Capertee river

Last week I spent couple days prospecting for gems and gold on upper reaches of Capertee river. Except few very small zircon I haven't found anything. Although I still got bucket of concentrate to pan. Historical records from this area indicate that gold and diamonds had been found in the river.
Anyone tried there and with what results.
Karl

Yes it is a promising read Karl. You don't here about some of these places too much do you.-not eneough anyway.
Jaros

Hey Karl,

Do you mean Capertee or Carpertee?

If Capertee - i have done some small amount of work there - I found very small amounts of Gold but nothing to write home about.

Jukey.

Capertee river, bloody auto correct. Sorry about that.
Karl

Airly mt has an old deep lead that leeched the gold, diamonds and sapphires into the valley below.
My research on the DIGS website indicates that these deep leads flowed in a different direction to the current Capertee river. It flowed in the direction across the road closest to the mountain.
Living close by I have had this area on my "to do" list for awhile. I look forward to hear from others who have prospected this area.

Airy Mt. Is about 12 km downstream from where I was. I have cleaned two pans from the cons I bought home this avo. Got 3 spec of gold and very small green sapphire. I'm actually pleased that I have found few specs of gold, because people who live there recon there is no gold at all there.
Karl

Found this info a while ago but never got down there. Not as promising as places closer to home.

http://www.treasureenterprises.com/gold%20prospecting%20information/gold_prospecting_locations_new%20south%20wales.htm said:

CAPERTREE (sic):Records show that good gold was obtained from the Capertree River especially if the river is dry (water can be obtained a few feet down). At Blackfellows Ring, at the junction of Bogee and Oakey Creeks, and at the Nuggety and Sandy Gullies, in the Capertree Valley, coarse, water worn gold has been found. One nugget found at Sandys Gully weighed 30 ounces.

Click to expand...

Capertree should be Capertee in the above & Bogie I think should be Bogee Nile Creek which junctions with Teatree Creek to form the Capertee River. Teatree junctions with the Brymair Creek further up.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/18649003

Col Ribaux "the diamond miner":
http://caperteevalleyalliance.blogs...tter-from-col-ribaux-miner-geologist.html?m=1

Capertree/Bogie amended to Capertee/Bogee-Jaros

I've never tried up there Karl, I found the info Mbasko posted quite a while back and have been intrigued ever since. Especially the Col Ribaux blog I found very interesting, sounds like a real interesting fellow. I think Mt Airly is National Park now unfortunately. I thought it was great that Mr Ribaux dug the Gold miners tailings for a lot of his Diamonds, built a lot of the machinery he used and bulldozed a track to the top of the Mesa, very enterprising man.

There are some 4x4 vids on youtube of 4x4 driving up there, the "Juuasic Park" section looks exactly like dinosaurs would not be out of place there.

Someone found a 20kg lump in the Capertee River in the old days also.

I used to have access to properties at Dunville Loop just up the road in my younger days, not sure if the people still live there or not. Were a lot of interesting volcanic rocks and very Iron stained Quartz on the properties I'd shoot on.

Very interesting area Capertee considering the Turon starts near there also and has a documented Ruby deposit near it's headwaters. Must have been a very active volcanic area millions of years ago.

Thanks mbasko for the links. I'm persisting with this location for two reasons. A relative of mine got farm there and, so I get unlimited access to the river and surrounding country. And the other one is that I'm hard headed old fool who thinks the there is gold or diamonds somewhere there.
Karl

Heatho, the area I'm talking about is close to Dunville loop, below Mt. Marsden. There are historical diggings beside river. Couple digs ago I have found 1872 penny there. I'm starting to get better idea where to look. The bedrock around the river is around 6 to 8 feet deep. To deep for old guy like me to dig. So I'm left with river bed to detect and pan. But I think that good gold and gems is in old wash deep down.
Karl

I hope you find something good there Karl & the persistence pays off. Its a very interesting area & I reckon there's got to be something there. National Park etc. & private property was one reason I never followed it up so having access is a great start. Good luck.

KarlS said:

Heatho, the area I'm talking about is close to Dunville loop, below Mt. Marsden. There are historical diggings beside river. Couple digs ago I have found 1872 penny there. I'm starting to get better idea where to look. The bedrock around the river is around 6 to 8 feet deep. To deep for old guy like me to dig. So I'm left with river bed to detect and pan. But I think that good gold and gems is in old wash deep down.
Karl

Click to expand...

You are probably right Karl, There has to be a lot of good stuff there so many gem and Gold bearing creeks/rivers start in the area, the Cudgegong starts near there also and has a lot of Ruby and Sapphire. The penny says to me there were people in the area for a good reason. Mt Airlie, Cudgegong, Turon, Capertee and Macquarie Rivers all in maybe less than 80-100 sq km, makes you really wonder about the ancient history there. I'm always interested in stuff like that. I hope you find something good there also as Matt said.

The Dunville Loop place where I used to stay was interesting in the fact that the property was quite level and just beyond the Southern fenceline boundary dropped away about maybe 150 metres depth over 50 metres length from the level ground, sort of toward the area you mention. seemed very eroded with deep gullies, wish I was into fossicking back then.

mbasko said:

Found this info a while ago but never got down there. Not as promising as places closer to home.

http://www.treasureenterprises.com/gold%20prospecting%20information/gold_prospecting_locations_new%20south%20wales.htm said:

CAPERTREE (sic):Records show that good gold was obtained from the Capertree River especially if the river is dry (water can be obtained a few feet down). At Blackfellows Ring, at the junction of Bogee and Oakey Creeks, and at the Nuggety and Sandy Gullies, in the Capertree Valley, coarse, water worn gold has been found. One nugget found at Sandys Gully weighed 30 ounces.

Click to expand...

Capertree should be Capertee in the above & Bogie I think should be Bogee Nile Creek which junctions with Teatree Creek to form the Capertee River. Teatree junctions with the Brymair Creek further up.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/18649003

Col Ribaux "the diamond miner":
http://caperteevalleyalliance.blogs...tter-from-col-ribaux-miner-geologist.html?m=1

Capertree/Bogie amended to Capertee/Bogee-Jaros

Click to expand...

I watched a 4wd dvd that mentioned Col Ribaux that had found diamonds and gold in the area. Here is a link to the story
http://www.4wdaction.com.au/articles/2012/hidden-gem