Dunolly and Moliagul prospecting / detecting information and questions

I'm booked in with the SDC on the 23rd at Miners Den Bendigo. Been out around Daylesford thrice so far and found plenty of lead, boot tacks, a belt buckle and a nice spherical button. I think I am getting an ear for the machine but I can't wait to do some training so I don't feel like I am kidding myself. Then all I need is a reliable car (the wife has mine) and I can get out further afield. Just got home from Daylesford after the wife's car died halfway to Eganstown. I was planning on one last swing around Bells Reef Road but it wasnt to be. While waiting I panned on the side of the road and found some nice flakes so it wasn't all bad. Waited at the RSL in Daylesford and met some fine prospecting chaps who gave me some more ideas of where to try. Looks like I will just be swinging around my new workplace for a while. There's a roasting kiln across the road so I don't expect to find any huge nuggets but I might find a few more relics if I'm lucky. There's 160 acres of quartz hills to play around on before during and after work and plenty of post holes need to be dug. As soon as possible I will be heading off to Dunolly.

madhatter said:

Hi Teemore,
Thanks for the advise and quick reply

I have researched and saw that Paddy's Range is partially restricted, but.... thanks for the heads up
I am booked in for the 3hr training session at the miners den (Bendigo) in 2 weeks, cant wait!!

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3hrs is pretty poor on an expensive purchase .... Maryborough give a full day.
Have PM'd you.
Cheers T.

Maltisau said:

I'm booked in with the SDC on the 23rd at Miners Den Bendigo. Been out around Daylesford thrice so far and found might find a few more relics

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Well done on the relic/button.
There's not too much to learn in using the SDC, it's more a matter of identifying the very minor tone changes that will usually be gold (hopefully) ..... lead shot (and gold) in clay and surface loam will usually be very loud strong signal, in white pipeclay even down to 9 -12 inches. More difficult to hear the change in tone in mixed wash layers.
Ask them more about terrain, areas to look for and get some value from your3 hours.
Cheers T.

Thank you. And I think you are right about most places are as good as any to poke about. It's a matter of patience and attitude along with the friendly tips from those with the knowlege.

Cheers

Jordie

Hi everyone,for those asking about the Dunolly area there are many places around there to detect and plenty more within a 10 minute drive.Ive been going there for about 5 tears and do ok with the yellow stuff,the caravan park there has plenty of sites for vans and also camping sites there is a fully functional camp kitchen and most of the ppl who stay there are very helpful. hope that answers a few questions for you all.Cheers Rick hope to see you there

Kaiser Soze said:

Hi, also a newbie and thinking of taking a few days off work to go and hire an SDC 2300 (because it seems easiest to use) and hit the GT. I was also thinking of Dunolly, but also possibly Wedderburn or Enfield State Forest. Are any of these likely to be better than the others? I've got some geological maps that I've overlaid on Google Earth for each of those areas ...

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Didn't get much of a response to this, but went out during the week to give it a bash around Wedderburn anyway.

Hired the SDC 2300 at Coiltech in Maryborough and got to the fields north of Wedderburn about 2:30pm on Tuesday afternoon and returned the detector to Coiltech about 1:30pm on Friday. The results of my first 3ish days detecting are shown below:



A total of only 0.4g. In truth I wasn't expecting much from my first outing and was just happy to come away with something. But I did really want to do better so I could justify the expense of the trip to my wife.

Tuesday afternoon I spent a couple of clicks north of Wedderburn. I'm not exactly sure where, because as I headed off the sealed road and into the bush I saw a couple of other guys detecting and wanted to get well clear of them. I hit my first lead pellet within a couple of minutes of breaking out the 2300 and even that was exciting, but it got pretty old pretty quickly. I spent Tuesday afternoon in that area before calling it with no gold found.

I started Wednesday morning with the idea of being more selective where I was searching and decided to hit Queens Gully. There was an old guy also operating there (with a full face net for the mosquitoes, damn good idea!) a couple of hundred meters away from me up the hill, but I didn't let that bother me. After about an hour, on some riffles of exposed weathered mudstone, I got a faint signal and scraped a bit of material loose to find my first nugget - the smallest one you see in the photo. I was wrapped and said aloud, "I got one! You beauty!" before looking up to see if the old guy might have heard me. I spent the next couple of hours going thoroughly over that whole area, but didn't find anything else. After lunch I headed further west to the area of Robinsons Gully. All I found were these strange bits of metal, could they be silver?



Late on Wednesday I decided to head over to St Arnaud, mostly because they had a pizza place and I'd already hit the fish and chip shop in Wedderburn twice. I spent about an hour in the Regional Park but found nothing - there's a whole bunch of junk there.

I pondered things on Wednesday night and decided to get away from the main towns, so I tried my luck on Thursday morning around Wehla with no success. Getting quite frustrated by early afternoon I thought to head towards Inglewood and on the way decided to take off into the bush around Kingower. I found a likely looking gully and started detecting. On the top of a mullock heap I found the largest little nugget in the photo around 5pm. I spent another hour and then headed back to the Wedderburn Motel.

On Friday morning I went back to Kingower and found the two other little nuggets, also on the top of mullock heaps, before it was time to head home.

