Does anyone believe in the Lasseter myth/story?

I watched a doco on foxtel the other day that was on the Lasseter gold reef that is supposed to exit out the back of Alice springs somewhere.
It was mostly about his 80+ year old son who is still looking for it all these years later.
Does anyone think its there somewhere? or is it just a myth started by a so called dreamer and con man?
Anyone with a story or some facts to shed some light on the topic would be great. What do you think everyone??

Gold has always been the subject of many fabled tales from the beginning of its first discovery, right up to the present day!

It does funny things to man, stirs the imagination and triggers all the emotions within us.

Over time, these tales get even more bizarre as everyone who tells the story, adds a little more of their own color to it. Its just human nature i guess.

It will never be proven, but i have my reservations about its actual existience.

A Darwin historian has spent his life researching this very topic and he says there are some details that don't really add up.....its made up he says.

The one thing I cant get my head around is this:

Harold Lasseter said he stumbled on a quartz gold reef seven miles long, four to seven feet high, and 12 feet wide in 1897 at the age of 17. He said it bulged with gold. Lasseter died searching for the lost reef in 1931.

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Would you forget where something like this was? I dont think I would. Would you check your compass bearings and paper maps before walking away? He must have had these to be out that far in the desert to begin with.

Then again he died trying to recover it?
If it did exist the big mining companies would have found it by now in my opinion, covered with sand or not.....they have very sophisticated aerial mapping devices and high tech geological sub terrain scanning equipment etc

Interesting stuff though goldtruck, and certainly the most famous story in history surrounding gold.

Whats your thought?

Regards

I have heard an aboriginal story that tells of two reefs.. the big snake and the little snake.. they say the big snake has not been found by white men yet.......

Id like to believe, but if it did exist I think it would of been found by now.

kawman said:

I have heard an aboriginal story that tells of two reefs.. the big snake and the little snake.. they say the big snake has not been found by white men yet.......

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THE LEGEND OF THE BIG YELLOW SNAKE!

Bob Johnson is a part Aboriginal prospector, copper "gouger" and bushman from Mt.Isa in north west Queensland. His mother was a Kalkadoon, the famous Aboriginal tribe of the area. When he was a child, Bob was told by an elder of the Kalkadoons, the legend of the big and little yellow snakes.

Quite often, Aboriginal legends of the dream time are identified with specific geographical features in the tribal territory. Thus, Bob's theory was the little yellow snake of the legend referred to the outcropping reef of the Bower Bird mine, situated on the bank of the Bower Bird Creek. This is west of the Leichhardt River and about 120klm north from Mt.Isa. This was a rich reef mine last century but the ore body was only shallow and the mine was soon worked out. The ore body outcropped over a distance of 130 meters. The gold in the white quartz would give rise to the Aboriginal legend of the little yellow snake. This much the old Aboriginal had confided to Bob and admitted that this was the little yellow snake. But the old tribal elder further stated that the location of the big yellow snake would never be revealed to anyone, even to Bob, although he did say that the big yellow snake was over a kilometer long.

Bob is firmly convinced that there is a giant gold reef to be found, perhaps only a few miles from the old Bower Bird mine.

The country is spinifex desert, very hilly and waterless so persistent and prolonged prospecting would be necessary to find the big yellow snake. The geological conditions in this particular area would be favorable for the occurrence of another gold reef like the Bower Bird mine.

I remember having a chat with a co-worker over the possibility of lasseters gold. He's been involved in mineral exploration for many years and basically said he can see why lassetter couldn't find his reef again. With all the time he's spent in the area taking gravity readings not to mention knowledge of how much ground mining companies have covered in exploration, he believes a reef of this size, bearing copious quantities of gold, would have been discovered by now. Australia is a big country but I'm not sure it's big enough to house this secret.

I worked with a chap recently, who knew a guy who died recently, who had spent his whole life researching the existence of the lost reef in the tanami desert. never found it apparently
This is a link he showed me at the time.

http://gerryonolan.com/public_html/lasseters/lassetersgold/1970to1979.html

I have a copy of his Journal and it hasn't got any thing to go on.

