So who thinks they have walked away from a nugget before??

[Goldfield Joe]

I would be interested to see who (in hindsight) thinks they may have left a nugget lying in the ground because of the target signal it gave. Anyone who has walked away, thought about it, gone back and dug it to find it was gold all along?

I met two men yesterday in my area (Avoca Vic) who showed me a nice little one grammer they dug that morning, near some old workings. They said they almost wrote it off as trash and I asked if it gave a low tone... Nope, a high tone apparently and they were going to leave it???

I'm sure I have probably walked away from gold. After my experience yesterday, I am going to "dig all" again, lesson learnt!

 

[Heatho]

I know I have, mate pinged the same target 5 mins after me, was heading to the car for lunch, thought it was junk as it was a loud signal, mate came walking up for lunch too hit the same target and it was a nugget.... Live and learn.

 

[old hand]

As long as their is a noise coming from under the coil dig it you can try ground balancing but if a target sound is their keep digging regards john

 

[Guest]

You pose an interesting question.

Case in point the 87 ouncer found recently sitting
Inches under the soil in central vic.

I wonder if it was ever detected before and the prospectors
Conclusion was it must be rubbish.

 

[loamer]

yes, usually on deep ground with very faint signals. the signal can get 'lost' as it may have just been a slight threashold break. what I do is GPS the area and head back with a big coil just to verify. shallow stuff - no, but I am confident on ground noise, hot rocks, clay domes MOST of the time but still dig my fair share. when in doubt - dig. the only time I have ever walked away was years ago with a 2200D at Talbot - the noise nagged at me for most of the day and night - went back at zero dark hundred and digged it. score.

 

[Redfin]

I have been present when a kick of the leaf and bark litter removed a "screamer" from the coil.
A magnet failed to end the signal and out popped a 42 grammer.
Always check every signal.

 

[Goldfield Joe]

Interesting you should mention the faint signals loamer. I "lost" one yesterday. It was there, then it wasn't, then it was, and then gone.... Pity I didn't have the grey matter churning enough to think of GPS and big coil.

Wolfau I reckon there are a lot of people who would have walked away from that 87oz Beast. I dug a nail yesterday that grunted like it was a bloody beer can it was so loud, then I pull a two inch nail out about 4" down....

Redfin, I got the shivers now because I am way guilty of removing a bit of leaf litter and signal is no longer where I first got it, so walk away.

Learning all the time, thanks fellas....

 

[yobskin]

Im going for a swing today? over some old ground ive detected before why?? Because a young fella found a 3gm nugget there covered in iron stone... the ground screams iron every where if i dug every signal im sure id get one eventually ...i hope sooner than after 200 holes ...thats what stopped me last time. Looked like rabbits were migrating to Qld.. :lol:

 

[user 1769]

Not quite like this, but I had to walk away from a signal in a tight crevice, in a creek in northwestern Tasmania, which I was sure was a nugget. I had detected 6 others so far that day, and I spent about 25 minutes in the dimming light trying to get this particular signal out of the crack, with no luck. I just had to leave because it was getting dark, I had a one hour walk back, and I just couldn't see what I was doing any more. The particular crack has been committed to memory for next time, though...

 

[loamer]

Goldfield joe said I "lost" one yesterday. It was there, then it wasn't, then it was, and then gone....

you can actually track out a signal. not sure if the TDI will do it, but it is possible. this is can happen if running in tracking and the target is continually swept, or if when doing the standard GB it is done too close to a target. the thing with iffy feint signals is the way the target is approached with a coil as the way a target (nugget) is laying can determine the signal - is it on its narrow side, is it point up, etc etc. loud and clear on one sweep, weak and warbly on the next.

the other trick is that if you need to come back, get some coloured tile spacers and mark the area - of course if its in a high traffic area of prospectors then don't!! coloured tile spacers are also good for gridding, saves heaps of time - just drop and walk.

 

[bushpig]

When I was first learning the 4500 I walked away from a target. I have been thinking about it since. I'm going back there in a week so will find out then. Now I dig everything so I don't walk away wondering.

