Erik Oostra

Both geological and historical reports show there is gold on the island.. the reports on the old gold diggings (active in the late 1880s to early 1900s) show that it was nearly always associated with white quartz.. where fine bands of gold run through large quartz veins.. I can't find any records talking about nuggets or alluvial placer gold.. at the moment I'm trying to find these quartz veins by sluicing and panning in creeks below the outcrops containing obvious igneous intrusions (to see if there are any little grains) or where I figure fault lines could be (at these spots I whip out a detector and usually search up gullies).. I've been to all the mine sites, some of which are bloody hard work to get into with thick bush and steep hills and plenty of snakes.. Nearly all sites have large pieces of white quartz scattered about..

During the last few days I've been having a looksee in new areas on the island away from the old gold diggings.. The geology here is very similar to the areas surrounding the diggings with many quartz veins running through granite outcrops.. where the creek I'm following meets the ocean many igneous intrusions can be seen running through the granite shield that forms the island (which itself is also a massive intrusion).. No gold yet but plenty of snakes! I'm also making the most of the running creeks (they're dry in the dry season) to sluice and pan so I can work out which areas might have some of the yellow stuff.. Despite the existence of 8 old gold mines, so far the island hasn't produced any gold for me.. I was using an equinox before and have recently upped the ante and am now using a GPX 5000.. I'll keep you posted on how I go.. This picture is of an igneous intrusion where the creek flows into the ocean..

With all the rain over the last week it feels like Magnetic Island is the wettest place in the world right now.. I've had a hunt in the Bartle Frere area with my Foxy Noxy whilst my son runs his sluices.. You're spot on in saying the area is very dense with rainforest and very steep.. We figured this might stop other prospectors from looking too hard in this area but it does get pretty daunting.. I like your advice to try some flatter and less vegetated areas further west in better known historical gold sites.. Thanks..

I've managed to get a hold of a second hand GPX 5000 with 4 coils for AU$ 4400.. Now I'm really ready to go out where the Big Boys play.. Can anyone recommend any areas in North Queensland where I could go to learn how to use it? It's going to be a steep learning curve but I've got this year set aside to finally find that nugget with my name on it!

at the end i was nearly thinking them aloud..

At 1:30am this morning I made the most of a very low tide (22cm) to hunt inside the stinger net at Horseshoe Bay.. Once again I only went for gold coins and 50c.. The total for a one hour hunt was $64.50.. not too shabby..

I took the keys to the pub across the road to see if they could find the owner.. the bar staff told me they were claimed last night by an 'old bloke' who was at least 70 years old.. you can never tell, obviously the man is a bit of a stud..

Found something at Jeffrey Bay this morning that made me laugh.. Whoever the keys belong to: It was no doubt my pleasure!

Dear Mr Klunker There's a carrier pigeon on its way to you with a large kangaroo shaped nugget.. It should be there in a few months.. If you need your compensation a bit faster, I suggest you break out the gold spray-paint and spray a few pebbles.. Even the most experienced detectorist won't have a clue.. Best regards, Sir Erik

I humbly apologize for this video, not just because of all the shaking but mainly because it’s a FRAUD.. Yes, that’s right! I admit it.. I know it’s very hard to tell but the huge ‘nugget’ is really a concrete garden statue that I spray-painted with gold paint.. I buried a bag of silver coins underneath it to make the detector sound nice and loud to complete the deception.. I’m surprised everyone fell for it, there were clues everywhere.. If you can get past all the shaking you can see the paint can early in the video.. I would also like to apologize to all those high bidders, I realize kangaroo shaped nuggets are extremely rare and valuable and I’m very sorry to have gotten your hopes up.. also if I ever find a real nugget I doubt I’d ever sell it..

Thanks a million Steve, your support always means a lot.. the shaking was because of my uncontrollable excitement at finding my first nugget! I can't describe the feeling.. I doubt I'll ever get over it.. ps.. do you know anyone who I can sell it to? cash only..

In Oz we just have to worry about drop bears..

I'm finding that i have the most luck searching after really high tides.. even if there was nothing to be found the days before, the high tides seem to remove just enough sand to get a bit deeper.. I've also noticed that along a few beaches here the sand gets stripped from one side and deposited further along the other side.. these beaches are constantly moving and i've found they're the best for detecting as objects don't get a chance to settle too deep to detect..

