# Digging for Legacy > A beginner's gold prospecting journey in Western Australia. ## Posts - [Did I Mention the Junk?](https://diggingforlegacy.com/did-i-mention-the-junk/): Day eight: sunshine at last, back to the scene of the crime, the last pharmacy for 1,666 kilometres, and a junk tub that is doing extremely well. - [The Sky Just Let Go](https://diggingforlegacy.com/the-sky-just-let-go/): Day seven: a road sign pointing the wrong way, new ground I couldn’t read, a hole full of nothing, and a storm that put the drying clock back to zero. - [The Piece of Junk I Went Back For](https://diggingforlegacy.com/the-piece-of-junk-i-went-back-for/): Day five: rain, an aimless drive, and an awning I had never put up. Day six: a gully I had been told to stay out of, a target I was sure was rubbish, and the first piece of gold — which I threw away before I found it. - [One Piece of Fence Wire](https://diggingforlegacy.com/one-piece-of-fence-wire/): Day four: soaking and fed up, then a bloke called Terry, a salt flat, one piece of fence wire, and the best day since I got here. - [Rain Stopped Play](https://diggingforlegacy.com/rain-stopped-play/): Day three, and the goldfields are under water. A washed-out day in Leonora: paperwork on the veranda, lunch in Herbert Hoover’s house, and a proper English sulk. - [First Swing](https://diggingforlegacy.com/first-swing/): Day one of the course with Goldtalk Leonora: four minutes of paperwork, quartz with rust through it, a screaming detector, and a small bottle of gold my machine could not hear. - [Kalgoorlie to Leonora: The Last Day of Never Having Swung a Detector](https://diggingforlegacy.com/kalgoorlie-to-leonora/): Kalgoorlie to Leonora by Prado: a black-and-white tavern, bacon by the roadside, a dam guarding a puddle, and a future president’s house. The last day of never having swung a detector. - [All the Gear, No Idea: Kitting Out for Leonora](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gold-prospecting-gear-leonora/): All ideas and no gear — until two parcels turned up. My honest take on the gold prospecting gear I bought for a first trip to Leonora, and what I got wrong. - [Goldfields Wire #1: The GPZ 8000 Lands — and Other Gold Prospecting News](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gold-prospecting-news-june-2026/): Welcome to the Goldfields Wire — fresh gold prospecting news for people who swing a detector in Australia, or are about to. I read the press releases so you don’t have to. No stock tips. No hype. Just what changed this fortnight, and whether it touches your patch. Minelab unleashes the GPZ 8000 The big […] - [The Map App: What Happens When an Old Engineer Asks an AI for Help](https://diggingforlegacy.com/ai-prospecting-map-app/): I’ll be honest: AI and I got off to a rocky start. I loved the idea of it — something clever enough to take the boring half of a job off my hands while I got on with the interesting bits. What I usually got back was a confident answer that was confidently wrong. Loved […] - [From Kalgoorlie to Ready to Dig](https://diggingforlegacy.com/from-kalgoorlie-to-ready-to-dig/): Post 02 — The Route In. From a holiday in Kalgoorlie to ready to swing a detector: the route in. - [Why I'm Digging for Legacy: An Unexpected Journey](https://diggingforlegacy.com/why-im-digging-for-legacy/): Now I'm much too old to chase girls, so I'm going after gold. The story of how a man accidentally joined the army, nearly drowned in the North Sea, and ended up pointing a metal detector at two-billion-year-old rock. ## Pages - [3L Hydration Pack](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/prospecting/3l-hydration-pack/): It carries three litres of water. That’s the headline — and, honestly, most of the story. Out in the WA heat, sipping steadily through the day is the difference between thinking straight and a thumping dehydration headache, and I’ve given myself quite enough of those already just working this whole thing out. There’s a pocket […] - [Snake Armour Gaiters](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/prospecting/snake-armour-gaiters/): The buckles are plastic — which matters more than it sounds. Metal ones would set the detector off, and there’s no faster way to get your hopes up than swinging the coil over your own leg. The rest is proper armour for the shins, which is exactly where a snake is most likely to have […] - [Gold Scales](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/prospecting/gold-scales/): These were a birthday present from Amanda — a pointed one. Not so I can weigh shotgun pellets or horseshoes, but because she’s banking on me bringing home some gold, and she’d like to know exactly how much. They’re a digital pocket scale, fine enough for the small stuff, with a little calibration weight in […] - [Pro Series Nugget Scoop](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/prospecting/pro-series-nugget-scoop/): It’s plastic, and it’s a scoop. Plastic so it won’t set off the detector; a scoop because it scoops. Green, too. What it scoops is still an open question. - [Walco Premium Magnet Pick — Longreach](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/prospecting/walco-magnet-pick-longreach/): Every video I watched said the same thing: the pick is the one tool you don’t skimp on. That bit of gold is always just out of reach, and a decent pick is the difference between prising it out and walking straight past it. I went for the Longreach — at 92cm it’s the longest […] - [Maxi Trac 12V Air Compressor](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/vehicle-and-camping/maxi-trac-compressor/): I knew a compressor was essential — for airing down before sand, airing back up afterwards, and for pumping a tyre back up after a plug repair. I chose this one mostly on capacity (150 PSI, 180 L/min) while I was already in Repco for something else. Not an informed decision. The supplied hose and […] - [ARB Tyre Repair Kit](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/vehicle-and-camping/arb-tyre-repair-kit/): Picked up a tyre repair kit after hearing a 4X4 influencer make the case for plugging a puncture out bush, then swapping to the spare once you’re back on the tarseal. That sat better with me than carrying two or three spares lashed to the roof — same insurance, less weight, less stuff to find […] - [Kaon Recovery Points](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/vehicle-and-camping/kaon-recovery-points/): Before this year I’d never heard of recovery points as