Thanks oldfella, even though I haven't detected any gold, I'm enjoying what I'm seeing in these posts, and I can always pan some specks at sovereign hill .
The amount of bird shot included in that total is amazing from day to day. My worst total was well over 130 holes dug for 1 piece of gold weighing 0.2 grams. My best ratio was 20 pieces of gold at 4.8 grams with 3 pieces of lead and no junk. Stuff that dreams are made of really.