Mullock heaps, worth a look?

[Pauly]

Hi all

Just wondering if anybody has ever turned over a mullock heap and processed the dirt?

I cant help but wonder if its worth setting up next to a mullock heap and running the whole heap through a high banker or panners mate. You would think the old fellas might have missed some of the gold especially the small stuff.

 

[Goldrocs]

Pauly it is worth your time processing old mullock heaps as they still contain small gold and even
sub gram nuggets the the old timers have thrown out of the hole,i have dryblowen a few mullock heaps
around the tuena area and found gold.
Good luck Cheers GR....

 

[Ben78]

Yep!

[video=480,360]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mULT3rkuCy8[/video]

 

[Pauly]

I think thats going to be my next trip, nundle mullock heaps. Im thinking if I set up next to the heap with a recirculating set up and just run the whole heap through it and see how I go. Cant be much worse than just digging down the river.

 

[WalnLiz]

Certainly worth it Pauly. Hit quote button accidentally.....but as below.

 

[WalnLiz]

Certainly worth it Pauly. If you learn to pick the right mullock heaps you can sometimes get a lot more than in the creeks. One occasion comes to mind when we found 4 small nuggets with the detector in the one mullock, High in the Vic Alps.

I set the banker up next to it and washed 14 grams out of 1 1/2 cu mtrs. The larger cobbles at the base of the mullock still had clay attached and the mullock had a lot of small clay balls through it.

A lot of the old timers were in a rush to hit bottom and in the rich leads plenty was sacrificed to get to the mother load. That's why so many nuggets are detected from the heaps as well. Learn to look for and identify clay or decomposed bedrock in the mullock.

Cheers Wal,

 

[Colin&Lee]

Just spent two hours today doing exactly that well worth it

Cheers

C&L

 

[Pauly]

Thanks guys. Ive looked at plenty and thought no head down but I think it makes sense especially as the old timers couldnt really set up recirculating systems so pretty much the stuff in the heap hasnt been washed. Plenty of the ones Ive seen at bingarra and nundle look old so I will give it a go while the girls go detecting.

 

[Ben78]

Hey Pauly, the alluvial mullocks along creeks might not be very good as they were washed. Everything is worth a sample shot though!

 

[Pauly]

Im looking at the ones that are about 50 or 100 metres up from the river, or would they have been washed also?

 

[Diggerdude]

If the dirt is still next to the hole it hasn't been washed, if it had been washed it would be in the creek.

DD

 

[Colin&Lee]

As they say one mans trash
.6 of a gram for a couple of hours with the banker

Cheers

C&L

 

[Pauly]

Nice work

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Nice result. how much went through the banker?

 

[Colin&Lee]

Hey TT,

Not to sure mate just a guess maybe 2 cubic metres

Cheers

C&L

 

[Sw1fty]

Correct me if I'm wrong; If in doubt loam it?

 

[Ben78]

If the dirt is still next to the hole it hasn't been washed, if it had been washed it would be in the creek.

DD

DD I was under the impression that the water was redirected to be sluiced at the source, and as they moved up the creek they backfilled with mullock coming off the sluice?

Pauly, I sent you a PM

 

[Digger Danny]

I know I am talking on a much larger scale however there were very big mullock heaps all around
Charters Towers until 1988, I think they were all gone by 1992. They used the carbon in pulp method
to reprocess the whole lot. They were not wasting their time and would not be doing it for nothing. I
wish I had an interest in finding gold then. It would of also of been good if PA was around then. Come to
think of it after living there for 7 years I never seen anybody with a detector, I must of been blind :lol: