After many years of reading tales of Tibooburra, my wife & I found time this year to visit & get a better understanding of early gold mining in that area. Actually having just returned a fortnight ago we were actually glad to get home after our winter hiatus. The first few days were warm & sunny but then the cold that pervaded the interior hit, & days were still sunny but the wind was cold. Nonetheless we worked ,or tried to work out where the gold might be & for the next week finally we had to admit defeat. No gold for us. Probably like most goldfields it takes time to work out which way is up, Tibooburra on the other hand for us had no way up. Seemingly thousands of acres of ironstone & quartz everywhere & interesting looking gullies, & dry blow mounds give a feeling of hope to prospectors to work harder & smarter for a sight of colour but alas. The 4500 with a 12 inch evo coil I thought might be the wonder wand, its seen some tiny gold here in the triangle, but several coil changes & settings were to of no avail. The go-to machine is the 2300 up that way, I don't own one -yet! Alas we conceded defeat & went sight seeing, out to the dog fence & the corner store where we drank coffy with the dog fence repairer & dingo trapper who had some interesting tales to tell, especially about the backpackers!! I won't go there!
All in all we had an enjoyable time except for the Melbourne temperature weather we endured, & moved further North only to have the Melbourne temperature weather follow us everywhere. Might as well be home , so that's what we did. Have any members been up that way? Is there a secret to reading the ground I didn't think of? I know a tight group stay up there for three months or so who couldn't or wouldn't hang around if they weren't getting gold, [ not this black duck & his pick carrier its barrenness & starkness is not comfortable for a lengthy stay]. Our excuse to be in the bush is gold detecting, & its got to be enjoyable enough to sit out in the bush & boil the billy & listen to the birds, & take it all in, when the gold is being uncooperative.
So, who has got gold up there, & what's the secret?? Let's hear what I didn't learn. Dave..