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Post by rolley on Mar 4, 2013 12:51:08 GMT 10
I've been pondering a lot lately about where to pan and sluice. The creeks are flowing wonderfully here (too much so even at the moment!), so the time is now, before they dry up for winter. How do you go about finding a place? Besides the whole private property issue, lets leave that out.. but, do you just go to the tried and true places or do you stare at google earth for ages looking and pondering for somewhere completely new to go? And if you look for new places, what do you look for? I've been staring at a particular gorge for ages. The gorge right next to it (the one with all the stars) was very gold producing back in the day; and I've pulled out a couple of small specs of gold there lately (I'm sure this is mostly because I'm a noob, I'm sure there's more there still I just need practice at finding spots). I can't imagine the other gorge NOT having some gold deposits though.. how could these two gorges be so close, yet one have heaps of gold in it and the other one none? There must be gold there!? Do you think I should aim to get in there for a look? Anyone had a similar situation/location like this? (attaching a screenie of the map)  Attachments:
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Post by rolley on Mar 4, 2013 13:00:45 GMT 10
Also.. had a nice time panning in the main gorge on the weekend.. wasted a lot of time downstream not finding anything, came up to where the word "caledonia" is on the map and found that a huge part of the forest had been flooded and heaps of black sand dumped EVERYWHERE.. thought it'd be a good place to pan.. So we started behind big boulders, I shovelled up from the bank but didn't do any good, then moved up high on the bank where the flood water had gone in to the trees , the ground was covered by inches of black sand and mud behind boulders.. I found a few specs but had to leave cuz we ran out of time. Does it sound like the right sort of place though? I'd like to go back and try the same spot a bit more thoroughly. In gorges like these, do most people head upstream, or downstream? Those big 90deg corners look like a good place to head to for some test panning, am I thinking in the right direction? And what about the huge area dumped with black sand, is that a sign of a slowing current and probably a good place to pan too?  Always lots of questions!  Attachments:
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Post by rolley on Mar 4, 2013 13:02:26 GMT 10
Here's the last pic, sorry I can't figure out how to embed them Does this look like a likely spot do you think? Up high on the bank behind some boulders, would you dig in to the churned mud there, or in the soil surrounding?  Attachments:
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Post by labrador on Mar 4, 2013 15:36:17 GMT 10
Rolley,
Looking at your pic, you can almost smell the stuff, I like the busy Bee spot, for no better resion than I like bees, and as in fishing to what collour lure to use ? There is a system called LOAMING, could be spellet rong, it is a method of sampling, Where is Donnybrook when you need him, he seems to have a handle on these things. Goggle LOAMING, It is very time consuming, but they say it will get results.
I know a few spots where there is no gold, I am hoping to stumble on to some one day, my self, befor going blind from staring at google earth, pondering the same question
Good Luck
Labrador
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Post by rolley on Mar 4, 2013 16:17:44 GMT 10
HAHA great to know I'm not a lone google-earth starer then! loaming ey? hmmmm OKAY! I'll start reading tonight!!!! Thanks Lab! |
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Post by donnybrook on Mar 4, 2013 16:19:32 GMT 10
Labrador, Could have found Lassiters Reef? A lot of black sand and little gold??? Could be silver which is found in the oxide form(black) in Australia. Smelting the stuff just use normal flux but add flour (carbon) to it. Remove the magnetics first. The spot could be anywhere. It looked like the Megalong Valley in the Blue Mountains?? donny |
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Post by labrador on Mar 4, 2013 18:38:10 GMT 10
Donny, I am tipping, Rolley, is a barnna bender by the way he dots his i 's and his countary has that look about it. And how come you know so mutch about chemistry, what did you do in your spare time from looking for gems and the like.
