Gold Prospecting, Detecting, General information/interest books

[neddy]

Hot stuff will return it to library

 

[McGnome]

May I ask for some suggestions for books I can read to improve my knowledge please? I can download to a kindle if they are ebooks or happy to purchase books that may be good reference guides in the future.

I am coming at this from a complete novice point of view - no knowledge of geology, or how best to find the places I should be going. I am interested in gold detecting at this time - leaning towards an SDC2300 however I plan to do significantly more research and have a day or two out with someone before I put down my hard earned (or the boss lets me...lol) Mac

 

[BigWave]

Mate, some of the good books most of us couldn't afford.
This forum answers most of the questions that you could think of.
Just use the search button at the top left of your screen to find a topic.
Good luck out there :Y:

 

[old hand]

Mac SDC are a good detector you cannot go wrong with that choice
as far as books well there is not much out there, you are better looking at youtube videos that way you can hear the different sounds the detector produces on different targets ,phase tech has some good videos on this forum regards john

 

[Teemore]

Hey McGnome the search tool is your best friend use it often and you'll find most of your questions will have been asked before and a wealth of answers await you.
In regard to recommended books, here's a list that was kindly put together some years ago, there are of course others, Loaming by Sam Cash ......

Cheers Tom

Recommended Gold related books
Our forum member Syndyne posted an excellent post today on Rock and Mineral books. To compliment this post, I thought I would share some free book links and other recommended books that you may find or get from your library. A lot of these relate to the Victorian Goldfields but the geology formations etc are pretty well standard across Australia.
Number 1. The Gold Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria: With Notes etc etc. By Robert Brough Smyth
For Victorians, most older prospectors will tell you there is the bible of gold and that is my number one recommended book and its free to download! This is the google free link. Its easy to use at the top right you will see an icon like a wagon wheel click on it and follow the prompts. It is a large book so unless you want to get it printed, the pdf version is ok but not searchable.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=oLQ ia&f=false
For those with an e-reader (kindle etc) this site https://archive.org/details/goldfieldsandmi00smytgoog allows you to download onto your portable reader. I have a hard copy of the book but take my kindle with me prospecting it can be searched use the dictionary etc.
Number 2. Prospecting for Gold, Other Minerals and Precious Stones. Ion Idriess.
Libraries have copies and cheap paperback reprints are about. This book was written for new chums in 1931 so they could basically get a job and money during the depression. Some of the advice is for the times but the info remains excellent. Shop around for this one as a reasonable paperback reprint should not cost anymore than $20.
Number 3. The Gold Rushes of the Fifties. William Adock
First published in 1912 and reprinted many times since. Once again shop around for a paperback version. For those who are aware of James Flett (see below), he is used in some reprints to provide corrections and explanations.
Number 4. The Victorian Prospectors Guide and handbook.
First published in 1894 and still in print. Google it and several book sellers have the 12th edition for about $20. A great little book. I have several of the older editions and they came with fold out maps the newer version does not. For the true believers, there is a chapter on indicators.
Number 5. Australia and its Goldfields by Edward Hargraves (yes, THE Hargraves) 1855.
Free to download at: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=T8w &q&f=false
Number 6. A Visit to Australia and its Gold Regions 1853.
Free to download at:
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7cI &q&f=false
Number 7. The discovery and geognosy of gold deposits in Australia. By Simpson Davison 1861.
Free to download at: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Kzc navlinks_s
Number 8/9 and 10. Any books by James Flett.
Especially: Maryborough (Vic) Goldfields. Dunolly. Victorian Goldfields. These can be harder to get but I believe the Victorian Government bookshop has copies of Dunolly for a very reasonable price.
I am aware that some of these free downloads are being flogged off on CD roms on-line. If you take your time and use the National Library Of Australia Trove, the State Library of your own state and free google books and other free book sites, you will get a lot of electronic books. Of course, some are still in copyright and you may have to buy some of them, eg Flett.
Enjoy and happy hunting. search tool is your friend, use it often and you'll find most questions have been asked before and there will be a wealth of answers.

 

[Kozi M]

Hi Teemore the Google related links do not work. Is there a different link we could try?