Poor old Harry paid the price for his'' belief ''. he might have gone potty over the years.
if it is in a major gold bearing area, maybe. to be the size he reported, it would have to be in/on a major fault line for such a colossal up-heaval to occur. there would also need to be major indicators in the area for such an incredible deposit. imo.

slipped disc said:

Poor old Harry paid the price for his'' belief ''. he might have gone potty over the years.
if it is in a major gold bearing area, maybe. to be the size he reported, it would have to be in/on a major fault line for such a colossal up-heaval to occur. there would also need to be major indicators in the area for such an incredible deposit. imo.

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One would think so, but apparently and sadly not!

National Gold Heritage said:

Seventy-five years later not an ounce, or perhaps even a grain of gold, has been found in the area(s) where Lasseters Reef was allegedly located.

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Its my belief Harry made the story up to survive the embarrassment from friends and family, after an unsuccessful excursion to a failed ruby rush in the East Macdonnell Ranges in Central Australia at the time.
With family help, he invested everything and came up empty.

goldtruck59 said:

I watched a doco on foxtel the other day that was on the Lasseter gold reef that is supposed to exit out the back of Alice springs somewhere.
It was mostly about his 80+ year old son who is still looking for it all these years later.
Does anyone think its there somewhere? or is it just a myth started by a so called dreamer and con man?
Anyone with a story or some facts to shed some light on the topic would be great. What do you think everyone??

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What was the show called, can you recall ?

I have read varied stories like most of us. Honestly I have to believe there is something still left out there or otherwise I am wasting my time :/

I believe there is plenty of gold reefs still undiscovered. The length of the alleged reef would be small in comparison the surrounding country.
My belief is if it does exist, there could be a high chance the reef is covered by sand. There has been many attempts to find the reef, and those who pursue the story are often called Lasseter's Looneys.
If the gold price doubles, pay attention to new discoveries!
Every prospector knows gold doesn't give itself up easy.
Goldtruck59, I am a believer.

Loch Ness monster or giant squid? The true gold is in the undying belief that somewhere out there is something worth finding. It's the aussie in me that drives me to think that a legend can live on despite being proved or disproved. That's not to imply Aussies are idiots or easily lead, we all just love a good story especially when it's in our culture. Beers bushrangers and BS resonate, and every now and then some legend turns out to have some truth to it.

You'd think with all the technology today, if Lassetter's reef exists/ed, it would be discovered by now. a ''7 mile exposed reef, 4-7 feet high,12 feet wide '' doesn't just disappear.

You would be suprised at how quick huge sand dunes can move along and swallow things up. AS Goldtarget said its in our culture to believe some stories just to keep us going.

Cracka

slipped disc said:

You'd think with all the technology today, if Lassetter's reef exists/ed, it would be discovered by now. a ''7 mile exposed reef, 4-7 feet high,12 feet wide '' doesn't just disappear.

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I wonder where all the money went in the GFC????
Mystery??

Its good to see many varied responses. I like to think I am a believer but its hard to go against the facts and keep the belief. I have spent many a day driving around trackless parts of the Tanami desert and other central desert/spinifex country areas and I reckon it is easy to miss certain features even if you are right on top of them and have modern devices.
Its interesting that its said he discovered the reef at 17, yet its also shown he absconded from the orphanage at 17 years of age and went overseas? Cant be in two places at once.
Ryan27 the show on Foxtel was called "Lasseters Bones".

Still as Metamorphic states, "why would you die trying if there was nothing to it" Boggles the mind and its a great story regardless I reckon and for the sake of adventure and just because I want to, "I am a believer" !!. 8)

Robert Ross has been researching Lasseter for many years.
Hours of reading here.

http://www.lasseteria.com/HOME.htm

My brother and old man ran into Dick Smith out in the Tanami a while back. They were 4wd and Dick was in a chopper looking for Lasseter's reef. When my brother first told me I was thinking here we go, fortunately the old man is as solid as a rock trustworthy and confirmed the story. There's some vast and harsh country out there and plenty of sand. Would be nice to have the time and coin to head out in the chopper to have a look for a legendary reef!

Bugger it......have booked a flight to Alice this arvo.

Hired a camel from Budget!

When it comes to gold, we all have a dream.....that's why we do it!

Certainly nothing wrong with that.