First nugget from crevicing + couple of questions.

[rogeressig]

Hi,
I'm a new member here and have now been panning 7 times.

1st time I found nothing, 2nd time i found a $2 coin! 3rd time i found 5 specks, 4th time nothing, 5th time 1.06g

I found it in a large crevice that had already been worked. I dug out the clay at the bottom and scrubbed it through a classifier. I've since been back to the same large crevice twice, following it up the bank. Huge amount of work, found nothing else.

Questions are,
should I backfill the crevice at all? I'd assume no, although once it gets into the side of the bank, I'm not sure.

Also in regards to bringing home concentrate material. I'd assume it's fine to bring home a bit, but not too much. So far the only rules I've read is don't use power tools, and backfill any dug holes.

Finding that 0.76g nugget was a huge thrill, now I'm wondering how rare an occurrence that will be. Cheers, Roger.

 

[Jaros]

I am sure you must fill or rehabillitate the holse in anarea you have disturbed.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=17247

 

[reefer]

You may be right Jaros...but... in the case of a crevice on bedrock such as this... I think backfilling it would mean you have to take it from somewhere else! ..and that would mean the nearby bank...which is not allowed. so it's just not practical..IMO. In any case, the opening of the crevice provides for a great place for the further capture of subsequent gold bearing debris. ]
So my advice for rogeressig is..Don't even worry about it!...it poses no danger to passers-by as it is not like it's on flat open ground,and it will provide a spot for you to continually return to after heavy flooding too.
It is admirable of you to be thinking of the environment and your obligations to your fellow prospectors,etc. But mate its a crevice on bedrock mate...so it really is of no consequence at all...move on to the next one upstream.. ] ] ..Rossco.

 

[mudgee hunter]

I often work the crevice next to the first if its paying, throwing the waste into back into the first.
Use common sense I say. If it going to back fill easily in the next rain, why bother. But if it looks wrong.... chuck sum rocks in it. Go back after a good flood and try it again.

 

[silver]

Would a bit of worked material that you could still scrounge up thrown into the lowest parts of the crevice help retain the first to flow fine gold once the loose floor starts to move hydraulically over the crevice ,... or would it already be starting to fill with debris type sand and gravels by then anyway.
So really ] it's gunna be a question of ] do you want every tom dick n harry seeing your crevice when they take a walk down the creek ,.... or would you rather just find it again on your gps easily when you want too. ]

 

[Mike Harding]

Nice one Roger - at US$1300 per ounce and 31gm to one Troy ounce your find is worth around A$56.

Should you backfill? If you dig a hole then certainly you should, it's a requirement of the Victorian Miner's Right iirc. However you're simply moving dirt from one rock to another and the next heavy rain or flooding creek will move it all somewhere else so I cannot see the point in your case unless you have made an unsightly mess in which case smooth it out a bit simply so others don't see it and think "Bloody gold prospectors - shouldn't be allowed".

A creek in flood can make enormous changes to the topography. I had a lovely little campsite in the bush in central Victoria adjacent to a small creek which flowed nine months of the year with just enough good water for my needs and, as a bonus, produced a couple of pieces of gold too. The creek had carved out the soil and was, of course, running on the bedrock about 5m below ground level. About five years ago this area of Victoria suffered significant flooding, the next time I visited this campsite my lovely creek was filled with a 5m depth of rocks washed down by the flood. The water had moved thousands of tons (more?) of rocks for a kilometre or more.

 

[rotor]

I'm with reefer on this one - it's a creek bed and everything above bedrock will move anyway! . . . . . . . . . .

 

[reefer]

:Y: rotor!... ] I never fill a crevice...been back to re-dig a few out though!Mike Harding painted a good picture of the awesome forces at work in the creek lines when they are in flood. 8) ...All that 'filling of holes' is revealed as being totally futile and bloody useless. It might make a few people feel warm and fuzzy inside, ] ] but it does not make one iota of difference when all is said and done.
Of course, I am not talking about areas outside of the flood reach.Where leaving a hole unfilled may not only pose a danger to fellow prospectors ....but to the resident wildlife...and stock animals, Farmer's vehicles.etc. Anyway, that's my take on crevice 'oles. ]

 

[mudgee hunter]

Yep, your not exactly digging divets on the green on a golf course. Over the top greenies will say otherwise. But yes there is a rule about disturbance of original appearance.... till it rains!

 

[AussieChris]

I remember back to when I had a run in with the Fisheries blokes on the Turon, suggesting my 10-metre tailings wash was going to silt up the river, kill native fish and ignite the furore of local farmers hehe

For anyone who has not seen that river in flood.......I have seen trees and boulders near wide as a car tumble down that river like they were the devil's dice.

We dig crevices out.....they fill back up again.

I would never leave a massive hole that someone is going to break an ankle in or lose a kid in hehe but backfilling a crevice is redundant, at least it gives you or the next fella an idea about what's been worked or not.

I'm honestly happy to not have to rework someone's crevices when I'm out at say, Mitchells Creek, why spend an hour or two picking over falsely packed crevices. Let nature do its job.

Saying that.....I'm looking forward to a decent flood!

 

[Occasional_panner]

Chris, if it's repacked or newly washed in from creek flow the material will be noticeably loose, an unworked old crevice will be fairly tightly packed.

 

[Eski]

not hard to chuck a few handfuls of rocks in there just to keep the greens off all of our backs. they won't know the diff if there are a few rocks in there.