TO Swing or not to Swing ?

[Wayn'o]

Hi all, found this forum tonight after an afternoon of pondering, I live on the side of the Bendigo Regional Park and have been walking through the part for months, during my walks I come across little shallow holes only a foot or couple of feet deep with mounds of dirt around some of them. While talking to my wife I said "oh they are from the old mining days", but Im not sure what they were for. as they are not shafts and seem to be in a line. That started Me thinking. "If I live in Bendigo and live right next to a bush, Bendigo Regional Park area and just down the road from the whipstick why not look into doing or learning how to do metal detecting ? I don't know the first thing about it but think I would enjoy time in the bush just looking around.

Is it worth it these day, I don't mean to make money but I would get frustrated if I spent week and months on end and didn't find any thing..

interested in what you guys think and how is the best way to learn how to do it and where to go ! even where to find maps of the old Bendigo gold fields.

thanks for any advice

Wayn'o

 

[WalnLiz]

Welcome to the forum Wayn'o. The Bendigo area is a great region to get yourself interested in the detecting pastime. The Whipstick produces small nuggets with uncanny regularity. There's heaps of guys who live there who would have no hesitation pointing you in the right direction. Can i suggest you give Brad Wilson from Ausie Detecting a call (lives in Bendigo) and I'm sure his local knowledge will be invaluable...best of luck and look forward to how your progression goes..Cheers Wal.

 

[AU Fever]

G'day Wayn'o and welcome aboard.

I'm only a newb here and still learning a lot myself, only went for my first swing on the weekend. My suggestion is do as much research as you can. Figure out how much money you want to spend and how much time you want to put into it.

As for research, this forum is a great place to start. The folks here are pretty friendly and more than happy to help out. You can also use Google to find just about anything and YouTube has hours and hours of prospecting videos (WalnLiz's are awesome!).

From what I hear there's still plenty of gold out there waiting to be discovered, especially around your area.

Oh, before you start digging holes or panning you'll need to get a Miner's Right from the DPI. Their site (http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/earth-resources/exploration-and-mining/prospecting-and-fossicking) has all the info you'll need and you can get one online easily. That way you get to keep all the gold you find

John

 

[Mystyk59]

Gday Wayno and welcome to the forum, Well the first thing i have to say is that it is disappointing that you are finding holes that are not backfilled as they definitely sound like detectorist holes and any serious detectorist will ALWAYS fill in any holes they make, it is our golden rule and not doing it gives us all a bad name. As for whether or not to take up detecting, if you love being outdoors and want a great hobby that will keep you healthy then yes ! It isnt for everyone and and it comes with a highly addictive warning ! lol As for whether or not its worth it , its the thrill of the hunt as much as anything and i am sure that members of this forum who are in your area will be glad to help out with advice on where to go etc to give you the best chance to find some of the Yella stuff. You are in one of the best areas to find some so i would say yes its worth it, the thrill of finding your first piece of gold and knowing that you are the first person to see and touch that ever is amazing. Hope this helps a bit and i am sure my fellow forum members will add to what i have said
kindest regards Bill

 

[Wayn'o]

Thanks Guys for your friendly advice, sound's like I would enjoy it, I think I would be just as happy finding some old coins ect, but a bit of the yellow rock would of course be fantastic, I might have a look around in the local area and find some contacts, I think there are a couple of people who run training sessions on detectors, so I'll start looking.

 

[Wayn'o]

Hi Bill, thanks for the info. The holes I speak of are OLD and not left by any one over the last few decades, there is just a line of shallow diggings may be a 1.5 x 1.5 meters square and about 600 mil deep and they run in a line approx. 30 holes through the bush but I see little runs of them all over the bush in Bendigo. I can only think they are old holes from old timers prospecting in the past.

thanks for your advice much appreciated

 

[TTT]

hi Wayno i would say they are from early prospectors as there is a lot of shallow gold in the Whipstick i have been there detecting myself without much success yet but i know people who find gold regularly in the Whipstick as to maps on the area Bendigo gold sells maps and detectors they should be able to help you. also welcome to the forum hope you enjoy it cheers Terry