Strange Noiz

Submitted: Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 07:29
ThreadID: 124668 Views:6731 Replies:5 FollowUps:6
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Yo Boggers,
We're currently in Armidale....beautiful time of the year with all the colour on the trees.....We have another couple of weeks in Armidale and then our next motel job is back in Rockhampton......however we have 6 weeks to get from Armidale to Rocky and we're leaning towards a route due West to Cameron Corner, a bit of Gold Detecting at Tibooburra/Milparinka and then on to Innamincka, Birdsville, Boulia, Mt Isa, Gregory Downs, Adels Grove, Lawn Hill, Burketown, Normanton, Karumba, Undara Lava Tubes, Chilligoe, then South to Belyando Crossing and Clermont for some Gold Detecting and then on to Rockhampton...that should do it......

Strange Noiz??? Oh yeah, our BT is parked by the motel here and every time I go near it, I can hear a low grumbling sound near the wheels that almost sounds like someone saying "Let's Roll"....

As the forum seemed a little quiet, I just thought I'd share that highly technical enlightenment with all and sundry...

Cheers all
Rick & Julie
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Reply By: Grumblebum & Dragon - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 19:51

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 19:51
I well understand that noise............ we are currently in Karratha - fortunately with friends. Had to replace the thermostat in the fridge and now waiting on a control unit. Grrrr.
Gold stuff sounds fun.

Cheers John
AnswerID: 575007

Follow Up By: Innkeepers - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 20:35

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 20:35
Oh well John...it will happen....you need to keep the beer cold....yeah the Gold Hunting is always fun....find lots of old bullets and bolts and barbed wire and .....well you get the idea....but no matter what you find, it sure beats workin' mate.

Keep well
Cheers
Rick
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Reply By: Silver Fox - Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 01:34

Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 01:34
This might sound silly but what does one do with gold dust or a nugget should one find such? I ask as I would imagine trying to purchase a carton of cheer or a good red with the yellow stuff would meet with disapproval by the bottle shop attendant. So how does a successful prospector convert their good luck to more sensible stuff?
AnswerID: 575008

Follow Up By: Innkeepers - Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 02:58

Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 02:58
Hi Neil,
By no means a silly question at all...on today's market Gold is worth around $1050.00 AUD per ounce. There are many ways to convert it to cash...the Mint is one way and there they will assess it's purity and hence it's value and offer you a price for it.

If you have nuggets..large or small...they can be in demand by collectors who not only speculate on the value of gold, but will pay a price...sometimes a premium for a nugget because of it's unique shape. One lucky prospector in WA with a metal dectector dug up a 7 kilogram nugget which resembled a Stonefish...Who's a lucky boy then www.janetsgoldnuggets.com/golden.htm

Then a nice hot shower in your BT follwed by a couple of glasses of Jamiesons Run Coonawarra Merlot would just finish the day off nicely.

Cheers
Rick
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Reply By: Silver Fox - Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 08:02

Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 08:02
Wow I can see now why this hobby is popular. I suppose detecting has many facets to its application. Where it's legal to do it and what appears to be a certain amount of skill in interpreting "signals". However Perth is a long way away from the east coast so how does one get the finds to the mint safely. Also how does one get a nugget "auctioned"?
I think I could get bitten by the bug if I'm not careful ! I'd rather catch a golden stonefish than a big barra.
AnswerID: 575009

Follow Up By: Innkeepers - Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 16:55

Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 16:55
Hi Neil,
Yes, it does become a little addictive, however it also gives you a new activity that goes hand in hand with the BT life style. After all, those early gold propectors of 150 years ago had no idea that we would be fortunate enough to have all the comforts of home in the outback where gold is won...moreover, they certainly would have loved to have a device that sounded an alarm when they walked over a gold nugget. Instead, they dug holes in the hope that they would accidently strike gold.....how much did they miss??? Metal detectors have certainly helped recreational and professional prospectors clean up.

It's not all that easy though as Australia is a big place and you do actually have to walk over a piece of gold.

There is a lot of info on the web....have you seen our website?? we have little stories there about our travels and at Bingara where we regularly camp by the river...is an old gold mining area and we recently panned up some fine gold in the river at our camp...take a look...the address is at the bottom of all our posts.

In NSW you don't need a licence to prospect, Qld requires a licence which is only a few dollars...and many states have set aside prospecting areas for the general public.

