Explanation of the "ploughed furrows".

Hi All! I'm after a bit of an explanation of a particular landscaping phenomenon one comes across quite regularly in the Golden Triangle. Substantial areas (often several acres) of ground have the appearance of having been ploughed. Ie. They have numerous long furrows running parallel throughout their length. It looks to have been done with comparatively recent machinery and sometimes appears to be covered by a fair amount of regrowth, usually fairly young. I'm wondering whether such areas might have been ploughed and revegetated after the expiry of a lease or something. That seems to me to be the most logical explanation, as I can't think of any sort of gold recovery method that would leave that effect on the ground. Any ideas on what produces this and is it a relatively recent practice?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Max.

Anything like this? http://www.centralotagonz.com/quartz-reef

I might have thought you were describing areas that have been "surfaced", where the top, say, 300mm has been removed for processing.

I've detected plenty of littlies in these areas,

Phil

Hi Sebtones! That is certainly an interesting phenomenon but seems quite different from what I am referring to. These are generally relatively flat areas, usually gravelly and have the appearance of having been gone over with a plough rather than being stacked stones. The furrows are parallel and fairly straight, about a metre apart. They can extend over several thousand square metres or more. There may be some sort of similarity of purpose between the two, but the appearance is quite different.

Hi Phil! I am familiar with surfacing and have scratched a few out of these areas myself but unless these furrows represent some technique I'm not familiar with, they don't appear to be part of that process. They do, however, sometimes occur near areas that have, at some time, been surfaced. Makes me wonder whether they are the material removed during surfacing and spread out in an attempt to restore at least part of the landscape. The nature of the vegetation on them suggests they are not generally all that old but who knows?

Examples can be seen in the Frenchman's and White Horse Gully areas south of Maryborough and adjacent to the Bonny Jean Track near Talbot. Next time I see one, I'll try to remember to get and post some pickies. Might help.
Thanks and Cheers,
Max.

could be "dse" re-generation/ re-vegetation. have seen it at moliagul and kingower.it looks like they are just flattening out the old diggings.like you said, could be a good area for some littleies,as they have turned over the soil for you..

cam

Thanks Cam. Certainly has that sort of appearance. I wasn't aware DSE were undertaking this sort of work. Probably what it is. It doesn't look particularly old.
Max.

may not be dse. but where i have seen it,it is all on public land..i think they should just leave it as it is,i suppose it could be lease-holders also, as they are supposed to return the land to "original" condition after they have finished.

cam

The areas you are describing are old doze and detect claims or doze and trommel wash, it was a condition from the Mines dept to level the ground after for rehab!

Plenty of those around Maryborough!

Part of the post-mining process. Re-flatten and replant. They have to do it. Interestingly these then become off limits in many cases, see around Wedderburn for good examples of these conservation areas

Thanks everyone, for your input. Seems to confirm what I had kind of suspected, some sort of restoration activity, be it by DSE or others.
Max.

I think the ploughed furrows are done to hold the moisture, after a rain and help in re - veg.

Minermike wrote:I think the ploughed furrows are done to hold the moisture, after a rain and help in re - veg.

Certainly possible Mike. I can't readily think of any other purpose that would necessitate that approach. It would definately help minimise natural run-off.

Max.

The furrows are highly likely to be worked leases that have been levelled and replanted as required by their lease. It is worth trying to find where they had their washing plant located. I know some plants (usually located near a dam) have produced hundreds of very small nuggets with a small coil, that were missed and lost in the vicinity of the process plant/stockpile areas.

Also some of the worked gullies and edging slopes on the worked flat areas have small areas of deeper red clay soil that were exposed by scraping but not processed. These red clay areas have produced some good nuggets and are worth looking for.

Tributer

Thanks for the information and suggestions, Tributer. Travelling around up north at the moment for a few weeks, (without detector, unfortunately - Gotta give the management priority sometimes!) but this sounds like a project worthy of investigation for when I get back.
Cheers!
Max.

What you have described sound very similar to the work I use to do with the dozer...ground prep for rehab planting (DSE), normally completed one or two years before the replant, this allows the soil to build moisture depth and nutrients reserves....

Could also have been done to prevent soil erosion, especially if a large hot fire has been though the area and destroyed all ground vegetation...

just my thoughts.....Don't know the area off hand