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 West Australian Gold
Your portal to the goldfields
of Western Australia !
Since the beginnings of time people have worshiped Gold. And not just
because it is beautiful, but also for its uniqueness of all the metals on earth.
Gold can be stretched or drawn more than any other metal. A single ounce of Gold
can be drawn into a wire over forty miles long, and that's without breaking! You
can't damage Gold by getting it wet or leaving it exposed to the elements.
Unlike silver, copper, aluminum, or other metals that tend to rust or tarnish
and sometimes even completely corrode, Gold is as bright and shiny as the day it
was dug out of the ground. So Gold is beautiful, so what? So what? Well, wars
have been fought, won and lost, over Gold. People have always been fascinated
with Gold and what you can do with it. It can be used to make beautiful and
lasting jewelry, or used as money to buy and sell merchandise. Up until 1933
Gold was used in the United States as a medium of exchange. After that time,
until 1974, Gold bullion was illegal for Americans to own. Another reason for
the value of Gold is that it requires very little Gold to coat wires and other
components in computers and other electronics. Coating them of
course, makes the wires corrosion proof. So, as an amateur prospector, can you
make any money prospecting? Well, Gold is 19.2 times heavier than water;
therefore it does not take a lot of flakes to equal an ounce of Gold. But even
if you never get that ounce of Gold, I guaranty that you will be hooked again
and again every time you see that flash of Gold in your pan.
How Not To Prospect For Gold
© Ric Raftis - 29 June, 2001
Mick and John, with the help of a slab
Hatched a plan to make a fortune in
gold
They'd heard there was heaps in Warrandyte
At least that's what
they'd been told
So with Victoria Bitter clear thinking
They planned the work for the
following day
How they would detect all over John's block
And remove the
nuggets from where they lay
Early next morning with throbbing heads
A detector and tools were
hired
Now armed with detector, rake, shovel and pick
And imagination by
gold that was fired
It was only two minutes before the first beep
With mounting excitement
they chased the sound
Three feet down and nothing at all
Just a great
gaping hole in the ground
Regathering tools they proceeded on
Another ten feet and another
hit
The excitement levels rose high again
Now this time has got to be
it
But the performance was just repeated again
Another great hole in the
ground
So they just stood there scratching their heads
There was no nugget
here to be found
Another thirty times this happened at least
Of John's block this was about
ten laps
When it finally dawned on our intrepid prospectors
That their
Blundstone boots had steel caps
What a pair of mugs they'd been
Wearing steel capped boots if you
please
So to fill in the holes they spent the next day
At the block by
planting trees
Prospecting With Kev
© Ric Raftis - 4th July 2001
A mate of ours was really keen
To prospect for some gold
Heaps of stuff
out here in the bush,
Or at least that's what he'd been told
Well we took him out to a little spot
Where we'd found gold
before
Provided instruction on use of the detector
Some geology and mining
law
Steve headed off in a different direction
And left me to supervise our
man
Kev working and scouring the area
Where appropriate, I'd give a
hand
When Steve came back he asked of course
If Kev had had any success
I
advised him no, but he was trying hard
And showing considerable prowess
Steve wandered over to help him a bit
And standing there with a
beer
Gave Kev the important advice of the day
"Hey mate, try just over
here"
A few short sweeps and the detector went wild
And Kev looked like a
carnival clown
The way their heads go back and forth
And wait for the ping
pong balls to go down
You should have seen his excitement
As he scratched to unearth the
prize
While Steve and I tried to hold ourselves back
And the tears that
came to our eyes
For there not far below the surface
Kev found the cause of the sound
A
brand new shining five cent piece
Steve had buried in the ground
Kev's face turned from red to purple
And his language turned the air
blue
With Steve and I rolling on the ground
At the performance that did
ensue
You've never seen such a tantrum
As he stomped around the place
While
we just continued laughing
With Kev still blue in the face
But mates are mates and fun is fun
So whenever things get tense
If you
want to stir Big Kev up a bit
Just tell him to go find five cents!!!
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