There is gold potential everywhere...when we first became interested in detectors some years ago, we were told that the most important thing was reasearch...to hell with that I thought....just let me out in the bush with this thing so I can find some gold. However, the more we play the more knowledge we get......I've spent a few hours on the web just researching this area where we regularly work in the motels. Well, you wouldn't believe the history here and the amount of present day gold mines and diamond mines too. On our way down here from Brisbane, we stopped at a road works site while machinery was moved and the boss fellow looked over our BT and next thing we told him that among other things we do a little prospecting....well he couldn't stop telling us about all the gold in that area...they were pushing a bypass track through for the roadworks and discovered some small specks on the bucket after scouring out a creek bed.......

Anyway...sorry to waffle so much....if you get the bug, I can give you some web addresses to look up for more info. We also have some DVD's which are great for general info and lots of detecting tips.

In Brisbane, a shop that sells detectors has a web site with lots of good reading and potential areas state by state listed and a break down of the region with history and present day potential.
www.treasureenterprises.com/

If you'd like more info....visit our web site and send us an e-mail direct....

If you were really reckless you could join us for a few days of sctatching in the dirt...

Cheers
Rick
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Reply By: Grumblebum & Dragon - Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 22:03

Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 22:03
Yup,

There is gold ALL over Australia - in every State and yes research is very important and the net is a very good tool for this. But it is a fatastic way of enjoying the Bti lifestyle - along with fishing, snorkelling, crabbing, prawning, exploring etc etc.

A warning to all who read this this thread BEWARE you may catch the dreaded GOLD FEVER. This can be expensive and result in all sorts of nasty ailments - crook backs and aching shoulders and sore feets etc...... even blisters from digging. And whats more after you find your first small nugget it gets worse!!!

Plus it is not all gold that glitters... You can detect on beaches, parks, old historic sites etc and you can get very lucky even in these places. I used to take an inexpensive detector when we took the family to Broome beaches for a holiday. An hour or so with the detector took care of the cost of the deck chairs, sun shades, boogie boards for the kids and ice creams etc.

I have previously found watches, rings and even a cache of very old Dutch East Indies coins, the oldest ones dated back to 1759 - 1763 in the East Kimberley goldfields.

I also know prospectors who have found more than two 30 oz nuggets and many more in the 5 - 30oz range. But these were a very experinced and well equipped couple. Warning don't rush out and buy a detector (unless you have more money than sense) ask some advice of those of us that have been there done that rr, join a club.

I own two detectors but neither are the top of the range machine but both are very capable. The top of the range machines these days cost in excess of $6000 - work out how many ounzes of gold you need to find to just break even. Yet good machines are available for $1500 - $2300 (Minelab SD 2100 or 2200) I have the latter but is is a 'tricked up' machine and is very capable of finding gold. The other machine is a Minelab xTerra 70 - different technology and really a treasure hunting machine but one that is capable of getting any gold near the surface.

Took some friends kids to the beach yesterday - we found about $5.00 in coins plus some old pre decimal currency a shilling and a half-penny. They are hooked and the parents now hate me. LOL

Cheers John
AnswerID: 575010

Follow Up By: Innkeepers - Friday, Apr 25, 2008 at 05:23

Friday, Apr 25, 2008 at 05:23
Ahhh John......you're bad man......getting those kids wound up like a tight clock spring and giving them back to their parents in that state....their eyes would have been as big as dinner plates and they would have been racing around in circles trying to pry the money out of the olds for a detector or two.

Yep, it's a lot of fun and hooked once is hooked for life.....This motel we're doing has a pool and I swung a coil over the lawn and picked up a 2 cent piece at about 7 inches in the first couple of minutes......then I had to run to reception to sell a room....oh well..plenty of targets in that lawn.....we were out at the local dam here in Armidale....great free camp there too.... and miles of junk...very trashy site indeed, but still turned up a 1943 Halfpenny and a brass military hat badge from the Aussie Army.

We have 2 detectors....sold 2 a couple of years ago...we now have a Minelab Exterra-70 with the standard 10 inch mono coil and a 10 inch Double "D" coil.

The other detector is a Minelab GP-3000 with the standard 11 inch coil and a 14 inch Coiltech......just bought a Lightweight Lithium Iron Battery for the GP and it clips on to your belt....so no more harness and lead acid battery to cart about.....also got a plug in audio output speaker for it too....now I can wear my Akubra without the headphones....

Toys for Boys...and girls.....Julie loves the hunt so I bought her a new pick...Ha Ha Ha...