 

[loamer]

Goldfield joe said I "lost" one yesterday. It was there, then it wasn't, then it was, and then gone.... way guilty of removing a bit of leaf litter

you can actually track out a signal. not sure if the TDI will do it, but it is possible. this is can happen if running in tracking and the target is continually swept, or if when doing the standard GB it is done too close to a target. the thing with iffy feint signals is the way the target is approached with a coil as the way a target (nugget) is laying can determine the signal - is it on its narrow side, is it point up, etc etc. loud and clear on one sweep, weak and warbly on the next.

the other trick is that if you need to come back, get some coloured tile spacers and mark the area - of course if its in a high traffic area of prospectors then don't!! coloured tile spacers are also good for gridding, saves heaps of time - just drop and walk.

kicking signals - I am as guilty as the next person of kicking targets on the surface and going on if it moves. what I do is kick and check, no need to bend over, just a few boot scrapes and look. if in doubt, use the magnet. kick and go is not advisable in new ground. if you are in new ground, check everything as the old rubbish, boot tacks, buttons, coins are big clues that the old timers either walked through the area and may have had a poke around.

 

[GaryO]

I remember many many years ago hiring a detector for the first time and heading out to Sofala , I got a signal under a tree on one of the banks and after digging and rooting around for at least 30mins I couldnt retrieve the target from under the roots and moved on. Several years ago I read an article in the paper about a lucky fossicker finding a seriously large nugget from under a tree on the banks of the Turon at Sofala. Ive always wondered if it was what I had walked away from

 

[Ronk]

when i first started prospecting with a metal detector i was told "dig everything" and it is so true , discriminators cant discriminate when the target puts the detector into overload , so just forget discriminating and dig it

 

[stoneage]

I heard a story of a guy that dug up half a horse shoe then rechecked the hole and got a loud signal but decided that it must be the other half of the shoe and walked off. His mate redug the hole and retrieved the second target....... a large nugget!!

 

[Hunting the yellow]

well i once found a 12g nug cos someone walked away from it dug a hole and left it there. you would be spewing if you thought it was trash then just walked away from gold

 

[Bacchus]

I reckon anyone who does not think they have walked away from a nugget also thinks denial is an Egyptian river , especially in the early days , I am still learning the language my detector speaks , and now dig the little murmurs that I used to walk away from thinking it was ground noise , yep quite a few would have been small gold , lesson learned and still learning

Cheers

 

[Rusty]

I spent an hour chasing a target under a large bush in WA once. Bloody thing kept moving. Returned next day with an axe, moved the bush, and the target continued dodging me. I gave up after another hour. I hit that spot several times over the next few weeks, dug out roots, shifted a couple of barrow loads of gravel.. and the dam thing just kept moving.
Ultimately flled the hole and walked away. Occasionally I dream about that hole ..never manage to find the target though..
So glad you made me think of it again.. Not!! :|

 

[nuggetino]

I reckon anyone who does not think they have walked away from a nugget also thinks denial is an Egyptian river , especially in the early days , I am still learning the language my detector speaks , and now dig the little murmurs that I used to walk away from thinking it was ground noise , yep quite a few would have been small gold , lesson learned and still learning

Cheers

There's one target that I've thought about since the day I left it behind. Jupiter Creek, Whites Gully. A gravel heap gave me a very faint signal with the 15x12 mono. I gave it a half assed scrape and it remained. After digging down a ways it became much louder and I was around the 1 ft mark. It had been a long day and I was inexperienced detecting and had a lazy moment. I walked away thinking junk but after coming back since and finding a number of nuggets which sounded the same and were also in gravel wash I'm confident I'd left a decent nugget behind. Went back to dig it some time later and someone had been there and finished the job for me. They'd even continued to dig around the hole about 2 ft in either direction. If it'd been junk I doubt it would have prompted someone to go to the effort of clearing the surrounds. If nothing else it was a bloody good turning point for me.

Funny thing is as a complete beginner I would dig EVERYTHING. I didn't think about the trash as I hadn't dug 2 tonnes of it yet. I wouldn't be surprised if complete beginners account for some of the big nugget finds simply due to the fact that their enthusiasm and excitement will have them dig a car door at 2" without a second thought. An experienced detectorist would run his coil over the car door and notice the target is 1x1m in surface area. Couldn't possibly be the welcome strangers big brother?

 

[173rar]

Yep I reckon I have during the 80's with an old whites 500 coinmaster, there was no training in those days so if the discriminater said it was trash I just walked away, nowadays I dig all.