Bridle Track Hill End NSW information and questions

[HeadsUp]

have any of you guys and girls worked the gulleys near the bridle track , between 2 - 5 kilometres south east from Hill End ?

I spent a day there and found gulleys with massive quartz veins in them , found lots of old drives , shafts and mullock heaps everywhere , even found the remains of a couple of old worn out rocker boxes . but no gold.

There are some gulleys with old stream beds in them where the old timers removed every single rock and piled them up on the river bank , then dug down to bedrock and i assume either panned the gravels or put them through rocker boxes to get their bright n shiney nuggets.

The area would have been thrashed by modern day prospectors too , there are many locals in Hill End who do it full time , and many visitors go through that popular area.

I would have dug 40 bits of trash there but not a spec of gold anywhere , perhaps with trash still being there , then there is a chance nuggets might still exist but not from the days work i did there

curious if any other members have been there - done that ?

 

[penfooey]

Well we went there early November - had Minelab GPX5000 training. Stayed along the river near where you mentioned. Same, Same, found lots of bullets, nails, tiny pins, a horse shoe (which I figured could be the start of good fortunes ha ha) but not one spec of gold. Time spent didn't bother us as we were learning about our detectors but it would have been good to find something...had a good look through old drystream beds and gullies also. You are right, the area is pretty trashy. Hell, hundreds of goats too!!!

Saw a few people with their sluices and highbankers in action and we wondered how they were faring. A couple that camped with us found some flour gold with their highbanker but nothing to write home about. We need to do more homework of the area before we go back.

We'll probably try along the Turon when ours is built (the walbanker) :|

 

[HeadsUp]

okay you would have been at the same training day i was at.

there was a post here from another attendee regarding that training day if you search back a couple of pages.

I went over a river nearby there which i suspect had been recently vacuumed looking at how clean the crevices were . not a spec of gold in it yet it was worked in the goldrush days and known as a massive gold bearing area.

i think there will be better places elsewhere . Hill End could be renamed " McThrashville "

 

[slowflow]

After almost 3 days we did not even cover the bottom of a small vile. Up there at the same time as HeadsUp & shoveled for hours. Just confirms we were in the wrong spot, Bugger!!!!

 

[HeadsUp]

After almost 3 days we did not even cover the bottom of a small vial. Up there at the same time as HeadsUp & shoveled for hours. Just confirms we were in the wrong spot, Bugger!!!!

nah mate , we just went there during the wrong phase of the moon

its just like fishing , you got to go hunting gold during full moon and new moon otherwise the nuggets are just not hungry and they go down and hide in the deep water

maybe . perhaps

well thats my excuse . the Turon is known for gold , we just have to find the spots that didnt get thrashed , places where the overburden is not 6 feet thick over the bedrock , and where there are nice deep crevices that have been quietly catching gold for the last 610 years

not easy but not impossible either :|

will let you know when i get it worked out :8

 

[penfooey]

aaah, that's what I like to see - sharing is caring ha ha.

I do agree though, from what I have read and heard there is still gold in that Turon river....just have to find the right spot. Won't tackle that again until we get our Wal banker built.

I've just finished the book by Doug Stone - Metal Detecting for Gold in Australia, he gives up some really good info from Victoria all the way around Aussie land. I've been making notes for our 'trek' around. Would love to have someone like him on our treks but for now it's just going to be the two of us....

Watch this space next year....

 

[Twapster]

I agree, been down the bridle track several times...given the indicators there should be considerable gold, but i've had no luck so far. I had more colour in a pan of bush dirt in a dry burnt out gully about 1km north of Hill End......it had rained and I was detecting and noticed a puddle and decided to pan it. Not spectacular but there was definite gold in the pan.

While Bridle Track looks exciting would love to hear someone who has had luck there! Walked enuff of it but with my Xterra maybe I walked straight over the gold!!!!!

 

[HeadsUp]

a bloke showed me a tin full of nuggets he has got from the "Hill End and surrounds" area

what he showed was about 12 ounces , dunno how much he really got there over the years but its pretty hard to compete with people who know every nook and cranny on a personal basis from waving their GPX wand around there for the last 10 years.

