12 Weeks To Find First Gold (Persistence Pays).

[Minelab Gold]

LC76,

The ground that the 7.86 came from - majority of the time you just know when you are into good material with the potential of gold.

Well this piece wasnt one of those moments, this material is hard to explain, it took me the best part of 2 minutes to dig this 14 to 16 inch hole. It was so soft and very light material.

Not sure if you have seen before when you get into a burnt out area, and next to some tree's is that really light fluffy powdery yellowish clay, I see it most near tree's here. This was that crap at least 12 or so inches down, surrounding this was a layer of hardened red clay about 6 inches down. Almost like a soft pocket, then I hit a small tree root, and that's when the gravels appeared, but it was only loose gravels with sands not compacted at all.

Target out and again wasnt sure on what it could be - but it was solid and loud.

Almost like a yellowish pipe clay - much like Talc

Yeah this spot is reasonably low mineralized, in patches gets warm - walk about 200 meters west of this spot and yeah its mad hot rock country - DD Territory.

Earlier with all of the EMI from the Lightning when I first arrived, I needed to adjust RX to 7 and Stab 5 - just to get it to run smooth. Even as the hours passed I only got it back up to RX 8 Stab 6

 

[Pirate pete]

Wow nice piece MG and also great to see your brother is on the money too should call you the golden twins lol, well at lest he didn't try to skim that one across the water lol . You say that the Minelabs are renowned for giving a one way signal on large deep targets ??? ,I was told if you get a signal one way and not the other dismiss it as a false signal ?? don't know how many times I have had a signal one way and just walked away from it ,Well have to change that from now on I think .Great post as usual

 

[Mackka]

MG you are THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your stories are not only inspirational but are full of gained knowledge that put you in a separate class of good bloke because you pass on that info freely for the good of the hobby.
I dips me lid to ya and wish you and yours the very best New Year and greater success (if that is possible).
Keep up the good work.
Cheers
Mackka

 

[Minelab Gold]

Thank Pete,

I have had many targets that respond ever so slightly in one direction, then coming across on different angles some disappear and some only repeat in the same direction. After many years of testing it was beyond me. So the rules that I followed were to

Listen for the breaks - scrape dig inspect verify

Non Repeatable Signals - we all know ground noise can be either noise from the concentration in the ground or many other reasons - but something causes it and we need to inspect. Charcoal Minerals Wets Tree Roots Hot Rock etc etc all these things can cause it and so can a target, Its just me but I never ground balance on one particular spot on the ground if it is sending a signal - I only balance around this area.

I dont mind scraping a few inches - better to be safe than walk away - only takes a minute to complete the inspection.

Easy targets are the ones we can all hear - its what you do with every other noise that can mean the difference between success or failure, and failure isnt an option in our books - so we need to inspect what caused the detector to send this response.

It comes from many years of digging testing and tuning the system, the only way that I done this was dig dig dig. 9 times out of 10 would be ground noise but this one time surely enough is where the majority of the larger pieces have been found.

Hi Makka,

Some people say to me, why the hell do you tell people these things, arent you worried they will find the gold. Some I guess would be more stubborn and rather give people false and misleading information. Its what the gold does to people and also the individual themselves, I think many people have that belief if we tell someone then they will find all the gold. I could tell you to go to Talbot or Maryborough or even Castlemaine to find gold, thats nothing new - we all know its a major gold town, but the exact GPS Location is quite a different thing because this is what we work hard to do - is to narrow down on the exact co-ord within the major goldfield area's.

Look at Doug Stone, found lots of gold got to travel a lot, designed some maps to help direct people to the general locations, was he worried not at all. Sure he made money on the publications. Even with all of these maps is the gold all gone. Nope

You can't teach people who dont want to change their ways, and especially teaching people 15 years of goldfield experience in a short amount of time. Takes time and some effort, the biggest thing we see in prospecting is the crazy fast walking, pacing around, sweat dripping off, very anxious on the hunt, not relaxed at all, where is the gold where is the gold. Many people swinging frantically through the bush, no overlap, swinging a whipper snipper at 100miles an hour, on arrival all they want to do is get out suit up turn on detect away with no clear path, on return they are puffing with anger after a long 10km walk to nowhere. Speeding up their usual strategy because they are afraid the other guys detecting will beat them to find gold.

When we go out its always a great feeling watching someone else find gold, much like fishing we dont crack the sads if the next guy catches the first fish, we get around em. Nice catch what a beauty, in Gold detecting though some people act like sissy's - oh that guy found the gold first, I wish that was my spot, why does he find all the gold. And then you get the cheeky ones who very early the next morning they take the very same area where you found gold the previous day, and what do you know that guy doesnt find anything and the guy who found that spot, actually gets gold a couple of hundred meters further down.