Enjoy it John
Cheers
Rick

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FollowupID: 849661

Follow Up By: Mobi Condo - Sunday, Apr 27, 2008 at 02:17

Sunday, Apr 27, 2008 at 02:17
John,
What a treasure you have put here! More than GOLD! Those Dutch coins!
We have been following threads on the Dutch "colonisation" of NW Australia - albeit from ship wrecks etc and the supposed inland traverse to Central Aus - for a while now.
WOW - is there any other info to go with those coins?
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme! Please?
If you know of any other aligned stuff of other references we would love to proceed further here!
Thank you - Cheers - Ian & Sally.
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FollowupID: 849662

Reply By: Grumblebum & Dragon - Monday, Apr 28, 2008 at 00:33

Monday, Apr 28, 2008 at 00:33
Ian and Sally,

Sounds like you have a bad dose of the treasure/gold fever !!! It happened about six years ago, my son (great lout of then 26 yrs) and I went from Kununurra down to Halls Creek to chase gold for five days. It was his first time out with a detector and I gave hime my old Garrett Groundhog (circa 1982)

The bets were flying nthick and fast on nthe trip down there - first bit, biggest bit, most gold etc etc.

We went past old Hall Creeks and headed NE towards the Elvire River where there is a nice camp site adjacent to some old workings and a pretty creek. I showed him how to tune and ground balance the old Garrett and away we went.

End result after five days New Chum 5 bits totalling about 8 grams - old master - Zilch!! (Thats the last time I take him out!!) Heading out we called into the "Caravan Park" at old Halls Creek for a sandwich and a coolie. Inside there was an old display counter with some artefacts in - including a couple of the old coins.

I asked the old caretaker if he knew where they came from. He told me that the previous wet he was over the far side of the graded car parking area where there was a drainage gully running down towards the creek.

During a tropical down pour he was pottering around there and saw a fresh water crab scuttle under a stone in the run-off water. Wanting to get a better look at the crab he lifted the stone and found the crab next to a bright shiny 16 gram nugget.

As he was checking the creek out further to see if he could seen more nuggets (as you do) he saw a couple of old coins flipping over and over as they toppled down the run-off water of this little gully - barely two foot wide.

He then suggested that if we had metal detectors we should go and check it out - We didn't need to be asked twice. In the next hour we recovered 52 coins all DEI except for a couple of Chinese coins or tokens. Some of the old DEI coins had the centres punched out and other appeared to have been over stamped BATAV.

All are pretty worn but we were able to discern the dates on some. I wrote an article in Australian Gold Gem and Treasure magazine a few years ago.

The old Caretaker nearly choked when we showed them to him..... LOL. He said that when they were grading the area later they found the remains of an old Gladstone bag - heavily rusted and with the leather all long gone. I have often wondered how they ever got there,

We did hear a story from some other dude we met in the region that a previous owner of the Old Halls Creek site ahad bought a 44 gallon drum of old mixed coins in Darwin and scattered them around the place to try and encourage metal detectors to the area.. Who will ever know the truth.

It certainly made for a great long weekend. When metal detecting you just never know what you will find. Whilst Australia does not have the history of UK and Europe our coast line are litterred with wrecks and there are numerous caches of gold and coin, either the products of crime or just buried for protection that were never able to be recovered.

In UK finds are made every month that are worth thousands of pounds. The last time I was over there two fimds worth over 250,000 pounds were found.

My xTerra 70 is going over with us later in the year. The family residence is smack bang in the middle of very extensive roman ruins out in the country in south east Wales.

It keeps to fit and it is a great way to enjoy the bush.

Have fun

John
AnswerID: 575011

Follow Up By: Mobi Condo - Monday, Apr 28, 2008 at 03:32

Monday, Apr 28, 2008 at 03:32
Howdy John, thanks for this most interesting account. We do not (yet!) have Gold Fever per se (Sp?) - but we ARE avid "Historians" and Australiana history buffs! We devour what ever we can about the history of discovery of this Great Land we are blessed to live in and the thread of the Dutch wrecks and apparent colonisation up that way has held us spell bound for a while.
That area around Old Halls Creek and the various Elvire Rivers are just delightful!
We have a $99 Dick Smith "special" Metal Detector and have found many tent pegs to date! Can't yet come to grips with a $4-5K high tech Metal / Gold detector - I am too "mean" to spend that much without at least making it earn its price within a year! Maybe with retirement 5 years away it will change!
Best of luck with your trip and hope to read of "Lord" John Grumblebum and Lady Dragon being admitted to the what ever eschelon of peerage when you find the long lost Roman riches.
Cheers - Ian & Sally
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FollowupID: 849663

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