:| :/

 

[stoney85]

Hey heads up!
We (me and a mate who are newbies) found our best gold down on the Turon near the bridle track. We didn't find lots but its the best we have seen in our travels. I guess it's just a matter of breaking ya back and trying harder and smarter to find it. Good luck

 

[madtuna]

Have been going to Hill End for 35+ years. Have to say I've never done brilliant down the Bridle Track with a detector though I have no doubt there is good gold there if you are prepared to put up with the millions of bullets etc.
Tambaroora on the other hand, though well looked at still produces on a regular basis and some of my best patches (3oz, 5oz, 9oz) have came from there but away from the main diggings.

In the main creek up towards Ted Abbotts house there are some ripper areas that still produce good results with a pan or a sluice.
Again up towards Ted's, there's been a fair amount of burning off during the year so the area is well worth a good investigation. My last decent patch there about 4 yrs ago, the leaf litter was easy a foot thick. That area is now burnt off.

 

[HeadsUp]

Have been going to Hill End for 35+ years. Have to say I've never done brilliant down the Bridle Track with a detector though I have no doubt there is good gold there if you are prepared to put up with the millions of bullets etc.
Tambaroora on the other hand, though well looked at still produces on a regular basis and some of my best patches (3oz, 5oz, 9oz) have came from there but away from the main diggings.

In the main creek up towards Ted Abbotts house there are some ripper areas that still produce good results with a pan or a sluice.
Again up towards Ted's, there's been a fair amount of burning off during the year so the area is well worth a good investigation. My last decent patch there about 4 yrs ago, the leaf litter was easy a foot thick. That area is now burnt off.

Bald Hill has been burnt off within the last month or two but there is a couple of guys camping there full time , i didnt have enough time to go for a swing over it but the odds are not great considering the local boys are on that patch all day every day

Is Ted Abbot the same guy they call "Pops" ?

the house is On Hill End rd about 200 metres up from where the chimney is in the middle of the paddock

 

[madtuna]

Not sure if he's called pops' but possibly, he turn 85 next year I think.

Ted's house is turn between the chimney and the two storey house (Brian Hodge the writer on all things Hill End) cross the creek and where the road forks don't veer left but continue straight ahead. Keep going about 1.5klm and you'll see a tree stump painted up like a cow. Ted's is about 100 metres further along.

For anyone who doesn't know Ted, he's been doing gold panning tours and lessons for absolute years. He charges $5 per hour and one of Ted's hours equals about two to three earth hours. If you're new to panning and in the area it'll be the best $5 you'll ever spend.
His contact number is 02 63378251

 

[penfooey]

Hey HeadsUp - that gold in the tin, wouldn't happen to be Steve's gold would it? Wasn't it impressive and yes I got to hold it - and play with it - like a kid in a candy store but it does make you wonder whether he got it all from around Hill End or other places. Didn't he say he had a mining lease around there?

Which car were you driving? Trying to put a face to who you were on our training day....

The fellow Ted sounds like a good bloke. I would love to suss him out next time I go to the area.

 

[Sw1fty]

Mudgee is nice this time of year, nice wine also
Guess where I am...

 

[HeadsUp]

Hey heads up!
it's just a matter of breaking ya back and trying harder and smarter to find it.

yup

work harder

work smarter

think about it more and refine the way things are done

 

[HeadsUp]

Hey HeadsUp - that gold in the tin, wouldn't happen to be Steve's gold would it? Wasn't it impressive and yes I got to hold it - and play with it - like a kid in a candy store but it does make you wonder whether he got it all from around Hill End or other places. Didn't he say he had a mining lease around there?

Which car were you driving? Trying to put a face to who you were on our training day....

The fellow Ted sounds like a good bloke. I would love to suss him out next time I go to the area.

yeah that was Steve's tin of nuggets .

i sent you a PM by the way

 

[madtuna]

Mudgee is nice this time of year, nice wine also
Guess where I am...

Mudgee?
If you want and have time for a cuppa, pop into the shop at 129 Church St and say hi!

 

[penfooey]

I replied to your PM Headsup but I havn't heard back?

 

[HeadsUp]

I replied to your PM Headsup but I havn't heard back?

i replied but its not showing in my sent messages ?

 

[jenmal]

Did anyone see prime news tonight some poor bloke crashed his bike 75m off a cliff on the track.

Its one of our favourite spots, care must be always taken, riding a bike at speeds along there is an accident waiting to happen.

Hope the poor bloke will be ok.

http://au.prime7.yahoo.com/n3/news/a/-/local/22143678/rider-plunges-off-cliff-video/