Any prospectors here?

[AB]

Just checking to see if we have any prospectors on the forum?

I live in one of the most active areas back in the gold rush and would love to get a metal detector and explore the area.

How much would I be looking at for a decent quality but value for money detector?

Tips and tricks appreciated too!!!!

Can't wait to find a million nails...LMAO

[Winnie]

Never used a metal detector but always try put a pan in the rivers.

[growler2058]

Mate years ago paid for his first time out at the Jupiter Creek gold diggings (sa) right at the too of a shaft. Then only eer found old bullets and nails after that hahahaaha


Merry Tapped Out Xmas

[threedogs]

Mine-lab are the go, but might be better off hiring one first, new ones are awesome but $$$$$$$$
love to try though, set it up, need a miners licence to

[AB]

Ouch...Yeah I have heard about the Mine-Labs....Damn expensive though!!!

[pearcey]

Morning AB
Did a bit in the west a while ago found a few pieces but you need the best equipment.
I would only use Mine Lab expensive yes but then it may find you a fortune.
6 to 8 thousand for a top of the range second hand one
Happy prospecting Mate

[threedogs]

Would make a great weekend out for the members, group discount on hiring. sort it out AB

[MC97GQ]

AB,

Here's a link I thought you might be interested in.

http://www.bendigogold.com.au/products/minelab-metal-detectors/gold-detectors/eureka-gold

Mark

[NP99]

Since I'm very soon to hit the now retired list, I'm looking in to this as a hobby. I've been told the boat is on notice to be sold....that causing some debate :)

Anyone done prospecting in SE Qld?

[Hodge]

ALDI has one on now for $100.
https://www.aldi.com.au/en/special-buys/saturday-04-january-2014/saturday-detail-wk01/ps/p/metal-detector/

[my third 256]

a guy i worked with used to go to glenelg beach and use it in the sand when beach was pached
sign on car red have you lost anything on the beach today
have metal detector for hire with operator
$50.00 an hour phone !!!!!!!!!!!

[threedogs]

A few years back now up at Tibooburra after some rain a retired couple picked up $3000 in nuggets from the main drag and Dead Horse Gully.
Paid for the fuel for the rest of their trip, From memory they only used a cheap detector

[Sir Roofy]

WE PAID A FEW DOLLARS FOR OURS MINE LAB
LOTS OF BOTTLE TOPS A FEW COINS LOTS OF FUN

WAS $30 for a miners right for 2yrs

[NP99]

a guy i worked with used to go to glenelg beach and use it in the sand when beach was pached
sign on car red have you lost anything on the beach today
have metal detector for hire with operator
$50.00 an hour phone !!!!!!!!!!!

I was thinking beaches would be good after heat waves or long weekends etc :)

[Sir Roofy]

I was thinking beaches would be good after heat waves or long weekends etc :)

beaches are good anytime in summer

[stumpie]

I metal detect on a regular basis . As suggested previously hire one for a couple of days first, if you like go for a minelab 2000 onwards you should be able to pick a 2000 up for around $1000. The latest one the 5000 your looking at $5-6000. The 2200 probably would be a good starter around the $1500 -$2000 mark depending what coils come with it. Ebay good place to start looking. There are a lot to choose from but the 2000 sd was the first PI. I hope this gives you some idea of what to look for. Good hunting.

[Drew]

Yup my wife does the swinging um that sounds wrong I mean uses the detector and I'm the mule carrying drinks, shovel etc

[Avo]

I have a friend who goes out and about searching for the elusive metal,does quite well to..he has a top end mine lab and swears by them...I have been out with them but I go to do the camping..he spends more than 8 hrs a day in search of this metal and it looks to much like work to me,so we collect wood and just be happy campers...he does well,very well to be truthful and if you like that sort if thing,well theres money for your pleasure,but it aint everyones cup of tea..

