WalnLiz
In remembrance, April 2024
Way back in the early 1970's I was a mad keen dredging enthusiast, running a 4" and a 6" dredge in many of the clear running streams of the NSW and VIC higher altitude gold fields for over 20 years. The sight of bedrock gold magnified by the water was addictive and the sight of this glistening clean gold is still in my blood to this very day. Unfortunately the powers to be banned this practice, for "better or worse", but that's another argument that comes under the same parameters as Politics and Religion, and as such is not worth the discussion these days. 
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The next transition from dredging became "Sniping" for gold, and this gives a similar buzz when spotting underwater gold, although at a much diminished state. Nearly all of the clear running waters in the Eastern States goldfields lend themselves to be very productive "Sniping" streams. Many experienced gold hunters are well aware of the techniques, but there is many more "New Comers" who are not aware of the fun that can be had, laying in a clear stream, cooling off from the hot summer sun, and getting more gold than the average prospector "Crevicing" for bedrock gold above the water line, which generally has seen much more attention.
Typical of the gold found sniping on the Turon River.
In short "Sniping" is the underwater equivalent to crevicing above the water line. Tools are very similar, with the addition of a pair of goggles and a snorkel. Because you are sucking up the gold with a snuffer bottle, greater emphasis is put into the quality of these snuffer bottles. My suggestion is to make your own by getting a Turkey Baster from the kitchen ware section of your department store. These have a strong "Rubber" based ball which will give you more suction by far, than the plastic snuffer bottles that come with your gold panning kits. Cut the clear section of the Baster in half and insert a piece of clear hose about 20cm long, with a hole diameter of about 4 to 5mm, two thirds inside and one third outside the shortened Baster. Hold this in place using either 5 minute araldite or a hot glue gun.
The rest of your tool kit is very simple....a sturdy heavy duty flat screwdriver, a smaller thin flat screw driver for tight crevices, a small shovel, { the foldable type from your camping store is my choice, easy to pack }, a sturdy pair of pointed tweezers, a small jemmy bar, a good quality snuffer bottle, a long sleeve lightweight shirt and trousers to avoid sunburn, a light weight wet suit if the water is on the colder side, a sturdy pair of gym boots that you can walk in the water with, a small backpack to carry it all with lunch and drinks, as you will find that you will be walking from one bedrock bar to the next and this can sometimes add up to a fairly reasonable walk.
Snuffer bottle and typical bedrock section of stream.
The water depth that you are looking for is from as little as a few cm's, to as much as a fully extended arm length. When in the water it is always best to start on the downstream section of the bar and work upstream, so that the silt washes away from your working area, giving you a clear view of the exposed bottom and gold flakes. What I do first is shovel away any overburden within about a one sq metre section of the area being worked. Don't need to be careful when doing this as the gold you are seeking is in the cracks and crevices and not in the overburden. The more flow you have the better the "Sniping".
Once you have cleared this the fun begins. Use your hand with fingers closed to "Fan" the gravel away from the bedrock, exposing any cracks or crevices. If you are too vigorous you will blow the gold away with the gravel and too lightly the gravel won't move enough. The happy medium shouldn't take you more than a few minutes to master. Your best gold, as with dry crevicing, will be at the bottom of the cracks and crevices, but the exciting part is that they are very visible, magnified, and easy to extract. Always work from the shallow section of the bar down to the deeper section and always work up current.
Good gold sniping crevices.
Some cracks, especially in shale based bedrock can, with use of a jemmy bar, be cracked open and on many occasions I have found over a gram of good flakes under one piece of broken away shale. One such slab on the Turon River near Sofala surprised me with a flat finger nail size nugget that weighed over two grams....looked like four grams under water,
but that's the excitement of water magnification. I mention the Turon here as it is one of my favourite "sniping" streams in NSW. The full length of this river from above Sofala down to Coles Bridge has netted me many ounces "Sniping" over the years. During the summer months the river runs exceptionally clear and the water temp lets you stay submerged for hours at a time.
People often ask me should they work the inside bends as most books tell you that's where the majority of gold falls out. My answer to that from experience, is work inside and outside bends equally, as during floods, gold travels throughout the whole width of the river, and seeing you are looking for "trapped" gold in crevices, you will find on most occasions the gold is as prolific in the faster sections as it is in the slower sections. The beauty of this gold hunting method is that the whole family can get involved, and why not get a reward for your cooling off swim. Good luck to those who give it a go and I'm sure when you see that glistening gold under water for the first time, you will soon get hooked like so many of us have over the years. Cheers Wal.
