidence of anyone having ever fossicked, detected, or prospected there before.
You pointed James in the right direction, and nobody deserves an "X marks the spot" answer :Y:
-D.S
Gee..hope I wasn't rude either.
Lots of good info on the forum about Blackwood.
Just a dreadful place to prospect. For me anyway.
Lots of good info on the forum about Blackwood.
Just a dreadful place to prospect. For me anyway.
Hi all!
Ive been reading this forums anonymously and thought it time to jump in! Ive only been out once and - not surprisingly - didnt find anything but Im eager to learn!
Im staying around Trentham and my main struggle right now is the land Im finding on maps is almost impossible to traverse by foot - and Ive been seeing these awesome flat and relatively clear gulleys in the forums.
Does anyone have tips for finding these sorts of spots for metal detecting on maps? Something also accessible by 2WD (my car can barely get to 100kms - sorry locals stuck behind me!! 8.( )
Any beginner help would be much appreciated!
Cheers,
Emma :heart:
Ive been reading this forums anonymously and thought it time to jump in! Ive only been out once and - not surprisingly - didnt find anything but Im eager to learn!
Im staying around Trentham and my main struggle right now is the land Im finding on maps is almost impossible to traverse by foot - and Ive been seeing these awesome flat and relatively clear gulleys in the forums.
Does anyone have tips for finding these sorts of spots for metal detecting on maps? Something also accessible by 2WD (my car can barely get to 100kms - sorry locals stuck behind me!! 8.( )
Any beginner help would be much appreciated!
Cheers,
Emma :heart:
UnderEmployedGeo
Gold Gold Gold
I'm a noob too, this is an area I'm looking to explore too soon! I might have a 4wd by then as well
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Hi newbs.
Check this out https://gsv.vic.gov.au/
Geovic is free to join anonymously, and once you get your head around the various layers you can pull up maps highlighting crown land, shallow & deep leads, old workings, topography, and both geological and geophysical data.
Check this out https://gsv.vic.gov.au/
Geovic is free to join anonymously, and once you get your head around the various layers you can pull up maps highlighting crown land, shallow & deep leads, old workings, topography, and both geological and geophysical data.
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Welcome emmiscu
Im not a detectorist so can't help with areas to detect.
Have a look through this thread and you might get a few leads
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=11496
There are plenty of other posts on the forum about the areas your interested in. Just use the search function and you will find plenty of useful info
Good luckickshovel: :goldnugget:
Im not a detectorist so can't help with areas to detect.
Have a look through this thread and you might get a few leads
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=11496
There are plenty of other posts on the forum about the areas your interested in. Just use the search function and you will find plenty of useful info
Good luck
ickshovel: :goldnugget:
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Hi Emma,
Welcome to the forum.
Try Bells Reef Rd area at Daylesford easy to reach by 2wd as per earlier posts there are diggings within 50 metres of the road. The diggings are in the gullies not in the pine tree plantations. The easiest area is right next to the road on the left hand side between Briggs and Blackjack tracks which is the top of Blackjack Gully. Workings are very easy to see for the road.
Cheers db
Welcome to the forum.
Try Bells Reef Rd area at Daylesford easy to reach by 2wd as per earlier posts there are diggings within 50 metres of the road. The diggings are in the gullies not in the pine tree plantations. The easiest area is right next to the road on the left hand side between Briggs and Blackjack tracks which is the top of Blackjack Gully. Workings are very easy to see for the road.
Cheers db
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There are also diggings closer to home at Stoney Creek that crosses Blackwood Rd near the junction of Old Blackwood Rd they head south all the way up to Tower Track.
Its hard ground to cover the last time I was there it was covered in heavy undergrowth and more mountain goat country.
Good luck. db
Its hard ground to cover the last time I was there it was covered in heavy undergrowth and more mountain goat country.
Good luck. db
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Also forgot to mention Blue creek diggings and Snake gully diggings all within Trentham area. If your very adventurous there is Blue Mountain diggings only for the very hardy detectorist with all the correct equipment for rough terrain.
Cheers db
Cheers db
UnderEmployedGeo
Gold Gold Gold
I've been out in the Barry's Reef area north of Blackwood a couple of times now. No gold but plenty of rusty nails!
A lot of the tracks in Wombat Forest north of Blackwood are really 4wd only, although you would probably get around a few with a 2wd with decent clearance...
A lot of the tracks in Wombat Forest north of Blackwood are really 4wd only, although you would probably get around a few with a 2wd with decent clearance...
I've seen maps that say you can fossic in some parts of the national park. Around Shaws Lake and south of Blackwood to Obriens Rd. Has that changed
You could have a look through the info on the Parks Victoria website:
https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/things-to-do/fossicking-prospecting
