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Erik Oostra

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  1. Climate change and gold prospecting… Welcome to the Bonanza! Although many people worry about climate change, it is nothing but great news for gold prospectors.. Climate change will not just open new areas or expose more gold, it will also make prospectors wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.. Those who might doubt my wise words should consider the following facts before shaking their heads.. Fact 1: Climate change will bring more bush fires! We’ve all been secretly pleased when our favourite patch burns to the ground, no more trees or ground cover makes it far easier to swing our coils.. Climate change will up the ante even more, huge areas previously covered by 'green things that get in the way' will now be accessible.. Fact 2: Climate change will bring more droughts! For many gold bearing areas this is great news because it will see a mass-exodus of people who hate prospectors.. No more asking for permission from cranky landowners or government authorities, just vast uninhabited prairies, savanna and pastures waiting to be dug up.. Fact 3: Climate change means it’ll get hotter! Whilst some people bemoan this fact, they forget that night temperatures will get hotter too.. No more cold desert nights! Those places too hot to prospect during the day will see the ever resourceful prospector venture out during balmy nights.. This is no great hardship as hot days will be spent in the air conditioned comfort of your Winnebago, drinking cold beers whilst browsing DetectorProspector.. Fact 4: Climate change will bring more storms and floods! This really is Geology at its best, all this non-stop erosion will make finding gold a breeze.. Areas previously covered by thick layers of rocks and soils will be washed away (like in a giant sluice) leaving behind nuggets the size of boulders.. No more waiting around for millions of years, now you’ll be able to find gold every time it rains! Fact 5: Climate change will raise sea-levels! Since there’s not much gold to be found on a beach, this only affects beach detectorists and is of no concern to prospectors..
  2. I haven't found any real difference between the ML 12x15'' coil and the Coiltek 15'' coil.. I was hoping it would punch a bit deeper but I'm not digging any deeper holes than I did with the ML coil.. maybe in perfect laboratory conditions it might be a bit better but in my experience in the field there's no difference.. I'm pissed off at myself I believed the hype and sales pitches surrounding this coil.. it turned into an expensive little exercise which only served to make the salesmen richer.. more fool me.. This is not to say that Coiltek coils are rubbish, far from it.. Most of my coils for my GPX 5000 are made by Coiltek and they've been excellent..
  3. I've just weighted and measured it before sending it back.. weight: 21.47 grams.. diameter: 4.7 cm.. thickness: 0.5 cm..
  4. Not sure what it is.. it's not very heavy.. how can you work out what base metals are in it?
  5. I've just had a reply from the college! It turns out the gold medal winner is a lady called Joan.. I'll send it back first thing tomorrow morning.. Heaps of good Karma coming my way! 😁
  6. If only it was gold.. don't think I'd be returning it in a hurry if it was real.. I'd probably melt it down instead.. 😆
  7. This morning I was surprised to find a gold medal along the beach at Alma Bay on Magnetic Island.. It's a gold medal for women's cricket (that's a weird batting sport here in Oz).. Whoever won it was the 'best on the ground'.. On the reverse is the name of a college in rural Victoria (on the other side of the country).. I suppose neither them or the island were under a Covid lockdown at the time she was here.. To be honest the gold medal is a bit of a consolation price.. I'm not supposed to be on the island but rather in the goldfields with my son.. as I mention in another post I was on my way up there when I broke down.. nursed the 4WD back to the island where I can work on it but will be out of action for a while.. I've contacted the college so I can return it to the rightful winner.. hope I get to meet her! I've never met a gold medal winner before..
  8. Great post Phrunt, especially the 'start to finish' video.. it's also always nice to see where other people are prospecting.. despite the shotgun pellets you're a lucky man to be where you are..
  9. No kidding.. and that's not counting vehicle breakdowns.. I just managed to limp my 4x4 back home after I broke down heading for the goldfields in North Queensland.. I was planning on a month long prospecting trip with my son, but unfortunately water got into the transfer case after a few too many deep creek crossings (faulty breather).. The expense of fixing this has stopped our little expedition in its tracks.. You'd have to make a very good living out of prospecting to cover unforeseen breakdowns such as this (and also have the basic know-how to fix your vehicle when in remote areas)..
