16 year old needs help

Prospecting Australia

Help Support Prospecting Australia:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Sounds like you don't need help with your panning. One suggestion, if you look at the picture of the full super sluice pan in the walnliz clip posted above is that you want to work a light pan. What I mean by this is the pan should be fluidised by your panning method with the contents suspended in the water. The full pan will be hard to move the material but if it is fluidised the panning motion you have adopted will remove the friction the weight of the solid material has on the pan as it is floating in the water so to speak. This will result in the heavier material like gold sinking in the fluid to the bottom of the pan. Starting this off with the full pan as above takes a bit of effort but as the material is reduced becomes easier and you can be gentler with the pan. The tilt of the pan will direct the heavies to where you want it. I generally like to get them in the crease of the pan then into the riffles as the pan empties. I then will backwash the remnants left in the riffles once the material reduces to as far as I can get them or black sand starts to appear.
Jon
 
Hi Mark, just a quick google search i found this from our very own PA forum, https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4326, hope it is the right area, i have never been there myself so cant say yes, no or maybe and again i dont know the legalities of prospecting there, a huge part even as much as 85% of our great hobby is research and when you think you have researched it, research some more, go for a drive out and have a look, walk around, use keywords in an internet search, visit libraries, museums etc, i think you get my drift, we as prospectors are a funny bunch at times and can be very cagey with sharing info on spots, i myself have told a few exactly where i have found gold, some others it was a very vague answer, wish i could be a little more helpful but i just dont know the place, again it all comes down to research
cheers
Jamie
 
Stay well away from The Yarra, National Park and conservation reserves ( marked with signgs ) and you should have some luck. Part of the fun is exploring to find where it is. It costs time and money to get anywhere useful, be very careful and don't follow colored markers as some will walk you directly into a mineshaft covered by dense greenery
 
Look for places where gold was once found simple. Castlemaine is a well known hotspot. Was the richest alluvial in its hey day.
 
I like Atom's comment about concealed mine shaft's. :)
Even though you can see open shaft's, You do not know
what is 6 inch's under your feet.
Yes, The ground can cave in under you and some of those holes or stopes if
you wish can be in the 100's of feet deep.
One way trip mate. And it is not the fall that kill's you,
It is the sudden stop at the other end.
Best to stay away from a known mine shaft area until you gain a lot
more experience. Even folk's who are highly knowledgeable still get
caught at times.
There is a video on here some where showing a fellow happily detecting away
and when he starts to scratch for a target, A small hole opens up.
That area is now fenced off from both the cattle and people.
.
The famous Poseidon Lead near Laanecoori is now caving in every where.
It is so dangerous that my Uncle warns people away from the area.
Have a look through these photo's.
It will give you an idea what to expect.
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~tarnagul/photogallery/gallery3/index.php/mining/DSC_1787
 
Yep look for things that don't look right in the ground like mounding, flattening, scree etc. I was working up Nth Eastern Tas through the scrub and we saw quite a few holes, mostly covered up with debris. We saw a slight flattening in the ground and the growth slightly odd looking but we checked it. We found there was a shaft and as you do we threw rocks down it, then larger and larger rocks and we never heard them hit the bottom. 8) Really, stay away from overgrown areas with shafts and don't approach shafts you see as they could be weathered out under the surface past the mound.
Jon
 
What I'm talkin bout Tathradj are the intentionally placed markers to purposely cause injury to others so they can protect whatever they are hiding, usually a plant or foil shack somewhere. Its not nice and probably not reccomended for a 16 year old to wander without experience or company of an adult at all between the shooters n whatnot. I know I've been in the sights a few times.

Just like the snakes, you don't worry about the shafts you can see out here..
 
That's right as well Atom.
It just pays to be care full out there.
I always go with another person.
Only ever gone Golding by myself once or twice and
having to look over your shoulder all the time,,,,,,
It is not worth it.
 
just last weekend Doug and i were having a look at two mine shafts really close to each other, i went to walk around to my right hand side put my hand on a tree to steady myself while i walked around the tree and nearly stepped into a third mine shaft not seen till the last second because it was hidden by a scrub, be bloody careful mate and don't go on your own if you can help it
 

Similar threads

D
Beginners gear
Replies
15
Views
1K
Bernie006
B
Rainbowgold
Map help (WA)
2
Replies
23
Views
2K
Lbg dreamer
Lbg dreamer
T
Places to find chalcedony and agate near Caboolture?
Replies
0
Views
685
The Mad Rockhounder
T
B
Hello! Newbie post
Replies
0
Views
362
Bgoldy
B
T
Access to the Palmer River?
Replies
5
Views
688
grubstake
grubstake

Latest posts

Top