“A prospecting licence does not grant any right to a mineral, as an exploration licence or mining lease does, and the holder of a prospecting licence does not have ownership over a mineral found whilst prospecting”. Director of Mines, 14 August 2015.
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The Mathinna goldfield
The Mathinna goldfield started, like many others, with the discovery of alluvial gold, this time in Black Horse Gully. The area contains one of Tasmania’s largest gold mines, the New Golden Gate, which had a total (historical) production of over 260,000 ounces (~8 tons) of gold. The whole area is riddled with mines, prospects and old workings, and is fairly easy access with light bush.
Continue readingAlluvial gold part 1: gold panning
Are you interested in looking for alluvial gold? Did you know that most Tasmanian gold rushes and all but one of Tasmania’s great gold mines were found by prospectors originally following leads of alluvial gold? In this post I will briefly describe alluvial gold, and go into places you might go, where to do research, and link to some good videos on how to pan, if you’re just starting out.
Continue readingThe Mount Huxley swindle
In the heady gold-rush days of the 1890s, one particular discovery promised to be the biggest gold mine ever found: Mount Huxley, southeast of Queenstown, between Mount Owen and Mount Jukes. The show was reported as being so good as to threaten to depreciate the value of gold. Within a few short weeks, the Mount Huxley mine was exposed as a massive fraud.
Continue readingMangana – first Tasmanian gold discovery?
The town of Mangana, under its older name ‘The Nook’, and the Tullochgorum Estate next to it, are generally credited as the first official discovery of gold in Tasmania. Was there more to the story?
Continue readingTasmanian goldfields – north east
This week I’m writing about an area that contains some of our earliest gold discoveries — the north-east. I will discuss a bit of history, linking to newspaper articles from the times of the original discoveries. I also go over places worth a try if you want to find some gold, and finally there’s a section on how I go about finding information by searching online resources. There is quite a bit of information in this post, so I recommend grabbing yourself a cuppa before you start!
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