Hi All,
Got out over the weekend for my third time with the new 5000 and as you all know setting up the beast for the conditions is critical, well with some help form a few on the forum and reviewing a lot of posts on here on the subject, I'm thinking 3rd time's a charm right?
After only getting rubbish on for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon, I settled in for an early night, over dinner I reviewed the maps and determined I was probably a little high up on the slope and decided to relocate for a hard at it session on Sunday.
I wake early, as usual, still dark but bright eyed and bushy tailed I bounce out and throw breakfast down, pack the gear and I'm gone.
15 mins later I'm on the spot picked and setting up, I do a quick look around and decide to work east across the workings on the gentle slope.
Then comes the grind, 3 hours of horse shoe nails, ring pulls, AA batteries and the mandatory .22 lead and bird shot and not much digging. :|
Just as I'm about to have smoko and review my cunning plan I spot a smallish clear area between a surfaced area and a series of test holes running west to east, looked un-worked except a few scratchings, which I promptly filled in as I went.
After working the area for 20 mins or so and just about to give it up for a sanga and cuppa, I get the faintest of signals, just a faint beep, smallish target, so I GB and confirm it's another target. Then proceed to go in to chook mode, scraping off the surface, target still there, remove the top soil, target still there GB again and re-check, target still there and no signal in the spoil.
I remove about 4 inches of clay and check the target again, louder target signal and no signal in the spoil.
Continue digging and another 2 inches and I strike rounded quartz and iron stone, all pretty big, sparks are flying off the pick and now it's getting to be hard work :| and I'm getting deep and the target signal is getting louder.
At this stage I'm thinking I better take some pictures to document things.
By this stage the signal is going in to overload! and I've run out of room to swing the pick, bugger and off comes the beenie!
So I lengthen the excavation.
An dig down another inch or so, and there it is Not the 50-60 grams of gold I was picturing.
But 50-60 grams of lead
At this point I laughed so loud I thought the wagon would show up to take me away! :lol:
So I took 5 mins to catch my breath, get over the disappointment, smiled to myself and thought "you know what, that lead flashing has been there a fair while in well worked ground and I found it, no one else" :lol:
then fixed what I had made.
Got out over the weekend for my third time with the new 5000 and as you all know setting up the beast for the conditions is critical, well with some help form a few on the forum and reviewing a lot of posts on here on the subject, I'm thinking 3rd time's a charm right?
After only getting rubbish on for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon, I settled in for an early night, over dinner I reviewed the maps and determined I was probably a little high up on the slope and decided to relocate for a hard at it session on Sunday.
I wake early, as usual, still dark but bright eyed and bushy tailed I bounce out and throw breakfast down, pack the gear and I'm gone.
15 mins later I'm on the spot picked and setting up, I do a quick look around and decide to work east across the workings on the gentle slope.
Then comes the grind, 3 hours of horse shoe nails, ring pulls, AA batteries and the mandatory .22 lead and bird shot and not much digging. :|
Just as I'm about to have smoko and review my cunning plan I spot a smallish clear area between a surfaced area and a series of test holes running west to east, looked un-worked except a few scratchings, which I promptly filled in as I went.
After working the area for 20 mins or so and just about to give it up for a sanga and cuppa, I get the faintest of signals, just a faint beep, smallish target, so I GB and confirm it's another target.
Then proceed to go in to chook mode, scraping off the surface, target still there, remove the top soil, target still there GB again and re-check, target still there and no signal in the spoil.I remove about 4 inches of clay and check the target again, louder target signal and no signal in the spoil.
Continue digging and another 2 inches and I strike rounded quartz and iron stone, all pretty big, sparks are flying off the pick and now it's getting to be hard work :| and I'm getting deep and the target signal is getting louder.
At this stage I'm thinking I better take some pictures to document things.
By this stage the signal is going in to overload!
and I've run out of room to swing the pick, bugger and off comes the beenie!
So I lengthen the excavation.
An dig down another inch or so, and there it is
Not the 50-60 grams of gold I was picturing.
But 50-60 grams of lead
At this point I laughed so loud I thought the wagon would show up to take me away! :lol:
So I took 5 mins to catch my breath, get over the disappointment, smiled to myself and thought "you know what, that lead flashing has been there a fair while in well worked ground and I found it, no one else" :lol:
then fixed what I had made.
