Hi guys.
A few bits from last weekend. All was found in old flogged ground using the Russian made X coils for the GPZ 7000. I received a new 15" Concentric coil from Russia for the Zed & went to an old haunt that had done itself dry on the nugget front. Not even 10 minutes into it I had a signal. Thinking for sure that it was just going to be a lead bullet head or .22 shell. Once I was getting down a bit & smashing out schist slabs & the signal was still there I was a lot more confident that it was going to be gold.
It wasn’t very deep but past my usual scrape & if it has moved I usually ignore it as being a surface shot gun pellet. Crazy small for a coil of that size.
In the cool of the evening before I went to a local spot close to home with the 15 x 10 elliptical X coil & managed two small bits & just on dark & deciding it was time to walk out I got a good signal. Again thinking it was just going to be a lead bullet head or a .22 shell but it lived on to depth & out popped a just shy of 3 grams nugget.
Hi Guys, The long weekend Mrs JW & I went away in the caravan. During the day it was too bloody hot to roam the hills detecting so we went for a tiki tour. Took a mate to the old Garibaldi Diggings. He had never been there before.
We drove to Styx & then did part of the Old Dunstan Trail through to Pool Burn Dam & back down into the Ida Valley. I should have got some pics of Pool Burn Dam but I was lazy & didn’t. It is stunning up there. Was land of Rohan in lord of the rings. Mrs JW took some pics so I might try to get them off her & put them up.
Still had a bit of a drive to get back to the caravan & at 7pm I decided to go detecting in the cooler part of the evening. Only got a few hours in before dark. Using the 15" Concentric X coil on the Zed I was shocked to get two tiny bits in ground I have hammered.
They weren’t deep but missed by all my other detectors & coil combos over the years . Even the VLF gold detectors.
Next day was another hot one so only did a couple of hours before we had to hitch up the caravan & head home. I went back to the same area & detecting right in the very bottom of an old timer turned over dry gully got a faint signal. It lived on down & got better with depth when I was into tight packed gravels.
Smaller than I thought it was going to be for the depth & the strong signal
Before back filling the hole I re scanned & got another signal. The coil being too big to pinpoint exactly where the signal was in the hole I went to my wagon & got the Gold Monster. Bloody hell 4 bits later to the Gold Monster.
I then checked the hole again with the Zed & the 15" coil & another signal. More digging & more gold. All up 10 from this one dig. I called it quits at that as I was hot & bothered & happy with my result.
Hi there EoinC. The 15" X coil is a concentric wound coil. So different from the usual DOD wound configuration of the windings in the “standard” GPZ 7000 coils. So it is very sensitive for a bigger coil but each coil sweep needs to be more tightly overlapped so that the inverted cone shaped detecting pattern generated into the ground doesn’t miss anything at the deepest point. Bit like a mono coil detection paten but tighter again. Cheers.
Hi, JW.
Thank you for the info. Understanding capabilities and limitations is an important part of effectiveness. It is always encouraging to see you finding gold in areas you have already covered.
The Russian X-Coils are very impressive, given that the standard GPZ 7000 is a high benchmark to work from. The 15” looks like a practical sweetspot for Otago.
Keep up the great work - I really enjoy your write-ups, and recognise that winning small gold says more than winning big gold.
Cheers, Eoin
Hi guys and girls
couple of pics from couple of days at louis Creek 2weeks ago outrageous stuff for two days! very surprising considering how hammered it is 💁
Thanks for sharing mate ! What a haul did u work a similar spot to the 2.1 gram spot a while back ?chasing the bedrock a .il definitely have to come check ya creek out now lol
Cheers Daniel
probably 5metres away!
had been walking over this spot for 2 years and everytime think maybe I’ll dig there can’t really get to the bottom because of the massive boulders you do get some pretty good pieces there
someone got a good dig in last week tho I’m sure they did very well:person_tipping_hand:IMG_20210221_143208|666x500
Looks like a nice spot. Shane you can’t move a boulder. I’m down south and never been there but why is there a gap in the creek where you can’t prospect.
private land I think! 🤷 access only through the riverbed! but if you walk up from the bottom it would appear it’s not the case because there’s still plenty of digging it seems 🤦
what method was used this time for that haul ? Looks like a few grams ?
can’t really get to the bottom because of the massive boulders 
you do get some pretty good pieces there 
I’m sure they did very well:person_tipping_hand: