Wish list in WA where is it ? or how was it !

[Westaus]

Howdy all, I have been given another leave pass by the ball and chain, who I must say has been so generous it is amazing. Anyway given that I have this pass I am researching away and it got me thinking. WA is a big place and there is a lot of land to travel to get to the good stuff (so I am told)

So I can really go anywhere I want (legally) in WA. If someone else had the same opportunity what would they do. Or from the good folk that make the big pilgrimage from the East, what is your #1 place to go and visit. Be keen to hear why and from those that have done their dream run how did it go. Was it as good as you planned ?

1. Number ONE place on my wish list (WA)
Leonora / Laverton region

2. What is the main reason I want/ed to go there
From what I can tell it is still pretty fresh. Not to say it hasn't had hundreds of people over it. It is a long way away and I still see large nuggets coming from the region. A lot of alluvial run offs and laterites, with other geology and know areas that have produced good gold. Only started to become popular in the late 1890's and mined up until the 1930's. With some of the reported rushes attracting 300+ people, which by past rushes was very small. Coolgardie/Kalgoorlie had thousands rush to the region. Large mining has continued from the 1970's in the region to current date. Early detector hunters had an absolute field day in the region, knowing how big the area is, I still believe there is a lot more still out there as well.

3. Was it as good as I thought it was going to be
Tell you in four weeks 8)

If anyone wants to show some brag shots please do.

Take care out there

Westaus

 

[Jaros]

Good luck out there. Make sure there are no Mick Taylors out there. There are a lot of visuals in that that stick hard.
Show us some pics when you can.

 

[Redfin]

Good luck mate, I presume you have had a sniff here and had a look at the forums.
http://www.gold-prospecting-wa.com/

 

[Westaus]

Good luck mate, I presume you have had a sniff here and had a look at the forums.
http://www.gold-prospecting-wa.com/

Yes had a good look around that site, maybe one day might do one of their courses.

How about you guys where would you go in WA given the chance. Besides the Superpit etc...

 

[cj]

Hey Westaus. I just came back from wa 2 wks ago. My main motivation in going was to have a swing by myself but also to catch up with a guy in the redcastle mining area who has a couple of leases there.

I didn't do much good by myself but found the guy I was looking for and camped on his claim for a while. This guy has been a geologist for 30 years as well as a full time miner and he showed me around his leases. To say I learnt a lot is an understatement. I'm sure this experience will pay dividends in the future.

Some points I hope will be helpful to you.

The folks at the Dmp offices are fantastic. Get yr prospectors licence and then they can help you with maps showing you where you can legally prospect as well as areas you need to stay clear of. They will even give you contact details of pastoral lease holders so you can prospect on their leases.

Make sure you have your Navigation sorted. You will be surprised how many of the areas have active leases on them-the locals get pretty wild even violent if you stumble onto their lease.

I spoke to a good contact in Leonora. His name is Nick and he and his wife run a mobile cafe in the centre of town - great food/coffee as well. He was a really nice bloke and surprisingly open with me. (No he didn't give me co ords of any virgin patches!) he has a couple of leases with a mate and I think they do quite well.

A great time of year to be over there - days are beautiful but the nights get f*'ken chilly!

Good luck mate. Stay safe and above all enjoy. Cj.

 

[stalker]

Yep gets cold at night this time of year and we've had plenty of rain in WA .
It's called miner rights in wa still. . and now it's plastic like a drivers license .
Where to go.. . like said in above post dmp .. tennagraph online is a must when looking for ground to hunt that's not under lease and combine that with Google Earth . A GOOD GPS IS MUST. sat phone or epirb will also be handy to have in the kit .
I'm a 4wd and I go to places that are so remote I won't see anyone for weeks .
Pick your spots and let someone know where you are or pre arrange a phone call at a certain day . West oz is a big place to get lost In. .

 

[Westaus]

Thanks CJ and Stalker great info, personally I agree with everything said. We abide by these rules and have the right setups for the terrain. I didn't know the miners rights are now cards that is so much better, but I do like my paper miners right, just feels historic lol.

CJ, thanks for the heads up on a few locals, I had looked at Redcastle but we are going a lot further N/E at this point. Perhaps on the way back. Did you travel the old road this looks like a few spots on the way, but hammered from what I can tell. It would have been fantastic having a geologist show you around his lease, that too me would have been a highlight for sure.

FWIW Stalker save the back and forth from tengraph to google use a google tml file with all the Tenements listed (download from DMP). I then use Geo map in the car on the lap top hooked to a GPS giving live feed. We know exactly where we are and if we are on someones lease or not. Just remember unless it is a private haul road, you are still allowed to travel through tenements etc...

Are you local by chance stalker ?

Back on topic for those playing at home, who would go where ?

 

[stalker]

I'm in Perth . I overlay the maps on Google Earth and save that on the computer . then i download it and run that on the sat nav. Using the garmin mud map program . but I've not used It for prospecting yet . I'm old school and it's all new to me still . my head is the gps unit and paper 1:2500 maps are my program and the sun and stars and my eyes are the compass ..

 

[cj]

I feel like im driving a horse and cart and communicating with smoke signals after reading your posts guys. I just used tennagraph maps, gps with compass as a backup. Did the job though. The girl at Dmp Leonora was awesome even sticking the adjoining tennagraph maps together for me. Maybe she felt sorry for me!

Got to location via Red October Rd. 66km E. from Leonora on Leonora/Laverton Rd. All the way along Red October (runs due N/S) was itching to get into it as most of the property along the road is vacant crown land. Saw some Grey Nomads having a go but was keen to get to my contacts' lease. Saw plenty of sign of dozer action along red October but the ground looked awesome. disappointed now I didn't have a swing. There were whole patches of massive quartz looked like snow on the ground. Not a sure sign for Gold I know but promising none the less. Lots of creek washaways wanted to get into them as well! My contact assured me that no one had found any gold along there but he's into finding the source not so much detecting. He talks in kilos not grams - I guess the difference between a full and part time prospector.

Was nice and dry when I went through but when wet 4wd a must. Yes Westaus, Redcastle has been absolutely smashed on the surface but I'm sure plenty of gold still in the ground. Certainly the case on my contacts' lease. I drove through some adjoining leases whilst finding his camp and his neighbour had just dozered up a patch. Drove past plenty of old timer's shafts. Would love to get a lease there, get a big arse backhoe in and open those old shafts right up....

 

[nuggetino]

Personally i think the territory has the most potential for new patches. WA is vast but like the triangle every man and his dog has been through those goldfields. If you know people who'll get you onto a good lease you may do very very well.

 

[Westaus]

Thanks CJ for the updated report, it certainly would be giving me whiplash looking around, look over there, no there, wait over there.... arggg

 

[cj]

It took me over an hour to cover 25 km on the Red October for that very reason. Lol