Recently, myself and my detecting mates decided to think outside the square and do some raw prospecting. Let’s just say we were very successful – but that’s another story, so keep watching the blog for more details, photos and videos.
So after nearly 2 years of serious detecting my father finally asked to join me on a trip. We used to go gold panning and gem fossicking together some 20 years ago, so it was great we could share this past time together again.
We made the 2.5 hr drive to the goldfields and were greeted at the patch by my detecting buddies. After coffee and a chat we sussed out a plan for the day. Dad and I decided to work down slope from the main area of the patch, me detecting and he following and watching intently to learn some basics. We had the usual run of shotgun pellets and big deep sharps rifle projectiles but no gold. After smoko we strapped Dad into my mates spare detector, a Minelab sd2200 d, and I gave him some basic instruction. after 10 minutes he was away – recognising ground noise and hot rocks and even un-earthing several lead shots. Most impressive for someone who has never detected.
Lunch time arrived and one of my mates had pinged a 1.4 gram piece, but we were still looking. So we decided to do some raking and shifting of logs (we ALWAYS shift everything back after mind you!). Dad went a little away with the 2200d, and I worked my rakings with the 14″ x 9″ Nugget Finder coil. Neither of us had any luck until my coil touched a clump of grass and made the faintest sound. I thought it was just a false signal from bumping the grass but it was repeatable! So I removed the clump and then was left with a quiet but distinct inverted tone.
I removed 2″ of topsoil and had a loud but mellow drop tone now- it was sure to be gold. One of my mates was returning to the car by this stage and heard the noise. Everyone gathered for the ‘unearthing’- and another 12″ later a beautiful solid 4.6 grammer came to light, Bringing my total from the patch to just over 16 grams.
After the excitement died down I strapped Dad into my GPX 5000 and off he went with renewed enthusiasm. I have not seen anyone pick up a GPX 5000 and operate it so naturally in such a short time. He was digging tiny shards of rubbish and recognising ground noise. He then pointed the coil underneath a fallen tree and there was a very, very slight signal. We removed the debris from the hole and the target was gone. He suggested it was rubbish but I insisted we pin-point it. Once in my hand Dad said ‘it will just be lead’. I opened my hand and proudly presently my father with a beautiful gold and haematite nugget of exactly 0.5 grams!
Every trip out I am amazed at what this machine can do even in the hands of a beginner- Now I can proudly say I have shared part of the incredible hobby with my old man!
Keep watching this space for the story of how we came to find this patch, with videos and photos to come too!
