What To Look For On The Goldfields (New To Prospecting)

[willo1]

Just can across this thread. Wow, what great reading. Thanks Loamer, your wealth of knowledge is greatly appreciated. I am only just getting into the detecting side of things and have purchased a X-Terra 705. This was the best I could afford at this time. Hopefully with your above explanations of what to look for and I will be able to see the bush in a better light rather than just wandering around aimlessly.

Thanks again

Jason.

 

[the hill folk]

Thanks Loamer....I agree with vlf being frustrating in goldfields....drove me to desperation today....spat dummy and came home early !! Need a 5000 !!

 

[Goldtarget]

Ok so I'm new very new to detecting, although with the luck of having detected with a few fellas that have good solid knowledge of pi, and gold bearing areas. Loamer my hat is off to you, great info. And i want to emphasis exactly what you said there in that last post....because that's critical in finding the gold, if you are detecting lead, shot and the like, you are infinitly closer to a result. I was out yesterday using a small vlf, and started the "have i got this dialled in right" monolouge going in my mind, and as soon as i dug the first peice of lead i calmed. I scored a .3 gram about half an hour later on high mineralisation about three feet from a large Mullock heap next to a large ironbark. The only downside to the lead is that sinking feeling of the large thud in the earpiece only to miss the yellow. The funny thing is i draw back to the same places every time, because of those little changes each time, the environment changes, settings, machine type, weather, i personally think there's more to those little changes than may be first acknowledged. That's why i believe the so called "flogged" areas still produce. When I've been out in the past i see recent diggings in the mullochs, i always detect them thoroughly. My training is that gold is there, someone else who may have pulled a nice nugget may have been less than careful after success and it may have been their last target for the day, . Anyway just my thoughts, thanks again.

 

[MarcusBerlin]

Very usefull information, thanks for that and respect !

 

[Bazz]

What terrific information...

Thank you Loamer

Cheers

Bazz

 

[silver]

Wow, that's amazing, imagine that with gold oooooozing through it everywhere and ripe for the picking.
That's how the old timers would have found it on some occasions !

 

[user 1769]

The 'white blow' at Ravenswood, Qld, is a good one as well.

 

[cornelia]

wow, looks almost like huge nuggets of gold!

 

[Average Joe]

Great stuff Loamer, thank you so much for sharing!

 

[Nugget]

I'm certain Loamer is the love child of Charles Garrett and Douglas Stone, it's the only explanation :lol:

 

[Tassie Daz]

Loamer, An update on my Grandson and the fieldbook. We have just returned to Ballarat tonight after a couple of days in Melb. I produced and printed much of the info you and the other guys posted here so that he might get the bug well and truly. But between him and his mum, I think it'll do the trick. The kid's only 11, but he was really quite interested in the field book and the vids I gave him to watch. Thanks to you for all your information, and the helps from all your obvious years at the game. My hope is that it may all help start to produce a life long yearning [not fever] to hunt the yellow. Anyway, mate thanks again. TD

 

[DiggaDan]

Great info through here for new comers like myself. Great to now actually see the scape instead of simply browsing by without noticing... tops thank you guys

 

[pirateandy]

thanks loamer, that is the best article I have read, wondering if you have any advise on looking at the trees in the gold areas. I have been told about dark bark on ironbark trees and to look for other trees that grew around the chinese diggings where they spat the seeds out

 

[loamer]

Pirate - ironbark trees are the predominant trees around the central vic goldfields around Dunolly/Tarnagulla due to the soils etc. They are an indicator that the ground is OK. The Chinese did spit out seeds from a pine nut type of thing if I recall - they are no sure sign the Chinese were there as after 150+ years the seeds and trees have spread.

Geologically, you can follow the ground and watch it transform before you - for example, to the east of Moliagul the ground gets very sandy and the trees change to various varieties of gums - in this area there are no diggings or recorded gold. The Whipstick are around Bendigo is different yet again. Coming in from the west its almost all ironbark until you head north from Eaglehawk way and then the whipstick takes over. This is the same as patches out near Avoca (Lamplough as an example). So, vegetation is an indicator of the soil type and soil type is an indicator of gold bearing soils.

