Any Gold In SA

[1964kombi]

Hi everyone . My daughter and I went halves in a GPX5000 6months ago . We have been on training courses to learn who to use it.
We have spent over 100 hours out detecting in the designated fossicking areas in South Australia and haven't found a spec . We have really enjoyed the experience out in the bush but are almost ready to give up .
Can anyone suggest anywhere in SA that could be worth trying . We only want to find a spec just to let us know we are doing the right thing. Does anyone know of any private land that we can fossick on or tag along with someone . We would not keep anything we found . As I said we would just like to know if we are doing the right thing
Thanks Richard

 

[Colmaca]

Never give up just try harder. I'm shore someone here let you tag along

If you like 40+C heat I'll let you tag along Mount Isa

 

[BumbleB]

Hi everyone . My daughter and I went halves in a GPX5000 6months ago . We have been on training courses to learn who to use it.
We have spent over 100 hours out detecting in the designated fossicking areas in South Australia and haven't found a spec . We have really enjoyed the experience out in the bush but are almost ready to give up .
Can anyone suggest anywhere in SA that could be worth trying . We only want to find a spec just to let us know we are doing the right thing. Does anyone know of any private land that we can fossick on or tag along with someone . We would not keep anything we found . As I said we would just like to know if we are doing the right thing
Thanks Richard

With a GPX5000 I would have thought that you would of had to find atleast something by now, especially if you are working in known Gold areas.

Things to consider:
- Where did you purchase the detector? If it wasn't from a reputable dealer, check that you haven't got a Chinese fake.
- Check your settings- try using the machines factory/default settings; on the 5000's the factory settings are very good. If you have the DVD (Unwrapping The GPX5000), on the inside cover they have settings advised by John Porter (Guru) for noisy/mineralized ground- I'm not sure what the ground is like that you are working in. If you haven't got the DVD let me know & I will post them for you.

Keep at it though mate, if all those suggestions check out good, then it might just take a bit more time. You surely deserve to have a find or 3.

BumbleB

 

[SApicker]

Hi Kombi. Where abouts in SA are you? Are you willing to drive a bit?
SA has alot of gold fields around.
In one of Nuggets post's you can get an overlay for google earth of all of the gold mines in SA and it is very helpfull.
I went out to Ulooloo past Burra a couple of weeks ago and I just went into the homestead of the property and hit up old mate to do a little swinging. He was fine with it, evenlet me know where to head to.
Fossicking areas are fine but there is so much more in SA. With a bit of research a phone call or just a smile can get you places in this great land of ours. (didn't find anything but I was out there).
Please don't loose hart. I would love to have a detector of that calibre. Time and research.

 

[nuggetino]

I don't know where you are located in SA but he 3 declared prospecting areas within easy reach of adelaide are certainly not the most productive grounds in Australia. In comparison with the rest of Australia the amount of alluvial gold discovered in SA is mediocre! I have found a few grams with my GPX4500 and I am certain these pieces could have been found regardless of settings on a gpx5000. It was a matter of covering a lot of ground thoroughly and I can tell you I must have accumulated a couple hundred hours and kilo's of lead for a couple pieces.

I do believe jupiter creek is still a good place to try your luck. This is where I found my 2 grammer and my first 0.3g nugget a few months ago. There are also fresh diggings there in undisturbed ground suggesting others have had some luck. The smallest coil I have is the standard 11"dd coil but am confident with a smaller sniper coil one could do better picking up the small specs around this area. I'd certainly be making the most of the fine gold settings if I had a gpx5000 in this area.

I believe loamer managed to ping some small pieces at chapel hill. Perhaps he'll chime in with some tips too.

 

[1964kombi]

Never give up just try harder. I'm shore someone here let you tag along

If you like 40+C heat I'll let you tag along Mount Isa

Hi Colmaca. Thanks for the encouragement . Would love to Try Mount Isa one day . Let you know if we get up that way in the future.
Regards richard

 

[1964kombi]

Hi everyone . My daughter and I went halves in a GPX5000 6months ago . We have been on training courses to learn who to use it.
We have spent over 100 hours out detecting in the designated fossicking areas in South Australia and haven't found a spec . We have really enjoyed the experience out in the bush but are almost ready to give up .
Can anyone suggest anywhere in SA that could be worth trying . We only want to find a spec just to let us know we are doing the right thing. Does anyone know of any private land that we can fossick on or tag along with someone . We would not keep anything we found . As I said we would just like to know if we are doing the right thing
Thanks Richard

With a GPX5000 I would have thought that you would of had to find atleast something by now, especially if you are working in known Gold areas.

