Where to detect for Eluvial gold!

[Reddogg_69]

HI ALL

Great help reading all this stuff a big thanks there...
In relation to my post yesterday, all these gully start on or near the top of jump ups (hills) I stumbled across them looking for runs of gold from Deep Leads on the slopes always working around the hills from the flats up toward the peak...

"Hi guys I'm on to some old mines scattered across a district and every gully has had its gravels worked down to the clay on the uphill side of each shaft!
My Q? is this are these vertical shafts at each gully a gold source or water well dug to obtain water for processing the gravels... interestingly enough they were listed as mine shafts with the Dept of Mines, but every shaft is on the lower side of the workings????
What is going on here as the shaft to the source is always mostly been on the high end of such workings???
Confused!!!!"

Thanks again any theories would be a great help there's gold there I know it I'm missing something key here though... I'm stumped!

Regards,

Reddogg.

 

[Metamorphic]

HI ALL

Great help reading all this stuff a big thanks there...
In relation to my post yesterday, all these gully start on or near the top of jump ups (hills) I stumbled across them looking for runs of gold from Deep Leads on the slopes always working around the hills from the flats up toward the peak...

"Hi guys I'm on to some old mines scattered across a district and every gully has had its gravels worked down to the clay on the uphill side of each shaft!
My Q? is this are these vertical shafts at each gully a gold source or water well dug to obtain water for processing the gravels... interestingly enough they were listed as mine shafts with the Dept of Mines, but every shaft is on the lower side of the workings????
What is going on here as the shaft to the source is always mostly been on the high end of such workings???
Confused!!!!"

Thanks again any theories would be a great help there's gold there I know it I'm missing something key here though... I'm stumped!

Regards,

Reddogg.

The old timers never dug shafts purely for the purpose of obtaining water (dams made much more sense effort wise), but rather to get below the water table into the Secondary Enrichment area's.

Having said this, they never wasted water and pumped out any amounts they came across in this process to utilize in washing the Alluvial pay dirt.

Its my guess these shafts you speak of 'below' the alluvial workings have been sunk next to the 'richest' alluvial gully diggings specifically with this intention in mind.

 

[grubstake]

...I'm on to some old mines scattered across a district and every gully has had its gravels worked down to the clay on the uphill side of each shaft!

If the surface diggings finished on clay, that's not bedrock, it's likely what's called a 'false bottom'. The old timers would have sunk their shafts in search of possible deeper false bottom layers and eventual true bottom on the underlying bedrock. It's possible to have multiple layers of payable alluvial gravel stacked like a layer cake, with barren ground interleaving and the bedrock true bottom usually being the richest.

 

[Jon]

Hi Metamorphic. Yes you can track out or weaken a target signal by repeated sweeps in tracking, mostly the weak iffy ones. Best to, hear a target and if you are not sure then just to the side a bit do a balance but not right next to the target signal or on it, if its still there dig and check it out. Id only do a couple of sweeps max. No point in going over it a dozen times wondering. Short repeated sweeps over a weak target multiple times is a no no in tracking. That go's for VLF or PI.
Had a mate who used to sweep over and over a target about a dozen or more times. Id watch and think "sheesh, id have dug it up by now", he'd still be there wondering and id say "for crying out loud, dig it up already". It was like trying to teach a rock to drive a car, a waste of time.

 

[Metamorphic]

If the surface diggings finished on clay, that's not bedrock, it's likely what's called a 'false bottom'. The old timers would have sunk their shafts in search of possible deeper false bottom layers and eventual true bottom on the underlying bedrock. It's possible to have multiple layers of payable alluvial gravel stacked like a layer cake, with barren ground interleaving and the bedrock true bottom usually being the richest.

There are a few types of true bottoms dependent on ground conditions.

Its all not purely Bedrock as you will mostly find in alluvial stream beds.......above the water tables there are slate bottoms, clay bottoms, sandstone bottoms, granite bottoms etc, anything that wont let the specific gravity of gold pass down any further is considered a true bottom.

On approaching the bottom of whatever sort, it is important to test your depth of the washdirt and classify to pan it accordingly.

Where there is 'cement' lodged on the bottom, its most likely that payable gold will adhere to this, and 'black gold' must importantly be looked for.

Be careful if your not using a detector to scan as it can easily be mistaken for worthless ironstone because of its reddish tinge.

Its caught me out before

 

[Moneybox]

Spot on loamer! A good mindset to have mate.

I too have nearly walked away from small pieces because of that exact same thing.

