The Snowy River

[Paydirt]

Hi all, I've known for a while the presence of Au in the Snowy (via local knowledge and research) River system for a while now, yesterday I thought I better test it. Day didn't start well as Snowy Hydro were releasing an 'environmental flow' meaning high water levels, not deterred I did a few test pans - fluffing round rocks at the edges of the channel. I was stoked to see a speck in most pans I did -it's there all right, sweet as especially as it is only about 5kms and a short hike to the spot (pretty snakey though). Will definitely be working the area a bit more.
Question/thoughts/comments - Over the past couple of years the Snowy Hydro have been releasing environmental flows back into the river system below the Jindabyne dam (first time since dams were built). I have friends who live next to the river further downstream (below the Beloco range and above Dalgety). They say that the releases have been great in scouring out the channels that had been silting up since the dams were built. So while this cleanning of the river system is good for the fish life and great for cannoeing/navigation (we cannoed from Belocco gorge to Ironmongy in the late 2012 release - going over the Ironmongy falls wasnt so great in winter water) what has it done to the Au distribution. Anyone up to scratch on river system hydrogeology. Happy hunting to all.

 

[HeadsUp]

sounds like a good thing

if the new water flows scour out the silt it means the gold will be closer to your reach

hopefully there are plenty of crevices and rock bars to catch the gold and hold it while the silt gets carried away downstream

 

[WalnLiz]

Welcome to the forum Paydirt. Valid questions there mate and can i suggest you bring them up in the Alluvial Prospecting section as many more members will see it in there.

I'm sure you will get a lot of advice from the guys as there's a large number of experienced alluvial prospectors amongst our group.
Great to see the Snowy getting a well deserved flush, as for years the mighty river was nothing but a stagnant creek.

Best of luck with the gold and look forward to sharing the adventure amongst the threads,

Cheers Wal.

 

[Paydirt]

Cheers Wal, certainly is a great forum, love the YouTube videos.