NSW Northern Rivers Gold prospecting, detecting, fossicking

[Ballina1]

Hi All
I have been in Ballina for a few years and have been missing access to Central West NSW which I frequented when I lived in Sydney. While I know a lot about the Central West area (Sofala, Hill End, Windeyer, Hargraves, Gulgong, Oberon, Stuart Town) I would say my gold success is been "developing". I like crevassing as crevices sometimes offer a nice surprise. Have used Minelab Eureka Gold but have now bought an SDC2300. Sadly, I live too far away from chunky gold to do day trips. Nundle is a favourite but is 6 hours away. Spent some time around Drake and was successful finding two flakes in 3 visits. Hmmm. I am yet to develop local knowledge. I camp solo with a swag but when accompanied by Mrs we use our Kimberley Kamper. Apart from Nundle we have travelled to Darwin via Central QLD, and back via Red Centre, Oodnadatta Track, Flinders Ranges as well as Mudgee area (Hill End mostly) and a few trips to Nundle. Approached Lismore Gem Club at the their recent Gemfest but did not get a sense of any interesting in gold from those I chatted with.
I am keen to go to Tibooburra but not alone. I posted that I would like to see who in Northern Rivers area would like to start a bit of a club so we could go places camping and golding. No interest from locals so far. Still interested in doing this.

Please let me know if there are any groups around Northern Rivers that have an interest in gold fossicking or detecting or if you are interested.

 

[LONEWOLF]

South east Queensland Northern NSW Fossicking Group page on Facebook... or something like that.. I don't do facebook... Nearest gold to you is on your local beach... Anywhere from Currumbin to Ballina there is Gold in the beach sands.... Mullumbimby has some old Reef Gold Mines, long worked over now.... Drake is your nearest Gold Field... Ewingar State Forest has fine Gold but a bit is found up there along with Crystals...
And there is also a lost Treasure off a ship that sunk off Ballina in the 1800's.. Hidden somewhere in the sand dunes...

LW....

 

[Ballina1]

Thanks for your response LoneWolf. The easy gold on beaches is long gone since extensive beach mining. Best of them was Chinaman's Beach, Evans Head but although there is still some black sand, it is 1mm at best and very patchy. Mullumbimby is difficult to access. Drake gold is very fine and not much to be found although I have a number of places yet to explore including Macleods Creek. Landholder on western end of the road has locked the gate. Eastern access is a tricky track. Ewingar SF is an area I am currently investigating and it looks promising - so long as you don't mind taking you car up tricky tracks. Treasure ship - there is no local belief in it being nearby and sandmining did over all the dunes from Iluka to Tweed Heads. Around Tooloom to Paddy's Flat is promising with Billy May's Point a target for me to visit. Hard to get motivated to go on my own but I will in Spring. Have been researching Warwick area as well as Clermont & Tibooburra. Love to go back to Central West NSW for a month but

I don't do Facebook either. I do extensive research on areas I would like to visit but when I get there it is usually quite different than you expect. SEQ/NNSW Club might be worth a look. Kind regards.

 

[Heatho]

I did a few pans at Evans Head a few months back, it's really not worth it at all, it's some of the finest gold I've ever seen, you get about 3 tiny specks per pan. The gold there now is Evans Head itself.

 

[Ballina1]

SDC2300 finds small gold but we will need to wait for the SDC2,896,234 to find beach sand gold.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Looked at Coffs Harbour area ?...

LW....

 

[Ballina1]

I read a bit about Coffs Creek up high but not been there yet. Biggest issue for me is NOT going into to "dark places" on my own in case I have a problem. One slip, leg breaks, yikes.

 

[Bush]

I read a bit about Coffs Creek up high but not been there yet. Biggest issue for me is NOT going into to "dark places" on my own in case I have a problem. One slip, leg breaks, yikes.

Life`s a Gamble mate.
PLB1 Rescue me on E-bay i think they work also on the land.Correct me if i`m wrong.
`i` was informed that mobile number 112 links to Satellite for emergencies.Don`t know if it works `i` haven`t been game to try it.
911. .. 000 i guess but not a lot of mobile reception in those gullies.
Yes ! that Orara Gold fields is hard country alright. It`s around that Land of The Never Never Region.
Something of good reading.
Link below.
PDF]Georges Gold - RMWebed
http://rmwebed.com.au/ggm_latest_edit.pdf

 

[LONEWOLF]

