G'day from AU Fever

[AU Fever]

Hi all,

I'm not real good with introductions, but here goes anyway. My real name John, 45yo from Bacchus Marsh, married with a couple of beautiful young daughters. Work in Melbourne city in an office and recently caught Au fever

I'm kind of embarrassed to say, but I caught Au fever whilst panning for the splinters of yellow that they put in the "diggings" at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. Since we live pretty close we've been there a few times with the kids and my favourite part is always panning. Probably pulled out enough to buy a coffee but even finding a splinter of gold is pretty cool.

Since I live so close to some of the best goldfields in the world (about an hours drive from the GT) I thought I'd take a crack at metal detecting and it's also a great excuse to get out into the bush and go for a walk at the same time. My wife and kids are pretty excited about getting out there as well. If we find some gold, even better!

After many, many hours of research on the 'net I decided to get a Minelab Eureka Gold. It looks like a pretty good entry level gold detector and I don't currently have the cash for a GPX 5000. Besides, if it turns out that gold prospecting isn't what I expected it to be I haven't outlaid too much money. The MEG should arrive in the post in the next few days and I can't wait to get out there and start swinging.

I actually came across this forum whilst doing my research and it looks pretty friendly, has heaps of good information in it and it's Australian! Thanks Nugget for setting it up

I do have a couple of questions that I couldn't find an answer for and I was hoping someone could help with. If I ask the owner of private land for permission to prospect on their property, what's the general terms? Should I offer a share of any gold I find or any kind of payment? Do people prospect on private land or do most people just prospect on Crown land or State parks?

Thanks for reading my intro and who knows, maybe I'll be out there swinging with some of you kind folks in the future

AU Fever
(John)

 

[Redfin]

Hi mate and welcome.
It is a figure you barter for 50/50, 60/40, 10%, it is up to you.
Just do your homework on the land first and never pay up frent.
:8

 

[axeman]

Hi, welcome. Welcome to the forum. Mick

 

[AU Fever]

Hi Redfin,

Thanks for the welcome and the answer. I've spotted a few old mullock heaps south of Ballarat on Google Earth I want to have a go at but most are on private land. It's good to know what to go in with when you start knocking on people's doors.

John

 

[AU Fever]

Hi, welcome. Welcome to the forum. Mick

Thanks Mick

How have you found your Eureka Gold? I watched a lot of YT vids on it and got a lot out of the Kevin Hoagland ones. I like the idea of the triple frequency and auto ground balance, especially for newbies. I'm going to spend a couple of weeks getting to know it before I hit the goldfields. I'd rather miss a trash target whilst I'm practising than a nugget in the field

John

 

[littleazza]

Hi and welcome im south of ballarat and very sorry to say but all the land your looking at is mine well not the land just any gold thats on it .. How far south you looking im going for a chat with some land owners this weekend there are some big mullock on there land and a creek to pan .

 

[AU Fever]

Hi and welcome im south of ballarat and very sorry to say but all the land your looking at is mine well not the land just any gold thats on it .. How far south you looking im going for a chat with some land owners this weekend there are some big mullock on there land and a creek to pan .

Hi littleazza, geez looks like I'm too late. You already have all the gold

I'm looking around Happy Valley, Linton and probably as far south as Pitfield. There's some big old mines down there and the old timers pulled out tons of the good old Au. Hope there's still some they left behind that we can share

John

 

[littleazza]

That a lot of land to cover you could just look in your back yard bacchus marsh has gold have you had a look anywhere nearby

 

[AU Fever]

Hi littleazza, my Eureka Gold won't arrive until next week so I'm hanging out to get it and start swinging it.

I didn't know there was any gold in Bacchus Marsh, but I do plan on panning some of the rivers and creeks around here.

John

 

[WalnLiz]

Welcome to the forum John. That panning thing, is what causes that sniffle thing, that progresses to that incurable fever. When you find that first bit of gold with your new detector, no doctor in the land will ever be able to cure you again. Best of luck and hope the first nugget is just around the corner....Cheers Wal.

 

[AU Fever]

Thanks Wal, looks like fun times ahead.

