Erik Oostra

this was send to me by Doug on the Prospecting Australia website.. it shows old mining sites on the island (blue flags)..

Thanks a lot for your thoughts everyone,, Yes, this post was written tongue in cheek and as Steve says it very much shows the difference between someone who knows what they are doing and someone who doesn't.. This hasn't put me off though.. its only made me keener to learn about detector prospecting (and as i mentioned it really is no great hardship detecting on tropical beaches).. Phrunt, i did buy the GBP on ebay.. am just reading the horror stories about fakes on this forum.. crikey! I'd be very pissed off if i've fallen for a scam.. is there a huge difference in performance between a fake and the real thing? could that mean that my detector is not set at 19 kHz? maybe its a lower frequency? but shouldn't that be better for shooting coins?

West Point Track - Map.pdf Goldmine Hill is part of the 'Hills' show on the map behind Bolger Bay..

Thanks for your help there mate, those links are a good start.. I'll head out to West Point (around Goldmine Hill) and bury some lead sinkers and foil in those soils and see what the GBP has to tell me.. i'll also bury a gold ring.. there are also some creek coming off Mount Cook in the same area (also in upper Carboniferous granite).. will have a look up them as well but am always worried about salties there.. i'll probably be better off higher up those creeks anyway.. i gather that the 5'' coil is the way forward for these sorts of soils and around old gold diggings (also got a 11'' coil for the beach).. Thanks again for helping to spark a real interest..

Coin to Coin: GoFind 44 easily beats Gold Bug Pro Test objective: to determine which detector can find the most coins over two weeks (to allow each detector a few swings at the title). Although the total coin value is obviously important, the main objective is shooting the most Australian coins – whether they be ‘silver’ 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c or ‘gold’ $1 or $2. Test site: The public beach at Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island, North Queensland. Local conditions: Narrow white sand beach with a thin layer (about 30cm deep) of newly introduced sand covering an older deeper layer. The beach slopes steeply into the Coral Sea and sits along a pub, restaurants, cafes and water-sports places, so there should be plenty of tourists dropping their coins (I just hope plastic cards won’t bugger up our coin count). Being popular, the beach yields a load of beer bottle tops, aluminium packaging (including a condom wrapper) and rusty crap deeper down. Weapons of choice: Erik favours the Gold Bug Pro whilst ‘Matey’ (not his real name) wields his mighty GoFind 44. Whilst Matey had the home bay advantage (Erik’s from another bay) he hadn’t had a looksee for about a year. It was only when he saw Erik on his old stomping ground that he decided to have another swing. The result of the meeting is this very informal ‘coin-shooting’ challenge and bragging rights at the pub. Influencing factors: Erik is a total newbie on the GBP. Matey is an old hand with the GoFind and recons Erik’s machine has got too many ‘bells and whistles’ for it to be any good on the beach. Play-by-Play: As mentioned GBP had already had a few swings before GoFind got into the game. It did so in great style, shooting a handful of gold within half an hour of the glove being thrown down. Not one bit unnerved GBP returned very early Monday morning (counting on huge coin drops over the weekend) and shot some gold and silver. GoFind had a few swings during the first week shooting gold, both large ($1) and small ($2), as well as large silver (20c and 50c). A bit more unnerved, GBP stuck with his game plan and had a good hard swing the following Monday morning, shooting small silver (5c and 10c) at great depth (about 40cm deep) and large silver a lot shallower. GoFind just kept hauling gold. The final epic week saw both detectors shoot a few more coins, but the feeling was that the site had been well and truly over-worked and Lady Luck was playing her hand (usually in GoFind’s favour). By now both detectors had also broadened their search areas, hitting nearby picnic and bbq areas as well as further along the bay where topless sunbakers hangout (yes, local testing conditions were very tough). Swinging around the bus stop and the back of the pub also proved lucrative. The Results: Gold Bug Pro: large gold (2 x $1), large silver (3 x 50c and 7 x 20c) and small silver (6 x 10c and 4 x 5c). Total: 22 coins valued at $5.70 GoFind 44: large gold (16 x $1), small gold (5 x $2) and large silver (5 x 50c and 2 x 20c). Total: 28 coins valued at a massive $28.90 The Verdict: The GoFind 44 is the ‘must have’ detector for both large and small beach gold! It is also handy for large silver but not too hot on the small stuff, shooting none at all. Whilst the Gold Bug Pro is universally recognised for its gold finding ability, on Australian ‘gold’ coins it rates poorly (shooting only large gold on a few occasions and no small gold at all). The GBP is the detector to get if you are after small silver at depth, its ability to find 5c and 10c coins is second to none (at least to the GoFind 44). Whilst this very newbie detector prospector has obviously got a lot to learn, he is seriously considering adding a GoFind 44 to his ‘beach gold’ arsenal. Until I get it, Matey has promised to keep his GoFind away from my local bay. Afterwards it’s open season on all the island’s beaches and bays, I can’t wait…

Hello Phrunt and Joe Phrunt, yes i know Crusty well.. hahaha what are the chances of you knowing him? I was probably on the island when you got married here. Thanks a million for confirming those readings.. my first 'gold' was indeed at 79.. but having said that i'm still digging everything (no great hardship on a beach) and mainly finding rusty beer bottle tops. From your knowledge, what does the geology of Magnetic Island say about the presence of gold? am thinking about the 1886 newspaper article mentioning gold in quartz veins and the 1970 geological survey saying gold had been found in Carboniferous granite.. also local legend (at the pub) about the gold diggings at Goldmine Hill at Bolger Bay near West Point. Like i said, I'll keep going till i find something.. Sorry to pick your brains like this, but how would a GBP go in these places? Be keen to find the real thing.. Am just about to post another post relating my experiences with the GBP vs a GoFind..

G'day all.. Just got a hold of a Gold Bug Pro and am starting of on the island's beaches.. so far I've found a handful of coins (my first one was a $1 so struck 'gold' straight away) and three old fashioned spoons on a site where an old cottage once stood in the late-1940s. I've done a bit of research on gold on the island and it gets a few mentions. The Brisbane Courier in 1886 recons that: "Samples of quartz from the newly-discovered reef on Magnetic Island are now in possession of the police-magistrate. It is good brown open quartz, showing fine gold freely. The reef from which the stone was taken is 3ft, wide with the casing. One solid quartz reef has been traced 50 yards along the surface. The reef is situated within a stone's throw of the sea, three miles from Picnic Bay in the direction of the Quarantine Station". Needless to say I've had a search out there but being a beginner i haven't got much of a clue what i'm listening for. I've only just worked out which sounds and readings each Australian coin makes, and that is only on the beach. Gold on Magnetic Island gets mentioned again in 1970 in the BMR's Geology of Townsville (survey map) which recons: 'Gold is also known to occur on.. Magnetic Island (uppermost Carboniferous granite).' I believe that this granite occurs on the western side of the Island, which also fits in which the name of a hill in that area - its called Goldmine Hill. Sounds like its all coming together a bit too easy! But I'll keep going till I can at least say I've found gold on the island. All in all, this detector prospecting game is turning out great fun, just swing away on the beach in the mornings and the possibility of gold in them there hills certainly keeps it interesting. Just a quick question: how have other GBP users found this detector for coin shooting?