Winburndale Rivulet in Sunny Corner

[zedman]

Hi everyone, what a fabulous day to be out fossicking. I've just arrived back from a day on the Winburndale Rivulet at Sunny Corner State Forest. I'd like to get your perspective and opinion. I'll qualify all this with the fact i'm a complete newbie, so i'm probably doing something tragically wrong - so please be gentle. Anyhoo... so this was visit number three - been there for the past three weekends. Not near the where Kirkconnell Creek joins Winburndale (along Macabees Rd) but about 1.5km further downstream. Each pan i'm getting about 1 or 2 specs. I'm following the standard tips - classifying (down to 8 mesh), targetting inside of bends of the creek where the gravels have dropped, digging around the downstream side of large rocks & boulders, digging out the gravels in the parrallel channels in the bed rock, digging out the gravels at the base of downstream sloping bedrock, targetting the lowest depressions/pools in the creek, etc - yes, i've watched a billion YouTube vidoes (is it obvious?). Anyway, i would have thought my hit rate would be a little better, either larger than a spec or more volume. Have I set my expections way too high or is this part of the Winburndale just barren? I'm keen to get your thoughts, and suggestions for improvement - whether different locatons I could try (doesn't have to be Sunny Corner - that's just convenient to Katoomba where I live) or maybe different tips I could try. Cheers.

 

[user 4485]

Not too sure about Winburndale as it's not mentioned a lot. Most seem to head for Mitchell's Creek.
There's a fair bit of info on Sunny Corner on the forum.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/search/596633/?q=Sunny+corner&c[title_only]=1&o=relevance

 

[astro77]

Sunny corner is heavily worked by weekend prospectors coming from Sydney. Every crevice has been done to death and since its higher up stream it doesn't seem to replenish as well as some other areas for example lower on the turon. 2 specks per pan tells you there is gold in the river but you need to move to find it! personally I've never had much luck at Sunny corner. The Winburndale rivlet has been much better for me on the lower side (after the dam) and closer to turondale road etc.

 

[astro77]

Hi everyone, what a fabulous day to be out fossicking. I've just arrived back from a day on the Winburndale Rivulet at Sunny Corner State Forest. I'd like to get your perspective and opinion. I'll qualify all this with the fact i'm a complete newbie, so i'm probably doing something tragically wrong - so please be gentle. Anyhoo... so this was visit number three - been there for the past three weekends. Not near the where Kirkconnell Creek joins Winburndale (along Macabees Rd) but about 1.5km further downstream. Each pan i'm getting about 1 or 2 specs. I'm following the standard tips - classifying (down to 8 mesh), targetting inside of bends of the creek where the gravels have dropped, digging around the downstream side of large rocks & boulders, digging out the gravels in the parrallel channels in the bed rock, digging out the gravels at the base of downstream sloping bedrock, targetting the lowest depressions/pools in the creek, etc - yes, i've watched a billion YouTube vidoes (is it obvious?). Anyway, i would have thought my hit rate would be a little better, either larger than a spec or more volume. Have I set my expections way too high or is this part of the Winburndale just barren? I'm keen to get your thoughts, and suggestions for improvement - whether different locatons I could try (doesn't have to be Sunny Corner - that's just convenient to Katoomba where I live) or maybe different tips I could try. Cheers.

I was at the lower part of Winburndale Rivlet a couple of days ago. Here's what I found:

 

[sunbaker]

Hi everyone, what a fabulous day to be out fossicking. I've just arrived back from a day on the Winburndale Rivulet at Sunny Corner State Forest. I'd like to get your perspective and opinion. I'll qualify all this with the fact i'm a complete newbie, so i'm probably doing something tragically wrong - so please be gentle. Anyhoo... so this was visit number three - been there for the past three weekends. Not near the where Kirkconnell Creek joins Winburndale (along Macabees Rd) but about 1.5km further downstream. Each pan i'm getting about 1 or 2 specs. I'm following the standard tips - classifying (down to 8 mesh), targetting inside of bends of the creek where the gravels have dropped, digging around the downstream side of large rocks & boulders, digging out the gravels in the parrallel channels in the bed rock, digging out the gravels at the base of downstream sloping bedrock, targetting the lowest depressions/pools in the creek, etc - yes, i've watched a billion YouTube vidoes (is it obvious?). Anyway, i would have thought my hit rate would be a little better, either larger than a spec or more volume. Have I set my expections way too high or is this part of the Winburndale just barren? I'm keen to get your thoughts, and suggestions for improvement - whether different locatons I could try (doesn't have to be Sunny Corner - that's just convenient to Katoomba where I live) or maybe different tips I could try. Cheers.

Three more prospecting trips than me.
Thanks for narrowing down the area, makes it easier for prospectors to gain actual feedback.
You see the "I was in Sunny Corner last weekend".
That narrows it down to Sunny Corner, no real help at all.
I'm from the Gong and this would be driveable for a "day out" prospecting.
Winter is coming and I think I would be more comfortable in cooler weather.
Looking forward to your updates, already the tips from actual prospectors are being posted.
Thanks.