Nothing in Coffs Ck... Tones of Gold up in the hills. Literally tones. There was a fellow who wanted to start a gold mine and I worked as a drill offsider for a few weeks.. So I saw lots. Greenies soon stopped him.... I lived there for 15yrs... You won't find much info about coffs district as all records were destroyed by a fire at the mining wardens office at Nana Glen around 1910... Coffs was/is one of the most productive Goldfields in Australia... Plenty of Nuggets found some as big as Footballs... I know several people who Prospect full time for a very healthy living... Every creek up in the hills around coffs has Gold...
Oh and the Beach sands are constantly replenished with Gold in your/my area... Fact... Just because it was sand-mined in the 60's, beaches replenish themselves, Now they want to go back and do it all again... But will never be allowed.... Would you like some info about the wreck? its out there somewhere... just like the Spanish Galion in swan bay on north Stradbroke island... Google is always your Friend... PM sent..

LW.....

 

[LONEWOLF]

George's old Man was the Man who knew. And the Tailors from Bucca... 6oz to a pan he was getting... Then he was shown how to pan, so went back to same spot and got a hell of a lot more out of his tailings... With over 165 Gold mines in the hills, all with massive amounts of Gold found, there's Gold in them there Hills.....

I have hard-copies of both of his books and a few other books as well on Orana Gold Field and others... And I will never part with them... More valuable than Gold and Ghosts...
But if you want to read about massive amounts of Gold near to you... Google Revolution Mining... Dalmorton Project... Your eyes will pop...

LW...

 

[Bush]

The Glenray area apparently some mining company has opened up a new gold site there `i` think on the Eastern side of the range.
Strange though that area is mostly sandstone but running down to Nana Glen it changes to The Green Basalt.
In talking with a Geo about that area his comment was that that fault or fold lines was about 10 million years old where as The Golden Triangle area is around 30 million years old.
He seemed to say that Gold in that area was small flake stuff unlike your retirement nuggets in Vic.
My comment was maybe the land around Coffs has not had enough time to Erode as such to expose The Big Ones.
Have not heard about any Foot Ball size nuggets in that area Mr Loan Wolf but i guess not everyone plays Show & Tell.
Most Mines from the info i`ve come across there are underground mines only a few i believe were open cut.
Plenty of Alluvial Placer spots available & not surprising with all the winding creeks & rivers.
Something else; you need to be built like a stick monster to squeeze through all the scrub & vines in that rain-forest region.
It`s not easy trying to maneuver a detector either & easily could cause damage to your machine.
It`s a Jungle Out There.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Yep.. Every Mine or close to it... Im talking about the Area as a whole (Orara Goldfield)... Not a small location as Nana Glen.. This Football size one was very early in the Gold fields history....Have a read of George Ellis's First Book about the Farmer at XYZ who employed an Aboriginal farm hand to dig some Fence-posts... Unearthed a Nugget that was the size of a football... Took the Nugget to the Farmer and the Farmer Paid him for his work + some to keep quiet... True Story as I was good mates with an Aboriginal Fellow who that was his Great Grandfather...
Nuggets will always Pop up in that area... Yes it is Very Rough Country and the Miners and Loggers had a very tough Life,,, If you know the area well you can still get to Some of those mines you mentioned with a bit of Legwork... Some tracks are now well overgrown tho... Tallawudjah Creek at Glenreagh was one of the Locations with smaller Nuggets...
The Geology of the Area extends all the way through to Dalmorton and beyond and is Full of Nuggets just waiting to see Daylight...... Most are Very deep and require Mining to get to them... Some of the Mines and their output...

http://www.treasureenterprises.com/...old_prospecting_locations_New South Wales.htm


But if your Geo is correct, then perhaps a new gold rush in 20 million years time..
LW....

 

[Bush]

4 Balina 1.
"This e-mail is incorrect.
Quote : Bush: Life`s a Gamble mate.
({`i` was informed that mobile number 112 links to Satellite for emergencies.Don`t know if it works `i` haven`t been game to try it.
911. .. 000 i guess but not a lot of mobile reception in those gullies.)}

"This e-mail is Correct.
The 112 number does link people through to 999, but it only works if you have a signal on your mobile phone. If you have no signal bars on your phone, it will not work," a spokesperson from London Transport said. "It will not divert to a satellite signal.Jul 28, 2005.

ALL ALONE IN THE DARK it seems.

 

[crustydog]

112 will connect you to any carrier that is available. If you don't have any signal on telstra for example and dial 112 it may connect through optus or Vodafone etc.

 

[Ballina1]

Thanks For that link Bush.