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Im New
Nov 9, 2008 18:23:59 GMT 10
Post by oraravalley on Nov 9, 2008 18:23:59 GMT 10
Hi all im new to the site.Im from west of Coffs Harbour in the "unknown" goldfields of the glenreagh/eastern dorrigo. A few years ago i was taken by a friend into these unknown areas for some seeking,although i had very little success my friend had some decent results previously.I never ventured back as i became addicted to sapphires and found these alot easier to obtain But now the interest has returned but also has my problem...lack of information about these fields.It seems these places dont have much info at all except for whats found in the mine data books which are helpful but i want more,i like reading history and there seems to be very lacking for here.If anyone knows/has info on this area and is willing to share that would be much appreciated. BTW,thanx for having me and am looking for to chatting to you all Warren
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Im New
Nov 9, 2008 18:27:58 GMT 10
Post by jasonb on Nov 9, 2008 18:27:58 GMT 10
hi mate and welcome ,,these are a nice bunch of guys and gals {not sure of the last one }and there really really helpful,,,
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Im New
Nov 9, 2008 19:02:02 GMT 10
Post by madtuna on Nov 9, 2008 19:02:02 GMT 10
Hi Warren and welcome! I was doing some googling the other day and found some info on the fields in your area. Probably stuff you've already known but I'll do my best to find it again and pass it on incase it's new info to you
cheers, Steve
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Im New
Nov 9, 2008 19:39:43 GMT 10
Post by MrsFly on Nov 9, 2008 19:39:43 GMT 10
Hi Warren,
Welcome to the mad house.
Here's a little something to keep you going. If you need any more let us know.
Cheers Mrs Fly
ARMIDALE.1 DISTRICT
Armidale is a city of about 11,000 population, and is located 354 miles north of Sydney via the New England Highway. The distance by rail is 360 miles.
Gold. Fossicking ground occurs at Puddledock, Cameron's Creek, Tilbuster, Armidale Gully and elsewhere, and a deep lead has been worked at Brooklyn. There has been some reef mining near Tilbuster, where the principal mine was the Great Britain. At Rockvale there is a fissure reef in granite formerly worked as the Phoenix Mine. A feature of this mine is the long continuous extent of surface working.
Minerals. Two miles easterly from Rockvale is the Tulloch Silver Mine. A narrow quartz calcite vein near the granite contact carries very rich silver values. A little further east, on Lamb's Valley Creek, a large quantity of arsenic ore was mined. To the south in this same locality is the old Ruby Silver Mine which produced substantial quantities of silver ore about the turn of the century. A silver lead ore body of milling grade was developed in the Endeavour Mine at Tait's Gully, Tilbuster and in the adjoining Mary Ann mine.
At and near Booroolong, 28 miles north westerly from Armidale, low grade molybdenite deposits of considerable extent have been prospected. Similar deposits occur at Laura Creek, 9 miles from Booroolong.
A manganese deposit is located at Castle Doyle, 6 miles from Armidale, and this mineral has been found at several other places in the district.
BALLINA.1 DISTRICT
Ballina is situated on the North Coast at the mouth of the Richmond River, and is 517 miles north of Sydney via the Pacific Highway. The population is about 4000.
Gold. Some fine gold is associated with heavy mineral sands in old strandline deposits behind the beach near the mouth of the Richmond River and in places was of payable value.
Minerals. Important beach sand deposits containing rutile zircon, ilmenite and monazite are worked along the coast in this district Other valuable minerals including platinum and tin may occur in very small quantity in the heavy mineral Principal centres of activity have been at Byron Bay, Lennox Head and Evans Head. A diatomite deposit is known at Tintenbar.
Gemstones. A transparent variety of precious opal occurring as nodules from pea to walnut size is found in the soil weathered from a volcanic rock at Tintenbar. At Teven similar opal occurs filling cavities in volcanic rock. The Tintenbar deposits are occasionally fossicked.
COFF’S HARBOUR.1 DISTRICT
Coff's Harbour is on the Pacific Highway 393 miles by road and 378 miles by rail north of Sydney. The population is about 8000.
Gold. At Nana Creek good results came from crushings at the Beacon Mine in the early days. The Illabo and Matilda Hill were also in this locality. Other gold producing centres were at Upper and Lower Bucca, Orara, Tallewadjah Creek, Coramba, Karangi and Moleton. Both copper and gold were present in the Mount Brown and Mount Bischoff Mines near Coramba.
