jrbeatty

Mr and Mrs Candy (From the album) January 1991:

Dave: More Llanelly than Tarnagulla, but have a try around Black Ben reef and gully. Oodles of small gold there once and the Z cranked right up should find more. Same applies to the reef heaps and upper parts of the gullies draining the Corfu Reef area. PS: Don't tell anyone I told you though!

Tarnagulla has never been kind to me either Dave. Best I ever scored there were a couple of sub ouncers years ago.

Good work Ash! Lots of digging involved there.

Certainly sold one to me! You have this readers complete and undivided attention - - -

Just to be crystal clear Reg, I understand from the contemporary newspaper reports that the guy who "rebirthed" the "Roughie" was called Jim Sanders. Was he also called Saunders Gill? And by Holliburd you mean Holabird, right?

Thanks for your reply Reg. Something about the body language in that photo seemed to indicate that you were no longer friends.

I've Googled this story a bit lately as well Reg, and you're right about the misinformation that was flying around at the time. Perhaps if we were to ask some questions which you could then answer as diplomatically as you wish! Here's an Australian newspaper account : http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/world/australian-murray-cox-exposes-jim-sanders-washington-nugget-as-being-from-down-under/news-story/98f08820144b1a26bf886407867cb78e?sv=66e579eb9f2473db2f3a88cac147d780 Here's my question: I've read several newspaper accounts of the expose. Is it just me or have you noticed that Murray Cox appeared to be somewhat "over inflating" his role in the "Roughie" discovery?

Thanks Mop. It would be nice to physically meet up with everyone. Of course It rarely happens. However, at least we can meet "virtually" on the forums, but every now and then we do bump into posters. Reg and I occasionally meet up with John H.S, who has left prospecting behind and now owns several holiday parks on Victoria's "shipwreck" coast. Also Ian, who is still chasing colours in Victoria. Both John and Bruce Candy followed this album in its earlier incarnation. Reg is back in Aus and we are going to do a post on the "Washington Nugget" hoax just as soon as he unpacks and unwinds. I'd love to do something similar with the late Jim Stewarts spectacular photo collection, but this is still in the "hoping" stage!

Did the same recently using steel cut from a spare grouser plate off my bulldozer: Did a low hydrogen butt weld in an "V" formation to avoid cross fracturing.: Steel looks thicker (and longer) than it actually is because of camera foreshortening. I've successfully done this before using high tensile steel without any problems. Once the tip wears a bit I'll hit it with a tungsten carbide based hardfacing electrode.

Wow! Thanks again everyone. I'm hoping Reg will find time in his busy OS schedule to make a post, since it's his history and he deserves the credit. To complete the story, perhaps he could also enlighten us with his perspective on the "Washington Nugget" scandal? Mitchel! Congratulations on the imminent arrival of your firstborn, and yes, gold will take a backseat for quite a while.

