WickedWaz
Warren
Today I went looking for some spots in Adelong with a little success. Will be taking my new sluice for a run in 2 spots and hope it works out. 
Adelong, NSW information and questions
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Syndyne
Shaun Galman
Hi all,
That's an area I know very well. It's where I learned to pan as a kid back in the 80's I also have a partial family connection to the area as my great uncle in law was a policeman there in the 60's (by the name of Simmons).
It used to be very rich there at that time and I'm sure it still is here and there under those banks in places. I can share a photo of the gold we got back then as we still have it. My father managed to pull several small nuggets from a Serpentine filled crevice the Victoria Reef rock bar that crosses the creek just near the town area. At that stage he was managing about an ounce a week just from slowly panning the sands and small gravels around the rock bar. Those nuggets made into a local paper article at the time.
On a trip around 1981-82ish (just can't recall exactly) there was a young bloke working near by Dad, who was digging under the big tree (that's still there) in a slated rock bed just up amongst the tree roots in the creek bank. He called Dad over to show him what he was doing and as he lifted the slate up is was just completely covered in gold flakes and pieces. It took the guy all day to pick the gold up with a small set of tweezers. He managed a bit over an ounce for his efforts. He said to Dad that was making very good wages, even back then, and would sell the gold straight to the Adelong bank.
On one trip down there in the mid-later part of the 80's while staying at the Golden Gully caravan park which, at that time was run by a friend of ours by the name of Adeline McManus. She had told us that a couple of guys had snuck into the base of the Adelong falls (highly illegally mind you, even back then) with scuba gear (we just knew they'd have done very well) and pulled seven ounces in only an hour or so of sniping.
Over the years it's been very hit and miss prospecting there. The bulk of the good golds used to wash down through the Golden Gully area, but once they blocked it off with storm drains and built over it the gold that used to replenish the creek after each flood has now almost ceased. It requires more and more effort to get a good show there today.
We were fortunate to still find a 1gm nugget (which was my very first nugget found) along with two grams of flakes during a trip in April of 2012. I had put about six cubic yards through the HB over three days of freezing 6c and overcast weather to do so. Not ideal temps for prospecting!
I'll post the photo up of the gold as soon as I can.
Kindest regards,
Shauno.
That's an area I know very well. It's where I learned to pan as a kid back in the 80's
I also have a partial family connection to the area as my great uncle in law was a policeman there in the 60's (by the name of Simmons). It used to be very rich there at that time and I'm sure it still is here and there under those banks in places. I can share a photo of the gold we got back then as we still have it. My father managed to pull several small nuggets from a Serpentine filled crevice the Victoria Reef rock bar that crosses the creek just near the town area. At that stage he was managing about an ounce a week just from slowly panning the sands and small gravels around the rock bar. Those nuggets made into a local paper article at the time.
On a trip around 1981-82ish (just can't recall exactly) there was a young bloke working near by Dad, who was digging under the big tree (that's still there) in a slated rock bed just up amongst the tree roots in the creek bank. He called Dad over to show him what he was doing and as he lifted the slate up is was just completely covered in gold flakes and pieces. It took the guy all day to pick the gold up with a small set of tweezers. He managed a bit over an ounce for his efforts. He said to Dad that was making very good wages, even back then, and would sell the gold straight to the Adelong bank.
On one trip down there in the mid-later part of the 80's while staying at the Golden Gully caravan park which, at that time was run by a friend of ours by the name of Adeline McManus. She had told us that a couple of guys had snuck into the base of the Adelong falls (highly illegally mind you, even back then) with scuba gear (we just knew they'd have done very well) and pulled seven ounces in only an hour or so of sniping.
Over the years it's been very hit and miss prospecting there. The bulk of the good golds used to wash down through the Golden Gully area, but once they blocked it off with storm drains and built over it the gold that used to replenish the creek after each flood has now almost ceased. It requires more and more effort to get a good show there today.
We were fortunate to still find a 1gm nugget (which was my very first nugget found) along with two grams of flakes during a trip in April of 2012. I had put about six cubic yards through the HB over three days of freezing 6c and overcast weather to do so. Not ideal temps for prospecting!
I'll post the photo up of the gold as soon as I can.
Kindest regards,
Shauno.
Syndyne
Shaun Galman
Here's a little of what Adelong used to be like. Hopefully it gives a bit of inspiration
This jar contains a touch over 2.2ounces. Two ounces was the original weight Dad got in the 80's while panning and we've added the .2ounces in successive short visits to Adelong over the years since.
