Quartz in creeks, What to look for?

[willo1]

Hi everyone, went for a drive with a mate today in search of some old mines. We found the creeks that we were looking for but did not find the mines. This was mostly due to time constraints and we could only stay out there for a couple of hours. Anyway, the creeks that we were walking along had heaps of quartz in it, from small pieces as big as your thumb nail to rocks as big as ya head. There was bright white quartz, cloudy looking quartz and heavily mineralised quartz. Knowing that there are at least three old mines along these creeks, would this amount of quartz in the creek be a good sign that the gold has washed down as well??? I brought home a piece of the mineralised quartz and broke it up. Not knowing too much about rocks, it had heaps of mineralisation that looked like rust. Is this a good sign???
Jason

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Did you do any ssmpling in the creek? That is the best way to see if gold is there or not

 

[willo1]

We didn't take anything with us. We were trying to find this mine that is one of the only horizontal mines in the area. Suppose to be worth the effort...if only we could find it....

 

[nuggetino]

Gold is super rare and quartz is super abundant. I'd say the chances of gold being in that creek based on quartz or igneous rocks are always going to be slim. I'd say take some samples and pan those out to see what's about. Research the best places to collect your samples in the creek system and get to work. Hope you come up good or stumble upon the elusive mine

 

[Teemore]

Interesting looking country.
If there was mining in the area then there may also have been earlier alluvial gold recovered from the area, research will give you the info.
Suggest moving a bit of rock and digging into some of the deeper gravel and try panning that off (still home).
If you find traces or small specks return and dig deeper or look for some crevices.
Good luck Tom

 

[Twapster]

Looks like a gold area to me!

 

[willo1]

Thanks for the advice. The whole area is well known for gold. Its out the back of Nerrigundah on NSW south coast. The mines that I have been searching for are well hidden these days but I will eventually find them.....I hope. There are three of them along the creek that we were walking.
There is a lot of protruding bedrock along the creek bed and from what I could see plenty of crevices to have a look at. Just need to find time to get back out there.
Jason.

 

[rc62burke]

IMHO
You should always take enough gear to do a sample while you are out there as if you do not find what you are looking for your time is not totally wasted.
Lee

 

[willo1]

Thanks Lee, being a rookie at prospecting I am learning something every time I go out. Lesson for this adventure....Take samples....

 

[goldminer997]

Hi jason there is some good gold that way in nerrigundah deep ground find the bedrock line and dig down to bottom it out and take a lot of samples along the crevice line then see what you come up with when panning out. last time down there there the ticks were bad and i hate the leaches .that were around
good luck happy hunting

 

[willo1]

Thanks Goldminer, we must have hit it on a good day, only saw one black snake, one leach and no ticks anywhere. There were plenty of deep water pools along the creek, many waist deep and deeper. We started out fighting our way along the edge of the creek through the brush but ended up just walking straight up the middle of the creek. Being a 35c day the water was refreshing.
Talking to a lot of the locals and old timers who use to prospect out that way, they reckon there is more gold out there than you can poke a stick at. It has taken a while to get some of the info out of them though. They don't like strangers out that way much....lol.

 

[Village]

G day will

Can't tell a lot from the photo's, but what I can see is what your looking at is more a scree deposit then alluvial. Scree is generally from land slip, and this is determined by the heavy angular facets of the rocks. It would appear that rocks in photo have not travelled far at all. This is either that the elevation your currently at may be too high or your actually standing in the down hill remnants of the mullocks. The area of Nerrigundah is really classified as part of the shoal haven field deemed to be one of Australia's best, best as one or two of the mines in their time were producing at 24 ounces per ton, nice hey.

If your looking for the mines trace evidence will lead you there, and don't be tunnelled vision in what your looking for. Yes they did employ drives and adits in the area, but a high ratio of mines in the area were hydraulically sluiced, that is with water monitors. I have included a couple of photos just to help you along the way.

So when your walking through the scrub you may along this type of feature, this is a water race that was employed in the area to carry water to the mine site.

Eventually you may come across this, this is a mine site the was mined through hydraulic sluicing

And this, oh this one is now barren in the face, but a close up of the hydraulically sluiced face.

As the rest of the boys have said, I would sample the area, but don't get to disheartened if the results aren't what your looking for, you may be closer then your disheartened heart may realise.

John

 

[casper]

Not so much what to look for but what is nice to find in the vicinity of your chosen stream is ......

Casper