Gully' reports from Bendigo

Hi all, thought I would start a new thread to report my finds to share. I am a new member with a SDC2300 bought in February so keen to learn from others in the area. Already been chatting to another member and keen to catch up and learn from each other.
Today I had the arvo off work so I went in search of a new area. After trying 3 spots and no luck I found an area on the side of a steep hill that appears to be surfaced. A tight gully running down with areas of banked up gravel mounds that the old timers have worked. I picked up 2 small sub grammars close to each other in a wash mound then found a warbley target on the side of a washed out rut. Happy with the result as it's my best specimen so far. Hope you all enjoy the report and pics. I also came home with a pocket full of lead shot!!

Cool looking specimen. You're finding gold and moving in the right direction...hopefully more to come.

Thanks noodle, can't wait to get to that spot

Nice...Golden Rocky Road :Y: ...Well done Gully :rainbow: arty:

Very nice finds Gully,
thats whats so interesting with specimens , they all have a different and unique character no two are ever the same.
i have been doing some research on Bendigo, interesting place much of the city is built on old working and many of the rest seem to be on privare property or closed off .. Still its a challenge to find some where that might be worth a look.
:Y:

Well done Gully very nice.

nucopia said:

Very nice finds Gully,
thats whats so interesting with specimens , they all have a different and unique character no two are ever the same.
i have been doing some research on Bendigo, interesting place much of the city is built on old working and many of the rest seem to be on privare property or closed off .. Still its a challenge to find some where that might be worth a look.
:Y:

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Welcome to Victoria's Golden Triangle! Ballarat's just as bad as Bendigo in that respect and Maryborough's more of the same.

Back in the 1850's gold rush days, miners with rich alluvial claims didn't want to leave them unattended (unguarded), so their tents and shacks were put up alongside the workings and shops, pubs, banks, etc., sprang up in close proximity, to service the diggers' needs. When the alluvial rush dwindled, more shops, houses and streets filled in the gaps, as the population stabilised, with big underground gold mines needing plenty of labour and supplies for decades more. There's got to be some amazing riches buried underneath all the bitumen, lawns, shops, houses and factories that today cover those old diggings.

Yep it is amazing when you look on geovic and add in the leads and working overlay...so much is located in suburbia

grubstake said:

nucopia said:

Very nice finds Gully,
thats whats so interesting with specimens , they all have a different and unique character no two are ever the same.
i have been doing some research on Bendigo, interesting place much of the city is built on old working and many of the rest seem to be on privare property or closed off .. Still its a challenge to find some where that might be worth a look.
:Y:

Click to expand...

Welcome to Victoria's Golden Triangle! Ballarat's just as bad as Bendigo in that respect and Maryborough's more of the same.

Back in the 1850's gold rush days, miners with rich alluvial claims didn't want to leave them unattended (unguarded), so their tents and shacks were put up alongside the workings and shops, pubs, banks, etc., sprang up in close proximity, to service the diggers' needs. When the alluvial rush dwindled, more shops, houses and streets filled in the gaps, as the population stabilised, with big underground gold mines needing plenty of labour and supplies for decades more. There's got to be some amazing riches buried underneath all the bitumen, lawns, shops, houses and factories that today cover those old diggings.

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I've been inside the mine with a group of seniors, it's like an ants nest. The tunnels go for miles in all directions and there are levels and levels of them.I've also seen the super hard rock that they mine. There is more to finding gold than just swinging a dector' So much work for such little gain...... Graybeard

nucopia said:

i have been doing some research on Bendigo, interesting place much of the city is built on old working and many of the rest seem to be on privare property or closed off .. Still its a challenge to find some where that might be worth a look.
:Y:

Click to expand...

In the first pic, the purple/gold highlights are for the Central Deborah Mine, the matrix around it are are all the shafts/stopes etc of other mines. This doesn't include mines into the Whipstick, or at Kangaroo Flat.

In Bendigo there are/were 4x lines (leads) of enrichment East > West and this is shown in the second pic.
There have been a number of cases of subsidence, where a number of houses were evacuated for repairs after mines collapsing and opening sinkholes at the surface, around the Golden Gully area if memory serves me correctly.. an archives search in the Bendigo Advertiser should reveal more facts.





:Y:

I think I have narrowed down an area to go to on Saturday south of Castlemaine.

Nice work gully also in bendigo running an sdc 2300, aiming to get out a bit more myself but the going to work caper gets in the road.have to get my posts up to open up the communication lines a bit. Starting to think bendigo is the lead shot capital of australia.

nucopia said:

I think I have narrowed down an area to go to on Saturday south of Castlemaine.

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...Tch tch,...driving over gold,.....to find gold... ]

Naahhh, i like working C'maine also, more leg work in the hills though. 8)

No choice Gypsy.
After detecting We have to drive to tulla airport and the place Im looking at is a lot close to our destination.
So it gives us more time to detect.

All good mate... :Y:

oldmaineman said:

https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...ages/8348/1498906034_canstockphoto7553546.jpg

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What detector and coil did you use :lol:

Good looking speci you got there Gully, the sdc will bring heaps more :Y:

xcvator said:

oldmaineman said:

https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...ages/8348/1498906034_canstockphoto7553546.jpg

Click to expand...

What detector and coil did you use :lol:

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must of been one of those fancy LRL's

yeah, looks like I was swinging the sdc 2300 particulary well , the ideal patch, But then I woke up !!!

Thanks for all the replies all, if only Bendigo was not built over the goldfields and no one shot lead all around the place!! Snuck out tonight for the last hour of light and the targets were coming though so clear in the same spot I have been over once before. Ended up staying 3 hours whilst picking up small gold for 9 pieces and 7 pieces of lead, thought they were pretty good odds! After tonight it still makes me wonder about how the sdc performs on different days and conditions, tonight I did not move 5 meters at a spot I have hammered over the last few weeks picking up a few bits here and there. It's either the weather conditions, wet clay, sdc performance inconsistency or luck?? Let me know your thoughts!