Sluicing at Reedy Creek Woolshed Falls

[Bushy007]

Hi all a newbie here, thx for having me join this forum.
Just wondering if you can do Panning and Sluicing at Reedy crk Woolshed Falls near Beechworth ?? Is it called woolshed falls on one map & on another Reedy crk ??
your Help in this would be great thx
Plus what can I do in panning as well
What I CAN do & what NOT to do ??

Thx for your Help Bushy.

 

[Swinging & digging]

I think the Falls may be out of bounds?
Check with local authorities.

 

[user 4386]

It is in the National Park, so check permitted areas in National Parks (I think it is out of bounds)

 

[SWright]

You can pan or sluice, highbank anywhere anywhere along Reedy Creek BELOW the falls. You cannot do anything at the Falls. The Falls are in the Beechworth Historic Park and Reedy is mostly in the National Park and prospecting is allowed there. No dogs however. You can camp along Reedy but watch out for fire bans.

Reedy was dry all of summer but we had some rain the other day and there may be water in it now.

Araluen

 

[Bushy007]

I think the Falls may be out of bounds?
Check with local authorities.

thx for the info.

 

[Bushy007]

You can pan or sluice, highbank anywhere anywhere along Reedy Creek BELOW the falls. You cannot do anything at the Falls. The Falls are in the Beechworth Historic Park and Reedy is mostly in the National Park and prospecting is allowed there. No dogs however. You can camp along Reedy but watch out for fire bans.

Reedy was dry all of summer but we had some rain the other day and there may be water in it now.

Araluen

Thx for the info was a great help. ickshovel:

 

[Bushy007]

It is in the National Park, so check permitted areas in National Parks (I think it is out of bounds)

Thx for the info ickshovel:

 

[Bushy007]

I think the Falls may be out of bounds?
Check with local authorities.

Thx for the info ickshovel:

 

[Mondo198]

Welcome Bushy007
mondo198

 

[allcables]

hello all
be aware reedy creek has the dreaded tiger leaches, so take ya salt
cheers all

 

[Jaros]

Welcome Bushy007.

 

[Hawkear]

I read somewhere that old timers looking for a bonanza at the bottom of Woolshed Falls were very disappointed as the deep holes there were almost devoid of gold.
Apparently the flood currents were sufficiently great power to scour the bottom of gold until well downstream when the floods spread out and current velocities dropped.
One other thing that I remember reading about * there, was that in one of the gullies leading down from Beechworth to Reedy creek Enhydro crystals were found. These are clear quartz crystals with a small amounts of water and an occasional air bubble inside them. Would be fascinating to find one.
* Edit, I think it was Brough-Smythes -Goldfields and Minerals districts of Vic.
Edit 2 have attached an image of an enhydro quartz crystal - Beautiful

 

[user 4386]

I suspect that photo may be a petroleum enhydro, rather than water. The Beechworth enhydros were found on Spring Creek - I remeber seeing many of them when I was 14.

"Mr. E. J. Dunn described the mode in which the enhydros occur at Spring Creek, in a paper read before the Royal Society of Victoria (Trans. R.S. of Vie., 1810, p. 32); they are found in a dyke in granite, the dyke is composed of fragments of granite and occasional pieces of sandstone cemented by crystallised quartz, together with large masses of coarfle chalcedony and straight veins of chalcedony scales and clay. Mr. Dunn mentions that the enhydros vary in size from that of a split pea to five inches across, and that many of them contain a fluid; after a few days exposure they usually show an air bubble, in many the fluid disappears altogether in a few days; the walls of some are as thin as a sheet of paper and very fragile, while others have walls i inch thick. On p. 71 of the same 36 RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. volume is a paper upon them by Mr. G. Foord, describing the enhydros more in detail, and giving an account of the contained fluid, which he describes as a dilute solution in water of chlorides and sulphates of sodium, magnesium and calcium, together with silicic acid. Some Rmaller specimens in my possession have a much more regular geometrical form than the three under examination and belonging to the Museum. At first sight they might be mistaken for crystals, so smooth and regular are their faces, but a very little examination shows that this is not the case, practically none of the faces are parallel, and their forms do not correspond to any crystallographic system. I am inclined to think that they have been deposited within cracks and cavities formed in the clay (in which they are found), these cavities are probably due to the movements of the clay, parts having slid upon one another in the process of settlement, and a breccia-like structure set up with intermediate gaps and cavities. Mr. Fool'd's explanation that the chalcedony and quartz crystals have been deposited upon the waUs of the cavities until the entrances to the hollow spaces were filled up (a portion of the liquid being thereby imprisoned) appears to satisfy the requirements of the case."

 

[Hawkear]

I was hoping that the explanation might point more directly to at least some of the crystals being formed directly within a vein or reef within our goldfields reefing system
If that were to be the case the composition of the enclosed fluid may be a long preserved representative of the hydrothermal fluids that contributed to the formation of the reefs and shed light on the conditions under which they were formed.
Regarding the development of bubbles after exposure, I could imagine that if formed under pressure and temperature deeper down, once enhydro crystals are cooled and exposed at the surface negative pressure differences may exist between the outside and the fluidic inside of the crystal. Microfractures in the quartz may then admit air to form the bubbles until pressures are stabilised.. May explain the phenomenon of bubbles developing after exposure.
Regardless of the different ways they can be formed in veins or petroleum deposits they are beautiful specimens. Had a look once up in Beechworth but no luck in following up the early finds. Would love anyone on this forum to say if they have had any success finding any.

 

[SkyChild]

I found the above in Reedy Ck at Kangaroo crossing. Any idea if this is a enhydro? It was so clear in the pan but when dry more opaque on the outside. Inside has what looks like bubbles.

 

[Hawkear]

Maybe wet it again and see if bubbles can be more clearly discerned on the inside under magnification. If they are bubbles and they move I'd think that would have to be definitive.

 

[meanfreddy]

Thx for the info ickshovel:

Yes I was told it is out of bounds to prospect so just hope you don't get caught, out near elderado is ok but it is a national park no dogs allowed

 

[Conrad]

Hi. All quartz crystals might have fluid/gas inclusions. If there is a bubble that moves around they are sometimes known as enhydros. These may be found in the Beechworth area but not many quartz crystals or pieces of water worn quartz will have fluid/gas incisions that are visible without a microscope. The enhydros found near Beechworth that goldierocks refers to in his post above are not crystals. The enhydros found at Beechworth are made of chalcedony (as agate is, although chalcedony is not necessarily banded) with a hollow core, sometimes lined with quartz crystals and often containing fluid which is presumed to be a remnant of the solution from which t and quartz precipitated. These are thought to form when silica rich solutions fill gaps between large crystals or flat broken rock which then weathers away or is dissolved.

Here is a picture of some enhydros similar to those found near Beechworth, although these come from Hart’s Range, NT.



Your specimen looks slightly bluish, which makes me think it might be either water worn glass or possibly topaz (which is known to occur in the area) although the blue colour might just be a cast in the photograph or a reflection of something.

 

[Conrad]

View attachment 1317
I found the above in Reedy Ck at Kangaroo crossing. Any idea if this is a enhydro? It was so clear in the pan but when dry more opaque on the outside. Inside has what looks like bubbles.

Given the bubbles inside and the colour it’s almost certainly glass. Quartz never has bubbles unless they are bubbles inside a liquid in an inclusion. These will move when the quartz is moved. The liquid and bubbles will be inside a negative crystal in the quartz, that is a void in the shape of a quartz crystal.

 

[user 4386]

Given the bubbles inside and the colour it’s almost certainly glass. Quartz never has bubbles unless they are bubbles inside a liquid in an inclusion. These will move when the quartz is moved. The liquid and bubbles will be inside a negative crystal in the quartz, that is a void in the shape of a quartz crystal.

I guess that depends a bit on colloquial usage - people talk of bubbles in lava even when it is solid, or air bubbles in solidified glue or glass, and gas and liquid bubbles in a solid. What I think you are referring to is a vapour bubble in a liquid trapped in a solid - but a bubble can be a liquid.

The majority of liquid and vapour inclusions trapped in quartz are not in voids shaped like negative crystals - they occur in rather rounded shapes (or angular and irregular shapes) - however they can occur that way).