Southern Highlands NSW

[Red Gweilo]

Hi all

I'm down to the Southern Highlands for a weekend organised by my dear wife. I thought I'd take the SDC2300 and have a swing whilst down there. We're staying in Canyonleigh, which seems to have no history of gold.

So I thought I'd look up the geology around there, and then compare it to the geology at some of NSW's main gold sites - Hill End/Sofala, Nundle, Tuena, Mongalowe etc.

There was a pattern of gold occurring in mostly Devonian rocks - 359-491million years old. That led me to focus upon some likely sites to explore...if I can find some Crown Land.

My workings are in the attached PDF...but just wondering if I've been a little basic and naive...obviously gold-bearing geology won't be everywhere that's "purple" (Devonian) on the maps...but have I narrowed down areas to search logically? (The bottom line: data pointed to the upper Wollondilly River.)

Many thanks for your advice.

Red

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/doc/member-docs/6734/1452850347_geology_analysis_canyonleigh_dc-red.pdf

 

[Guest]

G'day RG,

Bit late on a Friday night to be trying to get my head around this area. I study the 1:2500 scans. I use http://www.geoscience.gov.au... The sedimentary rocks ( SS and DUs ) are where I'd be looking. The map you have doesn't show fault lines on it, so its a bit hit and miss. For me it would be a recon mission to get my head around the area. Not sure of your knowledge of it all, but you need some sort of fracturing/fault to form the gold. I see that there is conglomerate as well. Conglomerate is good for gold, where I look any way.

Sorry for the inconclusive observation, But I gotta hit the sack.

Good luck mate.

 

[Red Gweilo]

Hi NeoGeo

Thanks so much for getting back so late on a Friday. A fantastic tip that I should have thought of...it's stepped things up a gear.

When you look at the map around Moss Vale/Canyonleigh...no faults lines to speak of...so where could the molten quartz and/or gold-bearing rock solidify?

When you look at Sofala - it's riddled with fault lines...the most prominent being around Big Oakey...which is where the most gold was pulled:

Also, I'm not entirely certain which is the conglomorate (sedimentary?) rock in that top map...nowhere obvious to prospect is jumping out at me.

Thanks again, Neo...really brought things to another level.