I would be happy to find black sand.
always greatfull for your wisdom
Lab
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Post by rolley on Mar 4, 2013 20:19:06 GMT 10
HAHA what the heck is a barnna bender?! lol!!  Okay urban dictionary to the rescue (banana!). Yep, but maybe mangos instead of bananas, I do live in Qld So yeah, those gorges Donny are on the outskirts of Bouldercombe, not the good old blue mountains. It's possible there's a bit of silver in the soil but it's almost entirely magnetic so .. perhaps not. Funny stuff. Lots of minerals in the area, lots. What ya say about the look of the area though? See that pic of the boulder with the mud and the black sand, is that the sort of place I'd best be scooping up from to test pan? Gotta get me that Loaming book in the meantime hehe. |
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reg
Panner
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Post by reg on Mar 4, 2013 20:44:53 GMT 10
gday rolly
head to canoona and check out any breakaway gullys on inside bends you wont get rich but nearly always get colour.
cheers reg
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Post by rolley on Mar 4, 2013 20:55:00 GMT 10
gday Reg! ohh I went up that way but all I got was a few dirt roads that went to properties with the old KEEP OUT sign and closed gates. Then I went down the other road towards canoona itself but it was flooded so couldn't drive. Had a little look in the bush near the highway there, there's some weird tailing piles where an old mine used to be.. I think its iron or lead or something, metal detector goes nuts a mile from it, its all little matt black pallets, with tons of flecks of shiny pryrite in I nearly mistook for gold. Very interesting |
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Post by labrador on Mar 4, 2013 21:16:32 GMT 10
Hi Rolley,
Good you worked out the Banana thing, I would use the spell check but if I cant spell it first go, how do I pick the right one on the checker, Have a read up on the Lila Jean mine, and the others in that place. I am sure your in the right spot, and the gold in that earia came from some where close by, Accordig to that loaming system, it might get richer or petter out to nothing, if it is close to your home and you dont have to travel, I would be persisting around that place, It looks good there.
Labrador
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Post by donnybrook on Mar 5, 2013 8:34:39 GMT 10
Lab I have been involved with the hobby for over 50 years. Got the gold bug when I was about 7. Got ripped off big time one day and then decided to teach myself refining etc. Had a mineral Lease once worth $268 million over three years. Got ripped off again. Today its worth 2.4 billion but I'm not going down that path again. Gold can be associated with your black sands. It could be micro fine gold and I table and use the CLS Process. Silver is black in Australia its in an oxide form. Not sure whether we have true Native Silver in Australia?? Would not like to say we didn't because others out there might know something different. I like the oxide form. The chemistry part of it I use on an American Gold Forum. Same user name. Its an interesting hobby. Sounds like an interesting area up there. Good place to put some Corduroy Strakes in.
donny
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Post by don076 on Mar 7, 2013 13:47:45 GMT 10
hi i just want to put one thing in, im in the northern rivers and went panning between floods! seems every week at the moment the rivers break their banks.
i went out drake way looking for places to sample. was heading to a certain place but not being there before and the rain comming i pulled over and tried tee tree creek. i got colour! silver i think! 3 flakes! but one peice is still attached to some rock. it looks cool and is silver looking. never found silver before but read that sliver can be found around there along with copper and gold.
the two flakes they confuse me as they are silver on one side and black looking on the other. any ideas if it is silver or god knows what. i doubt it is tin but i really arnt sure.
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Post by rolley on Mar 8, 2013 8:56:23 GMT 10
Hey Don, sounds interesting.. you panned much gold before? I'm still very very inexperienced but I've found a few tiny pieces so far, at first I mistook a lot of other things for gold, thinking that they seemed really heavy and were with heavy black sand in my pan.. but after I found some proper pieces I realised how much heavier again gold is, it can literally sit still while everything else washes away, and its always on the dead bottom. As for silver.. its quite a bit lighter than gold, and copper is much lighter again than silver.. so I'm not sure where it'd sit in the pan.. apparently its quite uncommon to find natural raw silver. Pryite can be silvery depending on what elements are in it. The piece attached to the rock, what's that look like, does it look crystal-like or blobby? Actually, I started a different thread on this topic, post some pics in there and see if people can help you ID it.. its the thread called Identifying gold, pyrite, mica and more or something like that  |
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Post by deepbeep on Mar 8, 2013 9:31:52 GMT 10
Hi all I have often been greeted with the sight of heavy silver colored specks and small specie's in my gold pan. Was once told by a geologist that this silver mineral was in fact silver Turn's out to be mercury coated gold If you look at your black sands from these spots under magnification 8 times out of ten you will see tiny beads of discolored mercury Keep digging in these spots   |
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