Things to consider:
- Where did you purchase the detector? If it wasn't from a reputable dealer, check that you haven't got a Chinese fake.
- Check your settings- try using the machines factory/default settings; on the 5000's the factory settings are very good. If you have the DVD (Unwrapping The GPX5000), on the inside cover they have settings advised by John Porter (Guru) for noisy/mineralized ground- I'm not sure what the ground is like that you are working in. If you haven't got the DVD let me know & I will post them for you.

Keep at it though mate, if all those suggestions check out good, then it might just take a bit more time. You surely deserve to have a find or 3.

BumbleB

Hi Bumbleb Thanks for your reply. The GPX5000 is from a minelab dealer and I have had it into minelab in Adelaide to have it checked out and all OK
We do have the DVD . I think we have mastered the settings for the areas we have been in . We have been out to Jupiters Creek with a minelab instructor who has shown us the tips on settings / mineralised soils and finding fine gold. We are picking up a lot of very fine / small pieces of junk at reasonable deeps so believe if there was some gold there we would be detecting it. Maybe we just need to keep trying and cover more ground.
Thanks Richard

 

[1964kombi]

Hi Kombi. Where abouts in SA are you? Are you willing to drive a bit?
SA has alot of gold fields around.
In one of Nuggets post's you can get an overlay for google earth of all of the gold mines in SA and it is very helpfull.
I went out to Ulooloo past Burra a couple of weeks ago and I just went into the homestead of the property and hit up old mate to do a little swinging. He was fine with it, evenlet me know where to head to.
Fossicking areas are fine but there is so much more in SA. With a bit of research a phone call or just a smile can get you places in this great land of ours. (didn't find anything but I was out there).
Please don't loose hart. I would love to have a detector of that calibre. Time and research.

Hi SApicker Thanks for your reply
We have used the overlay for google earth and located a lot of mines we have been lucky enough to get permission to go onto some private land around the Adelaide hills where there where old mines but I think that most of the mines around the hills have been fine gold reef mines and there for I am guessing not much in the way of detectable gold. We Have also looked at the Ulooloo area but haven't found anywhere we can get permission to detect.
Thank you for your comments
Regards Richard

 

[1964kombi]

I don't know where you are located in SA but he 3 declared prospecting areas within easy reach of adelaide are certainly not the most productive grounds in Australia. In comparison with the rest of Australia the amount of alluvial gold discovered in SA is mediocre! I have found a few grams with my GPX4500 and I am certain these pieces could have been found regardless of settings on a gpx5000. It was a matter of covering a lot of ground thoroughly and I can tell you I must have accumulated a couple hundred hours and kilo's of lead for a couple pieces.

I do believe jupiter creek is still a good place to try your luck. This is where I found my 2 grammer and my first 0.3g nugget a few months ago. There are also fresh diggings there in undisturbed ground suggesting others have had some luck. The smallest coil I have is the standard 11"dd coil but am confident with a smaller sniper coil one could do better picking up the small specs around this area. I'd certainly be making the most of the fine gold settings if I had a gpx5000 in this area.

I believe loamer managed to ping some small pieces at chapel hill. Perhaps he'll chime in with some tips too.

Hi Nuggetino
Thanks for your comments . We will be trying jupiters creek again . We found a lot of junk last time we were there and also picked up a few good bites from fire ants but still enjoyed the time out there
Thanks Richard

 

[Goldpick]

I think the problem with detecting at places like Mt Crawford is that people always take a beeline straight to the most well known areas for producing gold, and hence find the area is flogged to death, and become dejected. That particular area is quite large, and a fair deal of effort will be needed to hike to other areas that are proabably locked up with regards to vehicular access. It is certainly a spot where I would like to explore more with a PI detector. The mineral locality maps supplied by the forests dept does not cover the area in much detail, I'd be visiting PIRSA to track down some more detailed maps of the workings for a start, as the permit map is lacking in detail. You can still go to various gullies where where a lot of buried junk targets can be picked up, which is a pretty good indication that PI detectors haven't been over the area.

Chapel Hill is really only good for very fine gold, with the odd larger slugs coming from spoil piles and white pipe clay around the shafts, probably more suited to high frequency VLF detectors, also due to the amount of junk there, it would drive a PI operator insane unless you like diggjng junk target after junk target..

You do still hear about the odd nugget coming out of Jupiter Creek still a fair bit of rubbish lying around though, and you really need to get off the beaten track to have a chance of finding something in areas that haven't been hammered.

Like SAPicker mentioned, private land would be the best bet, and it certainly pays to have mates with connections to landowners. Some don't have a clue about what is on their own property with regards to minerals, whilst some have a good knowledge of the historical mining in the area, and can be quite helpful.

