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I have the Aldi one and whenever I manually clean my rougher nuggets with a toothbrush, a go in the ultrasonic will usually blow out a bit more dirt or clay. This is also improved if I take the time to soak my nuggets for about 4 or 5 days before giving them a blast in the ultrasonic unit. I...

Information on crystal structures of minerals is readily available online or in publications to all, geologists or non-geologists alike. A quick check of those references reveals that Chrysoberyl has an orthorhombic crystal structure and Almandite garnet a cubic structure. The short answer would...

Not a good image and one could put Piss in front of that label for an even worse one. Piss has the connotation of being ugly, nasty, unpleasant and can be used in association with many words to give an unsavory or demeaning intent, eg piss-awful, piss(ed)-off, piss up, piss-drunk, piss artist...

A thoughtful plan for an 800. You can access through Vic Govt websites old parish plans that would also show locations of old pubs, schools, reserves etc. Earth resources also has a series of old geology based parish plans which marries some of those features with geologic information.

Went to my nugget book and inserting the 875 oz Hand of Faith* at no 17 on that list, the 30th largest nugget found in Victoria becomes a tiddler of 645 oz found at Heathcote in 1855. Are there any more of this size left to be found 500mm from the surface? A nugget of 645 oz would be...

I'll have a go to set the ball rolling. Wondering whether the specimen is a rounded bit of rock chipped of an outcrop or whether it is a concretion of sand weathered from an outcrop of the same rock. Either way the composite minerals would be similar. Hard to be really sure from the photo but...

Try and keep the larger pieces intact and only crush up any smaller bits. If you do have gold the larger piece would probably retain more value as a specimen. If you do crush up a smaller piece. Place the resultant crushings in a pan and swirl some water around. Don't try to wash anything out...

Interesting to mention Goulburn as there is a mercury mine in the upper reaches of the river in a tributary Quicksilver Creek near Jamieson Vic. Early prospectors noticed there was free Mercury in the dry creek bed and traced it upstream to a dyke cutting across the creek. Checking samples they...

GT Vic. Regret still a fair bit of work left for me to do, and unable to give much more than that as I will have to chance leaving the site pretty much as it is until I can return in weather more amenable for some heavier work to prove the value of the site. For now will just concentrate on...

It is ironstone. One of the bits in the first pic is a small speci of gold on the end of a bit of ironstone. Apart from that one and the bright piece which had probably travelled further down from its source, the others from near the top of the line were rough and hackly. If nuggets are coated...

Update. Another 8 bits from the “line”. Cranked up the 6 to auto 2 with threshold. Hard to search in as area is also very scrubby but the 6 was able to pull out more bits alongside and on the edge of my earlier holes mostly at the top end of the run. The bright bit was the only one significantly...

First swing for 2025. Got a small bit in a heap yesterday arvo. Went for an early detect this morning and wandering a bit got onto a small run up the hillside before the heat arrived. All in a straight North South line over about 12 meters. Called Gina over for a go and she pinged another one on...

Try a flame test with a gas flame. The flame should turn blue if copper is present. Copper ores frequently feature the mineral chalcopyrite which is shiny yellow and one of the minerals often mistaken as fools gold. My understanding of the Mallee area is that it is a deep alluvial basin without...

Still lots of nuggies for the SDC, but you might be surprised as to how small they are compared to what you would have picked up with the 2000. Unfortunately, most of the nuggets of that size would be gone now, but specialist detecting for smaller or deeper nuggets (with appropriate detectors)...

I think the new emissions standards which will effectively tax larger 4 x 4s came into effect on 1st January, but dealers or manufacturers have been given a six months grace period to comply. "Isuzu Ute has warned it and other car makers may be required to withdraw from Australia if they cannot...

The dead parrot sketch, one of my favourites and couldn't resist looking up the script to remind myself. Complaint to the pet shop owner for selling him a dead parrot nailed to a perch. "Now look, mate, I've definitely 'ad enough of this. That parrot is definitely deceased, and when I purchased...

Suggest the following accessories be considered Lithium battery. The original rechargeable Nimh C cells provided were a cumbersome system. The single unit Lithium battery is much easier to manage both for recharging and insertion into the machine.. Wireless module & headphones - The speaker on...

Seen them on Marketplace second hand from $2600 with some accessories. They are pretty bombproof and in my view a tier 1 gold detector. My view of rating a detector as tier 1 is anything that actually finds gold consistently and gives you the confidence that each time you use it, it will not...

Good to hear you are happy to still do a bit of work while travelling. Lots of Vinyards in the Pyrenees goldfields areas. Avoca, Warrenmang, Redbank, Moonambel. Harvesting time just around the corner so could be some odd job or harvesting work available there. Had my detector stolen from my car...

Coiltek at Maryborough certainly sell Tully maps. Around $25 ea for a booklet of maps for a particular goldfield. I'm a great fan of paper maps that you can pour over without eyestrain to see relationships between all the diggings within a given goldfield.