Myself and two other detectourists went to some of the old Mongarlowe diggings for a few days over the weekend, the visit unfortunately was cut short by rain. I can't say where we were exactly as I wasn't driving, except to say, I know it was a long way upstream from the Nerriga Rd. bridge.
But what an eye opener, I had no idea that the diggings were so extensive and complete and to think that this as all done manually without the benefit of huge machines. There were piles of rocks the size of footballs that looked like they had been dumped by huge trucks. Sad to say I didn't grab any photos as I thought we would be back the next day, but the rain cut that idea short.
Gold was found, not much, but enough to think that it is worthwhile going back for another look, it was thin and flakey for the most part plus there was one small nugget that was quite spiky and rough would go about a gram.
Running the Deus in the Goldfield program was a disaster, the ground is so heavily mineralised that it was sounding off continuously, I retuned it and after that it was fine, quiet and stable. All it needs now is a 15" or 19" HF coil to be able to cover the ground faster.
The land is unfortunately not accessible to the public as it is all owned by Sydney Water and all gates are padlocked I was lucky enough to be invited by a key holder. The land was bought up to allow for the building of the Welcome Reef Dam on the Shoalhaven River below the junction with the Mongarlowe River. The current thinking is that the dam will never be built. Will the land ever be returned to the farmers or opened up to the public? I doubt it.
But what an eye opener, I had no idea that the diggings were so extensive and complete and to think that this as all done manually without the benefit of huge machines. There were piles of rocks the size of footballs that looked like they had been dumped by huge trucks. Sad to say I didn't grab any photos as I thought we would be back the next day, but the rain cut that idea short.
Gold was found, not much, but enough to think that it is worthwhile going back for another look, it was thin and flakey for the most part plus there was one small nugget that was quite spiky and rough would go about a gram.
Running the Deus in the Goldfield program was a disaster, the ground is so heavily mineralised that it was sounding off continuously, I retuned it and after that it was fine, quiet and stable. All it needs now is a 15" or 19" HF coil to be able to cover the ground faster.
The land is unfortunately not accessible to the public as it is all owned by Sydney Water and all gates are padlocked I was lucky enough to be invited by a key holder. The land was bought up to allow for the building of the Welcome Reef Dam on the Shoalhaven River below the junction with the Mongarlowe River. The current thinking is that the dam will never be built. Will the land ever be returned to the farmers or opened up to the public? I doubt it.
