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Where to Find Australias Gold Using Metal Detectors and Geological Maps

Monday, June 24, 2019Monday, June 24, 2019 admin

If you download Geomap WA and then download and open the geo map of the area are looking at on Tengraph then you can check the legend to see what the map is indicating. Think BB nailed it. That is what I was after. For some reason I am not able to find a map legend for geology view in tengraph.

Thanks from me too fellas. Yes, I agree - it narrows it down a bit. If the area is a past gold-producer as well, you are in a good place. There is hardly any gold at all in granite in WA, so avoid granite areas. It would be good if there were some type of standardisation for us mug punters. A big golden arrow or X would be good. I took greenstone literally. I did not realize it is a general term for granite.

Defently no gold to be found in granite that's for sure. It would be useful for us geos too - you only have to do it part-time! AGSO is trying to standardize. No, greenstone is not a name for granite - it is used for greenish rocks that used to be basalt lavas etc. They are pretty good for gold. I was simply warning you to avoid granite areas in general.

The accuracy of a map varies with scale and the geo who maps it does not walk all the ground most is done by remote sensing followed by ground checking of key areas. So you often find unmapped patches of granite inside areas shown as greenstone in some areas anyway , so just walk over them without wasting time - focus on the greenstone. The other end of the suction hose is fitted to an inlet of the hopper box. The water from the creek is also transferred through a hose via the pump and is coupled to the suction nozzle.

Both the water and the material travel together into the hopper box where it is then classified in the same way as the hand feed model above. At the end of the day, to recover your concentrates and gold, use the same procedure as you would with a gold dredge. Again, please check with your state Department of Mines regarding the use of these units. Electronic prospecting or much better known as metal detecting for gold is an exciting new development over the past few years in gold hunting.

Also on this web page I do hope that you liked reading this short article, I could have made it far longer, but it should give you some idea of what gold prospecting is all about. Welcome again to the most exciting hobby in the world — Gold prospecting This can be a most profitable hobby providing of course, that you follow a few guidelines and that is what this article is all about. Another way to familiarize yourself with rocks and what they look like is to purchase a good rocks and minerals book. There are many available from our large range of new and second-hand books.

These should not be missed as it will save you hundreds of hours of research, which brings me to the next point ….. It is not much point buying a metal detector then wonder where you should go. As previously mentioned there are many good books available from our extensive range of books covering every aspect of geology, gold prospecting, metal detecting plus many geological and topographical maps as well as "out of print" geological reports.

If you would like to do your own research, just visit your state Department of Mines library where you will find all the information available. Be prepared to spend a lot of time pouring over the old reports and maps. Most of these are now not available for sale as a lot of them are now out of print, so the information that you want will have to be photocopied at a charge. For your information, I have provided the addresses of all state Mines Departments and Telephone numbers correct at time of printing to save you looking them up.

Another place where you can find information is at your nearest university library in the Geology Department. The people here are most helpful. Most departments have a museum that you can inspect during business hours — there is always something you can learn here. For up-to-date maps see your local Department of Lands office, they can provide the topographical maps for most states. You can also glean information about some of the early gold mining areas in the local historical museum — the locals can provide information where all the activity took place in the early days.

Sometimes they have publications available that they have printed, these can be most helpful too. When gold prospecting, there is quite a range of equipment that can be used from the gold pan to electronic equipment including the metal detector that we will go into detail shortly. There is no need to take an army of artillery of digging tools with you, as there will be enough to take without loading yourself up with any unnecessary "stuff".

The main tool that you will need is a type of hoe pick — a point on one end and a flat blade on the other, a shovel, a plastic gold pan which you can hang from your webbing belt and possibly a lightweight geological hammer. I nearly forgot - a pouch or bottle to put your gold in. Another useful item is a magnet to find those annoying small iron magnetic pieces of junk. We have available a small cheap magnet that you can glue to the top of your pick handle — it comes in real handy!

If you intend prospecting with a metal detector, you will find that these today are compact and light enough to operate in the standard hand-held configuration. That is, with the control box mounted directly on the rod which is connected to the search coil. The entire unit is then in one piece. Battery packs on some detectors can be hip-mounted which make it lighter.

We can advise you accordingly should weight be a problem. Another important point is that if you intend to be out all day away from your vehicle, it is advisable that you carry a spare battery pack with you. If you are going "bush" prospecting Maps of the area you're working in plus up-to-date general road maps , Compass, allow 4 litres of water per person, per day, plenty of food if you are going completely "bush". There could be a lot of other items that could be added to the list In order to answer the many questions that you may have, let me briefly list those that seem to be the more common ones.

Firstly, one must remember that you are using a metal detector. As the name implies, a metal detector will locate all types of metal whether they are natural metals like: A detector will give a better reading for gold if it contains a higher percentage of copper, than gold if associated with silver. There are many brands and models on the market today which tend to confuse those people who intend to buy a metal detector for the first time. One of things that you must consider is to how serious you want to be. Don't forget that gold in its natural state is not highly electromagnetically conductive.

If you use a discriminator to reject both ferrous and non-ferrous metal you can also reject the gold. In my opinion it is not worth the chance. The discrimination modes on these models can be useful for coin and treasure hunting in determining either ferrous iron metal or non-ferrous non-iron metal targets. However, it must be pointed out that the minimum piece of gold that can be detected with the standard 8" waterproof search coil is about 1 gram and larger in size.

For those of you who would like a good sensitive detector for detecting small alluvial gold nuggets, the Fisher Gold Bug 2 metal detector operating at around However, if you decide to use this type of detector, you will have to make sure that the manual ground balance control is adjusted constantly to eliminate false ground noise — apart from that, it is an excellent prospecting detector. Possibly the most popular detector for all-round prospecting is the Minelab Eureka Gold which features automatic ground balancing, three 3 operating frequencies 6.

