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Matrix Reef Historical Area


karelian

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Lots of Government inconsistency, some areas well protected on historical grounds whilst others of even more significance are ignored. Reason and logic do not always hold sway when making these decisions. I believe our goldfields deserve to be better protected and in doing so it is fully consistent with the best interests of this hobby, electronic prospecting. Many of these areas are marginal farming properties, great for detecting though. Love to see some of these marginal properties purchased for recreational prospecting.  Happily pay a few dollars more for a Miners Right if I knew the extra went to opening up more land whilst protecting the mining landscape and history.

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A lot of historical sites have been ruin by illegal machinery operations ( and some legal ones too), that make the chicken scratching's made by all the manual detector operators as hardly detectible.    

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2 hours ago, egixe4 said:

Remember what Inkerman looked like in the 1980's James?

German Gully and the old lead Dunolly look amazing on Google Earth.

 

 

egixe4:

I suppose there's little point in getting sentimental about old diggers holes, but I do. My late detecting buddy Jim Stewart used to describe them as "gazing upon the pock marked familiar face of a dear old friend"

A farmer friend asked me recently if I would be willing to detect Mosquito Gully, Waanyarra if he pushed it. This is one of my very favourite detecting places - found good gold there over the years in that paddock (including a lovely 4 oz specimen) I did my best to talk him out of it, heritage, etc. Not sure if it will survive much longer though -

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  • The title was changed to Matrix Reef Historical Area

Yeah, have to agree James, I also miss some of the spots that have now been levelled, with little or no evidence remaining, of the blood, sweat, tears and in some cases the immense riches and joy experienced by the pioneers, that built the foundations of this country.

Jim Stewarts description is a good one, and some of those pock marked faces should be preserved.

I’ve also pulled some good bits from the Waanyarra area.

 

And Like Geof said above

“A lot of historical sites have been ruin by illegal machinery operations ( and some legal ones too), that make the chicken scratching's made by all the manual detector operators as hardly detectible”

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3 hours ago, egixe4 said:

- And Like Geof said above

“A lot of historical sites have been ruin by illegal machinery operations ( and some legal ones too), that make the chicken scratching's made by all the manual detector operators as hardly detectible”

 

Certainly puts detector holes into perspective - but we still need to refill them in order not to give our self appointed and perpetually offended moral guardians ammunition to expel us down the track - 

I'm also guilty of conducting legal "Doze and detect" operations years ago, but not over historically significant sites:

Nuggets.thumb.jpg.0a62c9d84ddc81e4e0dc6bc323a17065.jpg

20 odd ozs from my MRC claim. Billy Goat Gully, Kingower (early 90's)

It's sad to see the historical moonscape of the Old Lead, Dunolly slowly disappear. This is possibly the best preserved and most extensive historical diggings left in Victoria. I don't deny Neville Perry and associates have a legal right to excavate it and wish them every success - but what's gone is gone forever.

Old Lead 2006:

1419623056_oldlead2006.thumb.PNG.8e3848cb7589e4833b2a58c27d0c64a7.PNG

And today:

1472161527_oldlead.thumb.PNG.19fee404c3739df90ccdfecc3a1ec101.PNG

I've wandered somewhat off your Matrix Reef topic Karelian, but the sometimes enormous nuggets that found their way down the Old lead were also formed during the emplacement of the Tarnagulla pluton to the north. This is a topic in itself.

 

 

 

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Matrix Reef is an a small part of a larger whole, it is healthy for discussion to take a direction of it's own. Part of the learning process. There are lessons for me to learn and many posters on this site are in a position to teach.

Looking at most of the images, these areas are often referred to as 'shallow ground'. Having visited them and walked over the ground, I can say that I have learned a lot. Part of the learning process involves the meaning of 'shallow'. There is small coil shallow and then there is excavator shallow...

Despite the advances in detecting technology it would seem a good excavator can make all the difference. Yes, at a cost to the historic landscape.

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Matrix Reef Part Two: Just spent the morning detecting up No 1 gully, from the bottom near the roadside up past the dam into the upper reaches of the gully just below the mine shafts. Plenty of rubbish at the lower parts below the dam. The dam area also has lots of iron and bottle tops. Lots of 22 projectiles and empty casing everywhere. Moving up the gully and further up the hill there is less rubbish. Detector sign is everywhere, the area around No 1 gully has been worked hard..

Bedrock is not uncommon and parts of the gully could be creviced, but water is patchy at best, a bit in the dam and a couple water holes further up.

I was using a Tdi Pro with a Detech 8" mono coil, it performed well and picked up tiny pieces of iron, deep bottle tops and even deeper bullets and shell casings. No gold.  It managed the ground well and balanced nicely, a great coil. Given the terrain I only carried one detector with me, leaving the GMX down the bottom of the hill with the car. Next time I'll use the GMX focusing on bedrock in the gully and some of the exposed quartz. The area is not very large, just hilly. It would require a few more detecting days to give it the coverage it deserves.  Six hours of swinging barely scratched the surface. The gully is deep below the dam, some areas of bedrock exposed and the area on the hillside above the dam is best regarded as shallow. By shallow I mean small coil shallow.

The images show the dam from Google, little water in the dam, the areas above the dam with water. Further up the hill some exposed quartz in the gully and the drier upper section of No 1 gully.

Dam No 1 Gully - Copy.jpg

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The only water in the area is located in the dam or in the water holes above it. Lots of animal signs, so it is probably well utilized by the local wildlife. 

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