Melbounrne Newbies.

[UreekaDave]

Hi Guys,

I'm Dave from outer eastern Melb, My wife and I have recently been diagnosed with the fever, thanks to a couple of panning outings in Daylesford, Jamieson and Warrandyte. The few specs we found were enough to keep us intriqued to the point where we invested in waders, classifiers and all the usual bits and pieces.
We have our eye on the new Minelab sdc 2300, but that can wait a bit longer. Being a sheet metal 3d cad designer I had to make my own Highbanker of course which had it's first outing at Warrandyte and worked a treat. More Gold in 1 1/2 hrs than all the previous days panning! Were taking it to Daylesford next to really put it through its paces. Some pics below. This one is a prototype made from laser cut mild steel, but I will be making others in Aluminium to keep the weight down. It runs Goldhog mats only, UR and Razorback and these seem to do the job nicely although not cheap.

I look forward to meeting fellow prospectors out in the field.

Cheers
Dave and Jacqui

 

[Jaros]

Hi Dave, Jacqui welcome to the forum. Yep you've got the fever. It will take forever to cure this baby.
Nice little highbanker and seeing as you have caught gold in it, you have a lot to forward to.
Again cheers. Jaros

 

[ProspectorPete]

Hi Dave and Jacqui, welcome and hope to see you out in the field someday.
Great looking highbanker you built there, it won't cure your fever but only make the symptoms worse.

 

[Eurekaman]

Hi Dave and Jacqui
Well done on the highbanker great work, looking forward to seeing your finds
Happy Hunting
EM

 

[wooly]

Hi Dave and Jacqui,

Welcome to the forum. Do you have some pictures of your gold?
I presume you know that there are only 3 spots that you can legally prospect in Warrandyte? Just thought I would let you know just in case you didn't.

 

[Swinging & digging]

No Highbankers permitted in Warrandyte either!

 

[taylors3030]

Nice highbanker !

 

[wooly]

No Highbankers permitted in Warrandyte either!

Correct you can use metal detectors, hand tools, pans and/or simple cradles.

 

[UreekaDave]

Thanks Wooly,

I didn't realise you can't use the highbanker. Do the signs re prospecting at Warrandyte state no highbankers specifically? All I could see was a warning to not go beyond the markers and only prospect in the creek bed which we did.


Never mind, there are plenty of other places

On the highbanker, I did find that the Goldhog mats catch pretty much everything right done to the fines I need a magnifying glass to see, so I'm pretty happy with them.
Still experimenting with water pressure and angles to get the best results and I might add some more bars to the grizzly (Why is it called a grizzly btw?)
I have about 20mm gaps between the bars which I'm going to reduce to 7mm (6mm rod)

We appreciate the comments, thanks guys.
Cheers

Dave and Jac

 

[Beagleboy]

I have used high banker in Warrandyte. It is close to homes where people live but with your bilge pump you want disturb anyone. Welcome to the forum and maybe I will bump in to you at Warrandyte one day.