Latest Gold trip progress

[Goldtarget]

Set off yesterday (day later than expected) ahead of the other support vehicle with a quick one hour (after setting up rock walls and digging some buckets) sluicing session at Eldorado. Crazy tin levels, smaller garnets and the obligatory small fines. Ran the two different McKirk sluices side by side still good flows although less than a month or so ago.

The dig unearthed some slightly bigger bodied gold, only a few small pieces, but with more dimension than the flat tiny flour gold typical of the area. Pretty impressed as we were downstream of Chinese gardens, just past the large sweeping bend. Picked up a t shirt for the nephew, but as we had another 600+km ahead of us we left before seeing the dredge. More than likely we will call in there Tuesday to deepen that hole and take a few photos of the dredge.

We forged ahead through to Corryong where a big molybdenum deposit has been found by a mining company and then into Jindebyne, through dalgety, (gold areas) but no time to stop, and a possibility for return places. As the day was approaching is end with the exploits of the aussie cricketers being dissected we made Bombala for supplies and fuel.

A few conversations with local knowledge pointed out likely broad areas, quidong, Bendoc, Delegate, and some others closer to the coast. As the sun dipped and temperature dropped we arrived at our camp for the night greeted by homemade lasagne. Swags were setup, the spoils from the day were shown around and stories recounted. Trips like this always remind me how beautiful our lands are.

So plans have been discussed and made and hopefully some more gold will be had. The morning light showed faces with far less enthusiasm than last night but breakfast has been had and dreams of golden pans are still at the forefront. I'll get some pics up tonight or tomorrow.

 

[stoyve]

I love nothing better than a road trip in our amazing country.
Soak up every minute and make those special moments your happy place.
Keep us posted and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
Cheers Steve

 

[Jaros]

Enjoy every second of your trip Goldtarget. It will go faster than you think. I still get the feelings of when We went around Australia in 2007 for 10 weeks. I visualise the places as they pop up in news bulletins and remember what the places were like, the smell the weather the people---i love travelling the country with a lot of non main road travel thrown in.
Cheers, remember every second , it will be with you forever.
Jaros

 

[dwt]

Awesome GT, keep em coming mate

 

[Goldtarget]

Gee the days have flown by... I'll try and sort out a proper story line after we get fed tonight. On a hot tip we got some NSW gold sapphires and relics. I want to do it all justice so I'll check back in later with a progress report and the plan for tomorrow. Hoo Roo.

 

[joe]

Gee the days have flown by... I'll try and sort out a proper story line after we get fed tonight. On a hot tip we got some NSW gold sapphires and relics. I want to do it all justice so I'll check back in later with a progress report and the plan for tomorrow. Hoo Roo.

Hi GT, I like the sound of gold sapphires I've only found a few over the last couple of years.

 

[Goldtarget]

Day 2 included family commitments, and I was obliged to keep things low key. During the course of the day I visited two water courses in the general area that had activity over a century ago.
I made my way up and downstream in the first, found some of the most magnificent natural riffle sections made of slate intrusion running across the river, donned the waders and panned every likely depression. Mesmerized I watched the vortexes picking up the lights and washing them around and around in the clarity of the snowy waters, a beautiful sight. Alas after trying the head waters, gravel bars and where to rivers joined I gave up with only a few tiny speckles.

Lunch and the obligatory backyard cricket session came and went and I ventured further to the second water course. Local history suggests the river was worked as far back as the 18 70s and as far as I can tell they took the lot haha. We puddled some nice slatey clays but failed to find anything. Bendoc River where it crosses into the town ship was declared a bust. Gathering around we decided on the next days adventure at the historic Park. Tomorrow we would visit the Delegate diversion tunnel, a feat which much be seen to understand the magnitude of what was accomplished, and then to the vic star mine. We checked out the old stamper and made our way back to base camp, defeated but hopeful. Highlights were a cameo by my daughter and the spread at lunch, possibly the two wickets in 3 balls taking my uncles scalp (ex A grade legend) followed by my niece who despite her young age and gender was smashing boundaries off even some of the most accomplished bowling.

Stamper at Bendoc Historic Park, next to Bendoc River.

Map at Bendoc. Here the diversion tunnel is clearly marked.

 

[Goldtarget]

The adult contingent had a merry night and awoke the next morning with sore heads and elevated BAC readings. As the sun rose higher and the temp shot up from single figures heading toward mid thirties votes were cast and tallied and I was the only adult still willing to go out. I hadn't enjoyed the merriment as they had and was keen as a blowfly on a humid day, so I got out early with the kid and daughter in tow to get to the tunnel. Now those with local knowledge sat at home nursing hangovers whilst I fumbled through Bush land going where no two wheeled vehicle should go. I dry bogged the ute twice before turning tail, and in returning to more civilized tracks came across a lyre bird, stunning bird and seldom seen, making my day.

