About Prospector Pete

Prospector Pete has been providing information, training and tips on how to use metal detectors in the Australian bush - Having have got his first metal detector, the C-scope back in the mid 1970's he has vast experience in using most metal detectors released since - In the years after the release of the Minelab SD2000 Prospector Pete has developed extensive knowledge of the full range of Minelab Metal Detectors and provided his invaluable insights to 1000's of prospectors through his work with BendigoGold. Having unearthed many 100's of ounces of Gold nuggets throughout his prospecting life he is the perfect person to guide you to that next big find. Prospector Pete is available to share his knowledge & experience by contacting BendigoGold and enrolling for one of the many prospecting and training trips on offer Phone: 03 5448 4140 Email: info@bendigogold.com.au Web: www.bendigogold.com.au/goldfield-tours

Minelab SDC 2300 Metal Detector Coming Soon in 2014

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Prospector Pete

Minelab will be releasing a new Mid-Range Gold Detector in 2014. FInd out some of the great features of Minelab DSC 2300 Gold Detector Below.

This exciting new product is a portable, compact, waterproof gold detector featuring Minelab’s improved MPF technology. This will be the best mid-range gold detector. Second only to the Minelab GPX Series in performance, the SDC 2300 will be the best mid-range gold detector available.

Key features and customer benefits include:

· Compact – 16 inch (40.64cm)

· Waterproof – 10ft (3m)

· Rugged and assembly free

· High performance MPF technology

· Audio and Visual Target Response

· Easy to use

· Intuitive icon user interface

· C –Cell Batteries Included

· Quick and Easy patch hunting

The SDC 2300 gold detector performance is above the X-TERRA 705 and Eureka Gold and below the GPX Series. This detector offers an entry to Minelab’s Pulse Induction (PI) gold technology. It offers greater versatility in rugged terrains and for recovery of underwater gold because of its waterproof capability, ergonomic design and telescopic multi-position shaft.

More details will be released on the 31st January. Be sure to join the Miners Den Australia eNewsletter to kept up to date – Click here to Join the Miners Den Australia Mailing List

Jack and Jill Return from WA with nearly 1000 Gold Nuggets

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Prospector Pete

Having just returned to Victoria after 11 weeks prospecting in Western Australia, we have cleaned, weighed, counted and admired our golden finds. There was not one piece that would make any national news broadcast, the largest being just over 6 grams, but imagine the fun of un-earthing nearly 1000 small nuggets?

We were shown a specimen weighing 8 oz and a 25 gram nugget found on the goldfields we were detecting, and stories of other larger pieces circulated via the prospecting grapevine, confirming our belief that good nuggets were still out there to be found. Although our Minelab GPX 5000’s proved capable of locating the better-sized nuggets on the last 2 WA trips, we just didn’t walk over any notable ones this year.

One thing that I almost did walk over was a small snake who believed that Spring had arrived on a 16C day in July. I had found a couple of nuggets quite close and resented having to leave that patch of sunlight to him.

We had planned and gained permission to move around a number of mining areas throughout the goldfields, but after only minimal success at the first three, we were fortunate to find an area that was producing much better returns each day, and spent the last six weeks of our time without moving again. For those who are wondering about equipment, we went armed with 12”x 7” elliptical, 12” round and 16” round Nugget Finder coils and Rooster Booster-speaker combinations.

It was interesting to reflect as we looked back through our records, that there was not one full day’s detecting for either of us when we did not find a least one piece each (even if it was only .1 or .2 of a gram), with our best day producing 38 nuggets between us, giving a grand total of just over 11 ounces for the trip.

7oz Gold Nugget Found in WA with Minelab GPX 5000

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Prospector Pete

A regular customer came into the Miners Den Sydney Shop recently. He was using his Minelab GPX 5000 metal detector over in WA and found some nice gold nuggets for his efforts.

He’d just returned from Kalgoorlie where he took a short paid trip with a guy who recently set up a day-trip company.

The larger nugget was pretty much right on the surface and weighs a little over 7 ounces.

He saw the soil shift just as his pick went into the ground and glimpsed the gold colour of the nugget as it moved slightly.

One of his other smaller nuggets was also a sunbaker (the second largest of the smaller ones). This is his second 7+ ounce nugget found on his second trip over there.

Great Finds!

Rooster Booster Tips

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Prospector Pete

The rooster Booster for the Minelab GPX series Metal Detectors has been out for a while now and we would like to give you some more information on how to best run the Rooster Booster

To set up the Rooster Booster correctly the following procedure should be followed:

1. Attach the Rooster Booster to your battery harness as per the instruction sheet supplied with unit and connect to the Minelab GPX series metal detector with the Minelab curly cable (these instructions are for the standard Minelab battery pack – If you are using a different battery harness then fit to suit).

2. In order to get the maximum benefit from your Rooster Booster you will need to have your metal detector setup correctly to run as smooth as possible – the recommended settings to start with are listed below – These settings are a guide and can be adjusted to suit the ground conditions and your own hearing preference

Set your gain between 5 -10 – It will depend on which model GPX you are using – Once again the idea is to have the machine running as stable as you can
Set your target volume (GPX4500/5000) to anywhere between 1 – 3 – Once you are used to the Rooster Booster, and providing you are not in a trashy area you should be able to get this a little higher

3. Once you have set the above to a suitable level on the detector we recommend that you turn the Rooster Booster to full volume and then proceed to set the Threshold on the detector – By setting the threshold with Rooster Booster on full volume you are able get a stable threshold at a lower level than without the booster – Once you have the Threshold set correctly you can then reduce the Volume on the Rooster Booster to a comfortable level for your hearing

One last thing is to remember that when using the Rooster Booster over heavily detected area’s you need to go much slower than usual and be sure to overlap the swing – This will help you get those faint signals which are the ones that the rooster Booster excels in finding

Gold Luck & Happy Prospecting

Prospector Pete