Is it worth detecting around old reef gold mines

[1964kombi]

Hi Could anyone advise me if it is worth detecting around old reef mines ? would there be any nugget size gold or would it all be too fine or enclosed in rock
Thanks Richard

 

[Ben78]

The reef miners were chasing quartz seams with visible gold. Visible gold is pretty much going to be detectable. I've heard of battery stampers being clogged with gold from reef mines and needed to be pulled down to continue stamping. Go your hardest!

 

[AU Fever]

Hey Richard, welcome to the forum. From your handle can I call you "split windscreen"? (Vee dub enthusiasts will know what I mean )

Ya never know ya luck around old reef mines. A lot probably depends on how far away the water was too. If water was close, or there was a race, there's a fair chance it was worked pretty well and whatever the Europeans missed the Chinese probably cleaned up.
If water was only seasonal the old timers may have not fully processed the material or the Chinese couldn't re-process the tailings. The mine may have also been abandoned if it wasn't paying well.

You may save yourself some time by researching the mine site before you try it. The DPI website has a lot of info on old mine sites and whether or not they paid well or not.

Hope this helps....

Au

 

[Willo]

The other thing to keep an eye on is rocks or material that may have been accidentally dropped on route to a processing point. Worth running your coil over these!

 

[Dogmatic]

And the dream lives on

 

[echidnadigger]

I would just like to draw you a picture of how some reef mines were found in the first place. The old timers would work their way up creek beds panning the creek for gold. When they found it they kept following it up stream until it stopped. Once it stopped they would back up and then follow the gold up hill by testing the ground up the slopes finding the direction of the run of gold from the source above. Surfacing these areas often produced a lot of gold. However the gold in its nature was traveling from its source via gravity toward the lowest point. That source was often a reef above all the gold already found. This type of mining often found a reef that was still shedding gold from its original source. This is were a claim would be pegged and mining would start. So the answer to your question is. Yes there is a possibility of great finds in the area that this reef was shedding gold. A detector is just a modern way of loaming for gold like the old blokes did.

 

[WalnLiz]

Hit the nail square on the head there Digger.

Cheers Wal.

 

[garnethawkins]

I would just like to draw you a picture of how some reef mines were found in the first place. The old timers would work their way up creek beds panning the creek for gold. When they found it they kept following it up stream until it stopped. Once it stopped they would back up and then follow the gold up hill by testing the ground up the slopes finding the direction of the run of gold from the source above. Surfacing these areas often produced a lot of gold. However the gold in its nature was traveling from its source via gravity toward the lowest point. That source was often a reef above all the gold already found. This type of mining often found a reef that was still shedding gold from its original source. This is were a claim would be pegged and mining would start. So the answer to your question is. Yes there is a possibility of great finds in the area that this reef was shedding gold. A detector is just a modern way of loaming for gold like the old blokes did.

This is some top information,
A- because i have always wondered how the old timers figured out where to dig and
B- because I happen to know of TWO reef mines very nearby neither of which are far from creeks...
Guess my season isn't over after all

 

[1964kombi]

Thank you all for your replies . I am new to detecting and this has been all good advice . And yes AU you can call me split windscreen . And for those that dont know what we are talking about , I have a 1964 splitscreen VW kombi.

 

[Guest]

Yep - got a nice quartz/gold specimen today right near an old reef mining area.

 

[Guest]

Bit of a hurry with the first post but here's some pic's -

General area looking back up to my ute

Typical mullock heap

Quartz gone

The little find

After a quick clean

 

[Heatho]

Nice speci for a cold Winters day.

 

[Guest]

Yeah - found it within 15-20 mins of leaving the car & thought this is looking good but alas spent about the next hour digging up boot tacks, nails, lead shot etc. before I had to get going. Could be a good spot with some more time to burn?

 

[headbut]

nice one mbasko

 

[backcreek]

mbasco,
Did you get that with the GMT?
Can you remember what your settings were?
I have hit a similar area with my GMT and got a lot of rubbish but no gold as yet.

Cheers
Mick

 

[Guest]

Mick - was with the GMT & have sent a PM.

 

[echidnadigger]

Nothing can add to a post like this one better than the proof.
Well done and thanks for the pictures. They add a sense of realism to what has been discussed.

 

[Stinky Pete]

Hi
I've picked up plenty of nice speci's in these quartz reef areas, and also some nice nuggets that have been missed over the years.

The VLF machines generally run well in these areas , and they manage to pick up speci's that the 5000 can't see.

Have found some nice chunks of quartz with the 5000 that sing with no visible yellow.

Only to reveal 2-3 grams when Broken up

Good luck

Regards Stinky

 

[Nic103]

Looks like a good spot!

 

[froghoppers]

Great information mbasko. We're always on the lookout for helpful information - thanks