this might be a dumb question:

[simmo77795]

when gold detecting, looking for gold am i looking for, when i sweep across metal i get a loud noise, just wondering what happens whens its gold

 

[Roscoe]

To be honest simmo gold can be a big signal or a very quiet signal. It depends on how big and what depth the nugget is. No one can really tell the difference between nuggets and junk.

 

[loamer]

It not a dumb question mate, especially if you are first starting. Despite all the hype, there is no such thing as a 'gold detector', they are all metal detectors. You need to do some basic research into ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Detectors can be set up, depending on the type (VLF/PI), brand, coil (mono, DD, super DD), settings and complexity of the machine to rule out some differences between ferrous and non-ferrous metals but in the end, the detector will react to any metal - be it a positive or negative signal. Some detectors can 'blank' out the signals steel. iron etc, some can't. same with coils. It is all a matter of training your ear and trusting your judgement. I guess the closest to 'gold' sounds to a trained ear are lead and aluminium. It really all depends on the type of detector and coils you are using.

There is hours of reading/research in understanding the different types of detectors, their capabilities and uses and to what gold prospecting environment you take them into. Over time, you will develop an 'ear' for sounds. Add to this, simple rocks and soil types can also cause a detector to give a signal - something else you also have to learn to distinguish.

It is not and easy hobby!!!

 

[Goldpick]

What detector are you using? Most gold nuggets found are quite small, so we are talking about faint signals, or just a waver in the detector threshold, unless of course the gold is large and shallow which is fast becoming a rarity.

 

[dwt]

when gold detecting, looking for gold am i looking for, when i sweep across metal i get a loud noise, just wondering what happens whens its gold

You can be 'Lucky' sometimes and walk across a nice big piece of gold that rings at you like a piece of steel, but if you find smaller fainter sounding targets, that can usually lead to a good pay 'Streak'......... Just my personal opinion anyways! :|

 

[nuggetino]

It's possible to discern the shape of certain peices of metal and sounds but not with a high degree of certainty. I can tell the difference between various shells and bullets easily enough as they usually have a fixed shape which is easy to get an ear for. You don't always know it's gold you're swinging over but sometime you know it's something different that just sounds good. For example some days I'll be picking up .22 shells and pull tabs all day and hey presto I get a different signal from the detector. Always exciting when this happens. Most of the time..Damn it's a rusty nail! :lol:

 

[loamer]

when gold detecting, looking for gold am i looking for, when i sweep across metal i get a loud noise, just wondering what happens whens its gold

You can be 'Lucky' sometimes and walk across a nice big piece of gold that rings at you like a piece of steel, but if you find smaller fainter sounding targets, that can usually lead to a good pay 'Streak'......... Just my personal opinion anyways! :|

ahhhhh - the penny drops. You reckon the 'King of Grammer' has had a Lucky escape and Streaked past the guards?

 

[PabloP]

when gold detecting, looking for gold am i looking for, when i sweep across metal i get a loud noise, just wondering what happens whens its gold

You can be 'Lucky' sometimes and walk across a nice big piece of gold that rings at you like a piece of steel, but if you find smaller fainter sounding targets, that can usually lead to a good pay 'Streak'......... Just my personal opinion anyways! :|

ahhhhh - the penny drops. You reckon the 'King of Grammer' has had a Lucky escape and Streaked past the guards?

Time will tell.

Rob.

 

[Jacko]

Talk about the sound of the gold! Detecting at Warrego NT last year around a tree with GPX 5000, gravelly sort of area, and got a really loud sound. Brushed the small bits away with my hand and the sound was gone. Detected Less than a mtr away and found a stone about the size of an almond with the smallest speck of gold in it - just the opposite to its loud noise though. Of course the lesson was don't flick stuff away, do it carefully.

 

[gcause]

Hi Simmo,

The only dumb questions are the ones you don't ask.

No one can give you a definitive answer as there are just too many variables. i.e. what detector you use, how deep the target is buried, what angle the target is at in the ground, what type of gold it is, the type of ground you are dealing with, has it rained and the ground is moist, etc.

What you can be sure of on all metal detectors though is the threshold sound. Thats the background noise that sounds like a mosquito in your ear when you are using your detector.

Everyone's hearing is different so this threshold sound needs to be adjusted to suit the operator.

