Time for a bit of ZOOM.

Young Simmo · Guru

Time for a bit of ZOOM.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Often thought of it ? have to ask my hips for permission ?? Metal detecting I mean ...

Young Simmo · Guru

Yes Aus-Kiwi, I got into it about 1989 or so when the modern Metal Detector was just braking the scene.

Even though I was running a serious, Gold Heap Leach operation for Son's of Gwalia Mining at Day Dawn, 7 Kms south of Cue WA, I managed to get sucked into the Metal Detecting pastime as a Hobby / Good Fun hobby. It is a fabulous way of killing time and there is a reward at the end. I did it for fun and found about 80 plus ounces over 20 or so years. Not a lot by some peoples standards, as some people have found 100 ounces in one piece, and my biggest was 5.5 ounces.

Having said all that, it is an incredibly enjoyable way to pass time.

Interestingly there was a story in the Westralian Newspaper of about 10 or 12 Metal Detectorists that got caught up with the Aust Tax Office In Coolgardie in WA. I took all of that on board and sold the last of my gold on the American E-Bay. The Yanks love Australian gold, especially if it has come from the West Aust Gold Fields, and I got TOP dollar for mine, YIPPEE.

If anybody reads this and thinks, MMM, I might give that a try, the most important tip I can give you is.

Think of a piece of gold as big as the red end on a match stick. Now you can pay $7,000 for a detector that will find it about 7 inches deep. Or you can pay $1,000 for a detector that will find the same piece at 5 inches deep. Yes the message is don't rush in.

Simmo.

Cowboy7307 · Senior Member

i will give climbing a miss , my garden is my pastime ,not that its that great a garden

Olley46 · Guru

Aus-Kiwi wrote:
Often thought of it ? have to ask my hips for permission ?? Metal detecting I mean ...

For a minute there Aus-Kiwi I thought you had to ask your hips was it alright to make love. biggrin biggrin biggrin

Plendo · Guru

Hi Simmo, we caught the detecting bug earlier this year, looked long and hard at a minelab, then started with an XP Deus (VLF Machine), great on the city beaches close to home, but limited in the gold fields. Then decided we needed a PI machine, still could not come at the price of a GPX 5000, so settled for a Whites SPP, great little machine, and also light, which is just as well as it has landed up as the bosses machine.

The specter of Minelab kept niggling at me, everyone I spoke to who was having any success was using a Minelab. Then they re introduced the GPX4500, with a lot more reasonable price tag. I now detect with a Minelab.

It is lots of fun, every time we go out we go with more knowledge, we are continually learning. And every time one of the detectors tells us there is something there it is exciting. We are however experts at finding rust and lead. We WILL FIND GOLD, we know it is there, we are just learning how to look, what to listen for, and probably most importantly where to look.

BTW, any helpful hints from someone with a good track record like yourself would be greatly appreciated.

Desert Dweller · Guru

We're always doing it, doesn't everyone else? Fishing is so much fun!

-- Edited by Desert Dweller on Sunday 6th of December 2015 09:27:28 AM

brickies · Guru

At lest with Fishing you might get a feed sometime

Delta18 · Guru

I had some fun with it, hurts too much now. I still have a Minelab SD2200 here if anyone likes to make an offer.

delapan · Senior Member

Good on you Plendo, I also got one, ( my 3rd 4500) I have found the re-released 4500 (overseas model) to be much quieter and more stable than the two Aussies models that I had previously, not to mention the price difference!! Best of luck with it.....

brickies · Guru

Has anyone had a return on their outlay

sufil · Guru

Phil bought a detector with plans of using it when we went to Vic in October. Lot of gold around his cousins place so he thought it would be a great place to learn. We didn't get there so it is still in the shed!! The trip will happen after summer now, in the meantime he can practice down on the beach looking for coins and jewellery. But we do garden and fish.

Young Simmo · Guru

brickies wrote:
Has anyone had a return on their outlay

Yes brickies, Years ago (Late 80s early 90s) when I was caretaking a Heap Leach operation at the 6 Mile, (10 Kms from Sandstone, on the Sandstone / Menzies road) I decided to up grade from my Minelab GT 16000 to the latest which was the Minelab GT 2000. It cost me $4,900 and I found 10 ounces in 2 weeks and payed for it. Mind you the place I was at was probably a square kilometre that had been graded, dryblown, heap leached and done over deluxe. Yet I could turn my detector on before walking out of our camp and have a more than even chance of stepping on a bit. There will still be 1,000s of ounces out there when you consider what must be under the dozen or so Heap Leach dams which were probably 150 metres square each.

Once I get going it is hard to stop.

Simmo

-- Edited by Young Simmo on Sunday 6th of December 2015 06:11:52 PM

Plendo · Guru

Brickies, the way to think of it is to regard it as a hobby, we get out of the city, and while we do not find anything worth selling (not much of a market for rust), we do save money, cause it keeps us away from shops (including Bunnings, that should save my skin).

Bruce and Bev · Guru

Hey Simmo. I (like many others) really enjoy the many posts you put up - keep them coming and this Forum alive !!!!!

I think about making love, but then go to sleep hahaha

On our travels we have met many people who do gold detecting as a full time hobby, but they are bloody paranoid about telling anyone else about it - even showing them their gear. Pity there wasn't a gold mining club in various areas where gold missed by the oldies or the current major miners have missed. I keep thinking about getting into detecting (even doing the beaches and similar places as fun) but its hard to find an experienced person to help. And the retailers will give lessons, but they are not that useful. I'm reluctant to shell out $8000 on decent detector because of this

Young Simmo · Guru

Hi Bruce, If you have a bit of interest in detecting, you might like to register here,

http://www.gold-prospecting-wa.com/index.html

and get their monthly newsletters.

Or for some back issues and heaps of reading click on,

http://www.gold-prospecting-wa.com/Gold_Prospecting_eNews-backissues.html

Also when you find a piece of gold it is almost as good as making love, just a different ball park.

Simmo.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Pretty right there too...

aussietraveller · Guru

Mine is a toy one a Garrett 240 as I could not buy a Minelab from the US and am not prepared to pay the price they want here, my grand children have been much more successfull than I have using it on the beach and around jumping castles in caravan parks they found a ring on one beach that well and truly covered the cost of the detector.

i must get it out and put it in the van for our next trip.

-- Edited by aussietraveller on Monday 7th of December 2015 09:28:14 AM