GOLD GOLD GOLD

There is still a vast amount of coarse gold to be found in every prospective gold-carrying area - because it has been proven that water travelling through the ground carries free-radical chemicals along with it, that dissolve and precipitate gold, in the ground.

So an area that is reputed to be "worked-out" can produce new nuggets again after a number of years, or sometimes decades.

Here's some light reading on the chemistry of gold dissolution and deposition.
The Agency of Manganese in the Superficial Alteration and Secondary Enrichment of Gold Deposits

I can recall a Ripleys "Believe it or Not" story where a pit prop in an old Victorian underground gold mine was removed after many decades, to assist in further mining - and a gold nugget in the precise shape of the base of the prop, was found, when the prop was removed!

I can tell you a number of stories from old prospectors I knew, of gold being found again that had been lost, buried or stolen by miners. In some cases, the amounts of gold found were very substantial. As a result, gold prospecting occasionally produces treasure finds of decent value.

Cheers, Ron.

Heard old story, that a Chinese miner back in the day, had been hiding his stash, up in the gold fields around Kiandra, in the snowy Mtns... Group of bush ranger types, found his camp, and when he wouldn't tell where he hid it, they killed him.. They say the gold is still hidden up there somewhere.. This story was early days of the snowy scheme, late 40s.. Who knows... Cheers Odog

Gold is being commercially mined in several places in Australia. Kalgoorlie for example.
Kevin

There's a gold mine at Lake Cowal, between Forbes and West Wyalong and they mine the rock for 1.5 grams per tonne of rock. It is as fine as ground pepper and dispersed through the rock as a vapour and condensed into these fine particles when the rock cooled during early volcanic activity.

I just like to say thankyou for your replies, I'm off to buy a detector and my book, now which detector? lol