Hi everyone

[Paul Schipper]

Hi everyone. So this is my first post on this forum, although I have been a member for a little while. I thought I would go on my very first trip before posting anything. Well I got back from an area north of Cue last night after driving back in that storm. It was quite an event and surreal at times. I saw a Road train wreck. Must have been blown over an overpass on the Great Northern Highway. I have recently bought a new GPZ 7000 and I just wanted to go on a kind of trial run just to go through all the motions and play with the settings. Well that Harness takes a little bit of getting used to! And where yo put everything etc? I originally got my miners right in 2003 and then life and work and family etc. all happened and, bam, 20 years later I’m getting around to having a go at swinging a detector! Needless to say I found some shotgun pellets and couple of bullets and some rusty bits of tin, which had my heart racing for a moment or two before the disappointment ha ha. Nonetheless, I had a fantastic time. What an amazing place just to be out in the stillness in the middle of nowhere with all of that natural beauty. Quite a privilege. I learnt a lot. I also learnt that I need to improve my skill set in various areas as well as increasing my strength and fitness. I think I will get back into training over the summer so that I’m ready to tackle all the new projects I have in mind. I took quite a few photographs on my phone and found it hard not to be sidetracked by the landscape and the flowers and birds etc . Anyway I’ll be following the threads and commenting hopefully whenever I get a moment. Thanks for contributing everybody. I have learned a lot from you all so far. Cheers Paul.

 

[Jaros]

Hi Paul. Welcome to the group and enjoy your finds and learning.

 

[Dave's Office]

Good luck with your Z Paul, they're a great detector and you'll have years of pleasure using it. I got some great advice on settings and tips on using my Z from some of the members and I'm sure you'll find them happy to do the same for you, so don't be afraid to ask. Cheers from Dave

 

[Paul Schipper]

Good luck with your Z Paul, they're a great detector and you'll have years of pleasure using it. I got some great advice on settings and tips on using my Z from some of the members and I'm sure you'll find them happy to do the same for you, so don't be afraid to ask. Cheers from Dave

Thanks Dave. I guess I’m fine with the obvious screaming signal near the surface which is why I’m able to find small shotgun pellets and rusty flakes of tin but I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be listening out for with the deeper ones which the Gpz is good for. I believe it’s supposed to be and inverted signal where the tone dips down and then up? I got them on occasion on my trip but seemed to fade out once I dug down. Was that then ground noise? Anyway if there’s a thread I can read I would be interested to read it. Thanks for the encouragement. Cheers. Paul.

 

[Paul Schipper]

So after spending the whole summer researching and using Geoview, lurking in this forum, Google Maps, Tengraph and watching literally hundreds of videos about Prospecting on YouTube I’m ready to go on my second trip but I must confess that now I think I have the analysis paralysis syndrome and I’m struggling to decide where to go. I have about five or six days at my sleeve for this trip. I’m not expecting a huge result but it would be nice to go somewhere to sharpen up some skills as I’m still a newbie, and possibly find a nugget. Some people say if you want to find gold then go where people have gone before so I’m thinking of maybe looking for old abandoned mine workings etc. on pending ground as prospecting for new patches or reef gold etc. is a little bit beyond my abilities at the moment. I’m happy to put the time in as I’m winding up for retirement now and I have more time available and I’m still reasonably healthy. Anyway if anyone’s got any advice or willing to share ways that they would approach this and decide a location, I would be very interested in your input. (Not asking for anyone’s spots! ). Just curious about how others things. Thanks a lot folks. Paul.

 

[grubstake]

I'd suggest you book a course or a camp with Goldtalk Leonora:
http://www.goldtalkleonora.com.au/

 

[Paul Schipper]

Thanks grubstake I had considered that. Cheers. Paul.

 

[Northeast]

Hi Paul.

I will bestow upon you all of my knowledge of WA - so it won't take long

This year was the 3rd trip I have done and had varying success each year - 76 grams, 24 grams and 28 grams. Each year has paid for my trip but I am certainly not closer to retirement.

My brother in law has been a great help getting to understand GeoView and Tengraph and he had put in the hard hards for a few trips before I rocked up.

Certainly understand your 'analysis paralysis' and making a decision when you have limited time and we are talking big km between locations. Time, fuel, wear and tear - you want to make every post a winner.

It sounds like you have already watched things like the part-time prospector and some of Goldtalk Leonora's YouTube stuff to look at what might be suitable locations. Now it is just a matter of getting boots on the ground. Time spent walking the ground, looking at ground changes, rock types, listening to your detector as you move across the ground, listening for salt signal, listening for hot rocks, listening for general mineralisation changes - unfortunately will only be learnt with boots on the ground. And hearing/seeing all of this stuff starts to help the theory on the computer make more sense.

Finding a flogged area - this year we were both encouraged and disappointed to find some of our prospects had been flogged. We went to these spots as we felt they were likely good detectable gold locations...and we were right...we were just late To travel hundreds of KM and then walk many KM thinking "no one would have been out here" and then finding 100 dig holes that look a year old is pretty demoralising. But also really encouraging because we were looking in the right spot.

Detecting shallow pushing areas. Should be able to find some on Google Earth. If they aren't too far out of your way it is worth a look for 2 reasons. 1 is that you get to look at the ground/listen to the ground/see what they were doing in an area that obviously had detectable gold. Also, if they look more than 10 years old then they may not have seen a GPZ and you might just luck upon a piece. Probably a quarter of my gold this year came from within 30 metres of a shallow, small, pushed area that we did not know was pushed until we got there. It is crawling over a carcass that is long dead but the area teaches you something about what to look for and you also have a pretty good chance of at least finding some gold to put in your bottle.

Time in front of the computer, time on the ground, patience, perseverance, keen observation and a sprinkle of luck will hopefully see you finding some yellow.

Watch out for dogs, fill your holes, let the pastoralists know where you are and carry some good navigational/safety equipment.

Best of luck and have fun

 

[Paul Schipper]

Thanks, Northeast. Nicely put. I think it’s boots on the ground time as you say. I certainly don’t mind picking the carcass as I will try to learn what went on there. And then match it up to the research. Encouraging words. Much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Dean Mortimer]

If you're looking for retirement then don't use little coils.