Whenever I hear the term ‘’every man and his dog has been there” I am always up for the challenge as to see what they have left behind for me. On a recent trip to the Goldfields I decided to spend my time working some old diggings located in a gully that over the years has been well known to many prospectors. Including myself as a 12 year old where I found my very first nugget operating the XT 17000.
Every detector operator approaches an area in their own unique and individual way. Whether that be deciding to venture off in a certain direction because something in the distance catches your eye. Things like a certain type of tree or shrub, quartz and ironstone, rabbit warrens presenting the deeper ground mineralisation or even something as simple as a web containing a big spider in the centre of it. Resulting in the prospector detecting in another direction as to what they normally would. As long as you are out moving that coil around you are in with a chance of finding something that has been missed by others.
Operating the GPX 5000 and equipped with the 11’’ Mono Commander Coil, I was in nugget hunting mode. I find this size coil is perfect for this type of environment, it is great for manoeuvrability and when taking advantage of the Fine Gold Timings on the GPX 5000 it really brings up those smaller nuggets in high mineralised ground conditions it will also give good depth on those deeper targets.
A few hours into my session I was happy with the way things were going. I had a few small nuggets in my container and had also picked up a few old brass buttons that could have easily been solid nuggets. Looking further along the gully I noticed a little patch of diggings in the distance that were isolated from the main run. This interested me so with my head down, pick resting on my shoulder and coil on the ground I continued prospecting towards that general direction.
Arriving at the isolated diggings I could see that a few of the heaps had been raked many years ago. The ground was highly mineralised. Utilising the Fine Gold Timings I was able to disregard any unnecessary noise allowing me to listen for any faint signals that earlier detectors may have overlooked.
On the outside spoils of the heap I was working I could hear a slight change in the threshold that resulted in me taking a few inches off for further investigation. With a couple of inches taken back I waved the Commander Coil over the target area. Sure enough a faint, but very clear signal was coming from my speaker. Making the hole wider and some further digging I noticed that I had gone down past the old miners heap at was now digging through the virgin ground! My confidence level was high.
With the hole almost at the two foot mark the target out! After a quick pinpoint it didn’t take long to see a beautiful gold nugget shining back at me amongst the red clay. It was a ripper! I knew she was over the ounce before I picked her up. I was over joyed! My biggest Nugget for 2013! I felt like yelling out Eureka!!! But somehow managed to contain myself! The nugget ended up weighed 35 grams. Enough to get me into the ounce club for 2013!
It just goes to show that no matter how much an area has been hammered, with the right technology and a positive attitude you have always got a chance of finding what others before you have missed! And who knows your next nugget might get you into that magic kilo club!
Happy Prospecting!
Angus James
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