A little bit of Nundle Gold.

[Nugget]

I spent a few days at Nundle with forum members Ramjet (& Marg), Daniel, OzDigger as well as meeting up with Retirement Stone. We ended doing a combination of panning, sluicing and high-banking. I still have a bucket of concentrates to pan off but here's what I have so far.

One Friday we explored several creeks / gully's below Hanging Rock test panning as we went, the terrain was tough in some spots but we had heap of fun learning the area.

At this point a thunder storm came over but turned out to be pretty mild. The hole below didn't produce any colour as did most of the gully's we tested. We did find one promising spot and hope to spend a little more time soon investigating the area.

All and all, gold was in short supply considering the amount of digging that was done, but I'm happy to have come home with a little more to add to the collection. As always I was in great company and had a really good time catching up and meeting new forum members. A special thanks to OZDigger for supplying the fire wood once again and also a big thank you to Ramjet for this really cool hat pin, I love it.

 

[Guest]

Hey Nugget,

Thanks for sharing. Looks chunky your gold, that's promising, we only captured very fine flood gold.

I am disappointed I did not get to meet Ramjet!

Cheers

 

[Daniel]

Was a great weekend! Was good to meet all of you and exploring.

Was glad to see that on Gold Bust that Nugget abandoned the glory hole and hit some good ground (for Nundle).

Ended up getting small gold, a few zircons and a small sapphire. Plus a bomb sapphire whilst high banking with nugget (I guess that's what it was). I'll upload some pictures tomorrow.

Thanks for all the fun everyone involved and hope to do it again soon.

Cheers

 

[Nugget]

Was great meeting you Daniel and I'm looking forward to catching up again in the future. I believe Ramjet was going to do a little more digging in the glory hole before heading home, will have to wait and see if he hit the mother load :lol:

@Retirement Stone, I managed to score the largest flake on the last clean out after abandoning what we referred to as the glory hole. I also had a bit play around with the HB and think I've got it dialed in properly, it's certainly clearing out much better now. Let me know if when you're in the area next and we'll catch up for a dig.

P.S. How did you go with your water delivery situation?

 

[Guest]

Mate that would be great to meet up at Nundle again before it gets too cold.

I will re do my spray bar and not make any "improvements" to it this time around!

I had plenty of water but most of it being delivered to only one side of the box. We did not have the build up of material. I will let it self clear around every 20 shovel fulls and let it run for about 5 minutes at the end of the session to clear it.

Water delivery and angle is the key? We need a one on one lesson with the "MASTER"

Are you interested in Sapphires n Rubies at Barrington Tops some day, they are only small but there are pinks and reds? I know where to go and am interested in seeing if there is gold in the same place we have fossicked in the past.

Cheers

 

[Nugget]

Yeah I added a little more angle and a little more water, more than what I imagined the Walbanker would require. I think the material at Nundle is overloaded with heavies more so than other areas?

I would definitely be interested in checking out Barrington Tops. Let me know when you're thinking of heading up and I'll see what I've got on.

 

[Ramjet]

Had a great weekend. Thanks to OZDigger for the firewood, the grand tour of the scrubby creeks and gullies below Hanging Rock, (I swear he is half mountain goat). Thanks also for the local knowledge.
Was great to meet Daniel. We will catch up again.
As Nugget said, gold is in short supply in the Nundle area. I was happy with the little I got. Only my 3rd time out.(pics to follow). Plus I had to help Nugget with his Walbanker
Got my few specks from Nugget's Glory Hole after he abandoned the lease
After Nugget and Daniel left I was going back to the glory hole but once I sat and enjoyed the view for a while I decided to wait til this morning. Had a great night relaxing with my Lady.
This morning I woke up to the dreaded gout... and maybe little hung over. By the time I packed up I was in no state to dig the glory hole. So all those nuggets are still there for next trip. To quote Jack Hoffman. " There could be a million dollars worth and that's only a guess." LOL

Over all I had an awesome weekend. Got some new places to prospect thanks to OZDigger. Definitely think crevassing is the way to go in the Nundle area. More gold for less effort. Still not a high yield area.
Sorry we didn't get to meet Retirement Stone... next time

Chaffey Dam is a lovely spot to camp.

Cheers

Ramjet

 

[Nugget]

That's no good about the gout / hangover mate, I'm a feeling a little sore myself but not as bad as I thought I would.

Thanks for your help feeding the HB, I'll return the favor very soon. Personally I think the glory hole is far too dangerous to dig and best be filled in, I guess well never know just how much gold is down there :lol:

I hope the neighbors were a little quieter last night :/

 

[Reeks]

Sounds like you all had a good weekend in hunt of Au.
From what i have learnt so far it doesn't come easy thats for sure!

Nugget what crate arrangement were you running in the walbanker?
I bet that nice picker didn't make it too far down the catchment
Reeko

 

[Dozer]

Very nice mate

 

[OZDigger]

For those that are interested in the Nundle area this page, http://www.resourcesandenergy.nsw.g...cience-for-landholders/historical/nundle-gold has a link to PrimeFact 561, a PDF document which provides an interesting, detailed, but understandable history and geological desciption of the Nundle area goldfield. Interesting to note that the field has yielded 8t of alluvial gold and 2t of reef gold.

 

[aushunter]

Very well done Nugget,
I like the looks of those gullies with a bit of water in them, we rarely get water in the gullies up here.
I myself just score 0.63g today from cons from the last trip, tis good to see the gold in the pan.
Cheers
Brad....

 

[Danmuss]

Quick question on that gold you found nugget, how much is that worth?
I'm trying to talk the mrs into giving sluicing a go one day, she loves Prospecting for coins and relics but she could be up for digging creeks and streams lol

 

[Daniel]

Are you interested in Sapphires n Rubies at Barrington Tops some day, they are only small but there are pinks and reds? I know where to go and am interested in seeing if there is gold in the same place we have fossicked in the past.

Cheers

Hey mate, was good to meet you the other day.

Just a quick question, are the gems at barrington hard to find? My next trip will be up there just wondering if I'll need to do lots of exploring or are they widely spread?

Cheers

 

[Nugget]

Sounds like you all had a good weekend in hunt of Au.
From what i have learnt so far it doesn't come easy thats for sure!

Nugget what crate arrangement were you running in the walbanker?
I bet that nice picker didn't make it too far down the catchment
Reeko

I'm using one section of raised expanded mesh (about 30cms) with breadcrate after it (about 45cms). I'll post up a pic when I get a chance but it probably won't be until the weekend as I have a busy week ahead.

 

[Guest]

Daniel I only know one spot that someone took me to about 15 years ago. But next time am willing to explore other streams for heavies as well either for gems or gold, now that I know a bit more about what I should look for.

PM me when you are going up there or I will PM you and Nugget when I next plan to have a dig as its a day trip for me. (A big day)!

Not enough water for a highbanker. Gravel is hard pack and very hard to scratch out. Gem sieves are all that needed and now I know how to pan, Ill take that as well.

Looking at the new maps its in the State Forest Area so I would recommend a Fossicking Permit.

PM me if you have any more questions.

Cheers

 

[Heatho]

Nice bits Nugget well done mate.

 

[Nugget]

Quick question on that gold you found nugget, how much is that worth?
I'm trying to talk the mrs into giving sluicing a go one day, she loves Prospecting for coins and relics but she could be up for digging creeks and streams lol

Once I weigh it up I'll let you know, but I'm guessing around $15-$20 worth :lol:

 

[Ramjet]

That's no good about the gout / hangover mate, I'm a feeling a little sore myself but not as bad as I thought I would.

Thanks for your help feeding the HB, I'll return the favor very soon. Personally I think the glory hole is far too dangerous to dig and best be filled in, I guess well never know just how much gold is down there :lol:

I hope the neighbors were a little quieter last night :/

Actually ther neighbours where very quite Saturday night. Marg n I had a nice relaxed evening by the fire.
I may have annoyed the neighbours with my late night singing along to our music.

 

[Nugget]

I finished panning the concentrates today and the results are in.