hello from cairns

[ianjb]

Hi all,
I am new to prospecting and have just bought myself the garrett super sluice kit and am in the process of reading up on the basics. At some point I would like to come to one of the meets to see how its done. I have wandered a couple of creeks around the edmonton area but no luck yet, is there any other areas worth checking out?

Thanks, Ian

 

[Jaros]

Welcome to the forum Ian. There is a group of our guys up in Cairns who meet regularly at a Minelab store. I'm sure they can help you in your efforts to find the yella.
Jaros

 

[ianjb]

Hi jaros, thanks i have seen that but i work away so could be difficult. Hopefully My week off will coincide one day.

 

[bushpig]

Welcome to the forum Ian. I can't advise you on any good areas to run your sluice here. I am sure that once the other Cairns members have seen your post they will be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[ianjb]

Hi bushpig,
thanks for the reply. The kit i bought isn't a super sluice as i mentioned before, i was mistaken it is actually the garret deluxe gold pan kit. Hopefully someone will be able to advise me or allowing me to tag along on a trip and give me some pointers would be even better.

Ian

 

[The Green Wanderer]

Gday Ian,
welcome to the forum and prospecting in fnq!
Theres a few places around to take your gear and get into panning without getting too adventurous. Have a look at some of the posts in the member meet ups section to see where our group has been in the last several months.
Out of curiosity which creeks around edmonton have you been checking?
We will be having a meet at some point this month probably around the last week of january (dates to be confirmed yet), at the miners den as usual.
Your more than welcome to come along have a cuppa and a yarn and join in for a dig somewhere after.
Cheers, TGW

 

[ianjb]

Hi tgw,

I have tried stoney creek just which i accessed from the bridge on mount peter road, there seems to be a lot of surface pyrite in the area i tried, but I don't think I dug deep enough, the creek is dry so had to take some samples home and attempt to pan then. The other creek is a little unnamed one that has a path along the side, i was near a small waterfall so i tried above and below, again i found pyrite but larger pieces this time. I am still not really sure if the pyrite is a god thing or not, but both areas had pieces of smoky quartz.

I will look into the areas from past meets thanks for that info. I would love to come to the meet at the miners den but I work in the straights and do different rosters each time so that makes it difficult, although i will keep an eye out for a meet when I am home.

Thanks,
Ian

 

[ianjb]

Theres a few places around to take your gear and get into panning without getting too adventurous. Have a look at some of the posts in the member meet ups section to see where our group has been in the last several months.
Cheers, TGW

How do i go about finding the mentioned section? as I couldn't see it on the forum home page.

Thanks again,
Ian

 

[Simmo]

How do i go about finding the mentioned section? as I couldn't see it on the forum home page.

Thanks again,
Ian

You wont see that section until you have 10 posts up mate.

Hey go past where you were panning last time toward Mt Peter and see if you can squeeze into the creek there? There are shafts up there in the hillside eh!

 

[ianjb]

You wont see that section until you have 10 posts up mate.

Hey go past where you were panning last time toward Mt Peter and see if you can squeeze into the creek there? There are shafts up there in the hillside eh!

Hi simmo,
thanks for that.

Where abouts? I had read about mt peter which was why i went there just not sure if it was the right area. Would that be up cooper road or further along towards gordonvale.

Thanks again
Ian

 

[Simmo]

Hi Ian,
Mate, the trib's all go into Whites crk, I would try around where Mt P rd meets Maitland rd??

https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-17.0613641,145.7383147,14z

 

[ianjb]

Hi Ian,
Mate, the trib's all go into Whites crk, I would try around where Mt P rd meets Maitland rd??

Ah ok I see, so would i be looking at the junctions or i the meandering sections. Previously I have just looked at junctions.

Thanks ian

 

[Simmo]

Well there was fine gold found UG up in Mt. P, so it stands to reason that if there was any elluvial shedding, it should be in the tribs that come down the hill. That's not to say that any of the other tribs would not hold gold either. The area was mined but the deposits located were small.
Look for some sweet spots in the creek. If it looks like you should go snd get permission to be there, don't be scared, just rock up to a door and knock!

From http://www.treasureenterprises.com/gold prospecting information/Gold_Occurrences_in_North_Qld.htm

Mount Peter Goldfield

Some 11,000oz of fine gold were obtained from half a dozen irregular quartz lodes discovered in 1915 on the steep northern slope of Mount Peter, 5 km west of Gordonvale and 8 km south of Edmonton.

The lodes trend north-east and east-south-east across the regional strike of the Barron River Metamorphics and contain shoots that are small and widely spaced , dipping 60 to 75 south or north, or vertical, and trending north-east and east-south-east across regional strike of schists. The shoots were small and widely spaced. The average recovery grade was 1oz 18 dwt per ton, though values of 41oz per ton were reported in some of the shoots.

The main lode was the Talisman (which was mined to a depth of 90m) contained gold as well as a little pyrite, chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite. There was little activity after 1951.

There is still scope for prospecting for new shoots in the precipitous country, both on the field and further to the west.

 

[ianjb]

Thank you very much for that, when i get back to cairns I shall suss it out as it is only around the corner from me. Also I know my boss has a friend with property around that area, so that could be a spot to try. If i find anything I will be sure to let you know.

Thanks again
Ian

 

[Simmo]

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!! Good luck Bud!

 

[ianjb]

Thanks. By the way that is a very good looking pan as your avatar, that must've been a very good day for you.

 

[Simmo]

Ahh just cleaning up the fines...... 'bout an ounce I reckon was in that lot.....
The rest was in another pan.... ;-)

 

[The Green Wanderer]

There is probably a little fine gold in the creeks there though I havnt found any of it yet, also keep an eye out for the yellow crazy ants in the area their nasty suckers.
There are still shafts up on mt peter however they are blocked off these days so that people cant fall down them, have a talk to Gregupnorth if thats something youre thinking about I believe he has been down one or two with caving gear.
If you turn off mt peter rd onto hussey rd, theres a causeway along there might be worth a look. Lots of overburden but it gets a good flood through every so often and the creek bed changes a bit plus theres gold been found up that creek on the hillside.
Or you could just drive up to the rivers and creeks on the tablelands, theres gold all over the cairns reigon just depends how much time and effort you want to spend finding it!
Let me know if you're heading out one weekend and want someone to show you around.
TGW

 

[ianjb]

Hi tgw,

That would be great thanks. I am away in the straights until further notice but will definitely take you up on that offer. I am going to try and get out as much as possible and will put hours in as i just enjoy the great outdoors.

Seeing the shafts and imagining how much effort the old timers put into them would be unreal, I couldn't even begin to imagine the hardships they went through. I will have to bear that in mind and will possibly contact him one day.

i had some of the crazy ants last time i was there, had to keep brushing them off. Luckily i didn't get bitten, but they were very annoying.

Thanks again,
Ian

 

[The Green Wanderer]

Not a problem, see you around eventually.