geof_junk

2 hours ago, shellhouse said:

Thanks all, will check out Gaia GPS.  I also had used G Earth a good bit and found that some counties have kml or kmz file export capabilities on their online tax assessor mapping applications which help a good deal with locating boundaries.

The difference between KML and KMZ is the KMZ is a Zip file of a KML and much smaller but can't be edited but a KML can. 

This video helps to eliminate most rocks.

....Link....

19 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

One book in particular I remember from 1979 he co-authored with Roy Lagal -- Electronic Prospecting.  It took me over 35 years to convert that from an armchair hobby to a real one.  I give Charles Garrett the credit for that.

I started detecting in 1979. That book covered a lot, the rest was got by TRAIL and ERROR mainly error ?

I would have to say my wife, I was right in to gold panning,dredging and sluicing but not detecting. The wife thought that detecting would be easier and wanted to go to the golden triangle in Vic Aust. So off we went, she was hooked so I had no option but to buy her one the best detector available Garrett DeepSeeker. She found it harder than the Whites 6000D that she tried so I got her one, and ended up with the Garretts. Well Carol found a 1 Oz nugget the battle was on.😬 

Skookum, Back in Jan this year I did a post on several google shots showing the spread of nuggets from a few of my patches in West Aust they are not 3D but a lot of terrain and different spreads can be seen.      .....Link.....

Valens Legacy, I was going to suggest to detect a more public area,that  has more people using it than a private property. However if, your Grandfather has not detected it, the fact it was and old church you may be onto silver soon.

I had a fantastic run on the vacant land next to a Nunnery/Convent resident. I found heaps of 1800's UK silver coins and 1919-30 Aust silver coins (they were all sterling silver). The real find was a Sterling Silver pocket watch with a porcelain face and had a ruby on the back. The watch was lost by a Nun. It turn out that the property was a school and the building was burnt down in the early 1930's and the new one was built 2 streets away. That was another gold mine for coins also. So keep detecting even if you find a few or none it will be good training. 

Eric so size does matter 😀 Although they are Sterling silver (Not the Queen Elizabeth Coins) They seem to be in a tight range for each size coin. When I was discriminating targets I always lifted the coil to height that gave me a mild definite clear signal, it seemed to reduce the ground effect in hot or salt ground.

Simon the reading should be good as Australian pre-decimal silver coins minted between 1910 and 1945 comprise 92.5% pure silver (sterling silver). Later dates contain 50% silver like most of NZ silver coin.

There is so many ways to go about it, but every spot/patch is different. You are going about it the right way by thinking about your options. The main thing to do is to try the shallow ground first and decide how deep you can get that type gold as you go.

I found this of interest.

The Murchison meteorite - Museums Victoria.pdf

The 50th anniversary lecture    ......LINK.....

Great finds, I don't think WD40 will fix the clock.😉

Oziexplorer is a great  program and I have used it since it first started as shareware decades ago and would recommend it. It lets you do nearly all GIS  features. Global Mapper v21.0 is a professional  GIS (Geographic Information System) that can do every thing with maps and location but is very expensive. I have done a lot mine data for Aust. using it, some of my work is available on another forum.

.....https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t2273-historical-gold-mines-in-google-earth....

My wife has a 75 lt MacPac backpack NZ made. I have a 85 lt Paddy Pallion Aust made. When we did  ....Tasmania's OverLand Track....  in the late 1990's self reliant for the two of us.. I started with 42 kilos (over 90 lb) at the start of the trip. As it was a good design and fitted I had no trouble with the 6 day hike in mountain terrain that had snow and hot heat condition (four seasons a day). If you get a backpack of a similar design that fits well you will find it worth the money.   

"I am looking for something that can carry 1-2 gallons of water, a sleeping bag, battery bank,...."  

If water is available a good water treatment system can reduce weight considerably. 

I think most successible detectorist have similar problem after time has elapsed. The value of the finds exceed the value you can get for them.I have ran out of LIKES but I will make it up to you when  steve gives me more.🥺   

I have ran out of LIKES but I will make it up to you when  steve gives me more.🥺

I found this interesting.

Gold_Fever Aust.pdf

That was the year I started to chase gold by myself. Metal detectors were advertised in "Men's Only Magazines" back then in Australia. I thought of getting one, but was told they were able to pickup a 22 caliber bullet. The advice given back then was gold that big was very rare, and it would be a miracle if I found any gold with it, that alone pay for it ($100+) when GOLD was a massive $35 an ounce (3 ounces of gold.)     

JRBeatty sorry about that badly damaged 30 oz nugget I would swap it for one of my undamaged 5 oz nuggets if you are still upset. 😁

7 hours ago, phrunt said:

yea, I've always found forum default font sizes too big, I normally have my zoom out to 70% to fit more on the pages, I just assumed they make 'em big for people with poor eyesight.  I'd go down to 60% but unfortunately the browser doesn't scale the website to fit, it just shrinks the entire thing.   70% seems right for me.   I like the new version of the forum software.browser like Chrome or Firefox to ensure some safety online when it comes to security.

That might be possible for you "Grasshopper" us senior need a magnifying glass when it is set at 120% 😪 

Great article mn90403 but lets hope people think before they jump with the hype.

"For those looking to invest in a cheaper treasure chest, silver is much less pricey at around $40 per ounce. It also has more industrial uses and is reflective, so come the apocalypse may actually be worth something in a trade."

I still remember prospectors selling their gold to buy silver instead of keeping it when silver went to $50 an ounce. 

 He’s been fossicking for almost 60 years. “I have other gold and hid it, but now don’t know where I put it,” he said. I hope I have not gone down that path.

On 9/8/2020 at 8:01 PM, jrbeatty said:

Rick: Damn oath it matters! 

Always dig around the target location with the pick, using the pointy end to prise up the centre part. That way nothing gets hurt and the piece remains collectable.

Some friends and I once dinged a lovely 30 oz piece digging in the dark -

 

That is why we learn to pinpoint with a coil, the exemption might be in rocks a pinpointer would be handy when using a hammer and chisel. 

1)  High hills in old burn areas are great places to identify new nugget fields.

They have the advantage that they shallow and the heavy materials(gold) have not been washed away.  

Erik my photo was taken before I retired in 2003 maybe 1 to 3 years earlier. Check up the price of your shilling/half sovereign they do have a good value in fair condition (NB English coin)

You might find this site .......LINK......  about cleaning coins of some help.

I have been going through some old photos. This one might interest some members. To get the scale, the gold nugget is about 165 gm or 5 ounces plus.