If you are willing to travel, Tibooburra, north of Broken Hill is a popular spot for detecting, but need a 4WD and camping gear, plus very hot this time of year, otherwise the Golden Triangle in VIC would be your next next best bet, a good weekend destination if you do some research before having a go.

 

[1964kombi]

I think the problem with detecting at places like Mt Crawford is that people always take a beeline straight to the most well known areas for producing gold, and hence find the area is flogged to death, and become dejected. That particular area is quite large, and a fair deal of effort will be needed to hike to other areas that are proabably locked up with regards to vehicular access. It is certainly a spot where I would like to explore more with a PI detector. The mineral locality maps supplied by the forests dept does not cover the area in much detail, I'd be visiting PIRSA to track down some more detailed maps of the workings for a start, as the permit map is lacking in detail. You can still go to various gullies where where a lot of buried junk targets can be picked up, which is a pretty good indication that PI detectors haven't been over the area.

Chapel Hill is really only good for very fine gold, with the odd larger slugs coming from spoil piles and white pipe clay around the shafts, probably more suited to high frequency VLF detectors, also due to the amount of junk there, it would drive a PI operator insane unless you like diggjng junk target after junk target..

You do still hear about the odd nugget coming out of Jupiter Creek still a fair bit of rubbish lying around though, and you really need to get off the beaten track to have a chance of finding something in areas that haven't been hammered.

Like SAPicker mentioned, private land would be the best bet, and it certainly pays to have mates with connections to landowners. Some don't have a clue about what is on their own property with regards to minerals, whilst some have a good knowledge of the historical mining in the area, and can be quite helpful.

If you are willing to travel, Tibooburra, north of Broken Hill is a popular spot for detecting, but need a 4WD and camping gear, plus very hot this time of year, otherwise the Golden Triangle in VIC would be your next next best bet, a good weekend destination if you do some research before having a go.

Hi Gold pick
thanks for the comments . We are very willing to travel and to walk to less accesable areas. We have been trying to find out about the Olary area but cant find out if there are any land owners who will be willing to let us detect on their property Does anyone know of anywhere in that area ?
Thanks Richard

 

[BumbleB]

Kombi, well it sounds as though u are ticking all the big boxes. so it must just be coming down to the area ur working or plain old 'luck'.
Look at it the other way- you MUST be about to stubble on a big one any day now! Your time will come buddy- keep the faith & keep swinging.

 

[Goldpick]

I must also add that detector shops always send people straight to places like Mt Crawford in the hope of finding gold, as it is an easier area to access vs the overgrown Chapel Hill and Jupiter Creek, I can't imagine the number of gpx5000 owners that have been sent and trained there.

Also, buy a small nugget to practice on, as this will help set up your detector properly, and you will know for sure a: what gold will sound like in that type of mineralised ground, and b: it will give you confidence that your detector is in fact setup properly, and you will find gold if it is there.

Personally, even thouh the GPX5000 is an excellent detector, I would want to be sure that I am working in an area that regularly gives up gold, considering the large chunk of cash required for the initial outlay. That will probably mean regular trips to VIC where gold finds are quite frequent. If you find something in SA, youcan keep it, but it still belongs to the Crown, hence why you are will not be permitted to sell it, another good reason to go detecting in VIC with an annual Miners Right, which allows you to both own and sell the gold you find.

 

[nuggetino]

Good advice here. If I were only planning to use my gpx4500 in SA I'd have sold it by now. I have met more than one prospector in SA who has found next to nothing for their time detecting here only to return from a trip to victoria with nuggets for their efforts. The western side of the victorian goldfields really aren't that big a stretch and for a long weekends detecting I'd certainly head over there before I try our states northern goldfields.

 

[Goldpick]

Guys do find small gold here in SA on a regular basis, but its very fine gold, ok on a detector under $1000, but not too satisfying on a $5000+ detector.

If you intend to do some research and ask for entry onto private land, look for historic areas that produced coarse gold, or areas where reasonably sized nuggets were found, you can source this information via books from PIRSA outlining the historic goldfields of SA, or you can also buy them from Miners Den. There are areas like Deloraine that were historically one of the biggest hills producers of gold, but when you do some research, you will find that the gold would not be very detectable, as it was fine gold locked up in sulphides like Chalcopyrite vs being free gold, so may not be any use asking for permission in this instance (Was involved in drilling that old mine out a few years ago). So you can see where research becomes very important in locating worthwhile spots vs wasting time on areas that simply won't be worthwhile.

