Remote NT detecting

[Phteven]

G'day folks, very new here.

I've been considering for a very long time about buying a detector. Recently a colleague offered to sell me one for around the $5k mark.

I have access to a few cattle stations and private land very close to where i'm living. Some of the land i can access has been or is adjacent to land mined for uranium but as a by-product these mines produced commercial quantities of gold and other minerals. If you know the NT you would probably not have too much difficulty working out where i'm talking about.

My questions are:

Is gold that is associated with Uranium mining in a form that can be metal detected? Ie, is it in nugget form or in an ore?
If i go ahead and have a crack at detecting... at what point do i give up? In places that haven't been detected before, if there is gold present, am i looking at maybe a weeks worth of work before i might find something? Or should i be looking at more like days?
Will the uranium be picked up by the detector? And if it is and i dig some up am i going to give myself a lethal dose of radon or destroy my goolies and chances of having children????

Thanks folks, hope we can have a good chin wag.

Gordo

 

[Randolph]

Finding gold has no time limit. If you are in a gold bearing area and you keep that coil swinging you will find gold. The more time you put in the better your chances. To improve your chances do some research on where the old timers were working. Try googling an area IE Palmer River gold and see what comes up. Also do some research on the type of detector you are thinking of buying. On my first trip out I found a 2g piece in the first 20 mins but found nothing else in the next 2 days. Another tip is swing low and sloooooooooooow. Cheers Randolph

 

[Phteven]

Thanks Randolph. Here's the thing, these ares haven't been 'gold mined.' I know there is gold there only from government documents produced in the 1960's from exploratory drilling and from the mining reports, hence the questions about the form gold takes when it is associated with uranium. The nearest gold mine would be 80km as the crow flies and can't legally be fossicked because of the draconian laws in the nt.

The detector is a mine lab 5000. The price seems slightly high on the reasonable side if things. If they weren't such a big initial outlay I would have just bought one and gone out and given it a crack.

Appreciate the response mate.

 

[Wally69]

Some gold is chemically extracted from ore processing, I suspect this is the case in the area you have in mind based on what I have read.

For the hobby prospector, our best chances for success is to find reef based deposits and alluvial deposits from eroded reefs. There is a better chance of striking larger gold particles this way. Revisiting old workings and surrounds with modern gear is where the GPX shines so if you are serious, I would suggest using a serious machine.

The NT was extensively explored and gold has been found and recorded in notes of explorations but due to the remoteness, unless gold was found in considerable quantities, tracking down documented records will be a challenge. it could be a lucrative exercise as you might come across a lead for a virgin patch based on a back-of-a-camel conclusion in the 1800's that the area/creek was not payable.

I have read a few stories of expeditions with notes of unpayable and payable gold when it was looking like I was heading that way for work a couple of years ago, so there should be some info you can extract from the Internet to help you out.

Start looking for names of early explorers and follow their story, you might just hit the jackpot.

Good luck

 

[Guest]

Hi Phteven,

Mate, to be honest a GPX5000 is a fantastic machine. The issue is though it is complex to use, especially if you haven't detected before.
Gold detecting for most of us is a hobby, but it's addictive for nearly all that explore its beauty.

If you fished and loved it, well consider the price you pay for rods, lures, line, a boat and so on and so on. Regardless we do it.

I consider the price of detectors, as a hobbiest very reasonable, but I say this as I love this hobby and I don't have a boat.

A new detector was just released with a price tag of $10,700. Some consider very high, but again considering the price of other people's hobbies:
Fishing, car racing, motorbikes, whatever. Think of there price tags and as far as I can work out........detecting or prospecting is the only one of many that gives you a return in money (if your lucky enough). Point is, I was knocking on the shop the day they were released and I love it.

As for the NT. Well there is plenty of places to play around and if you know of a gold area, it is definately worth exploring further with a GPX5000. I lived in Katherine NT for some time and detecting in this part of NT, including Pinecreek and was plentiful, but tough. Remote, dry, dusty and at times you didn't find a piece of gold for ages. But it's no different anywhere else. I've been to the golden triangle in victoria and at times found squat, however I had a ball being out in the bush and enjoying this hobby.

My advice, the GPX5000 is fantastic, but you need to learn the machine and this could mean months, even longer. So some help from someone with knowledge to guide you or a course on a detecting trip would be best.

As for N.T. Fill your boots mate, as long as your in an area you can detect.

Remember you may go months without gold, it just doesn't jump out of the ground at you.
If you love the bush, solitude, exploring, history, mostly good people that detect already (this forum is an example of them) and no expectations of getting rich quick, but a feeling of excitement every time you find gold. Then mate, welcome aboard.

I hope this helps you. These are my thoughts and I'm sure others will differ.

Good Luck

Lambi

 

[Phteven]

That is fantastic advice lambs, thankyou. My last hobby project was looking for a vulnerable species of snake in Arnhem Land to bring into captivity for conservation reasons, that took 3 and 1/2 years plus 900 hours searching the bush before I found them. I love getting into the bush, unfortunately because of the initial outlay I would have to treat this as an investment and at minimum consider the resale value of the machine. So I appreciate that perspective you've given (I'm a fisher and hunter too and own all the bells and whistles.)

I haven't heard of detecting course, can you tell me a bit more about them?

 

[Guest]

Hey buddy,

Sorry re the implied detector course, I was referring to going on a gold tour with a company. There are a few around and most provide a guide to detector use and basic discovery areas.

Good luck on your choice.

This forum has a lot of info from very knowledgable and quality people. Have a good read.

Regards

Lambi

 

[dwt]

Will the uranium be picked up by the detector? And if it is and i dig some up am i going to give myself a lethal dose of radon or destroy my goolies and chances of having children????

Thanks folks, hope we can have a good chin wag.

Gordo

Plenty of miners work at Olympic Dam which is uranium and gold, they're concentration levels would be a lot higher than what you should find digging, but in any case, I wouldn't go having a chicken dirt bath! :lol:

 

[Ronk]

hi mate if you get a detector i suggest you get some pieces of gold /lead of different sizes and spend some time detecting them ie dig holes and bury them a various depths and detect them keep burying them deeper until you cant find them any more and try to figure out if you have any setting that will help get more depth , easy gold is just that easy it barks at you but the gold that is hard to find if often almost your imagination so try to figure out those sometimes "I think i heard something" and go back over them from different directions , when making your test pieces flatten a couple of them to see that they don't sound the same in the ground . lastly never take a full step when detecting just a half step is enough to detect 1 acre of land would take a week or more, so a 500 acre area would take a long long time .

good luck