Myrtleford, Bright area information and questions

[Gappa44]

I know the Kiewa west comes into my beauty from the bright direction and the red robin mine is above it somewhere I haven't heard of miners right reef before tho !

Does anyone know if there were any nuggets found in the area as I'm buying and sdc2300 in the coming weeks and know next to nothing about metal detecting areas as I have really only panned and sluiced !

 

[PabloP]

I believe that a lot of the gold found in that area was fine alluvial stuff along the valleys and at some depth, which is why there were so many dredging operations in the early days. This would have come from the many quartz reefs up the sides of hills that had many mining operations on them.

As a rough generalization, larger nugget gold is found in the west of the state, with the eastern half being mainly finer gold. I believe that this is due to when and how the gold was formed, but that doesn't mean that you won't find nuggets in the east half, just not as many. e.g. Primary gold in the east (lots of quartz reefs, etc) and secondary in the western section, newer deposits that are sourced/regenerated from Primary. That does not mean that there isn't primary gold in the west, just that the east is mainly primary with less secondary.

I am just paraphrasing what I have read elsewhere, but there are others on here who know lots more about that stuff than me.

Rob.

 

[Parko]

ok i have been trying to research and collect information about the bright harrietville goldfields area and cannot find hardly any information i know there was a huge dredge up there but cant find much more than that if anyone could recommend a good book or link a website i would be very great-full !

Gappa44 there's a huge amount of info out there about the Morse's Creek/Wandiligong gold fields, dredging around Harrietville, the Buckland etc. You said you were from Dederang so you could try closer to home 'just to look see'. Bruarong is an old mining town (now long gone) that serviced the Hillsborough mine. You can find it's lower adit in the forest close to town. Kinchington Creek was mined for alluvial for its entire length and you can find a bit of colour in the creeks that run off the Stanley plateau at the Bowmans Forest end near Beechworth. FWIW I also know a farmer near Gapstead who goes snorkeling in the Ovens after a bit of a flood for the pickers, but the cagey ol' bugger wouldn't say where.

 

[dirtyharry]

Hay Gappa

I too am getting a SDC2300 in a few weeks. I am looking forward to detecting some areas in the North East
Also getting a Gold Rat Highbanker
I am going to sell some gold soon

Running Creek near Dederang has got gold in it & was worked 150 years ago
Kiewa River at Red Bank has fine gold & heaps of black sand
Cemetary Creek at Harriotville has fine gold very hard to work as the gravel is like concrete
Look forward to catching up next time i am staying at the shack, most likely Xmas

Regards

Dirty Harry

 

[Gappa44]

Yes dirtyharry we should catch up next time your up here ! I always love meeting fellow prospectors !

Really running creek contains gold !!!?

I never heard that before and I'm a local to the area I mite have to give it ago !!!
Thanks for the tip off !!!

I can't find anything online about it tho ? :/ oh well it's worth a few hundred test pans

 

[dirtyharry]

Hi Gappa

Running creek definately has gold
I have seen it my self
Walk down stream of the bridge on the way to Myrtleford & you can just make out the old diggings
Dont think it was ever a boom creek but there is gold there

I have also seen gold in Happy Valley Creek & Barwidge Creek, both creeks have been raped & pillaged by the old timers

I met a lady at Mytrleford last year that told me her husband & his mate were sluicing a creek the flowed into the Ovens near Porpunkah last year
She claimed they were getting over an ounce a weekend

I have spent hours trying to find that creek with no luck

I reckon there is still some good gold out there, as usual finding it is the issue
I also met a prospector at Bright that told me he knew of some kids that were panning the Ovens River in Bright & got a few ounces

I panned Long Gully this afternoon near Watsons Creek & managed a gram of chunky gold

Regards

Dirty Harry

 

[Gappa44]

Man that's awesome !! The most I have got in a day so far is .63 of a gram still great but I would love to be getting 1gram or more a day !

Yeah I know a guy who has his special spot somewhere around bright and gets 1-2 ounces a weekend have even send the good for myself I met him up at his campsite one day in bright and he had 2 buckets of cons sitting there and asked me to help him work it down in his clean up sluice so I did and I almost had a heart attack when I put 2 scoops in and there was more gold in the sluice than I had ever see will be meeting up with him again later in the year when he comes back up from Melbourne !

 

[dirtyharry]

Gappa

I cant help but think the source of the mystery 1-2 ounce weekend is Morses Creek
I played around there some years ago & did ok but not 1-2 ounces
I have seen people working at the back of the caravan park

Regards

Dirty Harry

 

[Gappa44]

I think your right but it was heavily striped and people are always there working it so idk I reackon they have found more recently formed creeks like that are in the bottom of a gulley or something that are not mapped that would be good reason for them to get 1-2 ounces a weekend ?

 

[Redmanti]

At the Wandiligong Nut Festival this year there were 2 guys with a stand on the history of the goldfields including a book with current maps of exactly where to prospect and some wash to pan.

I bought the book and it is great with locations around Bright and where you can go. I'll post the name of it later.

They said crevicing is the thing to do but I'd would say not right now as the rivers are too high.

 

[Jaros]

Maybe go snorkelling. I did in the 60's at Walhalla and the wetsuit didn't help a bit. I speak with a hi-pitched voice these days.
Jaros

 

[B5MECH]

Maybe go snorkelling. I did in the 60's at Walhalla and the wetsuit didn't help a bit. I speak with a hi-pitched voice these days.
Jaros

There was a NZ guy that put a video up on that I think it was titled GORGE OF GOLD but I can't find it now, I cant believe how much they got, the gorge worked like a sluice.

 

[Mandissa]

Plenty on gold around , I live in Mount Beauty , I travel to bright each day and always think about gold ?, my only problem is I don't get time to go get the gold , I have heaps of little spots. All good gold , Buckland area (not telling exactly). ? Even a nice spot in Lower Kiewa valley has nice gold ,, most spots I didn't even know there was gold there until a few years ago ,

Even got lucky with a random quartz rock near a old mine in the pine forests near bright , smashed it up and it was full of gold. !!! Only to go back and get a rucksack full from same place and get nothing .. Grrr , must have been the first and ONLY rock I picked up ,,

 

[jethro]

Hey Gappa Im at the lower end of the Kiewa River My son & son in law TB both play footy for Dederang. I have a book called "The Buckland Valley Goldfield" by Diane Talbot that is a good source of information on that area. Also Have a book called "Gold at Harretville"by Brian Lloyd. Lloyd did a series of books on gold in the Northeast, another was called " Bright Gold".

 

[Tommy4711]

Hey gappa, like you I have been looking for info. What I did was register on geovic then added filters to show old mining sites, it shows dredged areas, most not all. For whatever reason it's missing some of the early dredged sections of the ovens and happy Valley.
It's a great resource though, after I got the names of the dredging companies from geovic, i searched the online state library for old newspaper articles, there is some good info there..

The dredging certainly changed the course of the rivers and as much as the dredging companies in 1901 said the damage would not be long term.. 2016 you can still see Baron land left from the dredging everywhere..

 

[dirtyharry]

Hey Gappa

I will be in Mt Beauty next week for a few days of prospecting
Look forward to catching up then & perhaps getting on some local gold
Not sure where i will target yet but have a few ideas

Regards

Dirty Harry

 

[goldrat]

Hey gappa, like you I have been looking for info. What I did was register on geovic then added filters to show old mining sites, it shows dredged areas, most not all. For whatever reason it's missing some of the early dredged sections of the ovens and happy Valley.
It's a great resource though, after I got the names of the dredging companies from geovic, i searched the online state library for old newspaper articles, there is some good info there..

The dredging certainly changed the course of the rivers and as much as the dredging companies in 1901 said the damage would not be long term.. 2016 you can still see Baron land left from the dredging everywhere..

Hi Tommy4711 ,
I have been on Geovic several times but not sure how to register . Can you give me some info .
All the best with your challenge to find the yellow stuff . I predominately use detectors at Dunolly , not a great deal of water here and consequently have packed the Mark's sluice in shed , likewise too hard to use dry washer in the clay and the Keen's is a parked neighbour with the sluice .

Cheers
goldrat

 

[Gappa44]

Hey Gappa

I will be in Mt Beauty next week for a few days of prospecting
Look forward to catching up then & perhaps getting on some local gold
Not sure where i will target yet but have a few ideas

Regards

Dirty Harry

I will be happy to meet up with you Harry depending on work !

I don't know much about the local area tho I go to Beechworth ! Most of the time cause I can't find any spots up this way !

 

[casper]

Brian Lloyd's books are very, very good and demonstrably the best sources available for the area concerned in the book. I have "GOLD at the Ten Mile", "GOLD at Gaffneys Creek" and KEVINGTON Miners & Families". Local history laid bare, reading his books is as good as being there.....

 

[Mandissa]

I found the little known gold field the runs into the East Kiewa I have little info on it , I found it marked on a few maps , I worked up at Tawonga huts for like 6 weeks and in my Travels over the weeks I found the site , heaps of obvious pile of rocks ect ect ,,
Wonder how much was found as I know there was recent drilling on fainter and yes gold was found , but it was Just for a look or something I think because its National Park .
Have herd gold runs from Brandy mine towards Fainter but is deep