Minerals. Rutile and zircon sands occur along the coast in this district and have been mined at several places including Coff's Harbour and Woolgoolga. Coal is mined near Nymboida.
DORRIGO.1 DISTRICT
Dorrigo is 403 miles by road and 448 miles by rail north of Sydney. The population is about 1200.
Gold. Both reef and alluvial gold have been prospected at many points in this district notably on the Blick's River and Sheep Station Creek near Tyringham, at Cloud's Creek, Blackbull Creek, Bobo and along the Nymboida River. High level, gravels carrying lean gold values occur beneath basalt near Tyringham.
Minerals. Arsenical pyrites, copper pyrites, galena, molybdenite and bismuth have been found in the vicinity of Tyringham and the Guy Fawkes River, and antimony ores have been mined near Ebor.
Two veins of hematite iron ore occur 5 miles north west of Cascade.
DRAKE.1 DISTRICT
Drake is 512 miles north of Sydney by road. The population is about 100.
Gold. The old diggings of Tooloom, Pretty Gully, Lunatic and Macleod's Creek are in this district. Pretty Gully is 14 miles from Drake and the depth of sinking here is generally less than eighteen feet. Goldbearing drift covered by basalt occupies a mountain range near the Clarence River and extends along the northern side of Pretty Gully for about four miles. At least two old river drifts occur beneath the basalt. Gullies in the steep sides of the range have yielded rich narrow runs of alluvial gold. This gold probably derives from the old drifts as no reefs are known about here. Paddy's Flat on the Upper Clarence was a well known alluvial locality.
Gold was produced at a number of mines near Drake including the Adeline, All Nations, Barker's, Beagley's, Great Northern, Kelly's, Red Rock, Kyogle, Lady Hampden, Lady Jersey, Mascotte, Mount Carrington, Mount Pleasant, Pioneer, Sawpit Gully and White Rock. A number of reefs including the Perseverance, Caledonian, and Golden Crown gave some good crushings at Lunatic.
Minerals. In many of the mines listed above the gold bearing oxidised zone gave way to sulphides bearing silver, lead, copper and other metals and this type of ore was mined with varying degrees of success. Other deposits containing copper, zinc and gold occur 10 miles north west of Drake.
The Boorook silver field is about 12 miles north west of Drake. The best producer was the Golden Age where rich silver ores also contained a valuable gold content. Addison's Reef and many others were worked for silver at Boorook.
Antimony ores are known from between Lunatic and Pretty Gully and these are generally gold bearing. Near the former locality there is also an occurrence of molybdenite.
Siliceous iron ores occur near Tabulam.
MACKSVILLE.1 DISTRICT
Macksville is located on the Pacific Highway 336 miles north of Sydney. The rail distance is 34:3 miles and population is about 2200.
Gold. The Deep Creek or Valla Mine, 5 miles south of Urunga produced a fair amount of gold but the later operations were directed to the recovery of arsenic.
Minerals. Antimony has been won from Taylor's Arm, Bowraville, Buccra Bendinni and other places between Bellingen and the head of the Nambucca River. The ore occurs as irregular lenses in narrow, well defined fissure reefs in altered shales and sandstones.
High grade silver ore has been prospected near Macksville and molybdenite has been mined at Way Way Creek to the east of Warrell Creek. The molybdenite is of fine specimen quality but appears to be largely confined to the faces only of joints in granite. A felspar deposit is recorded from near Nambucca.
