Ethical quandary..?

[NUGS MONEY]

So I need a bit of help in regards to ethics in the gold fields.
My conundrum is this... After an hour or so of detecting I came across what looked like a very fresh tailings pile. As I passed I couldn't help but stick my detector in the hole they had dug and boy did I get a signal. It was flatlining like crazy (from what I could tell the target was 30+cm long.) I was sure they left their crowbar in the hole until I poked my magnet around and nothing stuck to it. At this point I was sure it was a reef but thought it best to just mosey on. Until now... like how many others would give me the same courtesy? So what I'm asking from youse is to either tell me I did the right thing or convince me to dig it haha.

To dig or not to dig, that is the question...

 

[7.62marksman]

Am i right to say there was nobody anywhere in the area no gear left just a hole/tailings pile

 

[NUGS MONEY]

There were some cars as I came in but not when I left, no gear, just hole and tailings. I assumed they may still be working it because they left it open. But we get a lot of holes left open round here.

 

[aussiefarmer]

Reads like some mongrel didn't fill their hole in when the target just got bigger and louder.
If I hadn't seen anyone all day , I would scout around a bit and try see any signs of people then go dig it up, my bet is they aren't coming back unless their battery went flat and were camped near by.

 

[7.62marksman]

No one around no gear left in the hole then dig it

 

[NUGS MONEY]

I have a feeling they are local as I have seen one of the vehicles around town. Maybe it is a crowbar in the hole haha. I just have think if it really is what it could be and they had detectors they wouldn't walk away from it.

 

[NUGS MONEY]

No one around no gear left in the hole then dig it

I really should have hey haha! I can remember several instances where I have left holes open with my bucket on a stick and two sticks making an x over it (as I thought that was protocol). And all I'll say is I didn't even get my buckets back..

 

[7.62marksman]

Lol never leave a hole unless you are finished with it that way you save gear lol
There are so many people out there doing this and not all know what that sort of signal means
As i said dig it

 

[NUGS MONEY]

I might also mention it was in a creek so the target was under about 600mm of water. Probably about a wheelbarrows worth of classified material on the side.

 

[NUGS MONEY]

Lol never leave a hole unless you are finished with it that way you save gear lol
There are so many people out there doing this and not all know what that sort of signal means
As i said dig it

Roger that.

 

[HippyProspecting]

If no one's around
I say dig it

 

[NUGS MONEY]

If no one's around
I say dig it

Haha thanks HP I'm starting to feel silly for walking away, maybe I should go out now!! :lol:

 

[Mike678]

It is just a steel fence post or copper pipe ???

 

[Simmo]

Sorry??
So you are detecting, come across a tailing's pile, chuck your detector in the hole, get a signal....
Put you magnet in the hole and get nothing...

But it's 600 mm under water??

Love to understand your prospecting method!

 

[Swinging & digging]

Its an EH car door.

 

[NUGS MONEY]

It is just a steel fence post or copper pipe ???

Its an EH car door.

Could be the whole car and fence for all I know haha.

 

[Diston80]

The thing is, were they coming straight back or not. If not, then they didnt do the right thing and fill in their hole so I say go for it.

 

[NUGS MONEY]

Sorry??
So you are detecting, come across a tailing's pile, chuck your detector in the hole, get a signal....
Put you magnet in the hole and get nothing...

But it's 600 mm under water??

Love to understand your prospecting method!

No reason to be sorry mate. What is it you don't understand? I will do my best to explain. I assumed the target was very close to the surface due to the response I was getting from the detector ( by surface I mean the surface of the bottom of the hole haha). I thought surely its a shovel or crowbar. So I stuck my pick with the magnet on the end to see if the target was magnetic. That helped me rule out a few possibilities. The target is about 600mm under water yes.. I'm using a detector.. so normal detecting methods I guess?

 

[NUGS MONEY]

The thing is, were they coming straight back or not. If not, then they didnt do the right thing and fill in their hole so I say go for it.

Good question, how do we know? Another prospector could just walk along tomorrow and ping it. I would have less dramas if I didn't see cars on the way in and the tailings weren't so fresh.

 

[7.62marksman]

Just go back and dig it otherwise you are gonna be thinking of this for years to come it will drive you insane
Because you could of walked away from lots of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ or a pice of rubbish
You will never know
DIG IT