Alluvial gold found near old copper mines?

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Hi all,

I caught the bug a little under 12 months ago, I am yet to get out to the gold fields, its a little hard here in Central Queensland being that alot of the gold fields are on private property. I have been doing alot of research tho and I think i might of found an area worth investigating further, I am completely green when it comes to panning for gold but I have done my theory, now just need to put that theory into practice.

The geology of the area Im looking at according to the geological map is

"pale pink medium to coarse-grained leucocratic hornblende granite"
And
"Dark grey to black medium-grained quartz - hornblende - biotite gabbro"

I was looking at sampling a few creek beds down stream of some old copper mines that are located south from the area stated above, the area doesn't show any old gold mines only half a dozen or so copper mines.

According to an old newspaper article there was speculation by an old prospector that

"There is a big reef about 60ft. wide with fine gold on the surface. There ls another reef four
miles up the creek."
The exact location of this speculation i don't know but I do know it is in the area I am looking at.

I know all these are indicators for gold so I suppose my question to you all is, what was/is everyones experience panning around old copper mines? Has anyone had any luck with gold in these sorts of areas? And what should I be looking for?

Thankyou in advance for your advice :)

M3
 
Throw your pan in a creek close by and test pan the bottom og the creek bed at intervals every 50m or so. Gold can be associated with copper, but I'malso Iinterested in what heavies you will find. Can you see copper or malachite anywhere?
 
Thanks AtomRat, i have some time off over christmas so I will be going for a drive to have a look and take some samples, hopefully i can get to parts of the creek without trespassing :)
Google maps shows the main creek has some water in it, and the other smaller creeks look dry, so which parts of the creek, both wet and dry, are the best to take the samples from?
 
M3talmiliti4 said:
Google maps shows the main creek has some water in it, and the other smaller creeks look dry, so which parts of the creek, both wet and dry, are the best to take the samples from?

Google Maps photos aren't current - they are often a couple of years old, so don't count on finding anything like the wet/dry conditions they show.
 
Was near old copper mines I found my first few specks :) Old Tin mines are worth a look around too.
Stick the pan in everywhere. I do.
 
Thanks guys, im keen to get out and have a look. So the best place along the creek to take some samples is the inside of the bend? And what is the best way to know how deep the bedrock is? Sorry for the newbie questions :)
 
G'day Metal, any obstruction to the flow is a good spot to sample - both upstream and downstream of the obstruction. In the meantime I've added a couple of pics that might make it more straightforward.
1450040215_meander.gif


1450040247_straightch.gif
 

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