We're going to wrap up this topic with a return to the first post. Since many of us don't know what it feels like to unearth a seriously big lump of gold, Reg describes it for us: "One day In September 1987 I was detecting with a friend in what was known as ' the butchers paddock ' at Corindhap, just north of the town of Rokewood, which is south of the famous gold town of Ballarat, where the 'Welcome' nugget was discovered at Bakery hill. This nugget was the second largest nugget found in Australia, and possibly the second largest in the world, weighing a massive 2217 troy ounces. We were detecting around an old surfaced area on the edge of the Break O' Day lead, which once yielded 10 nuggets over 100 ounces. This little known lead was once considered the richest mile of alluvial diggings in the world, with many of the mines yielding thousands of ounces each. The surface gold just to the west of the deeper and main line of the lead dropped into a gully where the old timers had followed it into deep ground where it formed a separate lead. On the south end of the surfaced area I detected a line of bits that seemed to indicate that perhaps some gold may have continued southward. A main road ended my exploration in that direction, and as the property on the other side of the road was owned by a different farmer, I negotiated a deal with this land owner and obtained permission to continue my search" The very first signal I dug was an 11 oz bit: "I realised at that point that the run did indeed continue south, and that the old timers probably had been unable to follow it because the line of gold had thinned out, with the pieces being further apart. The line widened out and continued south and over the following days we picked up piece after piece with the tally increasing. Good size pieces were common with the largest at that stage being 14 ozs. One morning I picked up a 5 oz bit. We had lunch behind a hedgerow some distance from where we were detecting. Our car was hidden as we did not want to attract too much attention. Walking back to our area I noticed that the ground on which we were walking appeared shallower that I had assumed, and looked pretty good. I had no sooner remarked on the ground appearance whereupon my detecting partner swung his machine off his shoulder and turned it on (We were using prototype Minelab GT16000s which Bruce Candy had sent me to test) Photo: Sun Herald. "I then had to move beyond the interference range of his detector, so I backtracked (towards where I had got the 5 oz) until I was out of range. After turning on and ground balancing, I had only gone 20 feet or so when I heard a big wide signal. At first I thought it was a big charcoal noise from an old burnt tree stump, but when I took off a few inches of dirt it sounded too strong for any sort of ground noise. I kept digging, widening the hole as I went. My offsider (Murray Cox) came over and offered to help, but I insisted on digging this one out myself. At about twenty inches the gold began to show, and I was extremely careful not to hit it with the pick. Eventually, a great clay covered lump was unearthed. After a wash, it weighed in at a bit over 98 troy ounces. I named it the ' Orange Roughie' because it reminded me of an ugly fish of that name. We ended up with over 300 ozs from that paddock" Photo: Sun Herald. You know what Reg? I just love the look of that eleven ounce specimen. Way prettier than the "Roughie" Thanks everyone for your comments and reactions over the course of this topic. The response has been overwhelming! I want to thank Steve once more for hosting the album. Your website is a pleasure to utilise, Steve. It's extremely versatile, glitch free and I really like the WYSIWYG layout while assembling a post. Sure beats previewing! You have clearly put a lot of energy into this site, and it shows. I moderated a share trading website for many years, and I know how much effort is involved behind the facade, especially when things get passionate. There are many prospecting sites out there that are clunky and poorly moderated, but yours clearly demonstrates how things should be done! Special thanks also to Mitchel, your encouragement was a vital catalyst in repeating this exercise. Thank you! More thanks to all the experienced posters here who gave us their reactions and comments. We're humbled and honoured by them! Thanks also to all the new members who joined just to comment. Now you're here, please tell everyone what your experiences and hopes for the future are. New members are the essential life blood of any forum, and we hope we've stirred your enthusiasm. As that 100 ouncer found recently at Dunolly demonstrates, the biggies are still there. Now, how can one fail to mention Paul? We're really looking forward to meeting you in the not too distant future, and although we can't guarantee you a "half reasonable" colour, Reg and I will do everything in our power to put you onto the type of ground where they can be found, then it's up to you! In the meantime, Norvic bears the heavy burden of responsibility in attempting to keep you under control Lastly but most importantly, Reg. It would be a cliché to say that without you, this topic wouldn't exist, but there you are then, I've gone and said it! You're the kind of person that stands as an inspiration for all detector operators of all ages. I never could have imagined when I bought my first gold detector (all those years ago) that I would one day be working with you. It remains a buzz to this day and, quite frankly, I can't bloody wait to get back on the hunt with you! In the meantime, keep looking buddy, that 100 oz plus is out there somewhere

Still got a soft spot for DD coils in difficult ground. Doesn't mention winding configuration. Flat wound?

You're welcome Jin, and good luck. One of the farmers whose property Reg and I prospected on ended up getting a detector himself. We thought he was showing rather a lot of interest in the process! He was good at it and learned quickly. He picked up a 4 oz patch I'd somehow managed to zig zag through, neatly avoiding everything A humbling experience for yours truly (and Wilson certainly won't let me forget) but his dear wife thanked us profusely for giving him renewed interest in life following debilitating heart surgery.

3.30 am? Paul, you have it bad! I guess that makes me a dealer of sorts, feeding your habit Sadly we're nearing the end of the album. There are still dozens of pictures but many are just repeats of gold already posted in a different layout or orientation. Being gold, it still looks good though. For example: 94 oz Dunolly 1989: Poseidon: Condons paddock Wehla: Now here's some new ones. Moliagul: Nuggety lead Maldon. the bigger piece 2 1/2 oz: Pinchgut area Havelock. 3 oz and 2 oz: Sometime bad things happen. With the exception of the two pieces on top (already shown elsewhere) all the rest shown here was stolen from Reg's house last year by an ice addict. Naturally, not recovered : Detail of stolen flat piece above. Reg detected this sub ounce piece on one of our wildcat hunts south of Walmer. Got us excited but proved to be a loner. Yet another blasted one colour patch! And some more unknowns: We'll conclude next time - might just have to get Paul some methadone - - or get him over here swinging!