[NP99]

WE PAID A FEW DOLLARS FOR OURS MINE LAB
LOTS OF BOTTLE TOPS A FEW COINS LOTS OF FUN

WAS $30 for a miners right for 2yrs

Didn't you guys have a rebellion over a hundred years ago to stop that theft? :)

[prospector78]

Hi AB,

Where do you live?
I've been hunting the gold now for quite a few years now and heading out agian in a couple of weeks. The answer to your detector question depends on what you are looking for and how much you want to spend. If you have the coin probably the best detector on the market is the minelab gpx 5000 but you will be looking at between 5 - 6K. then there is the gpx 4500 or 4000 with the 4500 being the better of the two and you can pick them up for around 4 - 5k. If you are after big deep gold you can get a gp 2000, 2100 or extreme from $900 onwards but with these ones you are best to get them modded. And if you have more money if you get the 4500 or 5000 they will preform even better medded as well.
There is another detector on the market called the Garret ATX which sells for $4000 and is making waves in the minelab wold. All talk has that is is on par with the gpx 5000, but the jury is still out as this machine has just only been released in the last 6 months.

I think all states you need a miners right or fossickers permit, here in WA it's a miners right and costs $25 which lasts a life time. In QLD it's a fossickers permit which can last one month to several months. NT is also a miners right which by memory costs about $30 off the top of my head. As for Vic and NSW I'm not 100% sure as I haven't prospected there yet.

With the basics of detecting, do your research in the area you are looking at, look at previous history such as gold mines, what was found ie, nuggets minerals, what was mined. Also look at the topographics and types of landscape plus minerals in the area. While you are looking make sure that the area is accessible and see if you need permission. Hate for a farmer to catch you and get a bullet up the arse!!

When on the field, look for old detector holes, mine shafts, old timer workings, creeks and channels once you have found a good spot the key is to keep it low and slow!

Enjoy you'll be hooked with your fiirst nugget

Luke

[PMC]

Since I'm very soon to hit the now retired list, I'm looking in to this as a hobby. I've been told the boat is on notice to be sold....that causing some debate :)

Anyone done prospecting in SE Qld?

G'day oldmate,

You can hook up with me! I am currently looking at a Minelab Metal Detector. There are a lot of old gold mines around Coffs Harbour and also at Bingara around the Gwydir River on the Fossickers Way off the New England Hwy in the NSW Northern tablelands area.

Kind regards,

Paul

[mudski]

This is something I have always wanted to do. But looking at metal detectors scared me off unless I have a few lazy "k" sitting around to buy one.

[PMC]

This is something I have always wanted to do. But looking at metal detectors scared me off unless I have a few lazy "k" sitting around to buy one.

G'day mudski,

I was speaking with AB this afternoon and informed him off my brother in-law who has already pulled $60,000 of gold from Victoria and NSW. He has bought a new Minelab GPX 5000 Pro Pack Gold Metal Detector worth around $6,000.00. He found all his gold using Minelab GP 3000 Gold Detector.

That is what I am currently looking for at the present.

Regards,

Paul

[AB]

Hi AB,

Where do you live?
I've been hunting the gold now for quite a few years now and heading out agian in a couple of weeks. The answer to your detector question depends on what you are looking for and how much you want to spend. If you have the coin probably the best detector on the market is the minelab gpx 5000 but you will be looking at between 5 - 6K. then there is the gpx 4500 or 4000 with the 4500 being the better of the two and you can pick them up for around 4 - 5k. If you are after big deep gold you can get a gp 2000, 2100 or extreme from $900 onwards but with these ones you are best to get them modded. And if you have more money if you get the 4500 or 5000 they will preform even better medded as well.
There is another detector on the market called the Garret ATX which sells for $4000 and is making waves in the minelab wold. All talk has that is is on par with the gpx 5000, but the jury is still out as this machine has just only been released in the last 6 months.

I think all states you need a miners right or fossickers permit, here in WA it's a miners right and costs $25 which lasts a life time. In QLD it's a fossickers permit which can last one month to several months. NT is also a miners right which by memory costs about $30 off the top of my head. As for Vic and NSW I'm not 100% sure as I haven't prospected there yet.

With the basics of detecting, do your research in the area you are looking at, look at previous history such as gold mines, what was found ie, nuggets minerals, what was mined. Also look at the topographics and types of landscape plus minerals in the area. While you are looking make sure that the area is accessible and see if you need permission. Hate for a farmer to catch you and get a bullet up the arse!!

When on the field, look for old detector holes, mine shafts, old timer workings, creeks and channels once you have found a good spot the key is to keep it low and slow!

Enjoy you'll be hooked with your fiirst nugget

Luke

Thanks for the detailed info Luke. I'm out near Yarra glen Victoria.

My area was a blaze with miners back in the days and our area is full of old shafts.

