Where abouts to scrape some ground with my grader blade on my tractor

Gday everybody. On thursday i plan on firing up my tractor which has a grader blade on the front. I have an area id like to scrape a couple of feet of top soil away. This area is on my property. At the top of the hill i have a iron stone reef out of the ground which has several quartz veins running though it and i have done some test holes and found some small pieces of gold. All so one of the test holes revealed a quartz vein running though the centre of the hole at about 2 foot deep and it appears to be in a slate reef. What id like to know could anyone tell me the best place to start ripping some ground away ie at the top right next to the reef or halfway down the side of the hill or at the bottom in the gully. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

Find out what way its running get right on top of it then start taking it down.

Is the triangle the same as up here. A good reef runs SW to NE with a southerly dip? Or is it different down there?

They go every which way here

The majority of reefs here in vic run in a North - south direction or slightly NW - SE direction
predominantely dipping to the west ....

Cheers
gully hunter

Deez

You answered the question yourself mate, "start right at that test hole" where you got the prospect outa,
then work your way downhill keepin tabs on where the gold is coming from in your cuts, pile any dirt up neatly
so if you later want to run it thru a banjo you can set it up right next to each pile.

beepinpete's on the money with his suggestion! Also depends on how much room you've got to play with "Tree's etc".
I'd be inclined to start at your test holes and push the dirt 20 feet to one side, turn around and push dirt 20 feet to the other side, keep playing in this fashion until your at your 2 foot deep level! If you find nothing, you've just made yourself the start to a mini golf course?

G'day Deez

I'm not trying to spoil your party, but just because you own the property does not necessarily mean you own the minerals under it. If you only have a miners right you can still only use hand tools the same as the rest of us.

You need to peg an EL or some type of claim and get it passed the same as the rest of us would if we wanted to use machinery to dig with.

If you just go ahead it's no real big deal to me, just want you to be sure you know, if you are going to be talking about it on here.

cheers dave

Hi deez,

All good advise, so all I can offer is another detector and a very keen pair of eyes an a great attitude, so if you would like a hand let me know. Not after anything apart from the rush of helping you find something??

PS have got a high banker if that helps in some testing

PM me if you want any help, as said not after anything, just love being out there

Mariner3800

Davsgold just spelled out a very important fact, and I've tried to say it more than once, but always seems to fall on deaf ears. On your own property, have a well prepared lie to back you up so if someone dobs you in you have a good excuse for why you did it?? It's your property, do what you dam well like, just make sure your motives have an alibi that will satisfy your local council,"High altitude Mini golf course with a view", your property your idea! I needed that track to the cliff face, and another one going to the base, so my mates could gather me up if my shoot didn't open!

Deez, a big mistake some people make when scraping , is to try to take too much off each time. To do it properly don't take more than an inch at a time and detect each cut thoroughly and also what you have pushed aside in the heaps. It is amazing what shows up after you scrape. Even a good vlf detector works well in this situation. Start below your reef and work down and worry about the top part later.
Good Luck.

hey deez, i'll try and get out today to see how your doing but if not just message me and tell me how you go...
cheers
stoppsy

Hi Deez,
If u have color - i would be doing some sampling/panning to see whether the reef has shed valuable gold already.
If so then sample the area well and stockpile the valuable soil/dirt to put through a dryblower or whatever u guys use. On quite a few occasions u will find more gold in this region than in the so called reef.
Then I would dig up the reef and only dig if the reef is gold bearing after u get the permit.

Regards
Oneday69

if it's in the way off your Mini golf course i would move it anyway....
cheers
stoppsy

davsgold wrote:G'day Deez

I'm not trying to spoil your party, but just because you own the property does not necessarily mean you own the minerals under it. If you only have a miners right you can still only use hand tools the same as the rest of us.

You need to peg an EL or some type of claim and get it passed the same as the rest of us would if we wanted to use machinery to dig with.

If you just go ahead it's no real big deal to me, just want you to be sure you know, if you are going to be talking about it on here.

cheers dave

yeh mate , davsgold is right
you could get into trouble if you don`t peg it.
i met a guy recently whose pegged his on land to do exactly what you want to do
cheers dave

There's a chap I know in a district between Hill End and Mudgee (NSW) who bought his property based on the gold that was found on it by the old-timer miners. He later brought in a dozer or a grader to slice off the top few feet so he could go over it with his GPX-4500. Unfortunately, council had access to updated satellite pictures which showed the progress on his property (only a small area). He told them he was clearing for a new dam for water but they squeezed him nonetheless and threatened to fine him. He's very frustrated that he can't dig further without a serious (and very expensive) legal consequence. The use of such machinery rather than hand tools like a shovel is considered "mining" and is not permitted under the laws and acts relating to Prospecting and Fossicking.

/Just sayin'

Hi Guy's,

ls that the same for the gold fields as well. Pegging the ground and getting a lease?

Goldydawn

Lots of good advice about the legalities / techniques and so on for building mini golf courses and the like,

BUT, yep it's a big but, my experience of tractors fitted with scraper blades, backhoes, and other gadgets is that their handling is affected by these attatchments even on level ground......now take it up the side of a hill
and see what happens when you take a bite across the hillside.......Geez, I even saw a hitachi tracked excavator sitting up on its butt when the operator lost concentration working rising ground.

It's your ground there's no rush, get a pick n shovel.....keep fit and live longer.

Cheers Cranky

Thanks very much everybody for your help and ideas and the legal side of things as i hadnt even thought of that. All your input is much appreciated. Cheers.