something got me thinking

[Wintersnake]

Mate of mine in 1980s was running a small mine in the triangle. When he was out of water he use to get extra work with his backhoe and the dozer.

Absolutely the machines don't pay for them self sitting around rusting

 

[Wintersnake]

Onga Sta-Rite 90 GPM/3wire High-Flow Series/stainless steel abrasive water submersible. 100m head max. (330 ft)

10HP, would need to run it from a three phase diesel genny and pay sinking costs, but would do the job i reckon for a medium sized wash plant running off back into the process dam

$3500 new

Water table in a favourite area of mine 150-180ft

Sorry HTY, Im hijacking threads again aren't I?

One would think i should know the rules by now.

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/horror/best-devil-smiley-emoticon.gif

The pump it self is reasonable (90s4et model no. courtesy of my missus ), it's the bore it self that costs the coin.

Thread well and truly hi-jacked

 

[Wintersnake]

The best place to mine in victoria is clunes but you would have to drill some test holes.

TBH I haven't spent a great deal of time prospecting north of Ballarat, the one thing that puts me off Clunes is the millions of giant volcanic boulders.

 

[Goldtarget]

Have you done small (or large) scale mining WS? Often questions come up and would be great to have another experienced voice in the room.

 

[Wintersnake]

Been involved in big mining as maintenance supervisor in WA & NT, done various mobile plant sub contract jobs around the bigger Vic gold mines ie Stawell, Fosterville, Costerfield, Maldon and prior to that ran my own manufacturing company in melb for 10 years suppling BHP, Rio, etc. . Also worked for Gekko Systems for a short while building their concentrator plants and gravity CIL systems.

IMO small mining is a simpler version of large scale, less administration headaches and a lot less red tape. Broadly speaking the extraction process is the same no matter the size of the operation the difference being the lengths and expense your willing to go to get all the gold. I don't think running a small mine would be any different from running a small business.
The day I stood in a 20M deep ore chute 400m under ground looking at all the high grade I was hooked on starting or buying my own operation. Seeing the concentrate road trains roll in and out daily got me thinking there could be a $ or 2 to be made.

More than happy to help anyone out when I can. In short I'm a dual trade (yep 2 apprenticeships) Fitter/boilermaker, 25years in the trade 10 as a supervisor and 10 as a manager.

 

[Beagleboy]

Its great to have knowledgeable people on this forum with hands on experience. Thanks for sharing your knowledge Wintersnake.

 

[Hunting the yellow]

Don't forget with just a Miners Right, that you have only a very limited depth allowance of about a metre (in Victoria at least), so even with the GPZ some may be finding stuff that they shouldn't recover. Heh, heh. I tried to find the specific regulation but got lost in all the words.

Rob P.

no limit on depth m8 i checked but however the minute you start using any jack hammers or tools that are motorized for hard rock that you may run into then they get you for doing that but nothing on how deep you can go

 

[Hunting the yellow]

yeah topic has been hi jacked ok back on topic miners right and small scale mining i cant remember what we are talking about now i think ageing is getting to me

 

[PabloP]

Don't forget with just a Miners Right, that you have only a very limited depth allowance of about a metre (in Victoria at least), so even with the GPZ some may be finding stuff that they shouldn't recover. Heh, heh. I tried to find the specific regulation but got lost in all the words.

Rob P.

no limit on depth m8 i checked but however the minute you start using any jack hammers or tools that are motorized for hard rock that you may run into then they get you for doing that but nothing on how deep you can go

Thanks, I keep losing my posts, but think I know why. Someone else already picked me up on that mistake, likely mixed the rules from different states.

Rob.

 

[Hunting the yellow]

ok so about 4 weeks ago i went into dpi Melbourne and asked whats the real depth you can go on a miners right digging with just and tools like pick shovel crow bar he's reply to me was there's no real depth you can go or what you are limited to go in Victoria but you have to fill it in when your done this gos for digging long trenchers too i also asked about tunneling by hand he said there is no law against it if your using hand tools but he said he wouldn't advise doing it then i asked him my last question can you take samples out of abounded old mines he said yes under your miners right i then asked can i continue a old mine by just hand tools nothing motorized he said yes if you can dig out the solid rock by hand

i also asked how manny shafts/deep holes am i aloud to dig if it was limed or not he said no limits on how manny shafts or holes you dig but you must fill them in when done and you can't use any motorized equipment just hand tools

me and spike are planing something big stay tuned

 

[Ryan27]

ok so about 4 weeks ago i went into dpi Melbourne and asked whats the real depth you can go on a miners right digging with just and tools like pick shovel crow bar he's reply to me was there's no real depth you can go or what you are limited to go in Victoria but you have to fill it in when your done this gos for digging long trenchers too i also asked about tunneling by hand he said there is no law against it if your using hand tools but he said he wouldn't advise doing it then i asked him my last question can you take samples out of abounded old mines he said yes under your miners right i then asked can i continue a old mine by just hand tools nothing motorized he said yes if you can dig out the solid rock by hand

i also asked how manny shafts/deep holes am i aloud to dig if it was limed or not he said no limits on how manny shafts or holes you dig but you must fill them in when done and you can't use any motorized equipment just hand tools

me and spike are planing something big stay tuned

HYT,
Did you happen to get a copy of the legislation that states you must back fill using hand tools?