a thing you bolt on yourself. A run through YouTube and a few 4X4 channels made it pretty clear: if a tow truck shows up and the only option is hooking onto the bumper, you’re either staying stuck or losing the front of your car. […] - [Maxxis Razr AT Tyres](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/vehicle-and-camping/maxxis-razr-at-tyres/): I did a lot of research on these — YouTube reviews, forums, the lot. I even ended up cornering random people in carparks who had AT tyres on their rigs. The decider was a mate who’s run Maxxis Razr ATs across the Great Central Road and up to Broome and reckoned they didn’t miss a […] - [Coleman Two-Burner Cooker](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/vehicle-and-camping/coleman-two-burner-cooker/): Bacon and eggs for breakfast and a cup of tea sit very high on the want list. I had a small single burner before, which meant cooking everything in sequence. Upgrading to two burners means tea and breakfast happen at the same time. I took the Coleman out on a trip down to Denmark for […] - [Dune 4WD Fridge](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/vehicle-and-camping/dune-4wd-fridge/): I told myself a 4WD fridge was a luxury I didn’t need. Then I camped for three days with a soggy bag of ice and a sandwich that tasted of cucumber water, and I changed my mind. The Dune 4WD was the right size for the back of the Prado without eating the whole boot. […] - [iTechWorld GoFurther Battery Box](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/vehicle-and-camping/itechworld-battery/): Every 4WD YouTube video seems to have a fridge and a battery. I thought I’d better fit in. I started looking for what system to get and came across iTechWorld just by searching. The thing that made me take an interest was the professional look of their equipment — it looks engineered and integrated. Just […] - [Vehicle and Camping Gear](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/vehicle-and-camping/): The Prado, the lithium battery, the fridge, the swag, the slide, the cooker, the tyres. The 4WD setup that gets a prospector to the gold and back again. iTechWorld GoFurther Battery Box The 120Ah lithium I wired in myself. Dune 4WD Fridge Great Value fridge installed in the Prado and another app for me to […] - [Comms and Safety](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/comms-and-safety/): The kit that keeps you alive and findable. Zoleo satellite communicator, 5W UHF, snake-bite kit, first aid, gaiters, hydration. Hero photo to follow. More coming soon. In the meantime, browse all my gear or head back to prospecting gear. - [The Detector](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/detector/): The hire kit: Minelab GPX 6000, booked for the August Leonora trip. Hero photo to follow — the Minelab GPX 6000. More coming after August. While you wait, browse all my gear or take a look at the prospecting accessories I’ll be pairing with it. - [Prospecting Gear](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/prospecting/): The detector accessories that make a beginner prospector look like they know what they are doing. Pick, scoop, pinpointer, folding shovel, scales, gold vials. Walco Premium Magnet Pick — Longreach The longest pick Walco makes — so I bend less and dig more. Pro Series Nugget Scoop Plastic, so it won’t set off the detector […] - [Privacy Policy](https://diggingforlegacy.com/privacy-policy-2/): Digging for Legacy diggingforlegacy.com  Last updated: May 2026 Who We Are This website is operated by Robert Shorter, based in Perth, Western Australia. The website address is diggingforlegacy.com. Digging for Legacy is a personal blog documenting one person’s journey into gold prospecting in Western Australia. It is not a commercial enterprise collecting data at scale. […] - [Disclaimer](https://diggingforlegacy.com/disclaimer/): General Digging for Legacy is a personal blog documenting one beginner’s journey into gold prospecting in Western Australia. Nothing on this site is professional advice. The information provided is general in nature and may be incomplete, out of date, or wrong. The Prospecting Map and AI features The Prospecting Map at map.diggingforlegacy.com displays mining tenement […] - [Privacy Policy](https://diggingforlegacy.com/privacy-policy/): Privacy Policy Digging for Legacydiggingforlegacy.comLast updated: May 2026 Who We Are This website is operated by Robert Shorter, based in Perth, Western Australia. The website address is diggingforlegacy.com. Digging for Legacy is a personal blog documenting one person’s journey into gold prospecting in Western Australia. It is not a commercial enterprise collecting data at scale. […] - [Gear](https://diggingforlegacy.com/gear/): Gear that survived. Gear that didn’t. Everything I’ve bought, used, broken, or replaced as a beginner gold prospector in Western Australia. Four sections, ordered the way I’d recommend a beginner think about their kit: prospecting first, vehicle and camping last. Prospecting Gear The detector accessories — pick, scoop, pinpointer, folding shovel, scales, gold vials. Browse […] - [Blog](https://diggingforlegacy.com/blog/): Blog Field notes from the WA outback One post a week, starting late September 2026 — after the August Leonora trip. Photography-driven, honest, dry. The story of one beginner trying not to embarrass himself in the WA goldfields. - [About](https://diggingforlegacy.com/about/): I grew up in rural England, where the ground is mostly old farmland, the weather is mostly grey, and nobody goes looking for gold. I am sixty years old. I live in Perth, Western Australia. In August 2026, I will be standing on an active goldfields tenement in the middle of the WA outback with […] - [Home](https://diggingforlegacy.com/): Latest from the Field Field notes from a beginner. Updated when something’s actually happened. AI-powered prospecting research, free for beginners A live map of Western Australia. Tap any tenement to see what the old timers found — and what they missed. General research tool only. Not professional advice. Users are responsible for verifying tenement access, […] - [Contact](https://diggingforlegacy.com/contact/): Get In Touch Natoque euismod a hic porta. Auctor, consequatur occaecati magna natus pretium ornare ornare penatibus. Tempor viverra erat veritatis Connect With Us Follow Us ## Optional - [Agent (MCP protocol)](websites-agents.hostinger.com/diggingforlegacy.com/mcp) [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)