Or you may even come across the stand over type characters in the bush, who think its all theirs and tell you to move on because they think that the goldfields are theirs.

People who also complain because they are so far away from goldfields, and they only get out so many times a year without much success. They say If only I lived closer then I could enjoy the hobby a lot more. Well the way I see it is if you love something so much, why not shift closer, its not really that hard to find a job and relocate. No point complaining, no one else can make this decision but yourself. Do something about it - follow your passion, people who like sea fishing move closer to the coast, people who also love surfing live in the desert heh.

I like the funny happy type of people which we have so many of in this hobby, the good characters who you know share a wealth of knowledge or even the slightest information, and fabulous stories and adventures, you know these type when you visit the Maryborough Coiltek Gold Centre and there are 4 or so blokes out the front, 2 sitting down, 1 leaning over the verandah railing, while another guy is on his hands and knees. on the ground with a stick trying to get see if he can scrape something out from under the verandah. I say hi guys hows things, they laugh and say this guy is trying to see if he can scrape a nugget out. After people accidentally drop them through the cracks. Meanwhile they probably have over $20,000 in detecting gear between them all.

Funny thing, my reply to them was many years ago they said a guy was testing his coiltek coil in the car park and picked up a nugget.

Or the guy you come across in the bush who is so happy with his finds, he tells you exactly where they came from, he even points in the direction and tells you the size. This is the guy who even walks to the area and points to his hole. 1 piece here 3 pieces there. He is that happy with his efforts and is not worried because he thinks he found it all.

Damn preaching again - sorry guys.

All the best on your journey - follow your passion - don't settle for anything less.

Regards M.G

 

[Pirate pete]

Amen brother if any of you doubt MG motive let me enlighten you after spending a day with MG and his brother there is no alternate reason for what he and his bro do only to help people like myself and all the others they have helped enjoy a great hobby ,I know we all would love to do what MG achieves each time he goes out into the bush I think if I had the knowledge he has gained over the years would i share it ??? I think so ,To say I think so is wrong bloody oath I would how do I know I already do I have been doing Martial Arts for some 48 years and still teach and I don't get paid I do it because I love it and want to pass on my Knowledge ,Its the same with Mg and his brother he helps and love what he does and I for one say that the world would be a much better place if we all just helped each other and you will be surprised at how great you feel . Keep on swinging and have a smile when a mate finds a piece be it a 0.001 or a hand of faith just the look on their face when it comes out of the dirt cant pay for that kind of happiness,I know if I had a place I wasn't sure about I would have no hesitation in asking Mg toto have a look at it and I know he wouldn't clean it out not in his nature .Great work MG keep it up.

 

[Minelab Gold]

Hi All,

Just thought to post this up here, Inside the Minelab Koss UR30's - I will also put up a wanted post in the forum.

Before I go and purchase some from a shop.

I am Looking for a pair of Minelab Koss UR30 Headphones. If anyone has a set that hasnt been used feel free to shoot through a PM

After taking the pair apart that recently had enough - maybe they screamed too many targets - and just couldnt hold up anymore haha

Also After close inspection I couldnt see any physical issue's - continuity test revealed all connections/cables are good.

The right hand speaker works but you can only faintly hear it.

The left speaker is caput

When I connected just a general small speaker to where I disconnected the left speaker from - it worked great and the right hand speaker worked again. Pity it was a 6x9 car speaker - probably look a bit funny with that strapped to the side of my head.

Cheers

 

[toecutta]

something to keep an eye on in the field

 

[dam it]

Hey Old Mate
I have two pair were the lead is kaput but still nearly new . Yours if ya want them give me a yell .

 

[Mickkat12]

. Pity it was a 6x9 car speaker - probably look a bit funny with that strapped to the side of my head.
I just spat cereal. Thanks
A grade posts again
waiting to see what the final day in 2016 brings ya!

 

[HarryHoudini]

Hi MG, I think the real issue is your headphones have been working overtime. The fix maybe finding less gold

Love your posts provide loads of information and providing hope !

I bet there have been loads of Elites sold based on your adventures.
I too am changing coils in a hope of finding the elusive yellow stuff.

But really love being out the bush and its a hobby I enjoy.

Have a great New Year and stay safe.

Cheers

 

[Minelab Gold]

. Pity it was a 6x9 car speaker - probably look a bit funny with that strapped to the side of my head.
I just spat cereal. Thanks
A grade posts again
waiting to see what the final day in 2016 brings ya!

