“I came on to ask and see what came back. I a, learning, and am not interested in anything more than sitting by a creek, with my dog, my knitting and the fun of maybe finding some.”
You came to the right place, there is a ton of useful info on this forum. Many questions and topics have been discussed multiple times, so the search function is your friend!
Good luck
Oh my god, I never asked for rights to anything… could you leave me alone? You make me very upset.
Hey Hepplegate …I’m one of the admin here… please don’t get upset… don’t mind JW … he comes across a bit harsh but he’s not a bad guy … his keyboard manner takes some getting used to … we hear this request quite often for access on claims … so first up consider the public fossicking areas near you … many still have good gold and are a good way of meeting like minded people who love hanging out and finding gold … as madgoldnz said if you troll through all the subjects there are quite a few leads of claim owners who let people go onto their claims for free … you can look up the locations on the home page of this site under " permit map’" also if there is a place that is claimed you can look up the claim number , get the info and try and track the claim owner down … contact by phone or email …if you can only ask … many claim owners are quite secretive about their claims so you might have to ask a few to get a yes … on the whole you will find the gold prospecting community pretty friendly and helpful so don’t hold back … best of luck and I hope you find some nice gold and a place to have fun ! Good Luck!!
Gee… am I really that bad? 
I thought I gave some good advice re the public areas, camping, meeting like minded people, books to read, info on line etc… I can’t see any hate in there.
JW
No your not showing hate. But today sensitive people don’t like it when people don’t talk kindly. We are living beyond our time. Thing’s are changing fast and we are struggling to keep up with modern attitudes.
That’s not too much home brewed burbon speaking is it ???
No mate. I don’t drink. Maybe too much coffee though. 
JW 
I’d have to agree with you jw, I’ve been an avid reader for a long time and don’t like to put myself out on line…but starting out for me was fun, I did plenty of research, exploring, started panning then a sluice then built and sold dredges (fabricator for work) then on to detecting and that’s where it’s at for me, no one held my hand and I didn’t ask for help, it was all through researching what the interest was, I’ve found a lot of good nuggets over the years and through persistence of the hobby it adds up, no claims either! it’s all about the journey and the lessons along the way- people are your best mate when they want to find gold, then don’t hesitate to burn bridges once they’re away, that’s a bloody hard lesson to learn, finding your own spots is hard enough to just give them away, maybe I’m just selfish,
There is good gold still in public areas, best place to kick off for sure,
I think if someone wants to find the stuff-it’s there to be found,
Read the maps
Read the books
Go exploring!
Find places where gold is and have a go!
This is a great site, cheers to the guys who update it (unlike myself) and contribute to all the good info and pictures that come in
Good luck out there
Thank you Matt4059. You & I are obviously birds of the same feather. Like wise, no one held my hand & I never asked but did just as you did. Learnt from reading, research, making my own gear & selling some. Lots of exploration & time & foot miles out in the field following up on that research. Hell, that is most of the fun & adventures. So much more self rewarding when your research & time out there pays off & comes together. That’s how you really learn. Understanding some basic geology & reading the ground. That doesn’t happen over night but if you are really keen & honest in your pursuit & not just a fly by nighter & stick at it then it can come together.
People today just try to go the easy, lazy route and want to have their hand held & directed to X marks the spot. Thinking it is their god given right & get all upset when someone like me tells them that it isn’t really like that. When the reality is it can take weeks, months or even years for the likes of you & me through our reading & research & time out there chasing up on that research to find some gold locations. And they want that access to that at no effort or time put into it on their behalf. If they ask & someone takes them under their wing, then good on them. People aren’t all arseholes like me I guess. But I know a lot are very secretive about their gold locations & for good reason & the reasons I have stated. There is an unwritten rule/creed when it comes to gold. Don’t ask where a person is finding their gold & be expected to be told.
Good luck out there
JW
Bahaha j.w you give great advice dude, those whiskeys just mean u need a skin as thick as castle walls to receive it dude. But ive found over life if ya asking advice ya gonna have to choose whos advice to take , im alwwys gonna take it from a source that sounds real, regardless how hard that can be to listen too. Keep on keepin on dude:rofl: