Yeah Deep Creek is a very token effort at a GPA but it is all we have. When I just need a quicky I still go there occasionally with a new coil or detector to see what its iron reject capabilities are
and I always dig up the first few signals just because you do get the occasional interesting relic - gimpy hammerheads, pick heads, lots of unidentifiable surface or u/g equipment. Over the years panning the creek I have found a few prickly pieces of coarse gold and also a couple of pea sized bits of amalgam.
What needs to be understood about Deep Creek is that it was both a VERY rich alluvial area and a VERY rich reef area. The original creek was dredged & the surrounding ground was surfaced clean many times between 1868 & 1940s and the "surface" you are standing on is actually mainly 1-3m deep leveled off mullock heaps & stamp battery tails from the underground mines. This is what it was like some time before it was levelled off
and these are the registered mines within 1km....
So without doubt there is still some gold there ready for a panner or a high freq VLF but the area is so overgrown and full of snakes that it is a turn off to any but the most patient & dedicated.
As far as the river goes - there are no crocs up here - In 20 years there have only been a couple of confirmed sightings in the Mary & they were at 100km away at the Maryborough end.
Most people who canoe would launch at Traveston Crossing or The Sands near Normanby Bridge and paddle down no further than The Weir at Kidd Bridge or Widgee Crossing.
