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A season to remember…. For good reasons!
Since returning home from the goldfields of Western Australia, I’ve had time to reflect on the season which has really put a smile on my face.
Although it started out like any other season, it ended on a high and with a renewed drive for next year’s adventure.
July was the month that things began to change when I hit the ground with the new GOLDHAWK range of coils for the GPX6000 and WOW, did things change!
Knowing Coiltek made the BEST aftermarket coils, I was prepared for good things to come in the next few months as I had their 14″ x 9″, 9″ round and 10″ x 5″ Goldhawk coils in my kit. All of these coils have a place and a purpose.
The largest of these coils is the 14″ x 9″, and with this coil I managed to snare a terrific 205 gram ( 6.5 ounce ) nugget which I can tell you, was the best sized piece of gold I had found for a long time. On the very next day, a lovely 45 gram nugget (1.5 ounce) came to light using the same coil. Total weight for these two was 8 ounces!
Changing to the 9″ round and now on old ground I had ‘cleaned out’ years before, this coil proved itself almost immediately.
In the first hour I learned that the saying “nobody gets it all”, is definitely true! There I found so many nuggets, on old ground, and that I couldn’t believe I had left this spot all those years ago. It just goes to show, new technology can certainly make a huge difference.
Now, let’s talk about the 10″ x 5″ Goldhawk coil. At first I was reluctant to put this coil on the GPX6000 as the other two coils were cleaning up and I was convinced I just didn’t need it. Well, after going over an old patch, in and around bushes, this coil proved itself to be the stealthiest of them all. Given the amount of targets I was getting, this coil amazed me in what it could do! Pinheads of gold were coming up EVERYWHERE! The 10″ x 5″ was making me giggle with joy like a little kid! SO GOOD on finding the small stuff, I barely needed to stand up to find a target! There’s no doubt in my mind this coil is a must for the serious prospector who ‘has a spot’ they go back to time and again.
Now that I’m back home, yesterday I decided to weigh up some of the small stuff. Well, 119 nuggets to an ounce! No doubt the smallest gold I have ever found and with that, I scored the MOST nuggets found in any season in the Western Australia goldfields.
Next year I will be looking forward to another stint on the ground knowing, yes, it’s still out there!
Rick Fishers
Aussie Gold Hunter