.The next transition from dredging became "Sniping" for gold, and this gives a similar buzz when spotting underwater gold, although at a much diminished state. Nearly all of the clear running waters in the Eastern States goldfields lend themselves to be very productive "Sniping" streams. Many experienced gold hunters are well aware of the techniques, but there is many more "New Comers" who are not aware of the fun that can be had, laying in a clear stream, cooling off from the hot summer sun, and getting more gold than the average prospector "Crevicing" for bedrock gold above the water line, which generally has seen much more attention.
Typical of the gold found sniping on the Turon River.
In short "Sniping" is the underwater equivalent to crevicing above the water line. Tools are very similar, with the addition of a pair of goggles and a snorkel. Because you are sucking up the gold with a snuffer bottle, greater emphasis is put into the quality of these snuffer bottles. My suggestion is to make your own by getting a Turkey Baster from the kitchen ware section of your department store. These have a strong "Rubber" based ball which will give you more suction by far, than the plastic snuffer bottles that come with your gold panning kits. Cut the clear section of the Baster in half and insert a piece of clear hose about 20cm long, with a hole diameter of about 4 to 5mm, two thirds inside and one third outside the shortened Baster. Hold this in place using either 5 minute araldite or a hot glue gun.
The rest of your tool kit is very simple....a sturdy heavy duty flat screwdriver, a smaller thin flat screw driver for tight crevices, a small shovel, { the foldable type from your camping store is my choice, easy to pack }, a sturdy pair of pointed tweezers, a small jemmy bar, a good quality snuffer bottle, a long sleeve lightweight shirt and trousers to avoid sunburn, a light weight wet suit if the water is on the colder side, a sturdy pair of gym boots that you can walk in the water with, a small backpack to carry it all with lunch and drinks, as you will find that you will be walking from one bedrock bar to the next and this can sometimes add up to a fairly reasonable walk.
Snuffer bottle and typical bedrock section of stream.
The water depth that you are looking for is from as little as a few cm's, to as much as a fully extended arm length. When in the water it is always best to start on the downstream section of the bar and work upstream, so that the silt washes away from your working area, giving you a clear view of the exposed bottom and gold flakes. What I do first is shovel away any overburden within about a one sq metre section of the area being worked. Don't need to be careful when doing this as the gold you are seeking is in the cracks and crevices and not in the overburden. The more flow you have the better the "Sniping".
Once you have cleared this the fun begins. Use your hand with fingers closed to "Fan" the gravel away from the bedrock, exposing any cracks or crevices. If you are too vigorous you will blow the gold away with the gravel and too lightly the gravel won't move enough. The happy medium shouldn't take you more than a few minutes to master. Your best gold, as with dry crevicing, will be at the bottom of the cracks and crevices, but the exciting part is that they are very visible, magnified, and easy to extract. Always work from the shallow section of the bar down to the deeper section and always work up current.
Good gold sniping crevices.
Some cracks, especially in shale based bedrock can, with use of a jemmy bar, be cracked open and on many occasions I have found over a gram of good flakes under one piece of broken away shale. One such slab on the Turon River near Sofala surprised me with a flat finger nail size nugget that weighed over two grams....looked like four grams under water,
but that's the excitement of water magnification. I mention the Turon here as it is one of my favourite "sniping" streams in NSW. The full length of this river from above Sofala down to Coles Bridge has netted me many ounces "Sniping" over the years. During the summer months the river runs exceptionally clear and the water temp lets you stay submerged for hours at a time.People often ask me should they work the inside bends as most books tell you that's where the majority of gold falls out. My answer to that from experience, is work inside and outside bends equally, as during floods, gold travels throughout the whole width of the river, and seeing you are looking for "trapped" gold in crevices, you will find on most occasions the gold is as prolific in the faster sections as it is in the slower sections. The beauty of this gold hunting method is that the whole family can get involved, and why not get a reward for your cooling off swim
. Good luck to those who give it a go and I'm sure when you see that glistening gold under water for the first time, you will soon get hooked like so many of us have over the years. Cheers Wal.
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, at 6mm it used to get me overheated and dehydrated in a Winter Southern ocean. 12mm with top and bottom of wet-suit on torso.