 

[SApicker]

I don't know where you are located in SA but he 3 declared prospecting areas within easy reach of adelaide are certainly not the most productive grounds in Australia. In comparison with the rest of Australia the amount of alluvial gold discovered in SA is mediocre! I have found a few grams with my GPX4500 and I am certain these pieces could have been found regardless of settings on a gpx5000. It was a matter of covering a lot of ground thoroughly and I can tell you I must have accumulated a couple hundred hours and kilo's of lead for a couple pieces.

I do believe jupiter creek is still a good place to try your luck. This is where I found my 2 grammer and my first 0.3g nugget a few months ago. There are also fresh diggings there in undisturbed ground suggesting others have had some luck. The smallest coil I have is the standard 11"dd coil but am confident with a smaller sniper coil one could do better picking up the small specs around this area. I'd certainly be making the most of the fine gold settings if I had a gpx5000 in this area.

I believe loamer managed to ping some small pieces at chapel hill. Perhaps he'll chime in with some tips too.

You might want to do a bit more research on what was actually found and how they found it in South Australia. Some of the gold fields that produced Nuggets ranging from 8 to 29 oz were only around 10 to 20 square kilometres on an ore body with the same surface geology that go for upto 360 square kilometres.
I wouldn't waste my time after learning how to use the machine with the fossicking sites when there is so much ground to cover.

 

[nuggetino]

Hey SApicker, I have done plenty of research on what was found and where and this is in line with my response. cheers

 

[Spike's mate]

Howdy fellow Crow Eaters. I too am a frustrated late starter newbie with recently acquired gpx4500 with a hunger to find a winner or three. Spent nearly four weeks in Vic learning my machine followed by visits to local metro SA areas. Still learning and still searching. Presently spending the hot weather researching history of Humbug Scrub where early days finds were quite considerable, however, primarily deep mined gold. Good detectable finds of sizable nugget gold was found in one gully near the Lady Alice mine - Hamlin Gully - however this area has been really locked up by PIRSA with fossicking a great no, no. I agree with Loamer's comment of apparent good areas to be yet found in areas such as this and hope to find another Hamlin Gully somewhere outside the PIRSA domain. If you are of a mind, the northern Flinders Ranges are also worth attention. There are a number of old gold mines on geo maps in the Hawker area and beyond which could be well worth a look and unhindered by the strict regulators as is the case with Humbug Scrub. So, 1964 Kombi , keep the enthusiasm and faith levels up. There obviously is detectable gold to be had in SA but needs to be found. Alternatively, the Vic gold fields are worth time. The road, climate and soils make going pretty easy and yellow stuff aplenty if you are able to look in the right places.

 

[SApicker]

Hey 1964kombi have you had a look at this web site??

https://sarig.pir.sa.gov.au/Map

It has a huge amount of information on it, from field observations from geologists, drill hole sample assays, mineral occurrences, geological mapping, tenement locations and the owners of, pastoral boundaries, the exploration results of all the major players i.e BHP, CRA, WMC etc, stream bed sample assays the list is huge.
I went into DMITRE a couple of weeks ago and they put me onto it. They also run training courses.

http://www.geoscience.gov.au/cgi-bi...dex.map&mode=browse&layer=map250&queryon=true

This site will give you (free) geological maps of anywhere in Australia.

http://www.treasureenterprises.com/...old_prospecting_locations_South_Australia.htm

This one concentrates mainly on the Alluvial mines in south Australia.

http://earthsci.org/education/teacher/basicgeol/stream/stream.html#ChannelPatterns

Some good info on steams.

http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/minerals/geological_survey_of_sa/geology/geological_provinces/gawler_craton

Another good read.

http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/gold.htm

And some more reading.

http://econgeol.geoscienceworld.org/content/102/8/1541

If you want to head out to Tarcoola.

http://outernode.pir.sa.gov.au/minerals/geological_survey_of_sa/geology/geological_provinces

Heavier reading.

So if you're up to it have a read put it all together and you never know we could start the next South Australian gold rush.
It has to be out there.

Good luck
SApicker

 

[loamer]

That is an excellent amount of research - congrats. Even though I very rarely go to SA to detect (mainly the footy and cricket), I found the links highly informative and there is some info there that is also of interest to me. A highly underrated place for gold IMO - you just have some very outdated laws. I did the Flinders a couple of times years ago - that is also very promising, just a bit confused over access rights etc. Spoke to the folk years ago at Hawker and Blinman (I think that's right) - they would love prospectors up there. The Flinders Ranges is one of the most wonderful and beautiful places in Australia, and so close to Adelaide (compared to the same type of country in WA, plus its only a 12 hour drive for us from Victoria). Certainly nothing to match it here in Victoria.