We farmers aren't generally too hard to approach Firstly, leave the dog at home, introduce yourself and chew the fat for awhile. Show them some gold and point out you're a hobbyist, not a mining company. Explain and demonstrate the detecting process, pointing out how little physical impact there is, and offer them a share of anything found. Many farmers don't want a percentage, but I always sling them something anyway. I've found 20% is a fair and acceptable figure, considering you're doing the hard yards. This figure can have a negotiated upper limit. You can suggest that if you find another "Hand of Faith" then it will be split evenly. The hardest private land to get onto is that adjacent to historically rich areas. These landowners have usually been under continuous siege from trespassers who leave gaping holes, gates open, etc and therefore exclude everybody. Another difficult group of landowners are "blockies" i.e. smallholders. I've rarely had much luck there. All hat and no cattle, but very defensive and possessive.

8 oz Specimen gold from Monkey gully, Scarsdale: "A bit over 50 ozs from near Blacksmiths gully Talbot. Biggest piece 23.5 ozs" This is largely oxide coated, fairly typical of deep lead gold. In the early days, often discarded by mistake, unless the weight was felt on the shovel. Colour varies depending on the coating. Manganese leaves a typically black coating, whereas ferrous oxides leave a tan colour. Most finders dip it in acid to remove the coating, but in some ways that's a pity because it destroys part of the post formative history. Detail of above. 23.5 oz nugget plus three pieces for 14 ozs:

Wonderful work Jin, and I think you have the hang of detecting all right!

Sadly, I'm not finding anything golden while the shearing is on, Mitchel, but wool prices are booming ATM, so it's worth doing. Can't wait to get a detector in my hands and walk Victorian ground once more. Steady on Paul! I'm doing my best trying to find something interesting to post with Reg away - Ok, here's something - "Also near Stirling Rush, Also 13 ozs (not to be confused with the other 13 oz Wedderburn bit posted earlier) just north of Horries specimen patch, Wedderburn" John Hider Smith was the publican of the Wychitella Pub in the 80's. This is a small town north of Wedderburn, at the northern limit of the rich western Victorian gold province. Horrie was a prospector who used to get annoyingly drunk and disorderly. One night, to teach him a lesson, somebody snatched his hat (permanently welded on his head because he didn't want people to know he was going bald, but everybody knew anyway) For a while it was tossed about the bar with Horrie becoming increasingly agitated, until eventually it ended up with John, who promptly stuffed it into a box of takeaway beer handed to a stranger. Horrie never returned, much to the relief of many. During the nineties, Ian Jacques was publican of the Logan pub south of Wedderburn, and it became the location for the annual "prospectors breakup" Much big gold displayed and many a brain cell gone AWOL, but some fantastic nights. Some familiar vehicles outside: The beer was excellent: And gold to be found not too far from the pub:

Mitchel: Fine gold (in most ground) with gain flat out and little stabiliser. Threshold not off but "Burbling" Lots of strange noises with this setting but it's amazing how you can train your mind to filter out the irrelevant ones. I've found much gold on well flogged areas using them, such as that ugly specimen. Others claim that you will miss faint signals in the noise, but my experience is that there aren't any faint signals using these extreme settings. They boom in! On the subject of noisy detectors, years ago, Jim Stewart and I detected with some Aboriginals from Laverton, WA who kindly showed us some of their patches they'd hammered with their SD2000's. We were amazed to find that they didn't much care about settings like threshold and ground balance, but we failed to find anything further with our then state of the art SD2200's and custom made coils

Sorry about the intermission but with Reg away the image descriptions are lagging - - - I'll stall for time by posting some more recent finds we've made working together. Not in the same league as the early stuff but it helps pay the bills. I mentioned on the QED thread how in 2015 I stumbled onto an entirely new gold area in central Victoria which began in state forest and ran onto private property. Here are the initial finds on public land. The ugly oz specimen (in two halves) at the front came from a different public area, Daisy Hill, Amherst: From an unworked lead to the south of the initial discovery area in the same forest: Last year we chased it onto private property. Reg detecting the "golf course" : It kept coming: Then we found some half reasonable deeper pieces. Clear targets with both the 7000 and 5000 with 18" Elite: My cordless lipo system using either TDK or Sennheiser "Kleer" transmitters. I finally decided the Sennheiser were best: Earlier this year we kept extending the area onto more private land, but we now both use the QED's and the results were posted on the QED thread.

I'm a bit rushed this weekend, but here's something to be going on with - "12 oz just east of Tarnagulla" Image missing For KiwiJW: A patch of tiny bits found with the 7000 near Maldon. Each flag is a tiny piece: Over 150 bits to the oz. Nothing to laugh about, even with a few ozs in the kitty, eh Reg? C'mon, try harder! That's the spirit!

Aha! I found you! Have a few for me! From Jannines facebook page

Well done!

Off topic, but someone in Dunolly just found Reg's next nugget. Sorry mate! From the Dunolly Caravan Park facebook page. 100 oz: