⭐ Alluvial Show n Tell

Thanks guys. Therein lies the problem. I really don't know how I'm going to get the last layer off the bedrock. So far in the part I have done I've got my hands and sort of waved the bedrock dirt into a pile but I'm not sure how effective it's been. Another problem is the bedrock will always be under the water level and there's no way I can empty it unless I use my WX15 but it will just fill in again. Maybe once it's all cleaned out and the dirt has settled I'll put some goggles on but I don't think it will take long to stir things up again. Maybe I could dam it.... Maybe the river will dry up... Probably best to go with a yabby pump... Any more suggestions will go a long way. in the meantime though I've still got about 15 cubic meters of dirt to move.

Myles said:

Thanks guys. Therein lies the problem. I really don't know how I'm going to get the last layer off the bedrock. So far in the part I have done I've got my hands and sort of waved the bedrock dirt into a pile but I'm not sure how effective it's been. Another problem is the bedrock will always be under the water level and there's no way I can empty it unless I use my WX15 but it will just fill in again. Maybe once it's all cleaned out and the dirt has settled I'll put some goggles on but I don't think it will take long to stir things up again. Maybe I could dam it.... Maybe the river will dry up... Probably best to go with a yabby pump... Any more suggestions will go a long way. in the meantime though I've still got about 15 cubic meters of dirt to move.

Click to expand...

if you have an area of say 4 metres wide by 1 - 2 metres the other way thats all shovelled down to the bedrock then try using a broom and slowly pushing the loose material in to one spot and then shovelling out that too

if you can feel using your hands where there is an area that is flat , try pushing the loose stuff to that location and use a strong dustpan and brush to get the last bits coz that will have the best gold in it

bunnings have steel dustpans , or there are very heavy duty plastic ones that are supposed to be " unbreakable "

you might find a square mouthed shovel can be used as the dustpan too , and sweep into that

you will find the best technique is to sweep very very slowly when underwater , otherwise the turbulence will send the gold every which way

when you finish with the broom and dustpan , let it settle for a day then come back to see what you missed , any crevices or cracks in the bottom might have ten times more gold in those than what you got in your pan

when you finish "your housework" and are confident that you swept that area clean , then you can move on to the next section

if you want to know more about yabby pumps send me a PM and i will show you some pictures of hand powered crevice pumps i have made

good luck

keep safe

enjoy the exercise and happiness it brings

Thanks HeadsUp for your insights. I'll definitely check out the brush and steel dust pan technique. Low and slow on the bedrock will definitely win that defiant gold. If there is a sub crevice on the bedrock I will get those pics from you but I've still got a long way to go till all the bedrock is exposed. Just out of curiosity how powerful are your crevice pumps and what size gravel will they suck up? Can they also clean flat bedrock?

Myles said:

Thanks HeadsUp for your insights. I'll definitely check out the brush and steel dust pan technique. Low and slow on the bedrock will definitely win that defiant gold. If there is a sub crevice on the bedrock I will get those pics from you but I've still got a long way to go till all the bedrock is exposed. Just out of curiosity how powerful are your crevice pumps and what size gravel will they suck up? Can they also clean flat bedrock?

Click to expand...

i have a few different ones , some are just straight pull types like a yabby pump and others use a lever that i crank up and down

some will suck up to 12 mm pebbles but it depends on the location , if its known for fine gold i will use a smaller nozzle and get a faster suction flow and get deeper into narrow cracks

they can be slow , but there is no other way to legally suck up the contents of crevices

on flat rock that is underwater you might get a 40 mm wide clean zone but i find it faster just to use a brush or broom and push it into a shovel , then use the crevicing pump to clean up the last remnants

my first 2 gold finding adventures

nice colour

A little colour from Oallen

took the kids for a swim today and ducked off around the corner for a pan and to my surprise found some clay covered rocks where a surge of water has come through and cleared the creek. I filled the garrett supersluice pan with mud and carried it back to wash, was very pleased with the results............. .84 gram pan baby!!! cant believe i didn't take a few buckets.

needless to say I've got a new place to play in the mud

Woah golddig. Can't beat that!

mate i was laughing my ass of for 5 minutes knowing that i only scraped a pan out of potentially a bathtub the kids hate me because I wouldn't show them where i got it ...