 

[Guest]

Reefs to Diggings - likely prospecting areas.

This is a guide I made for my grandson, sorry the copy is a bit rough. It was an attempt to explain to him in a picture what is going on and likely spots to hit. When the little bloke is with me he uses an Xterra 70 and basically hits the mullock and reef dumps. He does OK too on nice little clean throw-outs and species, so I have generally stopped 'seeding' spots for him. Anyway, this sort of explains some of my earlier posts on where to go and what to look out for. Obviously this is a generalised layout. A mate drew one for me years ago, so I take no credit for the idea. It may help. Happy hunting.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/981/1383785437_spuds_map.jpg

Hi Loamer,

Thanks for putting this all together.

Just a question.

Is there surfacing on a regular occurrence near the slope of a gully throughout the gold fields in Vic? eg as per your image above.

Thanks

Joe

 

[Drbean]

Good sharing mate info on this is priceless to newbies.
Also to all don't be afraid to go to areas that arnt on maps
as most of my best gold come from just giving it a crack!
I've pulled over 150 prices from a acre near bendigo and
that doesn't include what my mates pulled from there inc
Sunday just past , the patch that just keeps giving.
How did I find it ? Took my old man for a drive in my old Tirana
and he drove for a while and asked me at the location , have
you tried hear? No I replied .oh he said , I asked why hear of
all places.oh your great grandad with only one eye used to
Go and pick gold up after the rain on Sundays after church!
Very few diggings and gold sitting on the surface inc 2.5
Grammar on sunday .
So what I'm saying is some spots have not been done still
good news but if your going past someplace that doesn't have
huge amounts of workings give it a crack just mite be virgin ground

 

[creaturefeatures]

Thanks loamer for this information and sharing your knowledge with us all!!

Good luck and happy prospecting

 

[dwt]

Hiya all just thought id share some of my knowledge with you on some prospecting areas that are not commonly recorded and how some friends of mine have taught me what to look for in UNKNOWN AREAS outside of mainstream workings...... (1) What is the significance of that piney schrubby looking tree on the side of some roads,(some people call it a cherry tree, i for one have no idea of the name,some help would be great)............the best i can tell it is some type of marker,for either food wagoon, booze wagon, ore wagon, a marking point to signify workers in the area,i havnt come accross any text on these in any books so unless someone knows exactly what they were for it will remain a mystery for me to a certian point, i know what your thinking "a marker! how can that be it takes years for a tree to develop why would you plant a tree as a marker only to nick off to the next area of a gold rush after 6 months" (easier to dig gold from the surface than down your 8 foot hole).......Im stummped as well,usually when im out in the bush i look for these trees if there are no recorded workings in the area,when i find one i will do searches within 2-300feet in a circle around that tree to look for signs of old workings,most of the time "BINGO" wether its shafts or hard to see shallow workings,these trees are a great search point

this particular tree is off the beaten track but a barely visible track was found 10mtrs away

looking past the tree in the background you will notice a change in the colour of the dirt

upon further examination we can see small loaming holes

unmistakable sighns of a shaft

and of course the shaft itself, continuing down the hill we have the loaming holes that undoubtly led them to sink this shaft

So next time your travling up a road dirt or tar keep an eye on the side of the road and you may happen to spot one of these trees in an area that you wouldnt assume would be part of the mainstream diggings..........check it out, it could be a spot that hasnt been looked at for quite some time,or as in the case of the pictured shaft,no records might of been kept 8)

 

[G0lddigg@]

those trees are bloody everywhere around ballarat creswick. I was told they were originally some type of medicine that the chinese used

 

[dwt]

those trees are bloody everywhere around ballarat creswick. I was told they were origibalky some tyoe of medicine that tye chinese used

weird how they are normally around old workings,and that shaft in the pic sceams Europeans, the Chinese dug round holes so evil spirits didnt hide in the corners of a square shaft!!!!!! correct me if im wrong 8)