The Old Gold Book

by Jack Lange

It was time to find a fresh goldfield in NSW.  My brother Ed and I had been travelling to Qld in the winter months but in November it would be too hot for us. QLD had been good to us. We had detected several goldfields and all of them had produced worthwhile gold. But it was along way to go and a fair proportion of the holiday had to be spent in just travelling. On my shop wall I have a large map of N.S.W goldfields, where each mine or field is marked with a yellow dot and there are hundreds of dots. The only place where there are no dots is in the lower hunter area, where I live. However travelling south or north a few hours there are plenty of goldfields within half a days drive. We decided to head for the cooler south to a special spot I had read about in a book about NSW goldfields an old bloke had given me, dated around 1930. Over the last few years I had been heading out of the state as I have generally done better elsewhere. But the info in this book grabbed my attention. It described one particular area where the old timers had found large areas of low grade gold bearing ground, which wasn’t particularly rich, but the gold was widespread.  Some big nuggets had been recorded, so we thought we would give it a go over only four days. We didn’t have a clue what the terrain would be like when we got there but if it proved unsuitable we could always try somewhere else. On this feasibility trip we were leaving wives and caravans behind so we loaded my Pajero up with the bare necessities. Its interesting how in this age of 4 wheeling softies and high technology that the “bare necessities” filled up the Pajero wagon and quite a bit of stuff ended up on the big roof rack. We packed a third spare detector, tents, lanterns, gas cookers and bottles (just in case there was a total fire ban) plenty of spare warm clothes and rain gear- just in case. As usual I packed too many books, too much food and too many spares. The one item I didn’t want to forget was my little GPS. I had a feeling it would be handy in the remote area we were heading for.

We had planned to leave early but business kept me from leaving till lunchtime but we still arrived in plenty of time to set up camp in a sheltered gully. We pitched the tent secure in the knowledge that it had been waterproofed recently. It looked like it might drizzle that night. Next morning I awoke to find that some mystery animal had left droppings on my bag of oranges, which I had left outside the tent! I later discovered that it had been a fox. I was disturbed one night by a noise and shone the torch into the creature’s eyes.  In fact foxes invaded our camp every night but found nothing that they wanted to eat.   I think they were young foxed that wanted to play with some new toys. But we were keen to start looking for the diggings. After an hour or two of following tracks in some very rugged terrain we found a deep long trench dug around a hillside. After examining it we decided it was an old water race used by the miners to channel water to the alluvial ground.  Nearby we found some deep holes going down from one to three metres, where the old timers had dug to the gold level. Modern detectors are good but they wont detect at that depth so we went looking elsewhere. We found a likely looking slope a few hundred metres away littered with quartz and a shallow old gold mine.  On closer inspection we found quite a lot of old metal detector holes which indicated someone had beat us to that particular spot and done well. We spent just an hour on that slope and never even found a nail.

We walked about looking for a suitable area to detect but most of the ground was covered in low scrub that made it impossible to detect. Eventually Ed found a ridge with some bare patches a couple of hundred metres away and before long blew his whistle, which indicated he’d found a productive area. Ed had found a couple of small pieces about 2 grams each close together and on the surface, which was encouraging. It’s always a great feeling to find your first pieces in a new area, no matter how small, as it creates anticipation and interest. After finding 2 pieces within a metre of each other we expected to find more pieces in the small clearing but there was none there. Surprised, I fitted the 8” coil that will beep on match head size midgets but still found nothing. We reasoned that there was sure to be more gold on that little ridge higher up but we couldn’t detect it due to the heavy scrub. A quick search of bare patches on another nearby ridge produced no results.  It was encouraging to find gold on the first day in an area that was totally new to us but a little disappointing that it didn’t lead to the patch we were looking for. We got back into the Pajero and drove slowly over the rough, little used track looking for some clearer ground. Half a kilometre along I noticed some reasonable looking ground and decided to give it a go. On my first run I quickly found a three gram piece and my hopes soared. It took two hours of chaining the rest of that clearing before I knew that nugget was a loner. I gazed around at the ridges but they were all covered in dense scrub. I knew there had to be gold out there somewhere but the ground was impossible to detect.

That night it rained and I was grateful for the small tarp I had brought along just in case and we connected it to the tent for shelter while we sat by the fire cooking tea and exchanged our views on life. We reckoned we were pretty fortunate to live in a land where we could camp in the bush with such freedom. As I looked up at the stars and near full moon decorating the night above the treetops I thought of the great creator who made it all. People often ask me where Gold comes from. The way our society is educated we think everything had to have some chemical origin. For instance its is felt by many scientists that Gold had to be in a suspended chemical state before it solidified and became solid gold. That may be true in isolated instances but on the whole I reckon Gold was created in quartz reefs, just the way we often find it today, beautiful and intriguing.  But why is so much gold found in rounded nugget form? Nuggets are often found on hilltops looking just as waterworn as those found in creeks. How come?  Creation scientists agree with several ancient records of a world wide flood catastrophe, which raged over even mountain tops for a long time. This could explain the profusion of waterworn gravel wash on the hilltops and ridges where we often seek gold. Understanding this has often helped me locate gold in unexpected places.

