12 Weeks To Find First Gold (Persistence Pays).

Minelab Gold said:

Hi Mardy,

Yeah its hard to go into too much detail, only because all area's are different and what you see in the fields can be so much different in the gully I am standing at right now and walk 100 meters further and the grounds change. So its not specific to all but only what is noticed visually while walking. But mainly around area's that I always hit first when I was detecting - deep leads where the top layers were 3 meters deep or more and not knowing how to read the grounds and study up on the main concentration levels.

Learning over the years about the layers and where it shallows out to become a more probable gold bearing material.

Golds a funny thing and surprises us a lot when we find it though, like mentioned in previous posts - all the theories on gold. If they knew exactly then there wouldnt be as much gold left. Even talking with Geologists they have a lot of respect for Prospectors, many say that they know how to tell you what a rock is but many still say that they dont know how prospectors find gold so well. If Geologists knew then again the gold would be gone.

Also some Geologists are astounded by the level of detail and thye accuracy on the old 1800's geological maps when the old timers never had GPS etc and the maps are so damn accurate, just amazes us to think it was all mapped by walking.

Anyway all that aside Mardy, the only way to get the abilities is by walking detecting digging, its nothing that can be learnt over night, but is a skill learned with determination. I mentioned about in my early days, just walking and digging everything - to the point I was enjoying it, but excessive amounts of junk.

After a while my focus level after finding gold was I had this theory that I knew what gold sounded like, hah how naive of me. Every time I found gold it was almost that nice soft mellow low signal you know just the sweet medium even sounds. That we know are 4 to 6 inches deep. So thats all that I was digging, forget the rest and move on, I also mentioned this to some veteran prospectors at the time, and they also said yeah you've got it thats the way.

Looking back on all this now - I just wished I had not been so damn naive and actually tested the gold at different heights. But this didnt occur to me because these veteran operators assured me that gold wont sit on top it will be deep.

How stupid to listen to anyone after proving wrong, I tested all size gold at all depths and wow what an absolute idiot. I even had gold discriminate so after 3 years, not digging anything about a mild response - to walking away from anything large at 1 feet deep that discriminated when I put the coil almost on it without a visual, bloody idiot. After that piece of gold discriminated on me, and it was only 4 grams - I then asked the question.

Thats it time to change, dig everything regardless - but how do I cope with the added amounts of crap. I structured my system to be if I find these junk area's make note of them on google Earth - because they will still be my junk patches that I can work. Every time I go back some have been cleaned out and it doesnt take as long as expected on some. So I dig 10 or so targets out each time, 5 deep 5 closer to surface. At least I know I am not walking away and continue on these spots every time I am back at the area.

Well after all these years have gone by I learned a lot not to listen and do it all myself, only because those words of being stubborn stuck in my mind, if I ask anyone really do you think they will help. Not likely and its understandable when we know gold does funny things to a lot of people. But only if you let it right.

So time for me to do it all and see how why when where, all of this stuff Mardy.

After all of the years, battling away it just sank in the more I found Gold - noticing everything around me and what the material was like, how deep, noted everything and it sped the learning curve up so fast. Because taking action as we know get results, we take massive action and we hope to see massive results right. So its was now speeding up at a very fast rate the way I was absorbing and learning - well teaching myself I should say.

Not only was I making mental notes, but the excessive amount of notes on paper, writing it down to transferring it to computer I was almost triple on the data input. So things just became clearer a lot faster.

Thats how these sign posts were standing out a lot more. I just dont think anymore I just do. You will get many times that will surprise you in the fields though, after making so many notes something will trigger a pattern change and you will sit and think how the hell did that happen, I havent made notes on that before at all, gold will amaze you on some area that it is found. Shape, Size, orientation, type, grounds, you will get some that have never been covered in your notes - and again you will ask how and why - but it all keeps adding to future findings and will paint the picture bigger and bigger the more you want to paint it. As long as this determination keeps moving forwards

So yeah it is hard to explain exactly on that one Mardy only because every area is different. It will come to those who want it but patience and persistence at the start is important.

Switch the focus level back to finding targets no matter what they are. This helps so much. Because a lot of people get so use to telling themselves it could be gold oh this is gold, this has to be gold - only to be let down when its a bullet, rust, copper or brass etc etc

Any bad habits - like mentioned in Group day - bad habits need to be removed - dont walk away assuming you know, like my junk area's its a system that works for me and I am happy with it, my historical data tells me its 100% junk so far but Im not assuming there isnt something good there. Create and develop a system and strategy that works for you, not everyone might like the same one but ideally the end result is all that matters, if this guy likes to walk left first then hey thats his strategy.

If your current strategy isnt working as why, and change it a bit some people dont like change and flip the coin they dont like defeat.

Train the RAS, the moment its triggered, then BOOM onto it.

80% of the time I say I reckon this one is lead or iron or something other, and the other 20% I say its a good chance that it is gold but who knows it could be a bullet. Rather than having high expectations all the time.

Half full not Half Empty

All the best - Regards M.G

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YellowFever said:

Love the video mate!

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