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G'day From Magnetic Island, North Queensland


Erik Oostra

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G'day all..

Just got a hold of a Gold Bug Pro and am starting of on the island's beaches.. so far I've found a handful of coins (my first one was a $1 so struck 'gold' straight away) and three old fashioned spoons on a site where an old cottage once stood in the late-1940s.

I've done a bit of research on gold on the island and it gets a few mentions.

The Brisbane Courier in 1886 recons that: "Samples of quartz from the newly-discovered reef on Magnetic Island are now in possession of the police-magistrate. It is good brown open quartz, showing fine gold freely. The reef from which the stone was taken is 3ft, wide with the casing. One solid quartz reef has been traced 50 yards along the surface. The reef is situated within a stone's throw of the sea, three miles from Picnic Bay in the direction of the Quarantine Station".

Needless to say I've had a search out there but being a beginner i haven't got much of a clue what i'm listening for. I've only just worked out which sounds and readings each Australian coin makes, and that is only on the beach.

Gold on Magnetic Island gets mentioned again in 1970 in the BMR's Geology of Townsville (survey map) which recons: 'Gold is also known to occur on.. Magnetic Island (uppermost Carboniferous granite).' I believe that this granite occurs on the western side of the Island, which also fits in which the name of a hill in that area - its called Goldmine Hill.

Sounds like its all coming together a bit too easy! But I'll keep going till I can at least say I've found gold on the island.

All in all, this detector prospecting game is turning out great fun, just swing away on the beach in the mornings and the possibility of gold in them there hills certainly keeps it interesting.

Just a quick question: how have other GBP users found this detector for coin shooting?

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Hello, and welcome aboard!

Steve and Simon, along with many others here,  will have you finding stuff in no time! They all have pretty much seen it and done it all!

💰Good luck!💰

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Hello Phrunt and Joe

Phrunt, yes i know Crusty well.. hahaha what are the chances of you knowing him? I was probably on the island when you got married here. Thanks a million for confirming those readings.. my first 'gold' was indeed at 79.. but having said that i'm still digging everything (no great hardship on a beach) and mainly finding rusty beer bottle tops. From your knowledge, what does the geology of Magnetic Island say about the presence of gold? am thinking about the 1886 newspaper article mentioning gold in quartz veins and the 1970 geological survey saying gold had been found in Carboniferous granite.. also local legend (at the pub) about the gold diggings at Goldmine Hill at Bolger Bay near West Point. Like i said, I'll keep going till i find something.. Sorry to pick your brains like this, but how would a GBP go in these places? Be keen to find the real thing.. 

Am just about to post another post relating my experiences with the GBP vs a GoFind..  

   

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Thanks for your help there mate, those links are a good start.. I'll head out to West Point (around Goldmine Hill) and bury some lead sinkers and foil in those soils and see what the GBP has to tell me.. i'll also bury a gold ring.. there are also some creek coming off Mount Cook in the same area (also in upper Carboniferous granite).. will have a look up them as well but am always worried about salties there.. i'll probably be better off higher up those creeks anyway.. i gather that the 5'' coil is the way forward for these sorts of soils and around old gold diggings (also got a 11'' coil for the beach).. Thanks again for helping to spark a real interest..     

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West Point Track - Map.pdf Goldmine Hill is part of the 'Hills' show on the map behind Bolger Bay..

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Erik, with the mention of the fine free gold in the ore you might want to pan in the creek some. If you find pin head size specks of gold fairly easily panning and no gold with multiple tries detecting it is possible the gold formed in tiny little flakes in the ore and there are no large pieces. Some places are like that. There are more areas around me with only small gold than there are areas with detectable gold. I can get gold in nearly every pan, it's just really tiny.

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By the way Erik, definition of terms in gold mining, because they aren't obvious. 

Fine gold=small gold peices, large gold peices would be "coarse gold".

Free gold=gold in its elemental form, not combined with other minerals in a sulfide. You can get free gold out just by crushing the rock and panning. Sulfides require a chemical process to separate the gold.

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this was send to me by Doug on the Prospecting Australia website.. it shows old mining sites on the island (blue flags)..

Gold on Magnetic Island.jpg

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