ALLUVIAL GOLD HAPHAZARD METHODS

ALLUVIAL GOLD HAPHAZARD METHODS UNPROFITABLE VALUABLE
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Much waste of capital and labor might be avoided in the search for gold if the seekers began properly, took advantage of the recorded experiences of others, and applied right methods. The man who sets out to find gold carrying a pickle bottle to put the precious metal in is either an optimist or a fool—or both. One who utterly disregards the known principles and methods of tracing and treating auriferous materials is equally foolish. There is probably more labor being expended in South Australia to-day than for many years past with the object of locating gold deposits, and many earnest seekers are unaware of the amount of valuable. information available at the Mines Department for their guidance. In convenient form official details may be obtained regarding operations during the past fifty years or more in the gold-bearing districts
Many later day prospectors have been surprised to find when they have "bottomed" in their search for alluvial the broken rusty tools of men who had worked the ground many years ago. and have been unaware that the total gold yield of this State exceeded £1,250,000 a quarter a century ago. Encouraging Prospects At the same time, provided the proper course is pursued, there are encouraging prospects for further discoveries. Men walked over Larcombe's Golden Eagle nugget at Widgiemooltna more than 30 years ago. and Italians had more recently cut down the trees above it. New chum prospectors should obtain all the available information regarding the district for which they intend to operate. They should remember that an ounce of gold to a ton of material is worth while, and that a "color" in a pan of dirt may be payable. They should remember that one grain—it takes 480 to make an ounce—may be spread over 56 square inches, that gold is £0 ductile that a grain may be stretched a distance of 500 ft, while an ounce could be made to cover a silver wire reaching from Adelaide to Sydney. Alluvial and reef the gold "lived" originally in reefs, veins, or lodes, and from these formations, with the crumbling action of the elements and the wearing away of the rock, particles were washed away and became the alluvium deposits else where. Naturally, it would be in the bed of the watercourses of the time, but these channels have also been changed in their course by the passing of time: and while there is no set rule, the alluvial miner combining his perhaps limited geological knowledge, locates the probable course, and then looks for "red rock," the strata to which the gold by its weight has gravitated and rested. His next task is testing the percentage of gold in that "bottom." The depth of this strata has been found to vary in South Australia from practically the surface to 20 feet or 30 feet, or more. Methods of testing the novice looks for nuggets: the experienced man for "colors." He adopts one of several methods. If water is available, he uses the "pan," and taking about two-thirds of "pay dirt." or gold-bearing material, he fills his pan with water, and, by careful washing, while keeping the dirt and the water in motion, takes off the lighter earth, and allows the gold to drop to the bottom. There may be only a "color," or a comet-shaped trace or tail of gold left. He needs no pickle bottle, but with a wet finger carefully lifts the particle and saves it. The process is repeated while there is "color" visible The inexperienced might regard it as not worth saving. If water is not available, the same gold may be won by dropping the loose earth from one dish to another, allowing the wind to blow away the lighter dirt as it falls. The cradle may be the most useful method where sufficient water is available, and expert advice in its construction may be had from the Mines Department. A diagram will probably be published by the department for the assistance of prospectors The "dry blower" has gladdened the hearts of many fossickers, with a form of blacksmith's bellows forcing air up through sieves. Thus the lighter earth is blown away and the heaviest metal remains. Sluicing and puddling are only possible where there is an ample water supply. Where the prospector is in doubt, however, regarding the value of the ground he is working, he may take samples and have them assayed free of charge by the authorities in Adelaide. The old prospector trusts to his "dolly pot," by which he pounds up a small quantity of earth or rock, and is able fairly accurately to estimate the percentage of gold in the material being worked. Points to remember the main point to be remembered and observed by the seeker of gold, who might be taking up the search for the first time, is that he should obtain all information possible regarding the district, the trend of the alluvial or loads, the depth of the "bottom," and the probable position of the reefs or veins. The fact should be remembered that only a comparatively small layer may carry the whole of the gold, and that it , takes a very small quantity of gold per dish of dirt to produce an ounce to the ton treated, and that where water is available it should be the best way to save the gold, but by the dry process carefully carried out it is possible to separate the gold from the debris. The precious metal has been found and worked, over a very wide area in South Australia, and in varying conditions. Information may be obtained from the Mines Department of localities where gold can be found. Much work has been done, and that gold has been mined, particularly for alluvial, under various conditions and methods. The wisdom of taking advantage of the experience of those who have blazed the track cannot be too strongly urged.

The Advertiser
1931
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