Thanks Mickkat12 - sorry boutda cereal

Heading out hopefully within an hour or so to swing for the final day. Who knows may even get another yellow rock for the last day.

I will swing till 11:59.59pm hah

Cheers

 

[Minelab Gold]

Hi MG, I think the real issue is your headphones have been working overtime. The fix maybe finding less gold

Love your posts provide loads of information and providing hope !

I bet there have been loads of Elites sold based on your adventures.
I too am changing coils in a hope of finding the elusive yellow stuff.

But really love being out the bush and its a hobby I enjoy.

Have a great New Year and stay safe.

Cheers

Thanks HH,

Yeah thats what I thought - maybe too much work through the headphones

Less Gold - Noooo

Same to you - have a safe and happy new year

 

[Minelab Gold]

Sitting here last night, after taking apart my headphones to see if I could revive them once again. After the first time the lead at the plug end went caput in the bush, half an hour later after soldering them up. Was back in action. Only months later Speaker dies.

Well after using the Koss UR30 for many years and you sort of get use to the sound, and then when I tested out the External the other day, fair enough I hit that 7.86g but it is just not the same, I felt like I was miles away from the sounds, hearing all of the inferior noises a lot better from my surroundings.

Then last night after pulling them apart, nothing at all could be done to bring my second best friend back to life.

What to do, so I get online and check the trusty old Ebay listings, and thought for a minute. Why dont I just see if someone on the forum may have a set that they no longer need, or dont use at all.

The best forum in the entire world, with some pretty damn amazing people to say the least, well there it was - has to be someone - these guys are very passionate about our hobby, whats the worst that could happen. Dont get a reply.

Well - I will be buggered, checked my messages

I just want to say to all of the kind hearted people who sent through a message in such short time is truly unique - just goes to show the character of your personality. Rather than saying ah yeah he will find some and move on. To help another member out like that is just incredible

I wish you all a very safe and happy new year, and let the gold gods bless you all with a nice big chunk of the good stuff in the coming year.

I will be heading out today with some alternatives - tested out 3 sets of earbuds last night as well, the only pair I think will suffice for now is the Nokia ones

Then hit the road a bit later on to visit my mother for new years.

Cheers

 

[Pro-oz]

Hi minelab gold, by now you have probably found a set of UR30's ? anyway if you haven't I have a set you can have that came with the Z never been used.
To hot up here in FNQ for head phones.

Just let me know cheers for now. Peter

 

[Minelab Gold]

Hi Guys,

well last post for the year of any findings out in the fields today, bit late on the post - I thought to cut and paste and compile the pictures, thinking it would take less time, well 40 minutes later.

Anyway - its all good. Took the brother out again today, couldnt ask for a better new years eve to spend the afternoon together in the peaceful bush.

I wont go into many details and just post away thee images, another successful day. Out at my favorite spot, and another tally to add. Its now 23 days out of 24 that have proven to still give up the yellow stuff in this area.

I will say that there is one spot we hit the other day and there were extremely loud noise everywhere, after starting for the afternoon, resting to have a break and some food. My brother said he will go to that area and clean out the junk.

Well you should have seen the material he moved, and if there wasnt 50 or so pieces of steel that came out of roughly a 2mtr by 2mtr section, thats persistence at its best. Some of these pieces were pretty big and would have blasted the ears off for sure.

Well he got every piece out for a nice base to detect for any faint signals. He called me over with the GPX with the 14 Elite just to comb through after he ran the GP3500 over with the Elite 11

I hit some sounds which he had told me he wasnt sure, its great that he hit these sounds, exactly what to listen for I told him and he done an extremely amazing job removing the junk.

Well these sounds turned out 4 were gold.

As for me - just the usual targets today few pieces of junk and few pieces of gold.

Teamwork at its best and worked out an awesome finish for the year.

1. here are the images - hope you enjoy them

2. This is the area where my brother was cleaning - you can see the effort - in the top left image where it has been filled back in - some of these holes were 1 1/2 foot deep.

3. This is when I went back over after the first piece was found with him, and also the last piece we needed to crank the light on the camera, was pretty much dark. But he didnt want to leave this little target.

4. Gold all cleaned up

5. These are the ones my brother snagged in his little junk patch - all within a meter of each other - but funny enough they were away from the junk pile. But the best thing is the consistency and determination - he was super happy, now thats his first multiple finds in one day.