You need to tune the threshold sound so it is just audible that is you can only just hear it like the sound of an annoying mosquito at night.

Once you have the threshold tuned you want to listen to any variation in that mosquito like tone. If anything breaks that threshold, investigate it and dig it.

The break in the threshold could be a high tone or a low tone or an absence of any tone. Sometimes you may get a whistle like sound coming from the detector as it goes from low to high or high to low. In my experience the whistles are usually the best signals to get but this again depends on your detector.

A lot of people will use iron reject settings on their metal detector also but if you are going for gold NEVER use this. A lot of the old timers on the gold fields used to bury their gold in old jam/flour tins to hide it from bushrangers and the like. Dig every target.

Hot rocks will also break the threshold sound and over time you will learn to distinguish what sort of rocks do this. If you get a signal on a rock KEEP IT. Crush it later in a dolly pot and then pan the concentrates, you just never know there may be gold in it.

Old camp fires will also give you a signal they can be identified by orange soil where the soil has been heated and there is usually charcoal in the mix.

Also the edge of holes will give you a signal because of the difference between the edge soil and the soil in the opening of the hole or if it is filled in the soil that has been disturbed.

Best advice I can give you is to learn your machine backwards and dig every target sound you get.

Best of luck with your detecting.

Cheers,

Grant

 

[Brutus and me]

Simmo, if you havnt already.
Buy a .3 piece and keep it with you......
Always run your detector over it before you set out.
settles the mind

 

[ProspectorPete]

Simmo, if you havnt already.
Buy a .3 piece and keep it with you......
Always run your detector over it before you set out.
settles the mind

I usually use a small lead split shot from my tackle box, a .81g and a .23g shot and can pick up the .23g but I'd prefer to get a .3g gold sample.
Where would the best place be to buy a sample piece of gold?
Not sure I trust Ebay unless recommended a particular seller.

 

[user 1769]

Simmo, if you havnt already.
Buy a .3 piece and keep it with you......
Always run your detector over it before you set out.
settles the mind

I agree. When I was starting out with my first detector, I bought three nuggets to play with and get used to the sound, a 0.4g, a 1.2g and a 2.5g. I think the best advice I could give, and I'm a relative newby, is to listen to the sounds and you will get over time to recognise probable gold. I went on a three day trip to a remote Tasmanian river a few weeks ago, and was the only one of four people who found gold with the detector. All the signals were very, very faint (and the gold tiny, all under 0.3g!). But a couple of days later I found a shallow 1.1g nugget nearby that sounded just like a nail, but more warbly, if that makes sense. This was with an SDC 2300.

With my other detector, at the beginning I was digging up aluminium cans and other junk all the time, when out looking for coins. After a while you just get used to what the coins sound like, and you dig up a lot less other stuff. I probably miss the odd coin, but I cover more ground because I spend less time digging junk, so horses for courses.

 

[Brutus and me]

Prospector Pete,
I am from Canberra but coilteck Maryborough and gold search Dunnolly have it.
You pay a little more than market price but its a settler hearing your detector running over the top

 

[Heatho]

Simple advice is dig everything, I made that mistake once of pretending Gold sounds a certain way, it really doesn't, dig every target if you want to be certain.

 

[Brutus and me]

I am not a pro by any means, far from it.
Some signals you wont miss, some signals you strain to hear.
Technique and concentration are the keys.
Slow and steady
!00% concentration.
I have used a go pro got home and watched it and noticed I missed a signal.
If your mind wanders at all, you can miss signals

 

[Brutus and me]

exactly heatho....

 

[ProspectorPete]

Thanks guys, I'll get onto GS for some so I can set up properly on location before swinging.

 

[jamie]

Simmo, all of what the guys have said is pretty good advice, me I like to get a little nugget and test it on the ground, or a inch or two under the surface, different ground will make it easier or harder to hear, test, practice and patients pays off in the long run

 

[Goldtarget]

I'll let the old hands steer me if I'm wrong but a serious swinger I know casts his own test pieces from aluminum. There have been a few technical uploads on here supporting this theory. Granted you can't beat gold for recognizing gold but he has a point...testing a one oz piece of yellow in every different area will eventually lend itself to unwanted attention.

On the plus side it's very easy to melt and mould and has a tendency to very nugget like in its shape. Anyway food for thought whilst on the subject.