For Aussie Gold Hunters.... TV: Monday March 17

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On Monday, March 17 at 6:30pm on Chanel 7 (?)... the 6:30 Report program (after the news) has an article of Gold Fever: How hundreds of Australian families are "risking it all" to sell up what they have to buy metal detectors to search for gold nuggets. They showed people searching the ground with body mounted cameras for the program and sporting some MASSIVE nuggets which appeared to be in the multi-kilo range (LOL!) ... or about the size of a large box of tissues. Being the sort of 'sensationalist program' that the 6:30 Report is, they'll no doubt focus on "How anyone can make an easy few thousand without lifting a finger". I wish them all luck.

I'm willing to bet that with a hundred thousand Australians watching this program, there'll be thousands more fresh faces walking out there in a few days with detectors digging up the earth to get to those 'easy to find' gold nuggets. Serious Prospectors aren't going to appreciate the 'idiot factor'. Will be great for companies like Minelab. And fabulous for eBay when people realize how much hard work is involved in Prospecting.

Should be interesting to see how the interviewers approach the article.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

It sounds like the ground imaging equipment that was advertised in Gem and Treasure recently. Base cost is around $23 000 up to about $45 000. After looking into it a bit, there was a distinct lack of information that was forthcoming. Always a red flag in my books. other club members tried to get more info, but came up short too. It sounds good in theory, but apart from the lack of info, seeing what is shown in the blurb, I'd be concerned about how big the gold needs to be, before it can see it. There were some claims about finding gold coins at a few feet.
It would be interesting to see the program anyway, just to see the equipment in use, but unfortunately, in regional centres like ours, we get the local news service instead. That rare earth mine that is being developed close to town, only made it's first mention on that service only last week. It's been in the pipeline for at least 2 years now, so the company responsible has done a good job to keep it quite this long. We also have 3 coal mines going ahead only 12 kms north of town, which only made it's first appearance in the paper a couple of weeks back. I heard about that one 9 months back when the test drilling took place. I sure hope the coal dust doesn't get too thick. Fortunately, the prevailing winds should blow it 180 degrees from town most of the time.
Mick Evans.

 

[B.T]

If its on 7 today tonight then it is more than likely one they did 3 weeks back in Dunolly. The boss is in it and a few local guys, no pros though they wouldnt be seen dead on TV, just some hobby hunters. Might be the 53 oz bit Ive put up here thats in it. I stayed out of it and just watched them film as the last time I was in something they totaly misquoted me and turned it into crap, that was in the Age newspaper where they said after an half hour talk with the reporter about detecting and 2 hours taking pics that I had panned for gold for 17 years, I hate panning for gold. (sorry to all you panners out there)

 

[AuzeeSheila]

I reckon we will all have to take evasive action every time we leave home once that program is aired, especially now that they are telling everybody and his dog about the gold price in the news headlines each night.
Sheila.

 

[Mick H]

Isn't it amazing how a week or two before Christmas or Easter each year, you hear of the big gold finds in the Golden Triangle. I wonder if the same sort of thing goes on in the USA to entice people?

Cheers

Mick.

 

[OZAshley]

Yep watched the show tonight.

Should be alot of people out mining soon, looks so easy.

Those nuggets must just be sitting on top of the earth waiting to be picked up.

Take Care and Stay Safe

Ash..

 

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From the Today Tonight Website:

Useful nuggets of info for gold hunters
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* Reporter: Rohan Wenn
* Broadcast Date: March 17, 2008[/size]

There is still gold in the hills, especially in Victoria.

And sometimes you don't even need to dig very deep to find it.
In the goldfields of Victoria, the rush is on again to make a fortune finding elusive nuggets.
In the 1850's and 1860s, the goldfields were literally overrun by fortune seekers from around the globe.

Hundreds of thousands came from Europe, America and Asia in the hope of digging up a shiny mineral that would set them up for life.
A century and a half later, a ragtag band of fortune seekers has emerged once more to try their luck in the fields.

