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Large Nuggets - Closer Or Further Away From A Reef


Jin

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Jin, I have puzzled over the position of large pieces for years and have come to the conclusion that there is no rule. I have found large pieces both close to a reef and some where no proven reef existed in the area.

Gold that is traveling from a reef from where it was expected to have shed is known as colluvial gold. It can be shown that gold can reach a point of rest (gully, creek, river) only to be moved again and again. A large nugget that I found many years ago had three different ages of cement or conglomerate locked in the hollows. This suggested that at least three times this nugget had reached a point of rest, become conglomerated, and by erosion had been moved on. Over how many millions of years this had taken place is beyond speculation. Just how far this nugget had traveled is just as big a mystery. Locked in a boulder of conglomerate one could speculate that it could have moved a great distance down a stream before the conglomerate broke down, leaving that slug some way from other gold.

In many cases the reef that produced big gold has been depleted and eroded away, and there are no visible signs of its existence. It once may have shed gold from a position several hundred (or more) feet above where you stand, scratching your head over a geological puzzle. The amount of erosion that has taken place is hard to get your mind around, especially in an old and worn down continent like Australia.

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Enjoy reading your thoughts Reg.  It makes my brain whirr a little faster    ?

Jin - am I right in thinking your tally was up around the 27 gms for the 2 days detecting?  Nice work if I'm adding correctly.  Good to hear you are 'back' into the detecting  ?

 

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Many good points to consider Reg, thanks. 

Northeast, No only 5gms this trip.  I was referring to the patch and some of the sizes of gold found in it. Yes, it was great to get back to detecting and find my back was ok afterward. (bulged disc - lower back)

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