The coastal sand accumulations in this district, have been tested for rutile and zircon content
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Im New
Nov 9, 2008 20:10:16 GMT 10
Post by pickenshovel on Nov 9, 2008 20:10:16 GMT 10
hi warren im from coffs what is it you wanted to know, maybe i can help , duno what your after though, theres a few blokes around the area that know alot about the mining that went on in the area , its amazing what you learn by talking to people , steve
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Im New
Nov 10, 2008 6:02:08 GMT 10
Post by pickenshovel on Nov 10, 2008 6:02:08 GMT 10
warren, there is actually a fair bit of written history about the local mining in the area , a good starting place is to get a copy of the book written by george robb its called georges gold mine , its got some interesting stuff, theres also alot of information that can be found on individual mines of the area from the old exploration records , i find these venture off into telling stories about the area and the people that used to work these mines , it takes alot of research to find some of this stuff but its really interesting stuff steve
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Im New
Nov 10, 2008 6:31:07 GMT 10
Post by bunyip on Nov 10, 2008 6:31:07 GMT 10
Also give this site a go for your research warren,just fill in the location box and check what info you request on the righ side column.cheers..Bunyip digsopen.minerals.nsw.gov.au/
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stew
Panner
Posts: 37
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Im New
Nov 10, 2008 7:30:28 GMT 10
Post by stew on Nov 10, 2008 7:30:28 GMT 10
Hi Warren, We have just moved from Glenreagh to Woolgoolga and have done a fair bit of scratching around up there particularly Tallawudjah area. I am going back up there the weekend after next if you are interested. I have also herd that the Clay gully road area shows promise. Get yourself copies of the topographical maps Glenreagh 9437-1N and Moleton 9437-1S
Regards Stew
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Im New
Nov 10, 2008 10:10:41 GMT 10
Post by oraravalley on Nov 10, 2008 10:10:41 GMT 10
Hi all.Thanx for the replies. Pickenshovel...have tried for the last 2 weeks to obtain a copy of georgesmine/eastern dorrigo without any success.Library has a copy and wont lend it anymore so i guess im going to photocopy it.It was that book a few years ago which lead me into having a look for the gold.What im looking for are some areas out the back of glenreagh that show promise for sluicing.I know of a few of the old mines around coramba and a friend had a property that was site of an old stamper battery.Looking for alluvial deposits that are accessable. Stew...am waiting for a mine data book so i can plot on those 2 maps.Have been out to Clay Gully,that was where my mate took me,it aint called clay gully for nothing,road was pretty ordinary so would be inpassable after rain .He also said a couple of areas are worth exploring further along kangaroo road,guess i need to explore them.What is tullawadjah creek like?have you checked out behind woolgoolga?Would like to meet up that weekend except im heading out to Glen Innes for a dig Definitley soon though Warren
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Im New
Nov 10, 2008 10:52:15 GMT 10
Post by Andy on Nov 10, 2008 10:52:15 GMT 10
G'day Warren. Welcome to the group.
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Im New
Nov 10, 2008 13:07:04 GMT 10
Post by darylr on Nov 10, 2008 13:07:04 GMT 10
Hi Warren,
Welcome to the site. I am from the Coffs area also originally from Dorrigo.
Lot of history of mining in the area. Internet is full of info if you have the time & patience to dig deep.
I remember listening to stories from my Grandfather when I was very young, as he and his mates discussed the merits of various spots throughout Eastern Dorrigo.
I don't get out very often but enjoy the bush when I can.
regards
Darylr
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Im New
Nov 10, 2008 14:40:55 GMT 10
Post by oraravalley on Nov 10, 2008 14:40:55 GMT 10
im all goggled out at the moment but still not finding enough info.Does anyone know of any books besides the before mentioned georges gold and the eastern dorrigo that has some history of these fields?
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Im New
Nov 10, 2008 14:58:41 GMT 10
Post by crowbar on Nov 10, 2008 14:58:41 GMT 10
;D Howdy all I am also new to the group, but was a member of the old MSN site. I do it all High-banking, Panning, Detecting & Relic Hunting. Crowbar.
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Im New
Nov 11, 2008 7:14:56 GMT 10
Post by pickenshovel on Nov 11, 2008 7:14:56 GMT 10
im suprised at the amount of coffs guys we have here , we'll have to organise our own group trip , warren you can still get a copy of the goerges gold mine book out at the mine even though its closed ( except for group trips ) they still live out there , i think a copy ( edition 2 ) costs about $15and last time i went out there they had lots, they still leave the gates open so peeps can picnic up at the lookout , very nice people ,also they can tell you about lots of gr8 places to pan up there . the mine data book is gr8 for co-ordiates to plot on your maps its alot of work and they can be a few hundred metres off but it gets you close to find the mines with a bit of hunting , sure is fun steve
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stew
Panner
Posts: 37
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Im New
Nov 11, 2008 15:57:20 GMT 10
Post by stew on Nov 11, 2008 15:57:20 GMT 10
Steve, count me in for a trip also we have known george and nola for about 40+ years they are both fighting cancer and are quite ill at the moment we will be going to see them soon also coffs liberary has a book on Woolgoolga that has a heap of info in it. cheers stew
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