Virginia Cox turned her back on the big smoke 12 months ago and she has never looked back.
"I think it is the thrill of the chase, of actually having achieved something. That's so exciting to pull that little piece of gold out of the ground and realise what it is," she said.

"I didn't like being in a stressed environment, battling traffic every day and noise. I have always liked the bush and I bit the bullet and I've made a tree change."
Tony Mills runs the local metal detector store and said a soaring gold price has seen prospectors from around the country heading south to try their luck.
"Even a small gram is worth $30 to $35 for one small gram so it is pretty good money," Tony said.

Kim Sanders knows the dangers of telling even trusted friends about finds.
"I happened to tell a guy who was looking for coin I found some gold and the next week I went down there and there was a campfire and the whole place had been grided and no gold left," she said.
In Victoria anyone can prospect on Crown land as long as they buy a miners license for $22.55 which lasts two years.
Tony and his gang said now is the time to beat the rush.
"We all live in the hope that we are going to find that humuongous nugget that we can brag about at the local pub," he said.



Yes, I watched it too. It was a 'positive' story to capitalize on gold reaching $1000 per ounce but it did say that you could get yourself a good detector for $1000 and just go out there to find it. The people interviewed seemed to be all 'new' prospectors with a little experience... and no 'true' prospectors showed up on the show to alert others to their activities. Saw a few GPX-4000s on the clip being used. Again, they made it seem like the people who gave up their city jobs to move to the country (like the female detectorist interviewed in the clip) were happy to have done so and "haven't looked back!". LOL. There's little chance of being able to just leave the city, buy a detector and find gold as was implied. The guy who was 'carrying the interview' seemed to be a detector dealer. The only experienced detectorist mentioned on camera that he told a mate about a spot where he'd found a couple of nuggets one day, only to return to the spot a few days later and discovered the remains of a camp fire and no gold (the implication being that the guy he'd told about it had gone to the spot and made a good job of picking it clean).

Incidentally, when I was down at the hardware store today to buy new parts for a gold crevice-sucker, a Greek fisherman saw me with the bait pump under my arm and asked me if I was "going fishing with the yabbie pump". I told him no, that I was prospecting for gold... and he immediately asked me "So, where do you go to?". I told him it was someplace just north of Bathurst and he appeared to digest this thoughtfully before we parted ways.

And to Mr Prospector who was digging with a Super Gold Detector last week on a 'well known mountain' ridge in NSW: I think I found your gold.
The ants still have it. And the ants can keep it! I feel your pain Mr Prospector. (He'll know what I'm talking about)

 

[B.T]

Ha ha ha, ground imaging radar, what ground imaging radar. I hear Cosmac & Clemens are having a big sale on glasses at the moment
The story was shot 1 MONTH ago and was not intended as an Easter "get the mugs in" story. So any thoughts on it being such are wrong.
We actually thought they had canned it and it wasnt going to air at all.
Yeah Tony is a dealer but he is also a very prominent figure in the Australian detector industry. Many who have just started would not realise this but Aussies owe quite a bit to Tony as he was one of the first pioneers of Metal detecting in Australia as well as being a very prominent figure in the Victorian Prospectors and Miners Association. We are still allowed to detect for gold here in Vic freely because of blokes like him and others who actively fight for our rights in the bush.
He was contacted by the film crew because of this and his knowledge on gold in general. Yeah it was edited to the max and they only took the more humerous parts for airing but still it was fun to watch.
No, you will never see a Pro go to air, why should they, its their living mate. I could have appeared but declined the offer.
Yes you can get a machine for around a $1000 and have a go and find good gold. I do with my Terra 70 which is in that bracket. An SD 2000 with modes is $1000 and I know of heaps of guys who find plenty with them.
How do I know all this, I work for him.
ps: Easter or no Easter, one week ago a local Pro who I know found near here, Dunolly, a 310oz nugget.