Loved that vid of you n Liz of Easter Saturday. Great finds! I hope to be able to match them soon.

Cheers,

John

 

[Palmer Digger]

Gedday and welcome mate .. Good choice of machine with the Euraka Gold to get you going .. These detectors have stood the test of time and they are very sensitive to the sub-grammers that a lot of mid price alternatives on the market will miss .. Low and slow as you go around those old mullock heaps and good luck to you.

 

[AU Fever]

Cheers Palmer Digger. I did spend a lot of time researching different detectors. Read a lot of bad reviews on the Eureka Gold but also read a lot of good ones. I think most of the bad ones were from people that expected the gold to jump out of the ground in front of them and didn't take the time or have the patience to get to know the machine. They seem to hold their value pretty good too.

John

 

[the duck]

Try this

Date ________________
Let me introduce myself;
My name is _____________________________ _ and I have lived in
_____________________for ________years. I would prefer to
approach you in person, however I feel that a letter before
hand, is a better than just knocking on your door at an
inconvenient time and invading your privacy.
I have been engaged in the hobby of metal detecting for
________ years and find it a healthful, enjoyable pastime that
allows me to meet many interesting people. The thrill of finding
old coins, buttons, etc., is very exciting to me. Recently, I have
researched information that your property and the area
surrounding it go back many years. I would like to obtain
permission for me to detect on your property. I want you to
understand that I always respect the property that I search and
try to leave it in the same condition that I found it.
Normally targets are no deeper than 3 to 5 inches and I retrieve
them such that the ground appears not to be disturbed. In
addition, I would like to offer my services to you. Perhaps you or
someone you know has lost a valuable ring, a cache, or
maybe a keepsake in your town. I would be willing to assist just
for the thrill of the search. I have enclosed a self-addressed
envelope for your convenience and would be happy to meet
with you if further discussion is required. Thank you for your time
and consideration.

Sincerely,
_________________
Telephone__________________
Date (optional)
your address here (optional)

 

[Rambling rude]

Welcome AU fever,
You will find this to be the most helpful and friendliest forum going around,
As littleazza said there is gold at Bachus Marsh, the Lerderderg River at O'Briens crossing is a great spot to pan with the family, a little trek up the river and you can swing the detector on the slopes that run into the river as well, just keep an eye for the quartz on the banks and head up hill..

Good hunting and hope to see you out there.

Rudy.

 

[AU Fever]

Cheers rude, my detector arrived today so I'm pretty keen to start swinging. Appreciate the tip about O'Briens Crossing. I'm going to head up there on the weekend with the missus and kids and do some panning and swinging like you suggested. Hopefully will find some good colour

John

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Welcome Au Fever, I have found this a very helpful forum, you will be amazed at the info the guys on here have. lots of places to go hunting for gold down your way, some people may even help you out and show you a spot or two!! Great letter the Duck.

Good luck mate

Tone

 

[AU Fever]

Thanks Tone and thanks to all of the warm welcomes to the group by everyone.

Everyone on here is so nice and helpful, it's great to be part of a forum like that.

I'm not sure if someone's already posted this link, but I found it very helpful in my research for places to hunt.

http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/heritage...-plots-in-victoria/historic-gold-mining-sites

This is a fairly comprehensive list of old mining sites in Victoria and some of the records also show how much gold was pulled out of the mines.

Enjoy!

John

 

[Mystyk59]

Gday Au, Sorry i am a bit tardy in my welcome , but have been busy lately , i wont be much use to you up here in the Territory but i look forward to reading about your future adventures, and i find every trip is an adventure ! Best of luck mate
Bill

 

[AU Fever]

Hey Bill, no worries and thanks for the luck.

We lived up in Darwin when we were kids, back in the early 80's. My old man was working on a project out at Jabiru in the uranium mines.

I've spent a bit of time in Tennant Creek too. I remember they had a good Chinese restaurant. I also remember that I'd missed my plane back home and the next wasn't for a coupla days. Lucky for me the lady who ran the restaurant/motel had to drive down to Alice to get some stuff so she gave me a lift so I could get an earlier plane - it was the fastest 5 hours of my life Now that was an adventure.

Cheers, John