 

[McGnome]

Thanks so much Teemore - this will keep me going for some time. Mac

 

[Dignit]

McG
A great place to start is the post by Loamer found at https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2042
Tom's list is also a great list. Well done Tom.
There are many free books on the web you can download, many written in the 1860's or later. Google is a great friend when researching.
Good luck.

 

[Teemore]

McG
A great place to start is the post by Loamer found at https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2042
Tom's list is also a great list. Well done Tom.
There are many free books on the web you can download, many written in the 1860's or later. Google is a great friend when researching.
Good luck.

My list was copied/pasted from Loamers original posting .... sorry if the links don't work.
Go to the Loamer post, they may work from there or search Google for the titles mentioned.
If you're new look up Loamer and his posts, heaps of great information (sadly Loamer no longer posts on the forum).
Cheers Tom

 

[outbacktinker]

Howdy,

First time poster, long time watcher. Call me old fashioned but i really enjoy getting my information from books. Have done a few cursory searches on here to see what i could find. However i feel a more targeted question is required.
Could anyone suggest any book or internet resources for gem and stone fossicking? Mineral identification, how to identify places to search, tools and their uses. Im a total beginner so feel free to flick me anything that could be of interest. I am very interested in gem and stone's.

My apologies if this is posted in the incorrect sub forum, if it is please let me know and ill relocate it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Pat Hogen]

This blog is a wealth of information:

http://johnsnewenglandminerals.blogspot.com/2013/12/list-of-all-blog-entries-to-date.html

 

[Dave79]

Searching for australian minerals. Keith Lancaster.

 

[Jaros]

Moved topic to Intro area. Welcome and good luck.

 

[Lefty]

Welcome to the forum outbacktinker :Y:

Pat and Dave's suggestions are on the money I think.

Once you're familiar with some basic stuff, this could be a handy resource - Macrostat geological maps. The link currently has it focused on the Sunshine coast, you can drag it around to anywhere in Australia, zoom in/out etc. Drag it over your area and click on the different coloured parts of the map and it will tell you what the geology of that area is - the geology of an area dictates what sorts of things might potentially be found there. Any geology that is igneous is worth investigating for gemmy possibilities.

Cheers

 

[outbacktinker]

Thanks all. Appreciate the responses. Good stuff all round. As luck would have it i have a lapidary/gem club not too far away from me (about 20 mins). Gunna go down and have a chat to them during the week.

 

[outbacktinker]

Hey Lefty. That map resource you posted to me looks great. How would a fella go about understanding what it all means and how it applies to seeking out places to pick?

 

[Lefty]

Hey Lefty. That map resource you posted to me looks great. How would a fella go about understanding what it all means and how it applies to seeking out places to pick?

Some of the books and resources others have previously mentioned will give some very basic concepts of geology. The terms used on the map descriptions are scientific ones and sometimes I've asked the forum's resident geologist (Goldirocks) to translate

At the risk of being corrected basically....

*anything termed igneous is magmatic in origin. Igneous geology is the origin of probably most gemmy things.

*Igneous formations can be either extrusive (was actual erupting volcanoes) or intrusive (magma that welled up from the earth but solidified before it could burst through the surface).

*Both kinds are further divided by their basic chemistry. At one end of the spectrum they are termed felsic - high in feldspar and silica - such as granite (intrusive) and ryholite (extrusive). They run through intermediateto mafic and ultra-mafic - high in magnesium and iron, such as basalt (extrusive) and I can't think of any mafic intrusives offhand.

Intrusive granites being high in silica are often the mother rock of quartz crystals (and a great many other interesting things besides) while high-silica extrusives such as rhyolite can be associated with thundereggs and agates.

Sapphires on the other hand are usually (in Australia at least) coughed up by by extrusives at the other end of the spectrum. The Central QLD sapphire field is a mass of basalt plugs.

That's about accurate to the best of my knowledge, hope that helps :Y: But read up and pick the brains of professionals.

 

[river]

:Y:

 

[outbacktinker]

Cheers Lefty. Believe it or not that has helped heaps in the reading i have done over the last day... On ya mate.
Time to jump down the rabbit hole.

 

[outbacktinker]

Searching for australian minerals. Keith Lancaster.

No longer inprint but i managed to find a copy on that auction site we all love and hate. Not extortionately priced but then again not cheap either. Either way, i hold great value in books and never look back on a good paper purchase.
Thanks for the recommendation.