New to Gold Forums

[Matt The Magic Man]

Hi All!!

I don't usually do forums to pursue hobbies, but I decided that a great group of people who share this passion would be a good asset to have.. I like to hear stories of others adventures when out prospecting & of course I never tire of seeing all the photos of Sweet Sweet Gold that everyone but me seems to find.

A little about me:

I'm from Sydney, my nearest goldfields are 2 & 1/2 hours to the SW or NW @ either Tuena or Sofala (& surrounds). I like to hit the beaches when I can @ Cronulla or down at Wollongong.

I own a GPX4500, brought it brand spanking new when they 1st came out. Paid a pretty penny for it. Number of pretty pennies found with it = 0.

I also have a few pans & a home built sluice with a 2 story sieve box that detaches.

I went out last weekend to Tuena & had a bit of a play..

A small amount of colour came up in a few dishes, nothing photo worthy.

I went out to Mudgee the weekend prior & hit the upper reaches of the burrendong dam & cudgegong river.. Here is the only gold I found:

Well that's enough from me for now. Would love to hear from others

Cheers, Matt.

 

[ChrisM]

Welcome Matt.
Good to see another prospector from the Sydney "goldfields".
You've come to the right place for some prospecting fun. A lot of us from this side head out to Tuena for a hunt.
Its a guarantee youll meet up with one of the pack down there. Just make yourself known,and have a drink...
In the meantime this place is full of info to get the "fever" down until the next outing.
Cheers
Chris

 

[Matt The Magic Man]

Thanks for the welcome Chris.
I did not see another sole at Tuena all weekend. It is a long creek & I think I picked a rather odd spot to try this round.

What method do you use? Detecting, panning, dredging, guessing etc?

 

[Nugget]

Welcome Matt.

There's a wealth of information to be discovered throughout the forum, I hope you find it useful to your prospecting journey.

Feel free to ask plenty of questions as the guys here are always more than willing to provide an answer.

P.S. Great name BTW

Cheers,
Nugget (AKA Matt)

 

[Heatho]

G'day Matt, xxxx is exactly what I say whenever I dig one of those.

 

[Guest]

I have sat on the banks of the Cudgegong drinking Gold rather than chasing Gold many times - still good fun
Welcome & if you need any info on the area let me know - I may be able to help.

 

[Dozer]

Welcome aboard Matt. I'm sure we will meet up in Tuena one day soon.
Cheers Dozer

 

[headbut]

Welcome to the forum Matt , there are a few of us that venture to Tuena regularly ,it is a long creek , so if you enter upstream , as you did , you may have to walk a while till you find someone. At the town end , you will see people more easily , but not many forum members

Cheers Paul

 

[Colin&Lee]

Welcome aboard Matt,

Well be heading up Tuena way once the weather starts to warm again

Cheers

C&L

 

[mdv]

Thanks for the welcome Chris.
I did not see another sole at Tuena all weekend. It is a long creek & I think I picked a rather odd spot to try this round.

What method do you use? Detecting, panning, dredging, guessing etc?

Hi Matt and welcome.

Were you prospecting where your first photo was taken? ... because that looks very much like Junction Point ... and most of the good area there is fenced off on private property. I believe most people go to Tuena itself or nearby.

Cheers,

Martin

 

[WalnLiz]

Welcome to the forum Matt, hopefully with some info from the forum guys, that 4500 will start to co-operate for you, and the penny's you've been chasing will turn into pennyweights.

Possibly even the "xxxx" calls will turn into "Eureka" calls. Look forward to catching up on the stream one day and hope the gold becomes less elusive for you soon.

Cheers Wal.

 

[ChrisM]

Thanks for the welcome Chris.
I did not see another sole at Tuena all weekend. It is a long creek & I think I picked a rather odd spot to try this round.

What method do you use? Detecting, panning, dredging, guessing etc?

Keep your eyes and ears on the forum mate. There's bound to be someone heading out there soon [....mind you its getting a bit cool now]
We normally set up a Highbanker on the river and dig away. Panning is good and so is the detecting around there But....dredging is not legal.
We also spend a fair bit of time "guessing" ...actually, a lot of time guessing.. :lol:
Cheers
Chris

 

[Matt The Magic Man]

Hi Nugget,

I have been reading all day

Heatho & Dozer, I shall see you there one day soon I'm sure.

Mbasko, let me know where I can send it return to then

Hey Headbut17/Paul, I was up late the night prior to my trip trying to use Google Maps to look at the river/bends & access from Parking to a good spot without trespassing. I settled on this point & it was not until I got there that I realized I was upstream from Tuena mine (when I thought I was downstream). I had already lugged the gear from the car almost a km walk so decided to stay put :/

Cheers for the welcome Colin & Lee. What do you define as Warm? Start of spring? I cannot wait that long

MDV/Martin, right you are sir, this photo was indeed taken as I stood on Junction Point Rd. I made my way closer to Tuena before stepping off, but was not sure I would have another sign to snap a photo off for the scrapbook

Wal, I hope the gold becomes less elusive too. When are you headed out next? Tuena is a good day trip from Canberra is it not?

 

[Matt The Magic Man]

Keep your eyes and ears on the forum mate. There's bound to be someone heading out there soon [....mind you its getting a bit cool now]
We normally set up a Highbanker on the river and dig away. Panning is good and so is the detecting around there But....dredging is not legal.
We also spend a fair bit of time "guessing" ...actually, a lot of time guessing.. :lol:
Cheers
Chris

Guessing, well I've got that part down! Now I just have to learn to guess well..

I wrote dredging, but I meant Sluicing.. In my head I was just thinking 'process large amount while doing little work' & my fingers typed ahead of me, lol.

 

[WalnLiz]

Hey Matt, probably won't get back to Tuena till the October Long Weekend. I have "Unfortunately" got to rendezvous with a friend of mine over at Halls Creek in the Kimberly, to help him clean out a nugget patch he left last season.

Will be over there for a couple of months and "Unfortunately" can't get out of the appointment....."Damn". Have already packed the shorts and thongs.....Geez I'll miss those frosty mornings and the ice on the edge of the Tuena Creek.

Cheers Wal.

 

[Matt The Magic Man]

No problem Wal. I have been watching some of your videos on youtube also. Nice stuff. I love that 3/4 oz nug u pulled up. Liz seemed quietly excited

I am hoping another GPX user might show me how to tune/track the damn thing

Wouldn't mind getting a lesson on panning efficiently also, am probably losing half my find :lol:

 

[WalnLiz]

Head out to Tuena way quite often Matt. Can organize to meet when i get back from WA, and i can run you through the GPX if you like.

Cheers Wal.

 

[Matt The Magic Man]

Sounds good. Good Luck with the patch in NT!

 

[silverfox1950]

Hi Matt. Me too are brand new only got my detector couple of weeks ago, still learning and the the rain started,bugger.

 

[silverfox1950]

hello all
does anyone know what the flow rate of water that is required to run a good high banker. you know the deal litres per hour or minute or lifetime whatever any info would be appreciated
regards
silverfox1950