  10. My renewed effort to 'dig the bloody lot' keeps on yielding jewellery, sadly during the last few weeks it's all been fake bling-bling.. and also bucket load of dollar coins, both $1 and $2.. This is after a Covid lockdown when tourists were allowed back on the island.. it shows how dependent we are on tourists to drop their stuff for our beach hunting..
  11. It'll be the intrigue of the whole thing that'll keep you going.. anyway, you're committed now! maybe the girl just lost her car keys? whatever it turns out to be, keep us posted.. otherwise we'll always be wondering what she dropped.. 😁
  12. Here's a great article about heat records.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-09/global-temperature-record-mistake/100244736 The places on the map have verified heat records of 54 degrees Celsius (129.2 Fahrenheit)..
  13. An interesting read.. https://theconversation.com/not-so-foolish-after-all-fools-gold-contains-a-newly-discovered-type-of-real-gold-161819
  14. Here's the follow-up of the BBC story on the South African 'diamond' rush.. unlike the many fools who got suckered in by historical gold rushes, I do feel sorry for these folk.. As a way out of poverty the stakes would have been very high.. now, the future has been dashed.. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57548406
  15. Thanks Off Grid, I was wondering what the geologists on this forum would make of this.. The video's got a few good close-ups of the stone.. Hoping for them it's the real thing, I'll keep my eye on BBC Africa for updates..
  16. I know it's not a gold rush but it is the next best thing.. this video report caught my interest this morning: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-57483877
  17. I hope so Palzynski, since you pointed it out I've had another sleepless night! I'll let you know if one battery is shorter or not when they arrive..
  18. You're absolutely right Chase, guess I took my local ML dealer on his word that to his knowledge no one, not even ML Support (Australia), were selling individual Equinox batteries.. I went to their homepage just to try anyway and got directed back to my local ML dealer for any enquiries regarding parts.. I should have explained this in my original post.. but at that point I thought it hopeless to call ML Support direct to see if I could score a freebie battery.. I also headed the advice of the British man in the Youtube video who tells you not to change the batteries yourself whilst the detector is still under warranty.. Instead he tells you to send it off to your nearest ML service centre/dealer.. Since I was dubious about my second-hand (sigh unseen, bought online, paper-less) detector still being under warranty and because I'd already voided any warranty by changing the batteries myself with another second-hand Nox (which I also pulled apart), I took another route from looking for ML freebies by taking a look on Ebay (which worked beyond hope, scoring two for the price of one).. As you say, it'll be smooth sailing from here.. 😁
  19. G'day Phrunt and Chase, your responses to my post have really got me thinking (and worried).. but a close up of the Ebay batteries clearly show the yellow wire! another problem solved.. you can stop shaking your head now Chase 😁..
  20. Thanks Phrunt, you're right! I didn't look too closely at the wires, just made sure the numbers on the side of the battery were the same.. could they be knockoffs?
  21. G'day Chase, thanks for your advice.. I contacted our local ML dealer on the mainland who didn't sell Equinox batteries separately nor did he know anyone who did.. The only place I could find them was online from people based in the US or the UK, that's why I was so surprised to see these two turn up here in Australia (just down the road).. I also thought that once you remove the battery yourself or crack the seals the unit is no longer under warranty.. none of my second-hand detectors came with warranty papers (I bought them online), which also makes it awkward when dealing with ML or their dealers..
  22. Some folk believe that their prayers are rewarded, others claim that if you ask the Universe for anything it’ll respond.. But when you need a new battery for your Foxy Noxy, these methods don't work anywhere near as good as keeping an eye out on Ebay.. Since that awful day last month when the battery on my Nox 800 stopped charging I’ve considered many options, including an external power-pack (expensive), soldering the plug-in cable to other lithium batteries (deadly), and to keep on swapping with the battery from my Nox 600 (pain in ass).. This afternoon I searched on Ebay and scored two new Equinox batteries for just $50 (plus $10 postage).. That’s a new battery for Foxy Noxy and a spare for the unlikely event I ever need another one! Gotta love them win/win days..
  23. Not sure how a F75 would go on the beach.. I know the Nox (600 and 800) with big coils (both ML and Coiltek) punch deep on the beach, not matter how wet or salty the sand.. All my silver coins were found on the beach with a Nox and I've compared them to the Gold Bug Pro, Gold Monster, Gofind and a X-Terra 705 in the same location.. The F75 is an unknown beast for me.. but I don't think I'd swap it for a Nox for beach detecting..
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