My six months worth

[Guest]

I thought I'd post all my finds straight of the bat as a bit of an introduction (besides the "introduce yourself section").

I'd say for the first three nuggets, I would have been around the 100 to 1 mark and six months swinging. Going out as often as I could. Than on my last trip to the GT I pulled No. 3, 4 and 5 in the space of 3 days.
With a total of 5 little beauties totaling a whopping 2.4 grams. I personally love the individuality of nuggets and the idea that no man has laid eyes om my pieces, let alone have held them (no sun bakers here).
I have also found a few nicely faceted quartz crystals through my countless hours wandering through the bush and fossicking in creeks close to where I live.
My favorite nugget (besides my first) coz lets face it, Although only .34 was a monumental occasion . Would be my Crystalline nugget which I have as my avatar .62 gra

m. Unfortunately not knowing the delicate nature of my target when I found it and in the haste to see a bit more colour. The old spit in the hand and rub it instantly broke a tiny piece off what is luckily the flatter side of the piece .

So without further adieu, here they are.

The image with three nuggets took me around six months.
The image with the 5 cent coin has my fourth(RHS) and the crystalline piece on the coin plus the little piece that broke off in my hand.
It is so sharp that when trying to clean the host material out with a tiny paint brush after soaking it. The points of the nugget would catch the bristles and cut them off. Subsequently breaking a few specs off 8.(
Lesson learned...
You can still see some of host material in the pic on the coin that I'm too scared to clean out. Maybe acid would have been a better option?

Hope you enjoyed the pics, NG.

 

[treasureman]

Beautiful Colours. No wonder its prospectors best friend

 

[Guest]

Hi Treasureman,

Absolutely and after seeing the colour of rusty junk, aluminum and oxidised lead, it's a real "EUREKA" moment when you see the right colour!!!

 

[treasureman]

At least you know theres gold in the area. Wish i lived somewhere where gold was possible in nugget form. That would be a new hobby.

 

[Wally69]

Thanks for sharing some great photos and a bit of a yarn.

 

[user 1769]

Nice gold! I love the spongy bits. There are a few threads about alibrite for cleaning pieces like that. It's dangerous stuff, so be careful.

 

[Ramjet]

Beautiful gold. Great yarn. Thanks for sharing

 

[Guest]

Thanks guys,

The pics didn't work out that well but ya get the idea.

@ treasureman, Yea I'm in the right place for nuggets that's for sure.

@ Wally69, Glad ya like the pics and I am known for long winded stories and answers.

@ mfdes, I've read about Ali brite but I don't mind the white bits. I don't really want the mess with this one anymore. But if i get another one I'll give it a go.

@ Ramjet, Cheers mate glade ya liked it.

Thanks for the encouragement.. NG

 

[AtomRat]

I mustve missed this post but you just brought it up so I thought id check it out. Love the flat one and on the 5cent reefy bit, awesome!

Hyldrochloric acid will clean some gunk, and then hydrofluoric acid will eat off host rock, quartz and make it shine, but it is a carcenogen and great care must be taken to reduce exposure. Phosphorus acid will work ok too.

Hydrofluoric Acid can be bought as alluminium cleaner, the same as Phosphoric Acid ( or on the cheap side, its also in coke )

 

[Guest]

Thanks AR,

Glad you like the flat one, that is my #1/first Son's piece and was the biggest piece till recently.
I've added a few more to the collection since posting this thread and it would have helped if I had put it in the correct area :8 Newbie mistake.

I've bought some stuff for cleaning them now (Alibrite, cloudy ammonia and a ultrasonic cleaner) so they're lookin a little better. I think the host material on the reefy lookin bit was Catlinite, so it come up ok with Alibrite and CA. Though Alibrite probably isn't what was needed. I should give it a run in the Ultrasonic.


(G'day mods, if it isn't too late? Could you please move this thread to Metal Detecting for Gold? Sorry bout that :8 )

Cheers, NG.

 

[Jaros]

Done NG.

 

[GaryO]

My first piece was a 3 gram speciman , which I still have incuding the pick dent in it lol .

 

[SCROUNGER]

Good stuff NG. My favourite is the one on the coin. I do love those crunchy looking ones.

 

[SCROUNGER]

A 3 grammer must have been a nice way to open the batting GaryO?

 

[Guest]

Thanks Jaros

 

[user 5415]

Swimming pool acid from Bunnings etc. is easy to get in different volumes. Use glasses and gloves in an open area.

 

[GaryO]

A 3 grammer must have been a nice way to open the batting GaryO?

Still took many trips to land the first one.

not sure if u can see the pick mark on the bottom :8

Back to you Geo , I didnt mean to hijack the thread . Just agreeing about damaging brittle specimens. . Sorry .

 

[aussiefarmer]

well done I doubt to many have done that well in first six months

 

[husky]

They are impressive nuggets mate, yor research and hard work is paying back! hopefully your next one is a big upsizer for your collection

 

[Guest]

Yep, me too SCROUNGER. I cant see too many more like that comin my way. Though ya never know.
It was in an old tailings pile, which had been extensively detected around the sides (which was chockers full of iron and they clearly gave it a miss after a few targets) but the top was undisturbed. still had a slight layer of moss over it. No visible quartz at all, just slate and that piece was my first target. Go figure. I removed another 17 targets straight after that and have been back since, but that's the only piece I've managed to get. I'll be back with the Elite for one more crack pretty soon considering I've cleaned to top of all audible targets.

G'day GaryO,
Spewin bout the flat scrapped section. It just gives it a bit of character, coz it wasn't grown in a test tube. It was dug out of the ground in the middle of the scrub. Though ya gotta be happy with a nice specie like that for your first piece. It looks awesome. I'm looking forward to snagging my first specie. One day... Ya not hijackin the thread at all. I'm glad you posted the pic. Its all about the GOLD mate and hopefully a story to go along with the photo every now and then. I Luuurrrrvvvvvv a good story

The research is the easy bit, finding the stuff is the hard part. A LITTLE OCD doesn't go astray either. Wait a second, you already know me
Its commin Craig and yours too Bruv

NG