More than an ounce of Australian gold!

sandgroper

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Joined
May 18, 2016
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Location
Western Australia
I spent the past six days camping and prospecting for gold in the Western Australian goldfields, and here's what I found. My target for the six days was at least 20g, but I managed to beat that by a fair bit, thanks to a 13.7g nugget I found. It's my biggest nugget to date, and these bigger pieces don't turn up often. Most of the other nuggets I found range from 0.3-0.6g, and my second biggest nugget was 1.2g, so seeing this large one come out the ground was a surprise. The area we were hunting has seen a lot of other detectorists, so these larger nuggets (within reach of the detector) are rare to find.

There's also an old homestead nearby, which I hunted for a few hours for some old coins. Got heaps of trash, but no old coins (and no intact bottles either). An old make-up tin, a few buckles and some horse shoes are some of the better finds.

All up, the gold total came to 34.72g (the nuggets are about 96% pure, they contain a little bit of copper and silver as well), which is more than a troy ounce. Already looking forward to next year's trip, this area has been producing quite well for dad and I over the past three years so I hope next time will be just as good.
 

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WOW Sandgroper that sounds like a dream weekend

that nuggie is HUGE !!!!

Your purity percentages are awesome.. around here they range from 18k to 22k.

Congrats buddy !!

did I say WOW !!
 
Fantastic hunt man! That looks like a great time.
I watch Aussie Gold Hunters and my jaw just drops when I see some of those nuggets...
 
Congrats! Must have been so exciting uncovering that big one! And all of them for that matter. Thanks for sharing!
 
Great experience! I told you wife all I wanted for my 50th birthday was a trip to the gold fields of Australia. I have 5 months to see if I get my wish.:roll:
 
WOW Sandgroper that sounds like a dream weekend

that nuggie is HUGE !!!!

Your purity percentages are awesome.. around here they range from 18k to 22k.

Congrats buddy !!

did I say WOW !!

Thanks! A lot of the nuggets you find over here are nearly pure, but everyone now and then a specimen turns up, (that's when there's gold mixed in with another rock). Dad actually found one this time, where there was gold stuck inside some ironstone.

That looks like alot of fun, Wish I could visit Australia someday.

Thanks, you're welcome anytime :)

Man bat big nugget is sweeeeeet! Nice work and congrats! Awesome pics too!

Thanks GS, glad you liked the pics :)

Fantastic hunt man! That looks like a great time.
I watch Aussie Gold Hunters and my jaw just drops when I see some of those nuggets...

Thank you, the guys on Aussie Gold Hunters find a lot of gold, no where near as much as dad and I find, but I guess they do it for a living, and we do it as a hobby. :)

:wow2: Fantastic! :thumbsup: Amazing! :clap: Excellent! :woot:

You really hit it hard there, congrats. :hi5:

BTW... Love the sunrise. :D

Thank you! Those sunrises in the bush are quite nice, it's so peaceful out there as well. which is one of the things I like about camping out there.

Congrats! Must have been so exciting uncovering that big one! And all of them for that matter. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, I couldn't believe what I saw when I dug up the big one. When I got the loud and wide signal on the detector, and given how deep I had to dig, I knew I had something larger, but not that big. Many many years ago there were more of these bigger pieces around in this area, but someone found out about that, told a lot of people, and the places got hammered hard. Overall, they got at least a few kilos out of there. :wow:

Great experience! I told you wife all I wanted for my 50th birthday was a trip to the gold fields of Australia. I have 5 months to see if I get my wish.:roll:

Thanks...let's hope your birthday wish comes true ;)

Nice ripper ya got there!

Thank you! :grin:

Man, that big nugget is awesome, Nice pics too, Congrats!

Thanks Ron! :)
 
if it werent for all the things that want to kill you, I might enjoy coming over and camping with you. Dont hold your breath

Congrats on the gold
 
if it werent for all the things that want to kill you, I might enjoy coming over and camping with you. Dont hold your breath

Congrats on the gold

Thanks! I didn't see anything this time that would kill you...kangaroos and cows are relatively harmless. The only thing to worry about is dehydration and getting lost. It's quite easy to get disorientated out there, that's why you should always carry an EPIRB so you can signal for help.
 
:dingding: Wow, you make me want to hop on a plane and join you! Which of your detectors do you use for this type of detecting? Your Aussie clad totals for the year are amazing too!! :wow:
 
I'll be a Buggered Bandicoot! What a bonzer of a Chuzwhuzzer you got yourself there Old Sport! Stick a candle up my nose and call me Jack-O'Lantern! I sure would like to give that kind of hunting a lash! Another fine post and walk about you shared with us! Thanks SG!!:thumbsup:
 
:dingding: Wow, you make me want to hop on a plane and join you! Which of your detectors do you use for this type of detecting? Your Aussie clad totals for the year are amazing too!! :wow:

Thanks Felix! You're welcome to come over anytime ;) For the gold nuggets dad and I use the GPZ 7000 and an SDC 2300. We also have a GP Extreme (they're all from Minelab), but we didn't use it this time. Dad recently bought the SDC, but he prefers his 7000 so I went mainly with the 2300. The 2300 is deadly on tiny nuggets, and runs very quietly (significantly more quiet than the 7000), which is especially useful for the mineralised conditions we hunt in, it allows you to hear the nuggets better.

I'll be a Buggered Bandicoot! What a bonzer of a Chuzwhuzzer you got yourself there Old Sport! Stick a candle up my nose and call me Jack-O'Lantern! I sure would like to give that kind of hunting a lash! Another fine post and walk about you shared with us! Thanks SG!!:thumbsup:

:laughing: Thanks, I just love the way you word your responses, it's brilliant! :lol:
 
What a great adventure!
Hopefully the biting flies or gnats were not too bad.
I watched a couple episodes of the Aussies as well and it seemed like there were little buggers everywhere and HOT!
 
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