Keen greenhorn. Hi!

[Matt25]

Hi,

Im from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. I've been lurking around the forum for a while now and I've reached the point where I want to get my hands dirty and give it a shot. Im interested primarily in detecting for gold, but also keen to mix things up a bit with a sluice and work some streams eventually.

So, I was thinking I would hire a GPX4500 for a few days to a week and head out and do some detecting and camp out for a few days. Ive seen the GPX4500 for hire at $100/day or $315/week. Ive never even held a metal detector, let alone used one to search for gold, so I want to get a taste for it all before I decide to spend $5000+ on my own gear. This seems like a decent way to do it without breaking the bank. What do you think?

I've havent got any mates that are interested in this type of thing, and I don't really want to go alone, and I don't exactly know where to find the yellow stuff, so just wondering if anyone from the forum would be up for catching up for a day/a few and showing me the ropes? Im eastern suburbs, but happy to travel all over the state. Maybe I could tag along for a day or something? I don't know if this is too forward considering I just joined the forum, but thought it was worth a shot. Sorry if it is...can you tell I'm keen?

Another thing, maybe a silly question: how accessible are the majority of the gold bearing areas? I have a 2wd car so just wondering if that limits me to certain areas that are more likely to be flogged already :/ Seems to me like it might be a bit of a handicap if I ever decided to really get into this. So would a 4wd be necessary eventually?

Cheers

 

[Colmaca]

Hi Keen Don't go in 2 hard at the start do some panning see some colour and get the Bug

 

[Colmaca]

So Matt sorry I missed name :8 your Keen I should read better :8 Metal detectors take a lot learning so Just hire one and find gold not a good Idea. Gold is hard to find if it was easy every man and dog would have a bucket load.

pan or sluice some and see some colour

 

[Solomon 009]

Matt25 there is absolutely "No" such thing as a silly question, other than not asking "what is on your mind", firstly Metal detecting is something that takes most of us a fair while to learn, you could maybe find a Gold detecting club near you although you might have to travel a little bit to get there. Also with a club you can find older people ( 26+) lol with lots of valuable knowledge that you can either take or leave. secondly buy a gold pan and a classifier and get to know what you are looking for( what types of rock formations and where in creeks you should look) in the never ending search for the elusive stuff. I got the bug while in the Army and had to wait till I got out to scratch my itch. Gold fever is like Tinnea (itchy feet), once you have it, it never goes away, your car is fine for about 85% of area's I have never owned a 4wd and I've been all over this country. Save your money till you are armed with the "BUG" and if you aren't sure .........just ask, I am a newbie here and I'm 50.

cheers Paul

 

[Matt25]

Well I've been panning before a couple of times. Sluiced once, but that was maybe 10 years ago (I was a teenager, using other peoples gear). No longer in contact with those peeps. Keen to do detecting now. I did enjoy panning and sluicing, hence why I plan in doing in occasionally, but detecting is what I want to do.

I don't necessarily want to "hire one and find gold", I want to hire one to see what detecting is like with the proper machinery. I know it's hard to find, hence why I want the best equipment...but don't want to fork out for something I ultimately don't want to use. And also, that's why Id love to have someone there who knows what they're doing so I can learn how to use it properly.

 

[Goldtarget]

I'm sure someone can point you in the right direction, there are some excellent courses run by knowledgable people that range from a couple of hours to a couple of days that will go over many details if you wanted to "fast track" your learning, having an experienced operator who understands the machine and gold bearing areas (or how and where to find gold and nuggets) teaching you is excellent value for money. I think of it like a defensive driving course, yes its expensive, but after your eyes and mind are opened to the machines capabilities and how to operate the machine in varying conditions. Good luck on your search.

 

[Wally69]

If you would like to get to understand of how to use the gpx5000 successfully and increase your knowledge on gold formation and deposits in Victoria, I would recommend Golden Triangle Tours.

I did the full day tour, but they do offer a two day tour with the second day being all detecting.

 

[the duck]

And first you need to get on the internet and find out about the different types of gold, reef, alluvial etc, so you know where to go, how is it formed, and how it was mined, getting to know your detector is a bit like training a dog it takes a while before you get used to it and it gets used to you
There have been countless thousands that have dreamt of buying a detector going out to the goldfields and finding nuggets just like in the goldrush many went home disappointed
It is a great hobby but like all hobbies it requires a lot of research and work done while your not up the goldfields
I would also buy a small nugget say half a gram to practice on with your detector so you get the sound of gold
Then after all that you will probably be addicted like all the rest of us and have fun in the fresh air
Then you can pm me and i can put you on some spots you may find gold but there are no guarantees as you would expect