A few to many drinks last night, my apologies
Prospects at work
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I'm happy to give advice but obviously not if not wanted.
I think many of us were waiting for you to wash out some gold! That was why I suggested having a go at the very base of the gravels and decomposed bedrock. It may be the same as many other places, but it is not that often one gets an exposure like that. It might not make you a billionaire but there is always the potential to find a few missed ounces in such places.
Yes, that drive can be seen to be in ancient bedrock (Ordovician) below the gravels (Cenozoic). It was normal to put haulage drives in bedrock then rise up into the gravels, otherwise one would lose access as one mined the gravels - Ordovian rocks were quite solid and stable as a rule.
I get paid well so time is tight, had my pan in my digger today and managed to sneak down and do a quick 1 pan sample from the top of the gravels coming out of that drive..
Yes, they would commonly sink a shaft all the way into bedrock then drive a "haulage" or "reef drive" ("reef" meaning hardrock) underneath the lead and parallel to it, often with rails and of reasonable diameter, putting up rises and putting in a "wash drive" above in the base of the gravels. They would then block out and remove the "wash", commonly sending it down the rises and back along the haulage drive back to the shaft and up the shaft to surface. That way, although they put in timber supports while blocking out wash, it did not matter if the very wet wash drive periodically fell in after they took out the wash - they still had a continuing haulage to follow beneath the wash. It also meant they did not have to haul long distance along the wet and unstable wash drive through ground they had already taken out. Not always done that way, but common.
It also meant that water in the lead was draining down into the haulage drive, along which it would go to a sump and be pumped (or raised by other means) to surface, keeping the working area in the wash drier. The bedrock would provide a good solid gutter that did not break up - unlike what would occur in the gravel if you had water running forever in a drain along it - in some mines the gravel was so unconsolidated it could be shovelled (at least broken down with a pick), and most of the time explosives were not required. However if it was iron-cemented like where you are it might need blasting and even have to be put through a crushing plant at surface. That was rarely economic, most cemented gravel was only worked where it had gold in outcrop, not in underground mine workings.
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Good. Looks like the gold was coming from close nearby - very angular not rounded> Be good if you could sneak in a bit more!
These are deeper alluvial mines than you are dealing with, but the principal is the same.
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A little dream I had..
To move to the victoria goldfields as a digger operator simply so as I work I would be interested in the ground I dig.
Less than a year later here I am digging ancient ground with my PB biggest digger (49 tonner)..
Checkout the company name on the boom
To move to the victoria goldfields as a digger operator simply so as I work I would be interested in the ground I dig.
Less than a year later here I am digging ancient ground with my PB biggest digger (49 tonner)..
Checkout the company name on the boom
Usually leads were exposed on hillsides at the head of the lead - they would then work their way deeper and deeper as they followed the lead down the palaeovalley (which could sometimes even be at right-angles to modern valleys. Once they got some understanding they would sink shafts or bores at greater depth to explore for the continuation. The old churn drill was a very cheap method by the late 19th century but it was shafts and hard yakka before that (which is when 90% of the alluvial leads were mined, most prior to 1865 with a brief and deep resurgence in the 1870s). Amazing what you can do if you are hungry enough, and if the reward might be 10 or 20 years income in less than a year. A lot died with water rushin in - 19 at one event in Creswick, 5 at another in Creswick, but in the early days deaths could be 30 per month in places like Ballarat.g
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Killing it
it's a lot better than what's been in any bucket I've handled in the last few years. All power to you mate 
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A few jealous GPX6000 owners out there drooling over your glory bucket
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Windar
Craig
Any chance of classifying onsite so you bring less buckets but more gold per bucket?
A view of the jobsite..
View attachment 20221118_160234.mp4
View attachment 20221118_160234.mp4
Don't get enough time mate, plus it's not worth the effort.
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