Old mine shafts

Spent yesterday looking in some old mine shafts,wondering if I dig out some of the clay and pan it would I find gold.What should I look for the grey or brown clay in between the hard rock or the stuff in the crevasses.

Kingfish, it depends on the area were you are looking. For instance, say Dunolly Goldsbough area the gray clay or Pipe clay as it is known, was the best indicator. But at Ballarat and through that western region, brown to almost black clay was the best indicator in those area's. Try both crevase and around the rocks. Try one technique and pan that off, ( say crevesing) then try the other technique and pan that off, and then compare the both results.
Good Luck
Wombat

wombat keep in mind that the walls of those shafts have been drying since they were dug, some
of them 150-160 years so any digging in the bottom could cause them to collapse, no gold is any good if your dead. some shafts that go through rock or under congromulate (bad spelling) they should be ok but have a good look first

Fencejumper, I agree with you there mate, but that is up to Kingfish to do all the checking out first before he starts anything. He has been warned.

Wombat

sorry read wrong post i should of said kingfish

Thats OK mate

Just a word of caution like the other fellas, where I live a lot of old shafts have a 'cap' that has been formed by trees branches and detritus collecting in them over the years. They can look solid but are not. So be careful if you are entering these shafts. If you want to try and find a bit of gold using the old method of loaming. There was a great booklet released awhile ago called 'Loaming for Gold', it is a good read and explains the principle.

Another word of warning. Some gasses like carbon dioxide are heavier than air and can fill up these shafts over time. You won't know about it untill you are feeling woosy and you won't have enough oxygen to get out. A lit flame will go out in carbon dioxide but that may also ignite any natural gas that's seeped into the shaft as well. Be carefull.

Dicko..

Thanks Guys,I found a nice open shaft that split two ways at the entrance where I was able to get some samples,seived it out and panned it off,mostly clay,didn't get a speck.Tried a little detergent didn't help either.I think I,ll stick with the detector.