In all I had a ball and am already planning my next trip, but with not a lot to show for this one, my wife will probably be reluctant to let me head out again too soon. Things I've learnt:
1. The closer to the towns and the bigger the towns, the more junk there is to hit. Also, the more detectorists you'll come across.
2. I need to learn more about how the old-timers operate and be able to match that up to what I'm seeing out in the field. Minelab Gold and Loamer's threads will be a big help in that.
3. I was very happy with the SDC 2300. It was very easy for a complete novice like me to use and actually find gold. Does anybody have a comparison between this and the White's GMT Goldmaster? They're both designed to find the small stuff, but the GMT is a lot cheaper, though appears more difficult to use/get to know.

If you go dunolly call into the detecting shop in the main st the guys name is Dean nice guy and will put you in the right direction .Good luck its a hard area but with a bit of help you may do ok

Well done Kaiser, top use of mapped areas and good work reading the ground on your chosen area.

Nice gold mate......the SDC is the primo machine for finding small gold, its a super snoop and will kill the GMT hands down every time.

Dean is a good bloke, but in the end he wants to sell you a Whites.

I shouldnt tell you this, but he uses the SDC religiously on his outings after locking up the shop!

Been out with him many times.

Cheers

Numb_Thumb said:

Well done Kaiser, top use of mapped areas and good work reading the ground on your chosen area.

Nice gold mate......the SDC is the primo machine for finding small gold, its a super snoop and will kill the GMT hands down every time.

Dean is a good bloke, but in the end he wants to sell you a Whites.

I shouldnt tell you this, but he uses the SDC religiously on his outings after locking up the shop!

Been out with him many times.

Cheers

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Haha, okay I was just checking whether I might have been missing a bargain with the Whites.

I tried to be prepared before going out, because I've read too many stories of people taking ages to find their first gold, or chucking it in after finding nothing. I learned a lot though, and will be much better prepared next time!

Hi all ?
Very new here and was hoping someone could direct me to a nice place to detect in Dunolly. The shop here is closed ?..

I am newbie as well. A mate and I are considering driving from Geelong to Dunolly and will camp at Ballarat & Maryborough along the way to try detecting in these areas. Anyone have advice for Ballarat & Maryborough?

I will be using a Minelab X-Terra 705 and would like to do some training. Any help would be appreciated.

Jayse

Hi Jayse and welcome Head into Coiltec Marybough and talk to the boys they will head you in the right direction cant help much as i dont know your machine but there are plenty of spots to try and plenty within half an hours drive ,If you in Dunolly call in and talk to Dean at the shop there really nice guy and knows his stuff he will be only too happy to tell you a good spot .Good Luck

So have arrived in Dunolly, green as grass, bought the recommended gold atlas, which not knowing where the hell i am and most places on the map not named is next to useless to me, wandered aimlessly, obviously over well trod ground, found shot, lead pieces, shells and bits of rusted metal by the bucket full........... after two days of that im at a loss where to try, any old hands on here want to point me in a direction where i might find other than the above, dont expect to get your secret spot just a bit of a pointer if someones willing, cheers guys!

If you are finding lead shot you still have a chance.
It is when you find nothing is the problem.
Usually means it has been well dug over. Go very low and slow. Near old diggings is usually always good.
What detector?
Where have you tried?

Cheers

Hi Ned was up there earlier this week and manged 1 piece found
hard to say where to go because there are so many places , if you have Doug Stones atlas then have a look between the digging and the reefs or just put yourself on a surfaced area and work the edges and out . look for this native pines nice yellow green colour nearby and then look for some dips in the landscape of course you want some iron stone and some quartz bigger is always a good sign

Thanks Ronk, HH im using a 5000 with a 14x9 evo,, as i said its doing its job, just dont think im looking in the right places, tried a few tracks on the tarnagulla side of dunolly, taylors track, cannes track and a track on the right between waanyarra and murderers hill but nothing but rubbish, any suggestions HH?

So had zero luck in the Dunolly area, found several ounces of lead, casings and shotgun shell ends, plenty of regulars in the park, but as you would expect no one with any hints on where to look! A forum member came and spent some time with me, we looked at some interesting areas, but no luck, so now i'm in Canberra with the kids and grandkids, anybody out there feeling charitable want to point me at an area to try/detect, or let me tag along? Be here a week or two, hope to hear from some old hands, cheers all! Regards Ned!

Ned kellys not dead said:

So had zero luck in the Dunolly area, found several ounces of lead, casings and shotgun shell ends, plenty of regulars in the park, but as you would expect no one with any hints on where to look! A forum member came and spent some time with me, we looked at some interesting areas, but no luck, so now i'm in Canberra with the kids and grandkids, anybody out there feeling charitable want to point me at an area to try/detect, or let me tag along? Be here a week or two, hope to hear from some old hands, cheers all! Regards Ned!

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I see your a Queensland resident.
You may have far better options in your home state?

Victoria been a compact state with a very high population and its not too far to the detecting goldfields has ensured that most of the ground is overworked.
In my personal experience i have found gold yields to dropping substantially.

7 grams last year, total production for me.

This year 0.2 grams so far. :N:

I have a GPZ 7000 and many years of prospecting knowledge and experience.

The game is just about all over in Victoria.
Yes there are plenty of U Tube posts and forum posts of gold finds but for the most part its now a struggle to find good gold consitantly in Victoria.
Too many people looking, retired prospectors or the unemployed have all the time on their hands. Full time workers only get the odd weekend here and there.

I totally agree.
No gold in Victoria.
Don't bother coming here.

NONE in southern NSW might have to go north or west