Nice find mate. I would be very happy to find a spot like that. I am sure you are itching to go back there.

Beagleboy said:

Nice find mate. I would be very happy to find a spot like that. I am sure you are itching to go back there.

Click to expand...

l certainly am, thinking about pumping the water out to a lower pool so i can see what i'm doing rather than scraping mud a few feet under the water

Here's some SA gold I picked up with the gpx 4500 at jupiter creek. Also some kind of old trinket I thought was pretty cool

G0lddigg@ said:

took the kids for a swim today and ducked off around the corner for a pan and to my surprise found some clay covered rocks where a surge of water has come through and cleared the creek. I filled the garrett supersluice pan with mud and carried it back to wash, was very pleased with the results............. .84 gram pan baby!!! cant believe i didn't take a few buckets.

needless to say I've got a new place to play in the mud

Click to expand...

geez mate . have you got room on the sofa ?

lol

i really need to get to better places

good onya . hit it hard and rescue those little pickers mate , they may have been waiting over 60 million years to meet you

Hey G0ldigg,

Unbelievable find mate. I have the same problem with the hole I'm digging in - can't see what I'm doing because the mud stirs up and I'm below the level of the creek and so go by feel only. You said the rocks were clay covered so was this gold you found on top, inside or under the clay?? I always find myself conflicted with what to do when I find clay. Whether it's worth the effort to break it down or spend my time digging the better ground just near it...

mate tgis stuff is right through the clay and in the bedrock. I used a small pick to scrape the slate bottom of mud and every rock eas wased thoroughly. it depends on the clay mate this stuff was decomposed slate nice and blue

HeadsUp said:

G0lddigg@ said:

took the kids for a swim today and ducked off around the corner for a pan and to my surprise found some clay covered rocks where a surge of water has come through and cleared the creek. I filled the garrett supersluice pan with mud and carried it back to wash, was very pleased with the results............. .84 gram pan baby!!! cant believe i didn't take a few buckets.

needless to say I've got a new place to play in the mud

Click to expand...

geez mate . have you got room on the sofa ?

lol

i really need to get to better places

good onya . hit it hard and rescue those little pickers mate , they may have been waiting over 60 million years to meet you

Click to expand...

my sofa has 5 nieces and nephews at the moment all come down from qld for some gold prospecting... everything is hit and miss mate occasionally you put the pieces together and get a good haul, i reckon it would have taken two weeks to remove the rocks that were here a month ago but a surge has cleared thm imagine whats down stream at the next bend .....

G0lddigg@ said:

HeadsUp said:

G0lddigg@ said:

took the kids for a swim today and ducked off around the corner for a pan and to my surprise found some clay covered rocks where a surge of water has come through and cleared the creek. I filled the garrett supersluice pan with mud and carried it back to wash, was very pleased with the results............. .84 gram pan baby!!! cant believe i didn't take a few buckets.

needless to say I've got a new place to play in the mud

Click to expand...

geez mate . have you got room on the sofa ?

lol

i really need to get to better places

good onya . hit it hard and rescue those little pickers mate , they may have been waiting over 60 million years to meet you

Click to expand...

my sofa has 5 nieces and nephews at the moment all come down from qld for some gold prospecting... everything is hit and miss mate occasionally you put the pieces together and get a good haul, i reckon it would have taken two weeks to remove the rocks that were here a month ago but a surge has cleared thm imagine whats down stream at the next bend .....

Click to expand...

yup

legwork

spadework

refine the art , keep working away at it and the pan gets filled

onya

Found this hole in the oallen ford area - pumped about a meter of water out of it , yes it was a 38 degree day!!!, unfortunately no gold or black sand to speak of after sampling the crevices and scree on the downside , thinking about it later and the flood water flow - the gold has probably dropped out before it reaches this hole which is about 2 meters deep (in flood it probably flows towards the camera shot) . Never mind I'm still learning and its all experience.

thats a nice looking hole mate, for every one you check that doesn't its just that little bit closer to finding a good whole that has gold