Trent King

The air on my one is from bellows underneath it.  I was thinking about doing a constant air one with keen trays but supplying the air was the biggest issue.  Engines dont last very long out here, its cheaper to replace a $200 chonda then it is blower motors.

A short video introducing the dryblower I got to process a bit of dirt.  

A photo with riffle trays in.

Should have her catching some gold next week.

Five golden rules you want to know hey, these are made up on the spot but should do

1.  Know where you are (gps) and whos land (claim) you are walking around at all times.

2.  Learn how to find gold with the standard coil and factory preset settings before trying fancy stuff and confusing things.

3.  Dig everything, do not try to discriminate by ear.  And take the rubbish home, dont throw the nail back to find again in a few years.

4.  Research your chosen area thoroughly, knowing your in the right area is great for confidence, newbies often second guess themselves and give up to easy.

5.  Fill your holes in, dont want to upset the authorities, but also dont want to leave signs of where your working for others to follow.

This TV show sounds interesting.  Wonder if they got an Aussie Todd Hoffman for us all to take the piss out of?

https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/find-a-film/detail.aspx?tid=34231& 

"They’re the hard-core gold prospectors of Outback Australia and they’re on a mission to strike it rich! Whether it’s back-breaking work, extreme weather, mechanical breakdowns or cutthroat competition, prospecting is not for the faint-hearted. But our cast of gold hunters is tough, resourceful and ready for the challenge. Among them is husband and wife team Chris and Greg, the ‘Gold Gypsies’. 2 years ago they walked away from their Brisbane home and construction careers to chase their dream of striking it big, 4000km away. Having spent their life savings to set up their mining operation, the self-taught prospectors’ future rests on gold, for better or for worse… Meanwhile, best mates Vern and Leon, aka the Dirt Dogs, are running a gold operation in which they’ve sunk a million bucks into building what they claim is the ‘biggest dry blower in the universe’ affectionately known as ‘Goldzilla’. Having ploughed a fortune into their season plan, the Dogs are under massive pressure to unearth another, just to break even… Meanwhile, remote prospectors Henri and Kellie are going it alone. Armed with their high tech detectors, the best friends seek their fortune out in the farthest depths of the wild outback – where rival prospectors fear to tread. Follow their journeys and those of people they mingle with in the outback towns of the region, as we capture the daily drama, challenges and the sheer exhilaration of the hunt for AUSSIE GOLD! "

Great work adding the features that your customers were asking for.

I personally have stopped reading about all the new nokta/makro detectors. It seems like a new one comes out every month and it gets a bit boring trying to pick out the slight changes from earlier models.

So for those like me who couldnt be bothered trying to decipher the difference in all these, can you just tell us which are the current top model for relic hunters and which one for the prospectors?

If you take photos from your iphone/ipad you can use this app

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/photo-investigator-view-edit/id571574618?mt=8

Just click the photo then click remove data.

I wear Merrell shoes, tough as nails and more comfortable then boots. For a gps check out the garmin rhino 650. Although I also use a phone, tablet most of the time.

My Samsung tab S tablet works great in the sun, heaps better then the ipads. I assume there new phones with the same AMOLED display would be the same.

Has anyone tried any of the nonexplosive demolition agents like Dexpan? There are a few other alternatives. It sounds like dealing with powder is expensive here, wondering if they would be worth trying?

 

Or, I have a crazy idea. This wouldn't work in Arizona, but what about drilling your holes then filling them with water and epoxying a cap in place? When the water freezes it should expand and shatter the rock just like a nonexplosive agent should. Or at least that's my theory, if I get a good hammer drill I'm going to put it to test in a video. Rock would have to be nonporous and non fractured though, or filled in.

 

Hmm, actually in non porous/non fractured rock, what about just hydraulically fracking it with a cylinder pump pumping water? Just like the oilfield. I guess it'd only work for a real specifically small set of conditions though, especially on surface. Maybe interesting to try anyways if I get a good high pressure pump.

 

BD, I thought you might have been the author of that ICMJ article.