 

[dwt]

Question,
If a prominent business man can hire a couple of guys to sink a hole on a 45deg, down just over 20 feet, then throw in 30foot tunnel, all for a wine cellar and all of this can be done with no licensing at all, what's to stop me digging a deep hole using powerd equipment like old mate with his wine cellar.
I'm not extracting any gold whilst I dig my hole wth jackhammers and what have you, I'm just digging a hole, for no other purpose than I just had a brain fart!!! Which I cover up each night with a chunk of bizz sheet, no one falls in!
My point is, why can't I dig a hole with powerd equipment, what's wrong with a miserable little jack hammer, I mean come on!!, it's not as if I'm putting in a 50 foot TBM in the ass end of Bendigo.
Anyways, I see it as if "I'm not sinking a hole in the pursuit of gold" then a license I don't need, if I happen to find gold at the bottom of that hole, "then a license I shall get"
If it's good enough for the rich folk, then it's good enough for me!!!!!!

 

[Metamorphic]

Funny you should say that mate!

Im trying to dig a dam at my joint, keep getting it in the wrong spot.

Any advice?

 

[dwt]

Funny you should say that mate!

Im trying to dig a dam at my joint, keep getting it in the wrong spot.

Any advice?

Hmmmmm..........................Nope, just keep moving it around till ya find the perfect spot
Taken me years sometimes

 

[Wintersnake]

I'd much rather deal with DPI than Council. They may not be very bad else where but they are shocking around my area.

HTY - the info I put up was to illustrate the cost of going from hobby to small mine, which could explain why there re so few small mines in Vic. Also something to consider is the guys that go broke don't bounce back and the guys that make a mint move up to proper Mining Leases.

 

[user 4485]

Funny you should say that mate!

Im trying to dig a dam at my joint, keep getting it in the wrong spot.

Any advice?

Keep digging - you'll find the right spot soon

 

[stoyve]

Funny you should say that mate!

Im trying to dig a dam at my joint, keep getting it in the wrong spot.

Any advice?

Ha haa Meta, seems to me there's a bit that going on in the GT region mate,
Its so hard to find the right kind of clay base to holds water, I guess you just have to keep trying and trying.

 

[Hunting the yellow]

ok so about 4 weeks ago i went into dpi Melbourne and asked whats the real depth you can go on a miners right digging with just and tools like pick shovel crow bar he's reply to me was there's no real depth you can go or what you are limited to go in Victoria but you have to fill it in when your done this gos for digging long trenchers too i also asked about tunneling by hand he said there is no law against it if your using hand tools but he said he wouldn't advise doing it then i asked him my last question can you take samples out of abounded old mines he said yes under your miners right i then asked can i continue a old mine by just hand tools nothing motorized he said yes if you can dig out the solid rock by hand

i also asked how manny shafts/deep holes am i aloud to dig if it was limed or not he said no limits on how manny shafts or holes you dig but you must fill them in when done and you can't use any motorized equipment just hand tools

me and spike are planing something big stay tuned

HYT,
Did you happen to get a copy of the legislation that states you must back fill using hand tools?

not as yet but might go back to dpi soon and get the whole lot on a miners right and what you can ans can't do

 

[Hunting the yellow]

Question,
If a prominent business man can hire a couple of guys to sink a hole on a 45deg, down just over 20 feet, then throw in 30foot tunnel, all for a wine cellar and all of this can be done with no licensing at all, what's to stop me digging a deep hole using powerd equipment like old mate with his wine cellar.
I'm not extracting any gold whilst I dig my hole wth jackhammers and what have you, I'm just digging a hole, for no other purpose than I just had a brain fart!!! Which I cover up each night with a chunk of bizz sheet, no one falls in!
My point is, why can't I dig a hole with powerd equipment, what's wrong with a miserable little jack hammer, I mean come on!!, it's not as if I'm putting in a 50 foot TBM in the ass end of Bendigo.
Anyways, I see it as if "I'm not sinking a hole in the pursuit of gold" then a license I don't need, if I happen to find gold at the bottom of that hole, "then a license I shall get"
If it's good enough for the rich folk, then it's good enough for me!!!!!!

they class it as mining if you wore to do it for gold not sure about a wine cellar you may get away doing that

 

[Hunting the yellow]

Funny you should say that mate!

Im trying to dig a dam at my joint, keep getting it in the wrong spot.

Any advice?

dig deep