how i prospect for gold

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and I also find cool relics like this an old rack a rock sign for setting charges and drilling holes

and things like this that scare the crap out of me lol

 
joe said:
Mate how long did that hole take you to dig? Nice stones by the way :)

yeah there from mooralla wal. Joe I doug about 15ft in about 6 days plus we worked it until almost 8pm at night we wore bugged by the time we had finished it

 
mbasko said:
ppm of what? Toxic gases are all different.

CO2 - >10% collapse then death but effects start from 2%
CO - 0.2% is fatal in less than one hour (2000ppm)
H2S - 500ppm cause rapid loss of conciousness & death
SO2 - 400-500ppm are dangerous to life
NO2 - 100ppm is dangerous if inhaled for only a few minutes

Cheers mbasko :) does one unit detect all gasses?
 
joe said:
mbasko said:
ppm of what? Toxic gases are all different.

CO2 - >10% collapse then death but effects start from 2%
CO - 0.2% is fatal in less than one hour (2000ppm)
H2S - 500ppm cause rapid loss of conciousness & death
SO2 - 400-500ppm are dangerous to life
NO2 - 100ppm is dangerous if inhaled for only a few minutes

Cheers mbasko :) does one unit detect all gasses?

You can buy them to detect the gases you are looking for

Basically you need
o2
co2
h2s - I say this one because it can be generated by rotting vegetation or wood. Plus it kills before you know it in small quantities.
LEL - Low explosive limit
 
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joe said:
Cheers mbasko :) does one unit detect all gasses?

You can get multi gas detectors (up to 5 gases I think) but as WS said the main ones needed would be O2, CO2, H2S & maybe CO. LEL is also good. They are expensive though & require regular calibration usually with calgas. If it's something you do regularly though it would be no different to outlaying to have the best gold detector. I think you can also hire them.
http://safetyequipment.lri.com.au/c...o2-h2s-lithium-polymer-battery-yellow-housing
 
Thanks guys, I'll stay away from tunnels :)
 
Seems to work for me. Paul do you mean the confined space and height safety on the left hand menu?
 
and things like this that scare the crap out of me lol

What's in the picture that scares the crap out of you
 
Friend of a friend died exploring an old mine they were experienced cavers and thought they could handle it based on their caving experience. They went down a tunnel and came to a large pool of water the lead man went in an immediately dropped like a stone in the deep pool, unbeknownst to them the water was full of gas bubbles and as such offered limited buoyancy so his body was suspended about half way down the hole. The buoyancy vest he was wearing didn't help because of the gas. His mates could do nothing for him and saw him drown, they spent the next eight hours recovering his body and bringing it back up to the surface.

Stay out of old mines it's just not worth your life.
 
That's not good to hear but I think the post above highlights what can & does go wrong. It would most likely be the black damp I mentioned before - odourless. Deadly, dangerous stuff & can be present in a number of scenarios. Most just think it's coal mine related but any underground area with water & anything rotting, breaking down etc. that can produce CO2 & other gases is a candidate & that can be just about anywhere.
If you want to do it hire or buy the gear $3-4000 for gas detectors & a simple self rescuer isn't much when you compare what we spend on gold detectors & it's there to save your life.

I like reading hunting the yellows adventures but its not for me. Not having a go at you HTY, if your doing it safely all power to ya, but others need to be aware of what can get them. It's something that needs a lot of preparation & correct gear. Definitely not for the weekend adventurer (edit) & as per gcauses post it can happen to experienced people too.
 
The old Balaclava at Whroo. eh. Years ago got busted by the ranger while I was down one of those holes. After he foamed at the jaws, for a while, settled down and turned out to be a decent sorta bloke. Invited me back when the SES were doing one of their simulated rescues, for a good geek around. Wouldn't let me take the detector along.
 
mbasko said:
joe said:
Cheers mbasko :) does one unit detect all gasses?

You can get multi gas detectors (up to 5 gases I think) but as WS said the main ones needed would be O2, CO2, H2S & maybe CO. LEL is also good. They are expensive though & require regular calibration usually with calgas. If it's something you do regularly though it would be no different to outlaying to have the best gold detector. I think you can also hire them.
http://safetyequipment.lri.com.au/c...o2-h2s-lithium-polymer-battery-yellow-housing

Don't forget if buying, you also need to conduct a "bump test" before each use which works as a mini calibration. Basically it's a small bottle of all of the aabove deadly gases but at exact quantities that you place the hose over the sensors and it gives exact readings of the different nasties.

This video shoes the testing.the.most common personal.gas detector on.the market around the world. simple 1 button push operation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXM8v5PzPSM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 
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