About a year ago, I dug up a beautiful small 1.73 grammer that gave me an 'Iron grunt' on my GMT.....It wasn't a consistent grunt, nor was it a solid signal till I got an inch or two deeper, but the experience spun my head a bit.
I remember taking a step or two away to head off after a light scraping with my boot thinking "Nah", something made me turn 180 and sweep that boot scrap one more time. I'm glad I did.
i wont trust discrimination ever again.

Besides, most junk is only shallow and its not a lot of real effort to unearth disappointment hey.
Most times its gone with the 'boot scrape' anyway.

The fact that the Old Timers sometimes hid their gold, buried in old jam tins to avoid bushrangers is haunting and for whatever reason, sometimes they never returned.
Imagine walking away from something like that thinking you know what the signal is telling you?

http://i62.tinypic.com/10op2eb.jpg

Regards

When I'm fossicking through old ruins I fantasise about dragging one of these out from a loose brick

 

[lucky streak]

Hi guys I have a teknetice g2 and I find this metal detector one of the best give accurate readings now just need to find the right place to hunt any good areas around maryborough or dunolly or tarnagulla I should try any help will do and what to look for

 

[Paydirt]

Throw a dart at a map

 

[Metamorphic]

Hi guys I have a teknetice g2 and I find this metal detector one of the best give accurate readings now just need to find the right place to hunt any good areas around maryborough or dunolly or tarnagulla I should try any help will do and what to look for

Hi Lucky Streak, mate anywhere within these area's will pretty much do as paydirt says!

Look for spots where the ground is more shallow with plenty of quartz and ironstone cap rock about and you should be right.

Refer to the first post in this thread also, for any idea's.

Cheers

 

[docjohnson9]

Absolutely fantastic thread, especially for a newbie like me.

It's always good to hear others tips and tricks.

 

[Sachabill]

Metamorphic ! The information is Very helpful and important... thank you for sharing

 

[dwt]

HI ALL

Great help reading all this stuff a big thanks there...
In relation to my post yesterday, all these gully start on or near the top of jump ups (hills) I stumbled across them looking for runs of gold from Deep Leads on the slopes always working around the hills from the flats up toward the peak...

"Hi guys I'm on to some old mines scattered across a district and every gully has had its gravels worked down to the clay on the uphill side of each shaft!
My Q? is this are these vertical shafts at each gully a gold source or water well dug to obtain water for processing the gravels... interestingly enough they were listed as mine shafts with the Dept of Mines, but every shaft is on the lower side of the workings????
What is going on here as the shaft to the source is always mostly been on the high end of such workings???
Confused!!!!"

Thanks again any theories would be a great help there's gold there I know it I'm missing something key here though... I'm stumped!

Regards,

Reddogg.

The old timers never dug shafts purely for the purpose of obtaining water (dams made much more sense effort wise), but rather to get below the water table into the Secondary Enrichment area's.

Having said this, they never wasted water and pumped out any amounts they came across in this process to utilize in washing the Alluvial pay dirt.

Its my guess these shafts you speak of 'below' the alluvial workings have been sunk next to the 'richest' alluvial gully diggings specifically with this intention in mind.

1930, Notes written by Bill Weatherall.
"I dug a hole down 24 feet before striking a good line of wash about two feet thick. I thought the wash would extend the whole width of the shaft and keep going down the gully, but it turned out to be a narrow band across the centre and instead of going strait down the gully, it went crossways. It was a narrow strip and hard to follow, especially as we only had candle light. We eventually came to a big layer of clay without any wash in it. It did not seem to go anywhere. We stockpiled what we thought was lesser dirt on either side of it. After 6weeks we were not doing well, I went back thinking I was missing something, scraped over the bottom hoping some gold had been missed only to uncover a strip of cracked pipe clay with lines of gold all through it"

 

[Metamorphic]

Nice find there dwt....

Yes, the sinking of shafts is simply a means to an end. They only sunk to get to where the gold was, usually following a leader. This included the true bottoms and deeply dipping reefs etc.

After reaching these area's, driving was the name of the game as more prospecting (shifting of material) could be done more easily, with more men!

It was often said that the rock was of a softer and more friable nature 10 or 15 feet down, than that near the surface.

In the early first days of the rush (1850's), pipe clay was often overlooked and tossed aside due to lack of experience as most believed the gold was only held in the rock!

 

[bushpig]

Great thread and excellent for a newbie like me with limited knowledge with access to old workings few can go.

 

[Sachabill]

A good dig... you are lucky... 8)

 

[Ivo]

Great read thanks guys