We awoke to the kind of bright new dawn that brings new hopes for adventure and gold. We could hardly wait to start the new day’s adventure. What makes a good prospector? It takes an adventurous patient spirit. A sense of adventure gets you out there and patience keeps you plugging on when you’re finding nothing.  We decided to explore some steep ridge country that would take a lot of foot slogging. It looked like it would be too easy to get lost in that rugged country so I fixed a position on the car with my GPS. I wanted to be able to find the car again at the end of the day. Grabbing my big SD cannon I detected as I walked. The ground looked right though it was a bit too steep, but I never crossed the path of gold in the first kilometre. Somewhat tired I rested and looked around trying to sum up the countryside. I noticed a quartz strewn ridge with a little knoll on it, which was heavy with quartz. I decided it was worthwhile spending an hour zigzagging over the ridge with the SD detector. I like the big 18” coil because it covers the ground very quickly even though sometimes it can give me a sore back and aching shoulders. On my first pass over the quartz covered knoll I noticed a very fresh detector hole. It dawned on me that Ed must have passed over that ridge the day before. In fact he had told me about finding the spot but I hadn’t taken any notice for some reason. He must have come to it from the opposite direction that I had approached from. It was a bit discouraging knowing that someone has already been there, but reason told me that Ed couldn’t have had enough time there to do more than a couple of passes in the area. So I detected past the hole he had left (filled in) and swung above some quartz boulders where I got a clear but deep sounding signal. I kicked the rocks aside and dug about 6” of rubble away. The signal still sounded deep and clear and I could pick it up with the coil turned on its edge.  A minute later I had carefully removed another 6” of rubble and now the big coil really began to let me know something was down there. But I still figured I only had an even chance that it was gold.  The ridge had been scraped by forestry machinery some years ago and they could have buried a horseshoe.  Its an interesting experience when you don’t know if you are only inches away from either a piece of junk or a very valuable chunk of ancient metal. You have to contain your imagination.

The compacted quartz rubble was hard to remove and as I was grabbing it I cut my finger on a sharp broken edge, but I hardly noticed it, pausing only to wrap a handkerchief around the cut. It only added to the drama of the moment. Finally I had a 20” deep hole that became totally quiet. The signal was now in the large mullock heap, which was obviously hoarding the mysterious target.  I isolated the signal to a heavy lump of clay that made the detector scream. It felt and sounded promising. Turning the lump over I saw that it had edges of gold protruding.  This is it! This is the highlight of a prospector’s experience. This is the reward of planning, study, investment in time and money. It was only then that I allowed myself to get excited. I had long ago learned that to get excited prematurely, before you actually see the yellow metal, can often lead to big disappointment. I knew that I held something very worthwhile in my hand and deep sense of gratitude to the great provider came over me. I had been tired after the mornings hill climbing but my exhaustion was replaced by exhilaration as I scraped some more clay away from the nugget. I guessed that it weighed around 7 ounces.

Ed and I have an arrangement. When one of us finds a good spot we blew a whistle three times. Ed was hundreds of metres away when he heard the pre-arranged signal but he mistook it for our 6 whistles signal that means, “I am hurt come quickly.” Leaving his heavy detector and backpack on top of a hill he quickly made his way down the hillside. Meanwhile I waited for him and thought about this exciting find. When I first waved the big SD coil over the signal, the coil must have been 3” over the top of the quartz rocks that were about 6” thick.  I had lifted the coil another 6” higher and still got a faint signal. The gold had been down another 20”. That meant I could have detected that nugget at about 3 feet!  That was the deepest I had ever detected gold.

It’s been my usual experience that the first nugget of a patch is of ordinary or small size and the biggest nugget is found later. However here I was already holding a big nugget in my hand and it was the first. Were there bigger ones down the slope or had I stumbled upon the grand daddy first off?       Either way there was sure to be more around. You don’t get just one piece on its own in new ground. Before Long, after a series of locating whistles, Ed called out through the bushes. “Are you O.K. Jack?”  I was beaming as I called out across the creek:  “I found a nugget.”  Ed replied, “That’s a relief, hang on till I find my way over this creek and have a look.”  Ed cautiously crossed the creek over a fallen log and came over to where I was sitting, in the shade, still grinning. He took the nugget in his hand and was a bit shocked at it’s size: “Looks at least four ounces Jack.” As no one else was around we made a bit of a happy noise with some backslapping. It was time to celebrate with lunch but Ed had to climb back up the hill to get food and his detecting gear.

During a hurried lunch we laid plans. I was to detect every square foot of the ridge while Ed was going to detect the surrounding gullies and flats. We reckoned there had to be more gold about. Dragging a chain didn’t mark that hard ridge so I used oranges as markers. I detected between the oranges and kept moving them down the ridge. As it was hot and thirsty weather I had to resist the temptation to eat my juicy markers. Warm water would have to do.  During the next hour of detecting I was full of excited anticipation but as I found no gold I soon relaxed to a systematic rhythm, back and forth across the ridge.  It was another hour before I found the next nugget, a three gramme piece on the surface. Then followed just a few more small nuggets all near the surface, the biggest being a respectable 5 grammes.  It was a bit disappointing after the excitement of the big piece that had promised much more. Ed found absolutely nothing in the surrounding country so we gave up on the area. Back at camp I cleaned the nugget and had a good look at it. It was about half way to being waterworn and rounded but had some jagged edges and some small pieces of quartz attached to one side. My new estimate on the cleaned nugget was four ounces.

We spent another day detecting surrounding ridges and found about 50 bullets but no gold.  This was just a brief trip and we had to go home. But it was worth it. It had been worth it to study up the maps and the book. Was the old book worth it’s weight in gold? Not yet but who knows? After a few more trips it might be. We planned to return soon.

Jack