The last major weather event has seen a huge amount of flooding throughout the whole of the Southern Tablelands of NSW with Oallen Forde being right amongst it. The new bridge which has a guard rail height of over 6 metres above river level was completely flooded to the point where the whole bridge went under causing significant damage. The torrent scoured the downstream gravels and rocks depositing much of them downstream a distance of more than a kilometer and replacing them with rocks and gravels from the same distance upstream. On a recent visit I was amazed at how many new channels were created and how much new bedrock has been exposed. On testing some of these areas it was not uncommon to have between 50 and 80 specks of gold in every pan
...and those amounts soon add up to lift ones spirits.
The bedrock bars further downstream were found to be even richer and these bars produce some nice gold species though most are in the sub gram range. For the newcomers wanting a location to hone some basic skills when it comes to panning for gold this location is well worth putting on your to do list. For the more experienced prospectors wishing to better identify gold fallout principles and determining exact "Gold Line" drop out zones, then these last floods have opened up some very easy to follow lines of gold, saving a huge amount of pot luck guessing.
The Forde is what I regard as an area where volume panning is the way to go and a gram a day is very achievable for those who put in a few good hours with a large pan or river sluice. The area is also a friendly haven for meeting fellow prospectors and advice flows freely to all who ask. Its a great family oriented location where mum dad and the kids can go frolic in the outdoors getting their dose of vitamin D from the sunshine and not a tablet from the local chemist. Good luck to those that venture and may the gold shine brightly in your jar....Cheers Wal.
Here is a link that may be of help for those new to panning....the vid was shot at the Forde.
