Newbie couple to Prospecting and fossicking

[Havinago]

Hi all,

My wife and I have just started on the prospecting and fossicking journey within the last month. It all started with my wife wanting to do some metal detecting on the local beaches of Port Macquarie with her cheap detector from aldi. This prompted me to purchase my own cheap ML gofind 40 so i could join in the fun. We spent 2 days detecting the beaches for a total find of $2.65c, a cheap charm bracelet, a toy car, a metal torch, a fishing lure and some sinkers and a heap of bottle tops.

This got us eager to try our hand at gold prospecting and Gem fossicking, where we purchased a panning kit and river sluice. I have been on 3 trips, 2 with a close friend and 1 with my wife. My first trip with my friend resulted in a lot of driving no gold but some gemstones from the Coffs Harbour area, My second trip was with my wife to an area around 3 hrs drive that I researched using GE and GSNSW data warehouse which resulted in 2 very small specks of gold for 1 bucket of dirt, My 3rd trip was with my friend in a new spot that resulted in 3 tiny specks of gold for 5 Buckets of dirt.

Needless to say after seeing our first wild gold even though it isn't much maybe $1 worth if that, my wife and I are hooked leading me to join this forum to hopefully learn more about the hobby.

Cheers
Havinago

P.S If anyone here knows of any areas not requiring a 4WD and closer than 3hrs drive from port macquarie to try for the yellow stuff that would be highly appreciated.

 

[AtomRat]

Welcome Havinago! Should be someone up that direction who is able to guide you to some areas I love the fresh fish n chips off Mcquarie Pier...your lucky!!

 

[nucopia]

Check out this web site
eastern Dorigo might be about a 90 minute drive from you.
http://www.treasureenterprises.com/...old_prospecting_locations_new south wales.htm

 

[Havinago]

Thanks guys for the welcome and info. My first trip was actually NE of Dorigo at moleton but found it really hard to access the creeks. My last few have been around Walcha where each time we have managed a very tiny bit of gold (real tiny). Looking for more productive areas now
Cheers Havinago and Co

 

[AtomRat]

Have you looked around http://www.geomaps.com.au/scripts/oxleywildrivers.php

If gold was mined there before, gold will still exist today to find

 

[AtomRat]

Use google to find use for old history. Also look into your local library for its history books for port macquarry

Another clue:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/71191665

 

[Havinago]

Thanks AtomRat I really do appreciate your input, yes i have looked at Oxley, most of it in national park and we dont have a 4WD to get on those more remote State forest Areas , I have read those old articles and have done a heap of research over the last month (LOL HEAPs) , No joke my wife thinks im Obsessed :lol:. I do have a little understanding of Geology and mapping as I studied it at Uni 1st and 2nd year while obtaining a Marine science degree a while back (no expert though) and actually worked as a GIS officer, so playing with the techy stuff and researching i am semi competent at. There just isnt alot of info on the general area around Port except for the self interpretation of the geological maps, but in saying that we are keen to travel and try new areas.
Cheers and big thanks
Havinago and Co

 

[AtomRat]

Awesome that you already have a head start of a lot of the info and experience too then guys

As long as you know gold was near an area, sometimes that's all you need and have to do the exploring yourself. I had very little to work off with my area and through years of walking and exploring I've uncovered a hell of a lot with still much more to find. Make sure your digging deep enough and touching either bedrock or clay and sample at least 30 holes in an area to move on to the next spot. Sometimes a creek may deposit gold along certain sections and have breaks with no gold for meters / kilometers.

 

[Havinago]

Yeah my knuckles are torn appart from trying to dig deep enough into crevices with screwdrivers etc lol all part 'n' parcel of the game. I am definately on that train of thought, as given a geological time frame where a creek flows now is not where it did within the last 300MY. If there is somthing i do know i know that every water course in Australia has the ol' Au in it just the amount that varies lol.

Cheers Havinago and Co

 

[AtomRat]

Give yourself a break from creating as I understand the pain......... ...and try to get onto nice rounded waterworn bedrocks or clay areas. I wish you both the best of luck and can't wait to see your future finds

 

[Chewy]

Welcome aboard Havinago.