I've been for a few walks in the popular areas and there are some scary vertical shafts dropping 10's of metres down with only some old parra webbing around it that has fallen down.

Those shafts must be full of kangaroos now!

Definitely no night time bush works either!

[mudski]

G'day mudski,

I was speaking with AB this afternoon and informed him off my brother in-law who has already pulled $60,000 of gold from Victoria and NSW. He has bought a new Minelab GPX 5000 Pro Pack Gold Metal Detector worth around $6,000.00. He found all his gold using Minelab GP 3000 Gold Detector.

That is what I am currently looking for at the present.

Regards,

Paul

60K Faaaaark! Even the GP3000's are around the 3k mark...Give or take...

[Maxhead]

G'day mudski,

I was speaking with AB this afternoon and informed him off my brother in-law who has already pulled $60,000 of gold from Victoria and NSW. He has bought a new Minelab GPX 5000 Pro Pack Gold Metal Detector worth around $6,000.00. He found all his gold using Minelab GP 3000 Gold Detector.

That is what I am currently looking for at the present.

Regards,

Paul

Hey Paul,

Was that 60k in 1 month or 40 years mate?? This might give us an idea if it is still worth prospecting.

Cheerrs

[Family4x4]

Hey Paul,

Was that 60k in 1 month or 40 years mate?? This might give us an idea if it is still worth prospecting.

Cheerrs

Its still worth it if you know what you are doing and catch a lucky break.

A local where I live who I know, last year found a nugget work 50k. That was only 1 nugget he did find others through out the year but that was the biggest.

He only detects as a hobby he is a truck driver as his full time job, but he has been detecting for a long time and has a lot of knowledge on the subject.

The day he found it a farmer saw him detecting and told him he was wasting his time as the area had been mined already back in the day.

[Maxhead]

Its still worth it if you know what you are doing and catch a lucky break.

A local where I live who I know, last year found a nugget work 50k. That was only 1 nugget he did find others through out the year but that was the biggest.

He only detects as a hobby he is a truck driver as his full time job, but he has been detecting for a long time and has a lot of knowledge on the subject.

The day he found it a farmer saw him detecting and told him he was wasting his time as the area had been mined already back in the day.


Hmmm, are you telling me I need to spend more money on a detector...LOL

[ova50]

Its all possible, quite a lengthy story about our find, but, it does happen.

[Avo]

Yep, I seen my mate pull a 32 gram,12 gram and 10 gram nuggets before lunch one day...but like I said before...he goes hard all day for months..5-6 months every year..

[Maxhead]

Geez you blokes, you know how to get a bloke excited!! lol

[AB]

I have a friend of a friend whom I'm not sure if he is a lousy prospector or clever but he says he makes more money off finding old coins, bottles and jewellery.

To the point where he has given up on finding gold and prospects under big trees such as oaks where people would of sat under many moons ago.

He also waits until spring for those (can't remember the name) the little flowers that pop up in spring with purple colours...lol

Anyways he looks for those in spring out in paddocks as they were a sign of an old settlement or home that once was...

Apparently he's found a lot of old rings and coins by following that method.

[mudski]

Geez you blokes, you know how to get a bloke excited!! lol

Tell me about it. If only I had time to actually do the prospecting part...

[PMC]

Hey Paul,

Was that 60k in 1 month or 40 years mate?? This might give us an idea if it is still worth prospecting.

Cheerrs

G'day Nisshead,

My brother in-law accumulated all tat gold in a 9 month from Jan 2013 to end of September 2013. He found is gold in several locations in both Victoria and NSW.

Essentially, when he was unemployed over that time period, he committed himself to 3 days per week gold prospecting in Victoria's gold field areas and he spent 3 weeks in NSW whare he found $14,000 worth of gold over that 3 week period.

Over the last 6 years of gold prospecting both part-time and full-time he has found and sold over $145,000 worth of gold. My brother in-law is very committed in what he does, he has travelled all over Australia doing his hobby.

PS, my brother in-law advice is to purchase the best minelab's equipment that you can afford. He also states you have to be totally committed and not give up especially when you have days when you do not find anything. As he states, "you do not find gold sitting on your arse" You have to be prepared to travel especially after a big rain has occurred. He further advised if you are only going to do this as a once in a while hobby, then do not invest in big dollars for your equipment. He recommends folks to hire equipment before you commit to purchasing your own equipment.

Kind regards,

Paul