I attempted walking in following the stream but the kids protests got the better of me. Jumping back in the car we took to the main road again and less than 1/2 km further along we spot a huge tourist sign and an arrow for the tunnel. Feeling pretty stupid we headed down the bush track and to the car park where there was a wonderful sign put up by parks giving an overview. The tracks to each side a very accessible and graduated for just about anyone to tackle. Walkways are there at the bottoms that provide a good view. Basically they (Noone really is sure who for certain) Drilled/dug/blasted a tunnel through a rocky outcrop to divert the Delegate river under the mountainside so the river bed could be accessed to collect the alluvial deposits. This pic might explain the situation better.

 

[Goldtarget]

I took a couple of pics from both sides to help show the tunnel.

ENTRY side.

ENTRY side again.

EXIT side. Note you can see the entry hole in this pic.

EXIT side shot from upstream looking downstream. The exit is to the left of this pic.

 

[Goldtarget]

The kids were far more interested in skimming rocks and looking around for me to get the waders on to go and check out the horse shoe shape of the dry river bed, so I joined in their antics and fun. It was hot and I had a bit of a splash around whilst they had a poke around. Eventually I got them in the ute and went a bit further downstream. Following a couple of fallen trees down I descended the steep slope pan in hand. I waded around in the gully and a couple of quick successful pans later I pushed my way through the shrubs only to stumble dropping the pan and snuffer in the river !!!!

By the time I got my balance both had dispersed to parts unknown and I realistically had no way of tracking them down. I had a very small amount of hard won gold and two great pieces of kit disappear. Shattered I got up the hill only to get laughed at by one and frowned at by the other. Bendoc area had not been kind.

We returned to town and went out toward Clarkeville to see vic star mine. It's a large area with some very deep exposed holes so treading carefully is good practice. After looking at the mullock heaps, costeans and one large shaft ( not sure of the location of the main shaft but the deepest one would have been less than 25 m deep) and dodging jumping jacks that seemed to be every where we turned we said goodbye to Bendoc, and its history. I'm sure I will go back one day in the future armed with a better understanding of the general area ( I'm omitting some of the things I discovered! ) and more than likely no children to really delve into what this out of the way area has to offer. DEPI has a outpost here but being the weekend I expected it to be closed any ways but perhaps helpful if anyone intends to visit the area.

I called upon some of my research and hot tips and contacted a guy only 2 hours away who gave directions to a little known sapphire location access via private property. The last part of the day I travelled to see him and try my luck. A couple of blue tiny rocks later under great guidance my day had turned around. There were no keepers but I will return again for a longer stay next time. My newest prospecting connection gave me a hot tip for gold and drew a mud map. I went back to base camp happy and optimistic. I went to sleep very late dreaming of big nuggets and brilliant blue stones!

 

[joe]

Great write up GT , thanks for sharing

 

[Goldtarget]

We packed up camp and with the weather threatening had some hard decisions. It was bucketing down about an hour into the trip, and the storms turned electrical. Steadfastly we continued on following our new map overlayed on a road map. Now I'm sure this map was drawn with the best recollection but as happens there where a few omissions and some extra that for the life of me I couldn't follow. Phone reception was pretty patchy so taking the general area into account we winged it.

I'd rather not tell all and sundry exactly where we went but we ended up at the head waters of a river about 45 mins drive from Cooma. This river intersects another larger River and is probably a feeder course. The hillsides had the familiar quartz outcropping and looked similar to gold country closer to home. We sampled a few spots, gravel bars and hard pack cobbles, with mixed results but gold all the same. I took to some of the washout guttering and also picked up some small flakes, undeniably the area was gold bearing. The strange part is I have never heard it mentioned before.

We went back into town and tried following the river, evidently it can become a raging torrent, massive trees and limbs bunched up on the pylons and banks. Again we panned the bars with small flake and fines coming out in the top layers. A local had approached and was checking up on us and saying hello ( as happens in every small town). He gave us a quick overview having been a local farmer all his life and telling us the gold history as it had been told to him. From his account I'm guessing the Chinese discovered what we did that gold was in the river but patchy and fine mostly and although not difficult to dig and access, held less promise than alot of other areas. The farmer gave us permission to access his section of the river and offered a hand to dig. He wanted to see what if anything came out. I took him up on the offer, strong bonds are often formed through chance meetings and we traveled upstream once more.

We unpacked the Highbanker and set up on a large cobble bar and test panned the guttering where the big cobbles arranged in a strong line and where I thought some better gold might be had. We got flakes and fines again but more of them. Our new friend impressed, we put the banker to work.

 

[Goldtarget]

We had two cleanups and the first was better than the second. I offered up the first one to the farmer as a gesture of goodwill, and a token of what was in his back yard. The weather that had been terrible all day turned again and a wet electrical storm wad fast approaching. Hurrying the second cleanup proved to be the downfall, we were getting in each others way so I got the little bloke to start taking what he could carry up the bank whilst I finished the cleanup. All told we got around 100 decent flakes and a few chunky pieces. It started pouring so I grabbed the pump and ran to put it on the ute and returned for the Highbanker. On the run I bolted down the bank half drenched and Thunder over head. Rushed I scrambled to pick up the banker and get it to the ute. In my haste I had left the little blokes snuffer on the tray and put the bankers feet square on it. The top popped off, and although realizing my mistake watched it unfold helplessly.

