Reedy Creek, Eldorado.

[Marked]

I had a very similar problem with the legs on my banker for it's first trip out ... to Eldorado ... as well. :/

Solved my issue by finding some dowel that was snug inside the conduit legs, cut a few Inch lengths, drilled a hole through and bolted some larger diameter flat washers to the dowel, then knocked them into the conduit. Last trip there had no issues maintaining levels. I figured by using the timber dowel, they would only get tighter while they were in use in water and I shouldn't lose them.

 

[Heatho]

The clear Reddish and yellowish stones appear to be Zircons most likely. The heavy White sand will probably be Zircon sand.

 

[docjohnson9]

The clear Reddish and yellowish stones appear to be Zircons most likely. The heavy White sand will probably be Zircon sand.

Excellent mate, cheers for shedding some light on what they may be.

 

[Heatho]

No worries Doc, if you get any decent sized ones from say half a gram or bigger and very clear they make some incredibly beautiful cut gemstones that are sure to impress.

 

[Heatho]

Here's a few I sent to Thailand for faceting.

 

[docjohnson9]

They look really good and a decent size.

I'll definitely keep my eye out for them while looking for all this tiny gold and I'll let you know how I go mate.

 

[docjohnson9]

So, I've finally managed to pan everything I brought home from my first trip out to Eldorado and also the first time using my highbanker.

Once again I must thank Wal for the highbanker plans as I seriously can't believe how well it catches the tiniest pieces of gold, unreal.

It did take a while to pan everything and to remove the gold from the sands and patience was the key. I definitely ended up with better panning skills than what I had when I started, and I'm pretty sure at the start I lost some gold over the edge. Once I get it dry I'll get it on the scales and weigh it up.

All in all I had an awesome time camping out for the night and getting stuck into feeding the beast for the first time. I can't wait to get back out there again.

 

[Brother]

Fantastic stuff, some nice pieces there! well done

 

[Dug]

Well done mate nice bits good stones too

 

[docjohnson9]

Just a reminder to newbies (like me) to not be lazy.

Since I got back from Eldorado a few weeks ago, my highbanker and equipment have been sitting in my garage and even though I've been meaning to get it out and run the hose over everything to give it a clean, I haven't.

Until this afternoon, when my parents arrived from interstate and I was showing the old boy the machine. So I thought I'd take it out the back and give it a quick clean while the old man was having a look.

When I did my final clean up on the creek, I didn't take out the piece that sits in between the mesh and the crate, just sort of held the highbanker up on an angle and ran water down it to remove the last of the material caught in the 90 angle in between mesh and crate and thought that was that.

Well... As I ran a little bit of water down her, what did I see, yep, gold. Took everything apart properly, cleaned everything into my esky, poured what was in the esky into my pan and I kid you not, there was almost the same amount of gold in there as the photo of the pan above.

I seriously could not believe it and the old mans eyes nearly popped out of his head as we both stood there in disbelief at how much gold came from so little gravel/black sand.

Anyway, stoked with the "extra" gold, remember, clean absolutely every crack, angle, corner of everything when cleaning up. I almost washed it all into the grass and am glad I just caught a glimpse of a little bit of yellow.

I'll be taking much more care next time.

 

[blisters]

In your pan of coloured goodies what is the stone down the bottom of the picture? It looks like a cube with cleavage. Jon.

 

[maxwell4]

Hi doc
would there be any point in trying a detector in the eldorado / beechworth area? Or have you seen anyone using them up there? Or is it all small stuff that you need to pan etc.

 

[Diggertom]

I've seen a couple people use detectors in eldorado off of woodshed road, a lot of people say there really isn't any big stuff here.

Heaviest piece I've found sluicing is .3 and I did find. .5 gram piece of gold slag from the old timers.

Over beech worth way and further out there may be some bigger stuff though.

Tom

 

[G0lddigg@]

ive heard similar to diggertom but i know of at least a 3 grammer being picked up and a 1.5 both in the creek

 

[maxwell4]

Thanks guys, i appreciate the info.

 

[docjohnson9]

In your pan of coloured goodies what is the stone down the bottom of the picture? It looks like a cube with cleavage. Jon.

I'm not to sure mate, don't know much about stones at all.

 

[docjohnson9]

Hi doc
would there be any point in trying a detector in the eldorado / beechworth area? Or have you seen anyone using them up there? Or is it all small stuff that you need to pan etc.

I'm glad you got some answers mate, as those who gave you answers know a lot more than I do when it comes to gold.

In my opinion though, I can't see why someone wouldn't try using a detector up in the area mate. With amount of gold that's come out of the creek, you would think that the surrounding hills, gullies, riverbanks etc would hold something.

 

[docjohnson9]

Last weekend I went back up to Reedy Creek and almost to the same spot, only 15m downstream from the above report.

After being there for a day and a half and it pretty much constantly raining, here are my takings...

 

[blisters]

That's a great looking pan you have Doc, well done. Do you know the weight of your haul?
Jon

 

[Chewy]

Very nice colour. Well done.