The nuggets are all from the Victoria Reef rock bar (just north of the Golden Gully Caravan Park). Dad dug those from deep crevices in the bedrock that were full of softer greenish Serpentine. He just found those by scraping and digging into the crevices with long sharp tweezers. The creek was much deeper back then. They broke the rock bar apart and lowered the level by a foot or two over the years since. We had a hard time actually getting access into the creek in those days as trees lined the banks quite densely. It was nice and shady in the Summer and had none of those darn Bull Rushes in the creek back then either.
The three nuggets on the left, underneath the 5c piece, are ones I've added since. The rougher one at the bottom I dug way down near the old miners dam wall close to the falls. It came out around five feet down. I was digging around an old tree trunk surrounded by some heavy clay layers (no shallow bedrock there). I was about chest deep in the water (the actual creek was only ankle deep). The other two with it came out of the HB during last year's trip. The rest (about half an ounce worth) on the right are all a result of Dads panning and crevicing work.
Hope that is of some help to anyone that tries their luck there. It's a beautiful little historic town to enjoy and maybe get some colour while you're there
All the best,
Shauno.
This jar contains a touch over 2.2ounces. Two ounces was the original weight Dad got in the 80's while panning and we've added the .2ounces in successive short visits to Adelong over the years since.
The nuggets are all from the Victoria Reef rock bar (just north of the Golden Gully Caravan Park). Dad dug those from deep crevices in the bedrock that were full of softer greenish Serpentine. He just found those by scraping and digging into the crevices with long sharp tweezers. The creek was much deeper back then. They broke the rock bar apart and lowered the level by a foot or two over the years since. We had a hard time actually getting access into the creek in those days as trees lined the banks quite densely. It was nice and shady in the Summer and had none of those darn Bull Rushes in the creek back then either.
The three nuggets on the left, underneath the 5c piece, are ones I've added since. The rougher one at the bottom I dug way down near the old miners dam wall close to the falls. It came out around five feet down. I was digging around an old tree trunk surrounded by some heavy clay layers (no shallow bedrock there). I was about chest deep in the water (the actual creek was only ankle deep). The other two with it came out of the HB during last year's trip. The rest (about half an ounce worth) on the right are all a result of Dads panning and crevicing work.
Hope that is of some help to anyone that tries their luck there. It's a beautiful little historic town to enjoy and maybe get some colour while you're there
All the best,
Shauno.
Real nice gold Shauno, drool factor 10.
Syndyne
Shaun Galman
Thanks kindly Heatho.
That was definitely the time to be in the Adelong Creek. We had several friends there on and off panning with us around those early years and even though we were all working pretty close together, everyone did extremely well. The norm was around 15-20 good sized pieces/pickers in every pan along with the usual fines.
I could only imagine what they washed across the falls and recovered via hydraulic sluicing back in the early years.
Some of the mines in the surrounding hills haven't even been well worked as yet. Many were just left. The richest area of reef (still under lease) is just on the right heading out of town towards Tumut. It's the next hill across to the SE from where they have the restored stone miners hut today, just before you go through the road cutting.
If only we could go back in time
Kindest regards,
Shauno.
That was definitely the time to be in the Adelong Creek. We had several friends there on and off panning with us around those early years and even though we were all working pretty close together, everyone did extremely well. The norm was around 15-20 good sized pieces/pickers in every pan along with the usual fines.
I could only imagine what they washed across the falls and recovered via hydraulic sluicing back in the early years.
Some of the mines in the surrounding hills haven't even been well worked as yet. Many were just left. The richest area of reef (still under lease) is just on the right heading out of town towards Tumut. It's the next hill across to the SE from where they have the restored stone miners hut today, just before you go through the road cutting.
If only we could go back in time
Kindest regards,
Shauno.
WickedWaz
Warren
Hello Syndyne, thanks for the post. I think I met you earlier this year in the same spot near golden gully. I was with 2 other fellas having a pan there. You were with your father and showed us a little of your collection. We ended up with about 5 grams that day. Good to run in to you on this great site.
Syndyne
Shaun Galman
WickedWaz said:Hello Syndyne, thanks for the post. I think I met you earlier this year in the same spot near golden gully. I was with 2 other fellas having a pan there. You were with your father and showed us a little of your collection. We ended up with about 5 grams that day. Good to run in to you on this great site.