I use expanda stuff, it works really well and its bloody hot here. I got a big drill bit on a electric drill. I get it from this bloke here in Australia, im sure someone over there would sell it too.

http://www.armstrongindustries.com.au/#!demolition-agent/c1vop

  

 

Dude...that's amazing.

 

What mesh is the gold on average? Is there nuggety gold in that caprock stuff too"?

Yeh, there good grades but they dont come around everyday. I only found 2 with those grades in the last year. Most of rock I process is quartz reef which averages about 20g per ton.

Lots of nuggety gold in the cap, most of it can be detected. If you ever detect a nugget in the cap dig some of rock out from around it check it out, often you get more from that then the nugget

Ive found the recovery rate to be about 95% with that material, I dont even bother panning the material from the sluice any more as often there is nothing in it.

I did read a scientific report a few years ago that done a study on knudsen bowls and it showed recovery dropping off on basically invisible gold but I cant remember the %.

Yes, cap rock is similar to a cemented conglomerate, but formed differently. Conglomerate is usually deposited by water in rivers etc from material that has travelled. Where cap rock is more of a chemical weathering process of the bed rock below it.

Its common over here in Western Australia to get extremely rich patches in the cap from supergene enrichment of the reef below. The stuff Ive been processing usually averages 10-20oz per ton, but only get it in 1-2ton patches. Often it only continues a couple meters deep then you get a depleted zone where the gold has been leached out from.

Its a bit hot to go out and get pics at the moment, will have to wait till it cools down.

Here is a vid of me processing some cap rock in a knudsen bowl. It uses centrifugal force to get high recovery rates. It works well with crushed rock because the material is all the same size.

Only just spotted this one , great thread Root. Its amazing how a lot of the indicators you use are the same as we use in Australia.

I agree large samples are the way to go. I stick 1/2 ton through my impact mill then into a knudsen bowl when sampling.

Best option over here for open pits is to get yourself a small drill rig and then pay a powder monkey to blast it. Ive tried lots of other ways to get it out but usually just end up breaking gear.

ESRI GIS has apps for both android and iOS. You can use public maps for free which is good, not much good out of reception though.

Ozi Explorer android app is good, I have cached massive areas of google earth to all zoom levels and saved them to a memory card to use with it. Not very good with .shp files though.

My favorite app for iOS is GISroam. It handles all file types well, easy to overlay large image/maps and works well offline. It was free when i got it, but you have to pay now if your a new user.

Where I live no one keeps there gold in the house, break ins are very common. Everyone around here buries it in the backyard.

Hope this poor bugger gets his back, but it don't like his chances. Even worse is it looks pretty obvious it was someone he knew.

My campsite is shown at the start of this video I did a few years ago.

We have done 4 laps of Australia in this caravan and been to nearly every goldfield. Shower/toilet etc built in. Solar for the beer fridge. No need to rough it.

Good on yous Dale, both vids were good watching.

I got one of these covers, only $110 for complete kit, includes a armrest cover.

http://golddetecting.4umer.net/t20867-detrackozi-gpz7000-covers

I've found bits about 1/2oz with the SDC and it screams like a tin can. When chasing leaders and you hit a rich patch it really goes off.

Agree Gold Hound, only coil I'm interested in is a big one.

Thanks for the tip JP, more learning = more gold .

Thanks for the welcome guys. I will post some pics and a youtube when I start my next project.

Very informative, thanks for posting Steve.

G'day All,

Great forum you got here Steve, good to see one with educated discussion without the crap. Those on the Aussie forums will know me as Diggerdude and my missus Goldgeo.

I'm mostly interested in hard rock mining, I have a few leases in WA where I chase small rich leaders/reefs that aren't big enough for the mining companies to worry about.

I still do a lot of detecting while waiting for mine dept/native title/environmental approval on my leases,

I'm starting a new hard rock project next month crushing a section of enriched cap rock which will be good fun. I got about 12oz from my small test pit so am looking forward to getting started on that one.

Nice to meet you all , and I hope to read of some big finds this year!