This successful detector is used by professional and part-time prospectors alike. It is very rare for someone these days to buy one of these detectors then rush out a find their fortune in a hurry. Don't forget that metal detectors have been used on the Australian goldfields for nearly 40 years. It takes a lot of time and practice to learn the detector properly. The detectors of today are far more complicated than what they were some years ago Go to some of the well-known goldfields for practice with a cheaper detector just to get the "hang of it" not forgetting that hundreds upon hundreds of people have possibly been there before you.

Once you have done that and you feel that you are ready to take on the "world" you can then go out on your own and "go gold prospecting". To get this far you would have to had to put together a lot of other things such as a reliable vehicle, camping equipment etc.

My advice to make a check list for yourself and see what it actually going to cost you first before committing yourself as a "full-time" gold prospector. These detectors excel in areas of high iron-mineralisation particularly in Victoria and Western Australia. In Queensland we have found they work extremely well in the following areas: All of these units are exceptionally good detectors and go extremely deep — so be prepared some very large holes as the large 18" coil has been reported to have located targets up to 5 to 6 feet deep!

How amateur prospectors struck it rich in the Goldfields

However, in perspective, it would be no point buying an expensive metal detector if you only intend going gold prospecting a few days of the year, as it would be most unlikely that you would be able to recoup the initial cost of your detector in such a short space of time. Yet, on the other hand, for those of you who would like to go prospecting a little more seriously, please consider buying a detector a mid price range, as these units would be far more effective — the decision of course, remains with you.

In order for a metal detector to operate correctly, it must have a ground balancing control that nulls the effect of iron mineralisation in the ground. This is one of the most important controls on the detector. If this is not set correctly, you will find that you will get erroneous noises which will make it difficult to tell the difference between iron mineral and any metal including gold. With some detectors this will have to be adjusted manually whilst later models have an automatic ground balance which adjusts itself as you search.

For those units that have a manual ground balance control, use the following explanation as a guide. Generally speaking, the threshold control must be set at a faint hum where it is just slightly audible and this hum must be kept stable in order for the detector to operate correctly. You will find that if you swing the coil from side to side or raise and lower the coil to the ground, the threshold hum will either increase or decrease in sound. The Ground Balance control must then be adjusted accordingly one way or the other until the threshold hum is constant.

On most detectors whether they be single turn or 10 turn use the following method: If the threshold hum increases in sound when the search coil is lowered to the ground, turn the ground cancelling knob anti-clockwise. However, if the threshold hum decreases in sound, turn the ground cancelling knob clockwise. The object of the exercise is to adjust the control until the threshold hum remains constant when you either raise or lower the search coil to the ground. As previously mentioned, some detectors on the market have an automatic ground balance and it is only a matter of swinging or pumping your coil to the ground a few times for the unit to set itself automatically.

As you sweep slowly the detector adjusts itself automatically to compensate for any change in mineralisation in the ground. There are certain other adjustments that may have to be made, but these are explained to you as we go along when you purchase a detector. Some detectors on the market, have what is termed, an All Metal Motion mode, this can also be referred to as automatic ground balance, generally pre-set by the factory.

This can be used quite successfully in most situations, but if the detector should become a little erratic due to the ground conditions, the sensitivity control should be reduced slightly until it becomes stable again. One important factor must be raised at this point, is a control that bears the word "Discrimination".

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Metal Detecting Maps, Guides & Books.

It is possibly the most misunderstood control by the new prospector. If you are prospecting seriously, my advice like all professional prospectors is to dig every signal. Again, remember, gold in its natural state is not highly electromagnetically conductive. Depending on the size of gold nugget and to what position you have set your discrimination level to, you can easily reject it. Gold in small quantities can occur with other sulphides if in a reef situation, so it is not advisable to use any discrimination as you will reject the gold!

Some detectors specially designed for gold prospecting could have a discriminator or an iron reject switch fitted, so again, please be careful how you use these controls as they are only effective to certain depths and again, you could lose your gold. Again, I repeat, the best motto is to " dig everything " as you can never be sure. This seems to be the most common question asked: Some of these are listed hereunder:. Moisture content of the soil. Is the ground dry, damp or wet?

Free Geological Maps - How and Where You Get Them

If it is damp or wet Salt content of the ground if working in Salt pan areas 4. Condition of your battery pack. The operating frequency of your detector If you use a high frequency detector you will easily locate small targets but with limited depth but if you use a lower frequency detector you will locate larger objects at a greater depth.

Gold Maps From Australias Gold

Size, shape and density of the target or gold nugget. How long the target has been buried in the ground. This mainly relates to man-made metals. A ferrous or non-ferrous depending on its associated alloys object that has been buried for a period of time will give a better and deeper response than if it freshly buried. The salts and acids in the ground attack the metal and this corrosion is absorbed in the soil around the target commonly known as a "halo effect" thus giving a better signal.

Size of search coil being used. As I said, there are many other factors as well. Therefore to sum up, the "rule of thumb" in regard to depth is: The larger the coil, the greater the depth on larger nuggets, whereas, the smaller the coil, a lesser depth but greater sensitivity on smaller nuggets.

That is a variable question with no real answer. A gold nugget is normally a piece of solid gold from about the size of a pea up. Getting back to detectors, a metal detector can find a piece of gold from about the size of a large pinhead.

How amateur prospectors struck it rich in the Goldfields

Free Geological Maps - How and Where You Get Them

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