That's right. What a small world!
Great to have you here! Hopefully you get a good spot there somewhere. It's definitely still about, just takes a bit of searching today. We ended up heading across to Albury as we got caught in that rain for two days and didn't even get a chance to do a pan. It was pretty cold and miserable lol.
Did you look into the Angus MacKirk sluices? Plenty of great info on them here.
All the best!
Shauno.
AngusKeene
Formerly (StinkyPete1977)
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Hiya,
Was thinking about heading down to Adelong for a few days, does anybody know any good places camp etc???
Was thinking about heading down to Adelong for a few days, does anybody know any good places camp etc???
Goldrocs
Dave
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The only place to camp in adelong is at the caravan park it is run by the citizens club in town
the first place to try is at the bottom of the caravan park
Second place rimmers bridge southeast of town on the road to batlow another place is behind cj deans shed good for
a highbanker
Good luck ....Cheers GR....
the first place to try is at the bottom of the caravan park
Second place rimmers bridge southeast of town on the road to batlow another place is behind cj deans shed good for
a highbanker
Good luck ....Cheers GR....
AngusKeene
Formerly (StinkyPete1977)
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Thanks Goldrocs,
Think I'm going to leave the Highbanker at home this time and concentrate on crevicing and sluicing. The area around the old gold mill looks like a prime spot for a bit of crevicing.
Think I'm going to leave the Highbanker at home this time and concentrate on crevicing and sluicing. The area around the old gold mill looks like a prime spot for a bit of crevicing.
AngusKeene
Formerly (StinkyPete1977)
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Never done any specking before, might give it a try, especially if the weather heats up again. Thanks for the advice.
Syndyne
Shaun Galman
Hi all,
Might be worth a check again, but I'm fairly certain the area around the old falls/gold mill is off limits to prospecting. It may well be under heritage listing (even though it was partially rebuilt after the floods). We were told last year by the the Tumut Shire Council (and Vince the Adelong Ranger) to avoid that area and keep back towards town behind the location of the old dam wall (about 100mtrs or so back from the falls). There's a bit of a safety aspect too. That Granite gets a touch slippery in places. Easy to break a leg or ankle in there.
A couple of good crevicing areas near the Caravan Park though. The other areas Goldrocs mentioned are ideal for a bit of a pan or some sluice action!
All the best with the gold down there AK. Let us know how you get on.
Cheers,
Shauno.
Might be worth a check again, but I'm fairly certain the area around the old falls/gold mill is off limits to prospecting. It may well be under heritage listing (even though it was partially rebuilt after the floods). We were told last year by the the Tumut Shire Council (and Vince the Adelong Ranger) to avoid that area and keep back towards town behind the location of the old dam wall (about 100mtrs or so back from the falls). There's a bit of a safety aspect too. That Granite gets a touch slippery in places. Easy to break a leg or ankle in there.
A couple of good crevicing areas near the Caravan Park though. The other areas Goldrocs mentioned are ideal for a bit of a pan or some sluice action!
All the best with the gold down there AK. Let us know how you get on.
Cheers,
Shauno.
SWright
Steve Wright
G'Day
While you are there, have a look for the little nugget that droped out of my pan when I tilted it to have a better look. It even made a "plonk" sound as it hit the water. I spent the rest of my time there trying to find it again. The spot is on the creek opposit where the old service station is on the main street. best access is through the caravan park.
Araluen
While you are there, have a look for the little nugget that droped out of my pan when I tilted it to have a better look. It even made a "plonk" sound as it hit the water. I spent the rest of my time there trying to find it again. The spot is on the creek opposit where the old service station is on the main street. best access is through the caravan park.
Araluen
WalnLiz
Wal nLiz
What a bummer Araluen, some choice language would have radiated out from there I'm sure. . Hope the rest of the pan ended up in the jar.
Cheers Wal.
. Hope the rest of the pan ended up in the jar.Cheers Wal.
Hi everyone,
Just wondering if anyone has any knowledge of Adelong. Not looking for any spots or anything, just wondering if I would be best off concentrating on panning or detecting. I have no knowledge of the area and have never been there before. Hoping to spend a few days over there soon. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
willo1.
Just wondering if anyone has any knowledge of Adelong. Not looking for any spots or anything, just wondering if I would be best off concentrating on panning or detecting. I have no knowledge of the area and have never been there before. Hoping to spend a few days over there soon. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
willo1.
