The Reg Wilson Gold Album

[RickUK]

A truly enjoyable read,thanks everyone who has contributed....thank you so much 😉

[Reg Wilson]

Thanks Steve for jogging the memory.

Seems every time we get the book ready to go another lump turns up or another story, although it is getting to the stage where we must just get on with it.

[Reg Wilson]

Not so long back I had a farmer friend call me and let me know that he was pulling out a fence on his property and that it was crossing a line of gold that I had detected years ago. Would I be interested in detecting the old fence lining in the hope of picking up some possible gold that may have been hidden by the fence? Naturally I replied in the affirmative, and seeing how James was having his yearly time off from farming I asked my farmer friend if it would be okay to bring my good mate along as well? He said that if I vouched for him it would be fine. The percentage for each was agreed upon, so we loaded up the old van and headed south.

The fence line was a disappointment as there was old wire everywhere and soon proved to be a nightmare that yielded nothing. Also an old dam bank that could have been a chance was another waste of time. 

An area that I had always thought a bit too far west of the main line of enrichment looked interesting, having the right mix of stone and soil, so I gave it a shot while James detected further north. A couple of small bits soon turned up so I decided to zig zag southward to see if the colours might continue. For a while it was only bullets and broken bits off farm machinery until there came a broad signal that whispered up from depth. I took a big deep breath and slowly scanned the suspect hum. It sounded good even though just a murmur, and too positive and regular to be ground noise, not changing at all no matter from which direction or slight ground balance change.

Once through the top soil the gravel began to show and confidence grew, although I was not 'spending the money' until at a couple of feet the source of the signal was unearthed. The dirty lump in my hand by its very weight told me what it was. With a wash and weigh the gold was revealed as a pretty ironstone and quartz bit over fourteen ounces. The best bit yet for my 6000 and 11' coil. Who says these are a 'flypoop' machine?

 James and I then gridded out the run for a half kilo altogether, his best bit being a nice worn and clean 2oz lump. Needless to say, our farmer friend was surprised and pretty 'chuffed'. 

[Lanny]

This thread is the perfect cure for winter cabin fever! What an amazingly beautiful collection of gold photos and history.

Thanks for this, and all the best,

Lanny

[Reg Wilson]

In a discussion with a mate recently about the amount of testing being done, or lack of, in regard to the public release of certain detector models, I recalled an amusing episode in this regard.

Way back in '87 Bruce Candy asked me if I was interested in testing a new advance since his highly successful GS15000, which proved that an Aussie built detector could match it with the 'big boys'. We had discussed the possibility of a metal detector which would ground balance itself, rather than having to constantly re ground balance every time the  mineralisation changed, which could be quite frequently in many Australian goldfields. Bruce had built a prototype of just such a detector, which was revolutionary not only in the new technology, which he had called 'ground tracking', but also incorporated a light weight plastic housing, unlike the previous metal box configuration used by most detector manufacturers. Naturally I jumped at the chance to be involved, and shortly after our phone conversation the 'new toy' arrived, which was much more compact and lighter than the previous 15000.

It was important to put this technology to the test over many ground types, from iron stony rough bush to more open country. Months of testing and refining took place with the prototype going back and forth to Adelaide for changes and tweaking. While working in some open grazing country a problem surfaced that had both Bruce and I puzzled for some time. Occasionally a positive sounding signal would be encountered where the ground tracking would not tune out what sounded like a good 'deepish' response. This signal would disappear once the topsoil was removed but remain as a more faint hum when the hole was backfilled. There was no defining difference in the ground appearance where these signals were encountered and for some time this situation had me totally perplexed, and it only happened in the one bit of open ground.

 The conundrum, when finally solved, turned out to be sheep piddle. When a sheep relieved itself it left a false signal, which sounded just like a deeper target and would not tune out. Back went the prototype again, and when it returned the sheep problem had been solved.

The rigorous testing that the GT16000 received turned up hundreds of ounces in its prototype form and went on to being a hugely successful breakthrough for Minelab, putting the company on a firm footing to become the world's best builder of metal detectors.

[geof_junk]

Reg I was not impressed with the 15000 but the GT16000 made me take notice of MineLab but their Hype restricted me from joining the band for some years.

[flakmagnet]

On 3/12/2024 at 10:02 PM, Reg Wilson said:

With a wash and weigh the gold was revealed as a pretty ironstone and quartz bit over fourteen ounces. The best bit yet for my 6000 and 11' coil. Who says these are a 'flypoop' machine?

There is no gold more beautiful than Australian gold. Nice story Reg.