Gold Detectors

http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbusiness/8420326/huge-nugget-may-spark-new-victorian-gold-rush


A Victorian prospector could spark a new gold rush after he found a gold nugget worth $120,000 — one of the largest discoveries in recent times.


The addictive part of this is one of the things that worries me :-)

Thank you Stephen and Unc for your feedback, can you suggest a good brand to buy as we know nothing about them.
Cheers
Chris

Hi Chris

Every person that we spoke to about gold detectors, all said the same, the only one to go for was Minelab. They were made here in Australia, but they said the new models were now being made in China and none of them had tried the new models.

What I can say is that a good unit for gold detection will be around the $5000.00 mark, then they all have different type of heads on them, so you have to know what you are doing when buying one.

Like I said I do not have one but I bet there will be replies from people that do and they will give you a better understanding of what to look for.



Cheers



Stephen

I must have been speaking to the same people. They did it all the time ( look for gold that is) They said cost of a good unit was $5000 to 6000.

I have been thinking of trying it myself.

Cheers
Wayne B

Guys before you lash out with 5 or 6 grand I will tell you as I have many others over the years, you do not need to spend 6000 bucks on a detector to find gold!! The salesman will tell you otherwise at the shops though!!
As just stated, go fo a minelab, i used an SD 2100 and it paid for itself many times over. you can pick one up now for around $1500 on Ebay.
Or go for a GP3000 or GP 3500, both good machines and they will set you back about $2500.
I have heard so many salesmen in shops tell new chums that will never find gold unkless they have the latest and greatest and the DEAREST detector.!!

If you would like to clarify my trueness call Goldsearch in Dunolly in central Vic and ask for Tony Mills, get him to fill you in about how well we used to do down there every winter (using a 2100). Tell him Laurie from NSW told you.

I have no affiliation with the company, but Tony has become a good friend over the years and he is one bloke that WONT talk crap, and will help steer you in the right direction. even with a second hand detector.

hope that helps out a bit cheers Unc

Hi Unc

Good point there. Like I said I am no expert and rely of people like you that have been there and done that.

Having said that, one chap in Laverton that like you had been detecting for year would upgrade every 2 - 3 years with the new Minelab models. He purchased the last of the South Australian made units, from memory just over $5000.

Like you he said that the units had paid for themselves countless times over. Like all prospectors, GPS technology goes hand in hand and he wanted to see just how much better his new unit was going to be.

He said he revisited one of his old sites that he had been over time and time again, and he knew that he had found all the gold that the detectors could find there. He went straight to an old scraping that he had dug and to his surprise, the new unit went off of its head. He could not believe it and thought that something must be wrong.

Lucky for him it was not rock, and after much digging and picking, he said he went down to nearly 1 metre down and found one very big nugget that was worth more that he had paid for the new unit.

Weather this is true, I can not say, but he said that the last of the Australian made units were the best that he had ever used, with far greater depth penetration, with his older unit good to around 500 - 600 mm depth.


He did show us some of the good nuggets that he had found over the years, some the size as a match head, and a good number bigger in size than a 10 cent piece, and two very big ones the size of 50 a cent piece. Silly me asked if he had ever found bigger ones and he said quite openly yes, but they were either sold for an income for him or locked up in a safe in a bank.

Seeing the big nuggets confirmed that it would be a real drug and you would want to keep going, never knowing when that next big one was going to be found.



Cheers



Stephen

Yes Stephen very true. I think once a newbie has gained the skills with the less complicated detector, then they can move on to the newer more digital readout, more graphic, call it what you like models. I used a Minelab 4000 for a week solid, went over an old patch and yes found one more piece, but it could have been the detector, but then again it could have just been that I swung the coil over a miniscule piece of ground within that patch, that I hadnt swung it over before.
I have spoken with friends that are fulltimers in Kalgoorlie, and are very experienced operators too, and they are now convinced that the Minelab 4500 is a slightly better machine, as they have picked up extra pieces on their old patches, but only small bits at that, although it seems to have a slightly better edge on small bits. A drug, yes detecting can become very addictive, we are having time off now with our little girl, but when she's a tad older , hopefully we will be back out there again.
We did 3 weeks at Laverton and had a ball, loved the place. stayed at the van park for a week with an ensuite site with our CT until we got our bearings, then went bush for the next two.just can't wait to get back to the wild west.

cheers Unc

Hi Chris.
How much you spend on the machine may depend on how much time you intend detecting. If you intent to give it a good try then a late model machine is the way to go
as there is a greater chance of picking up a small bit. These models are much easier/quieter to use and make for a much pleasanter day out. Buying a M/L 4000
might seem like a big outlay but if detecting doesn't suit you can just sell the machine when you get home. Maybe lose a few dollars. As suggested above it can be very addictive but can also turn into a great hobbie. ( or even a way of life :)
Cheers, Dave.

There are lots of videos on net about detectors. the 6K ones find gold several feet down, i have the minelab xterra $950 it will find about 1 foot down.

search the net and watch some vids before buying.

Brian,

I agree with you mostly. I guess you may pick up the odd bit that you have missed previouslly and you are likely to find more tiny bits (fly poo) that the new machines are better and producing solid signals on.

On the bigger bits, and assuming competatnt operators, there is not a huge difference between the older and the new machines. I run a 2200D at 7.3 volts and do pretty well - down to about .25 grm.

John

G'day Matt. Do you tow a caravan into Pandanus.
Cheers, Dave.