I'm a bit stuck with the range of coils i can get for the Nox.. we've mainly been using the 6'' coil for detecting bedrock in rainforest country and the 15x12'' coil in open country out west.. we've also have a couple of 11'' coils which my son uses on the Nox 600 when i'm using the other coils.. thanks again for the kmz files, they've saved a lot of leg-work in getting to these mine sites.. according to one old matey up here, we're the first with detectors in some of these places.. they're certainly bloody hard work to get to, which makes it all the more worthwhile..

I've been in contact with Reg and he's been very helpful.. unfortunately he's out of stock at the moment.. (he also told me about the upcoming PL4..

I especially want to thank Geof-junk for his Queensland Historical Gold Mines kmz files.. they have been invaluable together with Google Earth (especially its 3D function).. it makes the whole adventure a fair bit less daunting if you can 'see' how and where these old gold mine sites are located.. Thanks again..

Thanks for the advice Phrunt, it has indeed been a bit of a battle getting a hold of one.. am still hoping the GPX 4500 and 500 will drop in price a bit as they're still unaffordable at the moment.. Who could i ask about just buying the control box? does the manufacturer sell them separately? is there any truth to the rumour that there's a P4 in the works? it'd be the bee's bollocks if it was..

Travelling through gold country (video contains only one swear word).. 😬

Expanding my gold horizons During the last few months, I’ve been looking for gold beyond the horizons of Magnetic Island. It’s not that the island’s gold diggings have failed to live up to expectation (far from it, the pleasure of exploring them is worth its weight in gold), but rather my son has now really caught the prospecting bug and he’s got his heart set on finding a gold nugget (no matter what size). He laughs at me mucking about on beaches looking for coins or rings, he’s after the real thing. So much so that we’ve invested in a couple of sluices, pans, sieves and an Equinox 800 (backed up by a Nox 600 and a Chinese Gold Bug Pro). First, we spend a few weeks exploring old gold mine sites in rainforest country along the Barron River, Closhey River, Musgrave River and Davies Creek. I would usually go ahead with the Nox 800 and try to get some good readings (mainly on the side of hills and along the bedrock of little creeks flowing into these rivers) and then we’d run the soil from any likely patch through a sluice. Following local knowledge, we didn’t expect any nuggets but it’s always a bit sad when you need a strong magnifying glass to see the yellow stuff. Still, our efforts yielded 2 tiny little flakes in the upper Barron River which my son got in the pan, unfortunately we lost them on the way home (my fault). Over the last few weeks, we’ve been going much further west. Dry country full of flies and wild cattle, following unmarked dirt tracks to get to old gold mines. In these places the evidence of gold fever is everywhere; huge scars in the ground, enormous tailings piles and mining machinery. It’s hard to describe just how good it feels to be in these places, not just because of their history but mainly their geology and seeing the landscapes that produce gold. It’s pretty bloody mind-blowing at times. So far, we’ve concentrated on the hills and gullies surrounding the mine sites. This strategy hasn’t been successful and we’ve come to realize that because of the huge amount of rubbish in the ground (especially bullet castings and pellets), that we’re much better off in country further afield but where the geology is the same. Unfortunately, this only dawned on us when we got back home from our last trip but we’re planning to hit these areas next. I know that in this sort of country we’re a bit out of our depth without a PI detector. The ground is very hot (I thought it was hot on the island but more fool me) and even the mighty Equinox 800 with a 6’’ coil (yet alone the Chinese knock-off) doesn’t make much of a dent. As much as I would like a GPX of any description, I’ll settle for a QED. I keep hearing very good gossip about these detectors (including a favourable comparison to the GPX 5000) and I like the fact that they work with many other coils. If anyone knows of one for sale please let me know, I’d be mighty keen. I’ve included a few pictures below of some of the places I’ve mentioned. Is the last one of a smelter?

My twin brother Rolfe Oostra has summited twice on Mt. Everest out of 4 attempts.. he's been a high altitude guide for the last few decades all over the Himalaya.. i'll get him to bring up my nox 800 next time he's up there.. he's also been at the spot where Mallory and Irvine disappeared..

no worries.. queen Victoria shilling - 26/27 king George shilling - 27/28 queen Elizabeth shilling - 20/21 king George florin - 27/28 queen Elizabeth florin - 28/29 king George sixpence (1942) - 22/23/24 king George sixpence (1946) - 21/22

I've just noticed the small 'D' on the 1942 sixpence.. these Australian coins were minted in the USA.. Coins struck at the San Francisco mint (1942–1944) carry a small S below the coat of arms, while those from the Denver mint (1942–1943) have a small D in the same place..