Visiting from Germany - Looking for Tips or a Gold Detecting Mate in NSW/VIC

[Anto3x]

Hi everyone,

I’m visiting Australia from Germany and will be in New South Wales and Victoria from mid-February to the end of March. Back home, I enjoy metal detecting for relics and coins alongside archaeologists, but during this trip, I’m keen to try my hand at gold detecting.

I’ll have a Miner’s Right and plan to rent a gold-specific detector (since I was told my Equinox 800 isn’t ideal for gold prospecting). I’ve done some research and know that Victoria, especially the Golden Triangle, is a great area to focus on. I’ve also found resources with legal parks and maps for detecting, but I’m a bit unsure about the recent Section 7 updates and what’s allowed or restricted now.

If anyone has advice on good areas to search or tips for gold hunting in Australia, I’d really appreciate it! Also, if anyone is planning a trip during that time and wouldn’t mind having a visitor tag along, I’d love to join and learn from someone with more experience. I’m easy-going, reliable, and happy to share any finds if luck strikes.

Thanks so much for your help, and happy detecting!

Cheers,
Anton

 

[Hawkear]

Hi Anton
1. Rent a top of the line easy to use detector like a 6000. Don't skimp that.
2. Buy a prospecting guide/s for the area you will be staying near. These will identify areas where the old timers found gold. Don't worry about the S7 issue as this is more a political issue for locals about the potential for erosion of prospecting rights. Prospecting guides will identify the legal areas where you can go to prospect.
3. The golden triangle is still a big area -150Km South (Ballarat) to North (Wedderburn) so stay as close as possible to the places you would like to prospect in. Consider even renting a camper as cabin and motel stays can be quite expensive. There are plenty of less expensive caravan parks and even free camping places are available over such a large area.
4. The weather in the GT will be moderating but can still be quite hot and dry in February/March, so make sure you have a light and airy long sleeved shirt, appropriate headwear, hardwearing trousers and rugged metal free footwear. Carry plenty of water with you all the time and do not forget insect repellent and sunscreen. The GT is not an isolated area with many of the best places to detect located close to the edges of some of the towns. There are also large areas of bushland where perhaps a good handheld GPS or smartphone app may be useful in navigating to or from areas of interest.
4. Your finds are legally yours to keep even if prospecting with a companion. Most experienced people willing to help would not expect otherwise as it would probably not be advantageous for an experienced prospector to share finds with a less experienced one. Still, it is important to establish and clarify any arrangement before agreeing to prospect with a companion.
5. So called gold PI detectors do not discriminate. They are designed for maximum depth and/or sensitivity and the ability to handle the heavily mineralised ground found in goldfields. Most GT gold prospectors still come home with loads of rubbish such as shotgun pellets and rusty iron to accompany the relatively fewer nuggets they find. So, a good gold detector is only 50% of the game, the rest is your technique (low and slow), listening skills in hearing faint signals, the time you can put in and, unlike with a discriminating type detector. your willingness to dig every target.
Good Luck

 

[Anto3x]

Hi Geoff,

Thank you very much for your comment and detailed description, I really appreciate it!

Would you say it’s a bad idea to bring my Equinox 800 with a 6” coil and, as soon as I reach the GT area, rent a GPX 5000 or 6000 for better results? With this option, I could detect a bit at the end of each day during my journey to get familiar with the new soil. I might need to test the 800 with my mini picker that I bought in the past here at home.

I’ll follow your advice to start off with a guide for my first hunt to get used to everything in Australia. Are there any guides you can recommend around Sydney, where I’ll arrive? So far, I’ve only found the Gold & Relic Tours and Gold Tours (Aussie Detectorist Tours), but my “German internet” isn’t giving me any other results.

I should probably bring ankle-high shoes, right? Unfortunately, my hiking shoes have some small metal applications for the shoelaces, so I’ll need to sort that out before I leave. What are the worst insects in the bush—mosquitoes or bull ants?

Good luck to you too!

PS: can you reccomend the „victorian online gold maps“ ?

 

[grubstake]

Would you say it’s a bad idea to bring my Equinox 800 with a 6” coil and, as soon as I reach the GT area, rent a GPX 5000 or 6000 for better results? With this option, I could detect a bit at the end of each day during my journey to get familiar with the new soil. I might need to test the 800 with my mini picker that I bought in the past here at home.

The GPX6000 as recommended by Hawkear would be the better choice for a visitor, as the learning curve is shorter and it's much more ergonomic, being lighter, with no cable or harness necessary.

 

[woomera]

Hi everyone,

I’m visiting Australia from Germany and will be in New South Wales and Victoria from mid-February to the end of March

Coiltek Gold Centre Maryborough Victoria have GPX 6000 for hire they will help you with areas to try all within a short drive
https://thegoldcentre.com.au/pages/detector-hire

 

[Mackka]

Hi Anton, remember also that the two states you are visiting also have some of the worlds most beautiful scenic areas which,imo, you should make time to visit. The Gold Fields you are talking about have gold, but, they have also had thousands of miners over centuries and modern day miners ( detectorists). Do not not be disgruntled with your finds or lack there of, but enjoy the magnificence of Australia and Welcome. Cheers Mackka

 

[Hawkear]

Hi Anton.
Just thought I'd clarify a couple of things that I said that may have been misunderstood.
When I mentioned a prospecting guide, I was referring to a map or booklet of maps showing where the old gold diggings are located, not an actual gold tour where you pay someone to guide you around the goldfields and assist with detecting which can be quite expensive.
As Woomera said if you hire a 6000 from a prospecting shop when you arrive in the goldfields, they usually can offer tuition on how to use it at a nearby gold location before you head off on your own or in company with a prospecting buddy. Keep in touch with the forum and I am sure that closer to the time one of us could offer to welcome you and help out for a day or two until you feel able to confidently go out alone.
Knowledge of the locations of the old timer's diggings will be essential, and a prospecting guide (Map or Booklet) can be purchased from a prospecting shop for most of the popular goldfields in the Golden Triangle for about $AU25
You can also access online goldfield information from the Victorian government website GeoVic.
A very good video on how to use it has been provided by Aussie Bloke Prospector on you tube.
you can access that through the following link.

Your hiking shoes should be OK so bring them before outlaying on other footwear, I've seen other people use them and even just sneaker type shoes but don't think the latter would last very long.
Other than suitable detecting clothes for warm and sunny conditions also bring a belt mountable water bottle to carry with you while detecting and ensure you use sunscreen after coming from a Northern winter to a Southern summer
What a lot of people don't quite understand is that the Earth is closest to the sun during our summer and that means the suns radiance is about 3% more intense than during a Northern summer when the earth is a bit further away due to the ellipticity of its orbit around the sun.
Regarding insects, mosquitoes will not be a problem at that time of year, as there will be few if any running creeks or waterholes unless heavy unseasonable rains occur. Flies will be more of an annoyance but you will be able to purchase suitable insect repellent here.
Common ants are not a real problem, again more of an annoyance except of course our Bullants which can give a painful sting.
Bullants are quite aggressive to anything that trespasses too close to their nest, so ask to be shown what they and their nests look like to help avoid them. Nevertheless, we have all been stung and survived a painful few minutes but actually enjoy regaling others with the stories of our brave "Dances with Bullants".