Introduction

[Tedmcfred]

Hi guys,

I'm from Roxby Downs in the middle of SA,
Looking to start prospecting around the bush here and am looking to learn from the prospecting community/ pass on any small amount of knowledge I may have
I work at the Olympic dam mine as a shot firer but we never get to see the end result of the products we create.
I have no prospecting experience at all and am looking to get out with a mate who lives here to and see what we can find.

Cheers.

 

[Jaros]

Welcome Tedmcfred to P.A. Good luck with your new hobby.
Jaros

 

[AtomRat]

Welcome to the forum mate! For starters..some of that loose rock n dust in the boots from work would be coming home with me.. :lol: Being central to s.a there you have some great choices of what and where to dig. Learning about and looking at copper deposits around like malachite or multi deposits like Moonta or olympic will help learn how to chase gold too. I say copper as its very common there and its green easily found in many sites. Buy a shovel, sieve and pan, some info and maps on past gold or gemfields and youll be on yer way!

 

[Tedmcfred]

Welcome Tedmcfred to P.A. Good luck with your new hobby.
Jaros

Thanks Jaros

 

[Tedmcfred]

Thanks @AtomRat,

You are right about the copper here that's the primary target of the mine. We do get gold and other stuff to however.
Haha I might have to start sneaking out a bit of material and see if it shows up anything.
I'm excited to get out there and see what I find.
Would you recommend buying a small amount of pay dirt with gold in it to practice panning?

Thanks

Tedmcfred

 

[AtomRat]

Id reccomend if you want to buy some pay dirt to practice, that it be from DiggerTom as it could be similar to gold you would see at home, his paydirt is from Eldorado where size can vary Unfortunately I dont know the north/central very well yet so im unsure of gold direction you would head closest, possibly not far by the sounds of it. Make sure you only dig where you know gold has been found in the past, especially creeks. You will find this info in historys pages. Learn about how gold acts by panning and reading/utube about how it deposits in streams, and then learn the techniques miners have used, from early goldrushes to modern techniques. You have better chance finding gold around earlier diggings where miners had little water, machinery and were sloppy, or left the diggings as gold was better for them elsewhere etc. You will hear, read and learn many words and definitions from this point on lol, always remember to just have fun and keep safe! Many days of digging and no gold

 

[Tedmcfred]

Thanks AtomRat,

I appreciate your help.
I will let you know how I get on after a few trips.

 

[LORD]

Hey TedmcFred
Welcome to the forum. I am from your neck of the woods but have not really tried anywhere around roxby yet. I usually like to travel to gold feilds.
Are you only panning or detecting also?

 

[Tedmcfred]

Hi Lord,

I have just got a pan a few weeks ago and had a play around with some dirt.
I haven't got a detector yet but me and a mate were thinking about getting one each it's just a big start up cost when we don't know if we will use them enough.
What about yourself? Do you use a detector?

 

[Old Fred]

Was in the Roxby area a long time ago . Tried my brand new soverigne gt in that spot when i first got it . Only fhere a month but got a couple of pickers . Had more luck with my pan and dry blower around old diggings tho . But u never know till u have a go in any area

 

[Tedmcfred]

Was in the Roxby area a long time ago . Tried my brand new soverigne gt in that spot when i first got it . Only fhere a month but got a couple of pickers . Had more luck with my pan and dry blower around old diggings tho . But u never know till u have a go in any area

Thanks for the info Old Fred

I'm going to go into the outback centre and try and research where the old diggings were.

Your fueling my fire to get out there and find some gold!

Cheers mate