Porters Retreat

[Chiron52]

Scans of photos taken back in the 1980's around Porters Retreat.
Back then it was common to see holes up to 12' deep in the creek bed with pumps removing the water from the holes.
Plenty of good sapphires came out of those deep holes. :Y:
Also, around this time, it was not uncommon to see dredges being used in the creeks. (even in public fossicking areas - which was a no-no back then)

Yes, that's me in the hole.

Again, sorry for the quality - no digital cameras back then.
Dave.

 

[Lefty]

Looks like you're an old hand at chasing the sapphires Dave?

 

[Chiron52]

Done a bit sapphire'n over the years Lefty.
Sure wish I had done more of it though.
Cheers.

 

[Wally69]

Ahhh.......that explains why I felt I was scratching the surface of preworked ground. I think I found a few chips that you missed arty:

What was your recollection on the size and clarity of the good old days ? I think some of the blues I have found there are the most amazingly clear and bright stones I have ever seen. Just a shame I havent found a decent cutter up there......yet.

 

[Chiron52]

Mate, my recollections of Sapphire Bend were mostly about finding lots of small chips rather than good stones.
My friends and I did much better at Porters Retreat, but PR has been turned over so much through the years, it is now a tough place to find anything.
That's probably because it is such a small area.
I've always thought the stones from PR were better than SB and many of the partie colours from PR were really awesome.

 

[Chiron52]

FYI. A note about Porters Retreat -
There is a small stream at PR that runs down the hill into Retreat River, called "Running Stream" (duh!)
I have looked in that stream many times over the years and not found a thing.
Yet the whole area around the river has sapphires.
See my (rough) map below -

Lt Blue shade = fossicking area.
Brown shade = private property.
* All areas east of Abercrombie Rd are private property.

 

[Nicko98]

Ive pottered around in the running stream creek a bit but never found anything either.
Theres a few very likely looking bends and bits of bedrock along it, but Ive never come up with something for my efforts there!

 

[Conan]

I know the area down from the intersection of running stream and retreat river was stripped down to bedrock back in the 70's. I remember as a lad seeing the old PMG machines that would have pumped the water out. There was a wire fence line that went across the retreat river and these works were over that side. My old man and his mate sunk a 6 foot hole near the intersection in the 70's and were hampered by a big boulder. They got spooked when it started to rain as the river started to rise and the hole was filling up fast and they bailed. Unfortunately for them some other guy went in this hole before it filled up with water, scraped around the base of the boulder and jagged a 60 carat blue green clear sapphire. The old man saw it and said it was the size of your thumb. ] . He kicked himself for years for not hanging around to finishe what he started.

 

[Nicko98]

Sorry, Conan, do you mean on the bridge side of the intersection or the side on private property that was stripped to bedrock?

 

[Chiron52]

Over the years I've seen some very deep holes in and around that part of the river.
It used to be easier digging back in the day when you could use a pump to get out the water seeping into the hole. (see the last 2 pics)
Don't know how we could do it (legally) these days. :/

 

[Eldorado]

If the pump isn't connected to a highbanker it wouldn't be illegal to pump the water out would it?

 

[Conan]

The intersection of running stream and retreat river. Downstream from there.

 

[jimnyjerry]

Stream and river were running well on Friday.

Was great to see some photos of what the area looked like :Y:

 

[Chiron52]

The intersection of running stream and retreat river. Downstream from there.

The area downstream from the intersection with Retreat River is fenced off, it's private property.
The signs say so.

 

[Chiron52]

If the pump isn't connected to a highbanker it wouldn't be illegal to pump the water out would it?

I believe it to be illegal in NSW to use pumps of any type when fossicking. :N:

 

[Eldorado]

Fair enough.

 

[Digginholes]

Last I checked it stated no use of pumps for excavation or processing dont say anything about water transfer so maybe its ok

 

[Conan]

If the pump isn't connected to a highbanker it wouldn't be illegal to pump the water out would it?

I believe it to be illegal in NSW to use pumps of any type when fossicking. :N:

I was referring to the 1970's that the river downstream was stripped to bedrock.

 

[Aquamarine1969]

Hi
Regarding Porter's retreat where running stream enters retreat river I was there a couple of years ago and walked up the Hill a little and some of the dry ground was exposed with small boulders of quartz.

I took a few buckets of dirt to the river and got a few very small gold pickers.
Does anyone know if that exposed dirt and quartz on the Hill is unworked virgin ground or would the quartz have been dredged up from the river by old miner's?

Any help much appreciated. I'm just curious.
Cheers

 

[Chiron52]

Hi
Regarding Porter's retreat where running stream enters retreat river I was there a couple of years ago and walked up the Hill a little and some of the dry ground was exposed with small boulders of quartz.

I took a few buckets of dirt to the river and got a few very small gold pickers.
Does anyone know if that exposed dirt and quartz on the Hill is unworked virgin ground or would the quartz have been dredged up from the river by old miner's?

Any help much appreciated. I'm just curious.
Cheers

G'day Aquamarine,
I was told (from a few sources) many years ago, that the area around PR was once mined for gold.
Also that the Chinese miners had worked there back in the day too.
If all the above is true, most of the gold would be gone, but as is usually the case in areas previously mined, there would is still be a few specks waiting to be found.
Good luck looking for the yellow mate. But don't forget the PR sapphires. :Y: