Theres gold in them there walls.

[TheSilentBugler]

Bought a 35 odd year old house, the old bloke who built it was a bit of a rockstar as far as I'm concerned, an engineer and carpenter from what I can find. He hand built the place out of mudbrick and insanely huge recycled oregon beams. Gorgeous workshop as well, the place will outlast all of us.

So, I found some part mud bricks around the garden, quite decomposed in the rain, and as I'm sure most of you would, shashed and panned.

The thing is, as you have probably guesed dear reader theres gold in the bricks, well, in some anyway.

Posted in alluvial because theres no "gold in the bloody walls!" section. Mods feel welcome to move to an appropriate spot if you can find one.

We're talking sugar to flour size, say 1/2 a doz colours per pan, though one had over a doz and little picker (might be a stretch, but I managed to pick it out of the pan.), and one had zilch, very little in the way of heavies apart from the yella.

Where the hell did he get the small quartzy gravel through the bricks, or was it the sand, or the cow shite?

Gah!

There is NO historic gold data on the area, 100 odd ks to the nearest.

I have attempted to contact his kin (only one left) but she has absolutely no interest in speaking, must have been a big barney or something.

So I guess I'm stumped.

Gold IS where you find it I suppose.

Though I will admit to doing the sums, I'm not pulling the house down

Pics later.

 

[Tathradj]

About the only thing I could think of is he would not have carried it far.
Gold is where you find it.

 

[TheSilentBugler]

Yeah, which is the reason I'm digging some holes this arvo, perhaps the gravel came from where they dug out to lay the slab. the local geology is alluvium over volcanics, I'm on the side of the highest point for some distance, which is not very high at all.

Some googlage leads me to a couple of leads for quarries for the sand, but I reackon that's unlikely given the lack of other heavies.

Some of the gravel is water worn, some quite jagged, a mix of white to pinkish granite and white to rusty quartz.

 

[SteelPat]

You will go away one weekend, come back and find someone has panned your lounge room walls lol.

 

[TheSilentBugler]

Heh, was just talking to the missus about putting in a new window

 

[Heatho]

I'd be running my SDC over the walls just out of interest, gotta be a nice nug there somewhere.

 

[Jaros]

Yeah, if the wife asks what you're doing just tell her that you're adding some ventilation to the building!!

 

[Dirtdemon]

Might have to get a smaller washing machine so you can fit the highbanker in next to it

 

[TheSilentBugler]

Heh.

Done a bit more of the leftovers around the place, prolly 30 pans now, a couple big lumps to go.

It makes no sense at all, rough fine stuff, hasn't gone far, bugger all other heavies.

excuse shite pics

That's the most weathered wall

Trying to get a photo of the yella so far, but failing due to photographic ineptitude.

Gonna find a background with better contrast.

 

[Danielkrupski]

Ha too funny. Did someone say renovate.

 

[TheSilentBugler]

There we go, unweighable on my cheap scales, too heavy

 

[k man]

Gee mate that is nice shaped gold. You've hit the spot there. Would drive me nuts knowing its in the walls

 

[TheSilentBugler]

Got some more testing to do, I'm wondering whether the chunks of brick I found are brick or the mortar mud he stuck it together with.

Doing my head in for sure.

Gonna dig that hole tomorrowday and see what happens.

 

[Prospector B]

Wow mate, you've got a prospectors dream house, gold encrusted walls! Or maybe it's a prospectors worst nightmare, you know it's there and can't get it...

On a serious note, I saw a show where a guy bought some building sand from a hardware store. He sluiced it and found gold. The company was extracting alluvial quartz that was in a gold bearing area. He was in the USA buts it's possible it's happened here.

 

[Tathradj]

I think there might be a heck of a lot of rendering going to Happen. PMSL.
Can I ask the General area you are in. ?
Might help us sleuths sort it out.

 

[TheSilentBugler]

Bass Coast Vic. Zilch around in the way of historical finds, nearest would be the all but forgoten Mornington or Frankston fields, or perhaps Foster.

 

[Tathradj]

Just had a quick look and you are right.
Apart from a few small area,s there is mainly coal mining.
Dig Deep my friend.
The material would not have come from far away as people who built Mud Brick Houses built
them near the resources required. What that looks like to me is river wash from an ancient river.
It could have come from a mullock heap as well.
Think worn down Mountains or ranges.
The amount and type of gold you have there would be a mighty nice find.
If you can find the source.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting.

 

[TheSilentBugler]

Cheers mate.

Old mate was very particular, the place was hand built. Most likely to my mind is that he bought gravel from somewhere to make his idea of the perfect mud brick, or even made them offsite.

I'm wondering, given the rough yella and that a lot of the gravels are a tad on the sharp side that they've been crushed, might just be blind luck that the gravel came with extras.

House is ~35 years old, not a stretch to think all the gear was trucked in, given we're talking house blocks not acreage.

I'm still digging a big hole

 

[Guest]

Dam shame if the quarry has been selling the dirt to builders for the last 40 years and still don't know there actually giving away the profit...
Better yet if you can work out where it came from a tandem trailer load for $80 is sure to make you profit by the look of that colour!

 

[MJB]

That's crazy gold mate...I would be electrifying your house so no sneeky bugger can come and run your walls through a puddler