gilgunnia goldfield nsw

[phil]

hi guys chasing any info or maps on this field or any info on gold finds its in between hillston and cobar near a place called mt hope i have been told its very quartz laden and they found copper very interested in this spot i go to hillston quite often and never heard about it any help would be great thanks

 

[Guest]

http://www.treasureenterprises.com/...old_prospecting_locations_new south wales.htm
The Mount Allen Mine, 19.3 km north of Mount Hope was the scene of some gold mining activity where gold occurs in ironstone formations in slate. Some non-descript reefs were also worked at Gilgunnia some 48 km north of Mount Hope; details on these are rather sketchy. However, stone crushed from a reef at Errebundery showed some good returns. Another prospect for gold occurs at Solitary Mountain about 4.8 km east of Mount Hope.

 

[Prospector steve]

that really is isolated and in the middle of nowhere.

 

[phil]

thanks mbasko and steve all info helps

 

[phil]

would either of you blokes be interested in a trip there i have a gp 3000 and am pretty interested with the area

 

[Guest]

Hi Phil - wouldn't mind getting out there or even further afield to Tibooburra/Milparinka at some point but can't see it happening any time real soon. Struggling for time to get to local spots lately but should get out again soon.
Hopefully someone keen to do some travelling might see this thread & get back to you.

 

[DrDuck]

Here is some information from a source I have, also do a search on Trove for Gilgunnia gold and there are lots of contemporary newspaper reports to read.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q=gilgunnia+gold

Gold was found at Gilgunnia by Jackie Owens in 1885. In all 205 kg of gold is recorded as being found by 1902, most from one mine Her Dream. One crushing of 213 tonnes of ore yielded 31 kg. Four miles east of Gilgunnia was the Four Mile field, which was nowhere near as rich.

The gold at Gilgunnia occurs in quartz reefs which are situated in deeply weathered sandstones and slates associated with unmineralised volcanic tuffs. The reefs are stained by iron oxide and contain pyrite. They bulge and pinch along their length and depth. The gold is easily extracted from the quartz.

The two main reefs worked at Gilgunnia are the Finns line of reefs, situated west of the town, and Tarcomb's line of reefs east of the town. Finn's line was worked for 1200 m along its length and was penetrated by nearly 50 shafts. Her Dream mine was situated on Finn's line. It was on a well defined shoot of ore that was worked to a depth of 82m. The shoot was still producing 30g/t when a tremendous influx of water caused operations to cease. Several subsequent attempts to keep the mine dewatered apparently failed.

 

[mike.p]

Hi Phil,
Very old thread. I've been looking into the Mt hope region hoping to explore Mt solitary 4kms to the east did you find anymore information.
Or ever get there?

 

[Ruth D]

Looking at going to Mt Hope in a few weeks. Any advice on gold and crystals. Also anything closer or near Cobar that’s interesting. Cheers