fourtyniner

Hi Doc. Well done on the nugget. What do you use the strap thing fitted below your detector hand for?  Is it a wrist brace of some sort?

I've gone 30 days without gold when patch hunting in the Golden Triangle. This isn't unusual these days. 21 days was my second worst skunk. You've just got to keep slogging on, knowing that you'll eventually walk over one. If you're a negative/ pessimistic person you won't last long in this game. The patches I've found over the years  doing this sure helps me stay positive.

18 hours ago, dig4gold said:

Just a shame it is broken & only half the coin.

@phrunt. Didn't you find a ring in some old workings with ivory in it that you thought may have been Chinese?

D4G

I was told by a guy when I showed him some of the Chinese coins I had found that they used to break them into halves and quarter pieces to use as small change.

It would be great if someone came up with a coil top cover to protect it from scratches from the scoop. Does anyone have any ideas on what to use to protect the coil top?

22 hours ago, Rob Allison said:

Hello all,

    This is always one of the first questions asked for new prospectors/detectorist.  Where do I even start looking? 

I think you could write a book on this subject as it's very complex to be honest.   You have to first understand gold, the basics of how it's formed and the processes of erosion or weathering to get the gold to it's first location, to it's final location and anywhere in-between depending on it's timeline.  

Once you have a idea of the basics of gold, say placer gold for example you can understand that due to it's specific gravity it will likely make it to the lowest point in given time (this could be hundreds or thousands of years).

The lowest points in most areas is going to be wash bottoms (gullies, washes, rivers and any water water).  This is normally why you will see some past placer activity in rich gold bearing areas.  

Normally, for metal detectorists, this is the first place many will start.  Keep in mind, the old-timers did also by sampling and then trying to see if they could be lucky enough to track the traces of gold back to the original source that may/maybe be left.  Many of the major gold mines were found by locating the placer first, but this is not the case all the time, many visible quartz veins can attract someone to them to sample and find out if there are any values.  I'm sure many of the visible quartz vein in gold rich areas have been sampled from the beginning of mining history.  

Then the question comes to coarse gold, or nuggets.  Many placers throughout the World are not noted for larger, coarse gold, like nuggets.  You can do a lot of research and find extremely rich gold areas, but very little coarse gold was located due to the type of deposit.  These area might not be very beneficial to electronic prospectors.  

I have always stated to seek out "Pocket type" deposits if you can find any info on them.  These are the types of deposits that contribute to large, nugget gold.  For beginners, just try to research areas that historically have produced gold nuggets, even very large ones.  Worst case, if you can't find info on what the placers produced, just find the gold areas and work within and around them.  This will at least give you a chance of potentially locating something at some point.  

All that being said, the subject can be simple or very complexed, depending how much you really want to know.  

To keep it simple, I have always stated, invest in good equipment (right tool for the job), do whatever research you can (knowledge is very helpful) & develop a plan of attack.  This basically means finding a potential location, exploring and metal detecting likely locations.   It all comes down to a process of elimination, searching here and there the best you can, eliminating spots and exploring new.  At some point, you will be successful at finding a nugget or two.  

You can speed the process up by forming a small group of close friends, all being on the same page that allows you to have the comradery, safety and more ground be explored and sampled quicker. 

Final notes, don't allow Greed to get the best of you, Gold Fever as some will say.  Enjoy the good times, don't get discouraged, stay positive, appreciate the creation around you and give praise to when you find your first, gleaming gold nugget!

Wishing you all the best out there,

Rob 

I've got two unused  8" coil bases for a Whites 6000, not skid plates. If you can use them. I'm in Victoria also.