St Arnaud gold panning

[spikegold]

hi i live in st arnaud and have owned and sold a gpx 4500 with bugger all luck . done a tonne of reserch but still not much colour. atm i am wonderusing gold panning.ie finding a likely spot, digging, panning see what hsppend? is that right. we moved here a year ago with no colour. we live opposite new bendigo diggings. own 10 acres and want to kbow if i dig and dig on my land will i have a chance or not. i live loamers posts and his kbiw how i cqn only dream of. please anybody with st arnaud experience please pm me. i have a strong back and willing mind. i know utmmow its here but need advice. thanks.
ps homebrew for goid responses

 

[Jaros]

G'day spikegold, welcome to the forum. I presume you mean "I love loamers posts-----and his know how i can only dream of"--in your text.
Must be the auto correct--
Welcome.

 

[MJB]

G'day spikegold, welcome to the forum.

If you have a look on geovic maps you can overlay old workings and deep leads etc. Find where your block is and see if anything overlays your place....simple as that!
I have a mate with around 30 acres up there and am yet to get there for a look. I did look on Geovic about a month ago and from memory most of the leads and diggings were on the West side of town and to the north.

So how as that??? worth one of them home brews?

Cheers and good luck

 

[spikegold]

yes sorry. this phone is hard to deal with.
thanks for the welcome.
can you answer how i know i have hit bedrock. sounds easy but data specific to my area+land i cant find. new bendigi diggings specific

 

[MJB]

I'm not sure how to find out how deep the bedrock is in your spot. If your keen for a dig maybe try a hand auger in a few spots and see how deep it is and test pan what comes out. I will have a look for new Bendigo diggings and see whats there

 

[spikegold]

hahaha mjb these are special brews now. i collect all my bottles from local goldfields and re use them
i had a look a while ago on geovic but dont have adsl anymore to search.
there is shallow shafts across the road. would that indicate shallow gold? wash layer quite shallow? is that what the first old boys were after or is overburden disguising the depth? thanks

 

[Prospector B]

Spikegold, knowing when you have hit bedrock is a tough one. You will have to check the geology of your location and also read historic report to do with the diggings. Why is it tough? Well in some parts of vic you have (from the bottom up) bedrock, a layer of gravel, basalt and then more gravel with the dirt on top. Should you dig down and find the basalt you might think you have hit bedrock but the good stuff can be underneath it.

I'm working in an area like this and have read similar reports from other diggings. Someone with more knowledge in your area might be able to help, and also correct any mistakes I may have just made

 

[MJB]

I just had a look mate and the new Bendigo diggings appear to be on the North side of the Sunraysia highway. There is a creek going through it which the old lead follows and there is both deep and shallow leads running on the same course. Shallow leads can be a few feet to up to 50..it just depends. If the shafts, pits you have seen are indeed shallow then you may be in with a chance and the wash is only a few feet down. Take some samples and pan it out to see. Try the mullock but also try the creek if there is water, if not take it home to pan out. Dig a hole and sample, sample, sample

As long as those bottles are not old mercury bottles they should be pretty good for homebrew

 

[spikegold]

thanks prospector b. on our land there are bars of what appear to sandstone with quarz throughout. if i dug between the 2 bars would i assume it to be bedrock? i re read my questions and i know i have no clue. i want a clue

 

[MJB]

if there are cracks in them bars, clean em out as much as you can and see what you find

 

[spikegold]

the old bloke down the road reckons there used to be shallow diggings a over our land. i found a chinese coin few months back just in the yard.
so you generally get dirt. then clay then wash then bedrock. i think.
gotta have missed some. i will dig these asap. if no yellow im sure the goats will have fun in a new hole lol

 

[Prospector B]

I want a clue too! Getting gold is tough. Its hard to say if the sandstone is the bedrock, old reports would be your guide.

 

[MJB]

Let us know how you go spike

 

[spikegold]

i will follow this up and report all findings. will take pics too. thanks ya'll.

anyone in town. pm me. advice = homebrew
mjb has it so far

 

[gcause]

Spike welcome to the forum

If you have a creek running through your property thats the best place to start as the creek will already have eroded down to bedrock for you. It may be covered with some overburden but get yourself a yabby pump and a gold pan. The yabby pump will get you down to the bedrock or at least a lot closer to it. Then go up the creek sampling with the yabby pump into the gold pan and pan it off. Then move up the creek again a couple of metres and repeat the proces and keep going till you get to the end of the creek. When you spot some colour in your pan mark the spot somehow. Then dig a bit deeper and take some more samples from the spots you have marked. If you have bedrock crossing the creek horizontally like a natural riffle in the creek then do some crevicing and pan that soil off too.

Best of luck with it.

 

[gcause]

That quartz you mention is also interesting. Follow the quartz. It usually starts out with a small trail of quartz, usually quite white and barren looking pieces. Then the pieces may become a bit stained and bigger. You are looking for quartz that looks like a piece of cheese that has been rat eaten with lots of red iron inclusions in it. If you follow the quartz it may lead to a vein and eventually a "blow" of quartz ( a really large boulder looking formation of quartz ). If you have red soil on your property thats also a good sign iron is present. Gold and Iron go together. They say gold wheres an iron cap. Anyway follow the quartz trail.