Metal detecting for gold nuggets

New detecting areas are always intriguing and this spot proves itself on day one. Not only are there gold nuggets in the creeks but also on the vast flats. The best gold find though is a big specimen that looks like chocolate and gold.

Gold nuggets in the Australian outback.

Metal detecting for gold nuggets

Museum size Australian gold nugget 109.6 grams

Mostly, gold is spread throughout the rocks and soil around us but in such low amounts that it’s not worthwhile trying to get it out. However, there are some places where there is enough gold to make it economic to mine. Most gold mined in Australia today cannot be seen in the rock, it is very fine grained and mostly has a concentration of less than 5 grams in every tonne of rock mined. The feasibility of mining low concentrations of gold largely depends on the price of gold. Gold is bought and sold every day on international gold markets. The price fluctuates according to demand by buyers and the amount being sold by sellers.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Until the 1880s, the economy of WA was based on wheat, meat and wool. A major change in the colony’s fortunes occurred when gold was discovered, and prospectors by the tens of thousands swarmed across the land in a desperate attempt to discover new goldfields.

The first gold rush occurred in 1885 when Charles Hall discovered alluvial gold in the Kimberley region, near the future site of a town named after him. Further alluvial finds occurred across the state during the five years, with finds in Marble Bar, Southern Cross and Yalgoo. From these discoveries, the prospectors moved further afield.

In 1890, gold was discovered in the Norseman region at Dundas, 22 km south of present-day Norseman, followed in 1894 by a gold discovery near the future town of Norseman itself, by prospector Laurie Sinclair, who named the deposit after his horse, Hardy Norseman.

In 1891, the rush to the Murchison goldfields began when Tom Cue discovered gold at the town which now bears his name. In the years that followed, gold towns such as Abbots, Austin, Barrambie, Big Bell, Day Dawn, Garden Gully, Lennonville, Moyagee, Munarra, Nannine, Peak Hill, Pinnacles, Reedy and Rothsay flourished, only to be abandoned when the mines were worked out.

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