I scooped it up and attached the top, threw it in the cab with a pan and tied my straps. The rain got heavier and we made for higher ground. I was soaked had to toe. We parked up on the sealed side street and assessed the damage. We still had about a third of what we got in the 2nd clean up. After my disappointment had reached a level I could inwardly deal with we made tracks. The going was wet and tough and once more we arrived in Cooma. I'll try and get a pic up of the gold later today.

 

[Goldtarget]

We stopped for an hour as I pondered going over the big Hill and going to the cafe for a bite. We headed off and as luck would have it we got to the NP and things cleared considerably. We stopped at Kiandra for a selfie a ritual every year for me, and proceeded across the top. Talbingo Hill became wet and awkward for driving and the run to tumut was lined both sides by 100s of kangaroos. We crawled along into town and although keen to get to Adelong stopped for night. Motel beds instead of swags and a nice hot long shower was a welcome change.

 

[ChrisM]

Thats just the greatest story GT.
Thanks for sharing. Cant wait for the next installment

 

[Tathradj]

If you remember the lay out of the Star Mine,
When you come of the road at the site,
To your right against the bank of the road was the stamper battery. Gone now.
As you walk straight down to the mullock pile there is a small ring of rocks.
it is a Chinamans grave.
The main mine is now but a small depression full of weeds.
There are still some miners trapped in the bottom level. While the Star mine was going deeper, All the other mines shut down hence the water table built up. Part of the wall blew out trapping and killing 16 Miners I was told. They are still down there as it was too deep back in those days to get them out. (800 feet).
Of to your right again you can see a couple of patch's of white round dirt. This may have been removed by now but that is where the cyanide pits were.
The whole area is now very dangerous with under ground stopes collapsing and they are not shallow either.
Back it the late 1980's I detected the mullock heap with a few small bits found.
A lot of it has now been removed and used as road base.
A very historical area.

 

[dwt]

We stopped for an hour as I pondered going over the big Hill and going to the cafe for a bite. We headed off and as luck would have it we got to the NP and things cleared considerably. We stopped at Kiandra for a selfie a ritual every year for me, and proceeded across the top. Talbingo Hill became wet and awkward for driving and the run to tumut was lined both sides by 100s of kangaroos. We crawled along into town and although keen to get to Adelong stopped for night. Motel beds instead of swags and a nice hot long shower was a welcome change.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/2152/1419282939_img_20141222_202831.jpg

Couple of dodgy looking characters in this pick :lol:, goodluck gents, and a awesome read, thanks GT, feels like I'm on the trip with ya's

 

[Goldtarget]

Finally home after what seemed like a marathon. A quick morning cruise from tumut we got to Adelong in what seemed like a blink. On the west side are well preserved historical sites, again from times gone past, our forefathers built an amazing array of gold processing means. Cut into the granite hillside the industrious men built a gold mill to process the quartz crush from the surrounding mine sites. There are many boards explaining the layout and processes, and is a credit to those who have elected to preserve the site. Large boardwalks take you right alongside the river and site.

After 2 hours had flown by (I love investigating the old sites) we headed back a little closer to town to see if we could get a dig in. Truth be told it was hot humid and putting on the waders was not really what I wanted to do. Gold will make you do strange things. Talking to some of the locals (whose backyards are hard up against the river bank) everyone seemed to have a different spot to try. Luckless pan after pan had me scratching my head. After an hour or so of flapping around as bad luck would have it, my actions had managed to upset one of the locals. He was pretty vocal about his disgust and before things turned ugly I took leave of the river.

If I was in one of my local haunts I would have taken a different tact but interstate and not really knowing who I was dealing with I left it be. Real adelong gold was not to be this time around. I called a friend of a friend for some private access to a spot in the local area but couldn't get an answer. Slightly disheartened I left wondering what might be.

EAST side of site

WEST side of site

 

[Goldtarget]

Next stop Eldorado (again). Coming in Beechworth end we checked out the falls but for some reason I didn't take a pic. I think you could spend more than the 20 mins we did up that end but the little guy and I were keen for some certain gold so we test panned a couple of upstream sites. I spent a far bit of time wading up and down and having a look for future trips. McKirk sluices out we were enjoying the sunshine and some color. I kept thinking of the spot we were in a few days ago and we headed off downstream.

I decided to give the highbanking one last shot and a couple of hours quickly disappeared. Cleanup was not amazing but plenty of black sands and small garnets. The diamonds and sapphires had again eluded us. The digging was easy but my back was telling me we were close to quitting. I packed the gear for the last time after shooting a quick video of the dig.

As promised I travelled into the town and headed out to the west Dredge bound. I knew the little bloke would impressed I certainly was the first time and still am. As we drove up I reflected on all we had seen and even though some works have been done to preserve it much more really should be done.

 

[Goldtarget]

As the nephew flew down the hill onto the bridge into the dredge deck I paused at the info boards. He called out to me to catch up and I went on deck. It's a massive piece of engineering and equipment. What a site it must have been when it was going. We marveled at its production values and took a walk around. Of course we got some more pics. It's definitely a to do site.

To give another sense of the size and workings here is the info from a couple of the many boards. Impressive stuff.