Reefs and diggings - where to look

Hi folks. Met up with a 'new' to metal detecting couple wandering the Golden Triangle fields. They were armed with a 5000 and a 3500. The settings had been given to them by a local dealer and with some training they pretty well were well set-up. They did ask a question that I pretty well take for granted - when first setting out how do you interpret the goldfields? There are a lot of books and articles but I gave them this advice that may be of interest to other first timers or newer prospectors. The scenario was that we were standing on a run of diggings in a gully and to the higher ground there were several reefs NOT deep leads.

1. Don't get out the detector and start swinging - go for a walk.
2. Note which way the diggings run - in this case up a gully then stopped. The gully generally ran north south.
3. In this case, the reefs were to the east of the diggings and they ran in a pretty well north south direction as well. This is usual for the Vic goldfields.
4. I knew that the reefs were not deep leads but rather had been dug on top of exposed quartz bearing reefs by the old timers. (Research research research).
5. Assumption. The gold had probably shed from the reef line. As they hit higher ground, the diggings ran out or where not economical for the old timers.
6. Make a mental map or a quick sketch - even take a few compass bearings.
7. KEEP walking to the other side of the diggings and the reefs. They may recommence or you may find test holes etc. There may be a costean trench up with the reefs. These are generally dug at right angles to the reef line and it was the old timers looking for a continuation of the gold.
8. Sit on top of the reefs and think 'where would I go if I was gold?' Gold is lazy and like water takes the path of least resistance. Look for modern water runs down the slopes. Picture gold in three sizes - big, medium and small. How far would they go if rolled with the forces of water, wind etc behind them. The smaller will go further the bigger less.
9. Head back and get the detector and start your sweeps ACROSS the slope as you will have a better chance of finding a run.
10. Look for depressions, flatter spots on the slope - these are natural catchment areas.
11. Look for runs of vegetation - these indicate water catches here and therefore gold. The ground will be deeper as well.
12. Follow the modern water runs.
13. Look for salt and pepper - that is a mix of quartz and ironstone. Look for the gravels and check for depth.
14. If you find a piece start gridding, raking etc and use this as a start point. The gold could run a many ways - a small fan - a large fan - scatterd etc. there is no one solution.

These are very general observations but it gives people a starting point and can take the confusion out of where to look. This was an area of 200m x 100m so low and slow took some time. I didn't catch up with these folk again but i hope it helped.

Cheers loamer!

Great piece of important information.
Also affirms that once you find gold in an area, always look around carefully and ask yourself why is it here in this exact spot.

Good articles like this should probably be written down on a little notepad and kept with you while detecting. I do that with my settings for different coils/ground types.
Kindest regards,
Shauno.

Thanks Shauno.

It is heart breaking at times to see newer prospectors with $1,000s of gear wandering around the fields with little idea of what they are doing. I always recommend that they do a course (I am not affiliated with any training or tour business I might add.)

I detect with three other grumpy old men and we are still learning. We spend a lot of time on new ground and just when we think we are smart and clever with our modern gear - hey presto we will walk straight into a run of the old timers diggings.

I like to think though that there are several ABCs to learn - interpreting the ground, different types of rocks etc. We all started out and even though books can be a help, at times its great just have someone watching what you do, whether it be coil selection, swing type and height etc.

How often do we see people spend an hour or so on a large field with no pattern of search and then declare 'the golds all gone'. yep - sure has - especially on the small area just searched.

When I started I used the loaming techniques but instead of test holes, panning etc I replaced the method with a detector. If you know anything of Sam Cash and his loaming book, he was very successful.

Loamer

Great info thanks for the insight

The Old Timers (that were in any way successful) had a "FEEL" for the lay of the land and always looked for indicators like active ant mounds where they may be bringing goodies up from the deep and I am aware that they used to shoot emus in a new area and open the crop to see what crushing stones they had picked up ...this was always a good way to look for gemstones as birds like the shiny hard stones to break down the seeds

The old timers also knew basic geology, what primary and secondary gold deposits were etc etc. Read an interesting old report about they even looked at vegetation changes from gully to gully. They could basically pick contact deposits from the changes in vegetation and observation of the changing ground types. We still use the same technique today except we detect on the contact points not dig test hole after test hole.

Been doing a lot of reading over Winter loamer and have come to the same conclusion about plant species, geological boundaries, soil mineralisation, PH and plant nutrition.

Some deposits due to the hydrogen released during oxidation underground can form PH/nutrient imbalances in the topsoil, making certain nutrients unavailable, resulting in decreased or sickly looking growth, compared to trees with ideal soil conditions. The further away from the deposit the healthier the plants are due to the unstable ph sensitive elements precipitating out over distance from the deposit and soil condition nutrient availability/PH becoming favouable again for healthy growth.

A lot of times I've read of people looking for these dwarfed or mishapen stands of trees among a healthy looking forest as indicators of a deposit. Makes sense. Keen to put all this reading into practice now.

Great post! Thanks Loamer.

Thanks Loamer, very good post.

Thanks Loamer, a really informative post. Will copy & paste & learn it.

Thanks a lot guys, a great read. There is so much for me to learn. 8)

Great info, thanks.

I have to disagree with one point ( 1 Don't get out the detector and start swinging - go for a walk.) If you are paying $6000-00+ for detectors you dont want it sitting in the back of the car while you walk around over possible nuggets. It's good to research and look around but you can still do that holding your detector many nuggets have been found by people just walking back to the car swinging their detectors anywhere.

Walking over, and orientating yourself in a new area without swinging a detector will give you a better insight into the gold field...especially if you know what you're looking for in regards to the geology.

To just grab your $6000 detector and go out swinging usually means your head is on the ground watching and hoping for the coil to make a "Bleep" at you. To read the surrounding terrain, and form a plan of which areas will give the most likely results does not take a lot of time ....but is time well spent.

I agree with loamer in saying this is best done without a detector in hand...and have on many occasions attacked a new gold field with nothing but a good pair of hiking boots and a GPS. You may be amazed what you can see with eyes focused "Off" the ground and some basic knowledge of how gold gets to an area.

Sometimes it's quite easy to make your own luck ...rather than relying on lady luck herself while walking back to the car.

Best of luck out there in the paddock.

Cheers Wal.

as per Wal's post above " what he said "

plus ;

walk into the area , find yourself a spot with a good view and have a quiet sit down and look around

clear your mind of any expectations , look for what is there , rather than thinking what you want to be there

nobody should be offended by that , all of us have varying degrees of influence from our subconscious , and from the conscious thought programs that run through our mind.

Thanks guys for all this helpful information. I am determined to learn everything I possibly can about this wonderful hobby of ours. I was really lucky to find the Holy Grail (Sam Cash - Loaming for Gold) and just bought it now. I can't wait for it to arrive

This is why I joined the forum. The amount of knowledge, enthusiasm and comradery oozing out of the members on this forum is staggering.

As a newbe myself, i know I can learn a lot from you all and hope that sometimes I may have something or skill to bring into the group.

Thank you

Great post and very useful information.... especially because i am one of the ones wandering around beeping and not really knowing what i am looking for

thanks loamer, always got great advice, any good book suggestions.. i have douglas m stone "gold prospecting" and a jack lange dvd.

Thanks Loamer great post! i am heading to talbot for a week in search of my first nugget.
Im keen to learn from anyone willing to share their knowledge.
Is there anyone heading out sometime next week that wouldn't mind me tagging along?
thanks
Adam