4 hours 8 buckets is it worth it?

[ben2363]

Last Monday was the only day I had free to take the Highbanker down to the creek. after about 4 or 5 hours of moving some bigger rocks to the side to get to half decent size material to pick and shovel.
I shovelled and processed 8 x 25 litre buckets 3/4 full of unclassified material though the banker end result is in the picture.

my question is do I keep working that area or move on to a different location as a mate has got about the same amount out of a day panning in Creswick.

 

[ballarat_gold]

Depends on yourself really ... To be honest but, 4-5 hours of just moving overburden be to much for me .. I could dump 8 buckets through my highbanker in ten minutes :/.. The creek obviously has gold but, id be tempted to spend those 4-5 hours sampling for a better area instead.

 

[ben2363]

the creek is drying up now that's why I thought ill go to a spot and highbanker it to get the water to where I was working. I have tested a few spots on the creek and the area I was working was better then others but the digging is hard as it all bedrock so a lot of hole and cracks so that took up a lot of my time.

 

[blisters]

If your not happy with the result and your muscle improvement then you need better quality wash or more quantity of the same but either way you'd have to sample pan to find it. Did you get to bedrock where you were and clean it really well?
Jon

 

[ben2363]

got to bed rock and clay in the bed rock cracks only gave it a little clean as only had a shovel and a pick. lets say my fingers and finger tips seen better days.

 

[golddiggerart]

Bedrock is your friend mate....so clean em out and see how it goes.... I'd be happy seeing that Gold in my pan after 4 or 5 hours..

 

[Digginholes]

Keep going mate, scrape all the bedrock and brush it clean, make your self a nice pile of dirt before firing up the banker since the crevasing takes up time but is most likely to have the best gold.

 

[blisters]

Could be a lot more in those cracks, only one way to find out and you've done the hard yards already.
Jon

 

[ben2363]

thanks guys hope there is still some water in there next weekend as this weekend i'm busy and extremely hot any way so I can go clean the bedrock spotless.
what's the best tools for the crevassing work you guys use.

 

[jethro]

What did the end result weigh? The picture is 2 dimensional. If the gold was shotty & chunky I'd say stick with it, If it is very flat & thin then probably look for a better spot.

 

[Occasional_panner]

thanks guys hope there is still some water in there next weekend as this weekend i'm busy and extremely hot any way so I can go clean the bedrock spotless.
what's the best tools for the crevassing work you guys use.

If there is still water there use a yabbie pump, and quickly move it across to a pan and dump it in before it has a chance to fall out. For the dry areas use a dustpan and brush, I made a little scratching tool from a metal bucket handle, bent one end into a loop for a handle and flattened the other end, you can make a couple and have one with a sharp hook shape too to get in fine spots.
If the area is dry and there is water close by, you can always use the highbanker pump to get water up there to use the yabbie pump.

 

[ben2363]

not sure on weight ill dry it and weigh it in the morning.

 

[Jaros]

Take as a sign that there is more there - "waiting for YOU".
Jaros :/

 

[ballarat_gold]

..... lets say my fingers and finger tips seen better days.

No one said finding gold was easy. Bit of turps to clean, tape em up, and keep digging

 

[casper]

G'day Ben,

......there's probably no need to point out that you are 160 years late for the Gold Rush, but i just did hey! and you'd know that the days of 1oz to each pan are long, long gone........

For me and many recreational fossickers here on the forum that's quite a nice scattering of yella that you've got from a flogged out old goldfield.

casper

 

[silver]

8) Here's my gear for crevicing Ben. (not that I've had a chance to use it in the right spots yet).
I throw a hammer and brush in there too on the day.(all ready to go in a plastic carryall)

I've made sure I have plenty of choice at the time to call on.

close up of the business ends for you.

Hope this is helpful for you ,... others might pop up a photo of their gear to give you some good perspective.
The gold might get better upstream a bit once you've finished cleaning out this spot properly ,.... follow it up to the chunky reward aye ! 8)

 

[Jaros]

That looks like my 1st ever Dentist's tool kit--and truly his name was Dr. Hyde in Dandenong Vic.
Jaros

 

[silver]

That looks like my 1st ever Dentist's tool kit--and truly his name was Dr. Hyde in Dandenong Vic.
Jaros

Your looking good for 180 Jaros ! :lol:

 

[silver]

Some of those tools are old recycled adjusted to suit treasure hunt finds too !

 

[ben2363]

nice kit silver.

iv test panned up stream and didn't get much at all.