top layer of alluvial gold - Oallen Ford

[GoldenRivett]

Was out at Oallen (Shoalhaven River) Ford a few months ago. The top 5cm under the scree still had a dark, almost muddy tinge. All the fine gold was in this. Going deeper only a: took effort, b: was sandy red, c: had b@gger all gold in it. Good bloke Dan who was working along side reminded me this was alluvial gold and we both saved a lot of wasted time by only working what the recent floods had dropped for us to find. Found a thin nugget about the size of a match head - looked HUGE in the sluice and was the biggest anyone got in two days. Lesson - look before digging a big hole!

 

[EVIE/BEE]

I did the same in 1985 before the new road crossing went in. A piece the size of a grain of wheat.

 

[churner]

Congrats, that's a great find!

Walnliz has posted up some great info about the area and he strongly suggests not worth going under 40cm of burden.

Apparently it's all flour gold there so most gold will be in the top surface loose dirt.

Did you sluice up under the bridge or head down the river and setup on the side?

 

[shivan]

Nice sized bit for out that way.
I found that whilst some bigger bits can be found a bit deeper, it is easier to just work the top layer, the gold is finer but there is more of it.
Test areas before you commit to digging as 5-10 meters in one direction can make a huge difference to what sort of show you get.

 

[backcreek]

Nice sized bit for out that way.
I found that whilst some bigger bits can be found a bit deeper, it is easier to just work the top layer, the gold is finer but there is more of it.
Test areas before you commit to digging as 5-10 meters in one direction can make a huge difference to what sort of show you get.

Hay Ian, how ya going? We both know about digging in the right place at Oallen.