Hi all

[Slippy]

Hi guys and girls,
I'm a new prospector and I've been heading out around whroo.
Have had some small success panning gullys.
I'm also using a borrowed equinox 800 as that's all my budget will allow at the moment. ( any tips highly appreciated!)
Cheers.

 

[Bug]

Welcome Slippy!

The Equinox 800 can find gold, but it can be hard going. I have found that using the 6" coil (which goes for about $200) rather than the stock coil is better for gold.

I would focus around mullock heaps / test holes where the old timers have dug down to an old alluvial layer. It's not uncommon for there to be some scraps left behind.

There are plenty of resources available on the forum to keep you busy with research!

Panning can also be a very rewarding venture. It pays well to get good at it; the skills you learn can help in the hunt for detectable gold.

Good Luck!

 

[Hawkear]

Well done on the gully gold and in finding a new friend!
You obviously have some skill in panning. The bits showing in your pan show a nuggetty character so I would be encouraged to keep looking in that area. Maybe even widen your search away from the gully and check if there are any similar bits in shallow ground nearby. If you find gold even small bits in soil that would be an ideal spot to detect.
Regarding detecting, your chances of finding your first nugget of gold will be much increased if you concentrate on finding small nuggets in shallow soil which are much more numerous than larger bits. By small I mean shotgun pellet size or less.
I cannot comment on the capabilities of the Equinox, but modern detectors should be able to detect those size nuggets. Practise with your detector until you can comfortably identify a shotgun pellet signal. If you can’t, I fear you will be struggling unless you are extremely lucky to find a larger bit. If you can try to borrow or hire a 2300 for comparison you will understand the difference a specialty gold machine can make.

 

[Slippy]

Thanks for the kind comments guys, I've also been digging around the bottom of some old diggings.
as much as I'd like the 6" coil on the equinox, I'm not gonna spend $200 bucks on a detector 9 don't own.

My Smallish budget will limit me to a highbanker im going halves with with a mate, and possibly a detector like a gold monster. Would the bush around whroo/rushy be to mineralised to bother with a gold monster?

 

[Jaros]

G'day Slippy-enjoy .

 

[Hawkear]

Many say the the enjoyment in prospecting as a hobby is the searching. That is true but only if the search is successful at some point and your time is not full of frustration and failure as might result with an inadequate detector.
A sluice would be guaranteed to give you some success for you time and expense.