As you can see another great day - these targets were just getting smashed with the GPX Elite Combo - also one target in the area where my brother had cleaned out, he didnt hit many targets that really jumped out with the 3500 and Elite 11 - he said they were almost like the general ground noise but wasnt sure. He did however point in the exact location that 3 smaller piece came from. The larger of his pieces - the GPX4500 and Elite 14 - was only just enough, something made me keep going over this spot for about 5 minutes just to listen in each direction. It was almost like the slightest dip right at the centre of the coil, basically at the lowest sweet spot which the Mono punch the deepest at the bottom of their search pattern

but it was only enough to scrape, and scrape some more. And it wasnt getting louder too fast - it just kept appearing to be ground noise type signal. Especially seeing the red rich clay. I opened the hole up to roughly 18 inches round and 100mm depth just to get that nice flat sweep in.

And there we go - target obtained. And out we go.

Anyway thats all for today guys, most other targets were just the blip on the radar, some inches to maybe 4 or 6 deep.

A couple of nice little ironball nuggets

As always be safe and well take care and talk with you all next year.

I also want to express my regards to each and every one of you that have liked my thread, and showed much support and the many kind words.

Happy New Year to all.

Regards M.G

 

[silver]

Back at ya young fella, enjoy every bit of it !
Happy New Year <~$$$

 

[oldschool]

Once again fantastic team work with great rewards good on ya fellas.
All the best to you both for the new year and may the gold shine your way.

Stay safe and have alot of fun out there

Regards Oldschool

 

[Mackka]

I takes me hat off to ya again MG. Love every story and glad that you and the bro are having a great time together, life is far too short not to have good times. Happy New Year Mate and God Bless you and your Family.
Mackka

 

[reynard]

hi MG great reads again congrats to the bro. swinging is way safer than the tunnels. thanks so much for making all of our 2016 so enjoyable and educational as well. may 2017 be just as profitable and as much fun. wishing you both T&D all the best and the same to all on this terrific forum. jim :lol:

 

[Minelab Gold]

Hi Guys,

Happy 2017 - and again today was the start to the new year and wanted to see if I could kick it off with some New Year gold finds.

Went out very late today, hit the fields at roughly 4:00pm - enough time to get 4 to 5 hours in.

So why not go back to my favorite spot, could it be possible to hit 24 days out of 25 with gold finds in one spot. Well the odds at this rate are definitely in my favor, just cant expect it to jump out at me.

Obviously it takes some work, a lot of slow swinging to listen to every little blip and inspect, just to be sure if it was indeed a signal. And most of all be consistent with your efforts, cover the ground and eventually that little piece of ground with yellow will be either within the first ten minutes, or hours. Just gotta keep at it.

Make sure the ground is not being sporadically covered, just take your time. Why cover the ground in crazy movements, with no clear direction wandering aimlessly. Thats right because next time you wont have any idea on the exact path you traveled, or ground you covered.

So it was a fantastic start to the new year, took roughly 1 hour to hit the first little piece, after covering grounds nice and consistent, a little junk pile. Cleaned that out and kept moving on.

Not to get worried on junk and walk off to another area, just because this little junk patch was there. Problem with doing this is most will assume it is junk, and have more of it, they will make their decision without visually seing what each target is and move on. Well its all about keeping calm, and being more consistent now that ever because this little junk patch deters only the impatient, where there is these hot patches usually means no one has been here with a detector, or has been but walked away with their belief being junk without even digging.

What do you know - gold starts to flow

I didnt post up all images from today guys, was more than 30 images, just the better of the finds, most others were just the usual 1 to 3 inches deep for the little sub grammers. found 3 pieces of gold on a mullock and the top of the mullock was a big bull ant nest. Should have seen them coming out when I was digging. I had to step away for half hour and then come back.

Nice cool weather for a dig as well.

1. So here is the first piece for today, had me chasing this one because of the charcoal, it was noisy but there was a distinct sound in this area. And how is that a 0.08gram

2. Biggest piece for today and was roughly 8 or so inches deep, just that nice mild mellow sound.

3. 2 Pieces in the same hole - pretty cool - the second signal was only faint but noticeable - and about 4 more inches below the other. Not sure it would have been heard without the other being closer to the top.

4. This piece sounded like the usual top surface junk we get, just that loud little noise. And fair enough gold - only small but everything needs to have a visual. Check out the loose material - I pretty much scraped with my boot and moved the target - didnt even get to any soils and fair enough gold.

5. This piece here - I had to rub it for a few minutes, the gold wasnt showing and it was the weirdest shape, I honestly thought it was a piece of lead, brownish white staining like lead has, and a glimmer of gold appeared and I kept rubbing. It would have to be the ugliest piece I have ever found, but hey gold is gold. And we will take it no matter how big or what it looks like.

6. Gold all semi cleaned

Anyway today was a great day, another 9 pieces to the tally.

And a great start to the new year.

Enjoy, Regards M.G