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Nuggetty Hills Maldon By Drone


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My first day out of Melbourne Australia for a long time was spent exploring Nuggetty Hills near Maldon in Victoria. Felt good to get some fresh country air.

Rocky hilly terrain meant I used a drone to get a better view. The drone has proven itself a very useful tool, for prospecting and more. All the best.

 

What fun, and a pretty place too! Looks like there could be some places one should test or detect there, and that name- “Nuggetty Hill”.  What is the prospecting history there?

As for a drone being helpful for prospecting, I agree.  Used mine before to see if there was any exposed float on a hillside above me, it worked well.  And you could attach one of those high tech $5K super long distance gold spears to your drone too, who knows what it may point to flying over Nuggetty Hill again! 😉

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Nuggetty Hills is home to Moonlight Reef, Victoria Reef, Cumberland Reef, Mosquito Reef and Nuggetty Reef. There are open cut workings, mullock heaps, plus on the hillside loam and gravel areas of interest. Nuggetty reef at it's peak once gave 500 oz to the ton... Down hill from the reefs the gullies and hillsides were the focus of my attention. The area is steep but there are areas on the slopes that could have potential for detecting.

IMG_2215 (2).jpg

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  • The title was changed to Nuggetty Hills Maldon By Drone

Just keep your 'cotton picking' drone out of my spots. At about the two minute mark I can clearly see where I worked four different patches, one in the company of JR Beatty, which yielded over a hundred bits. 

The land owners were on percentage

All of that lower country is private property, and if an eagle doesn't get your drone a 12 gauge just might. (just kidding)

Fence jumpers not welcome.

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Nice area to be hunting in, wish I could be there.

Some day I know I will be there hunting an area like that, and finding some nice gold.

If not I will settle for a nice looking blonde and something nice to drink.

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Reg, spot on as there is a patchwork of private property. Lucky we live in the digital age which means it is easy to know  where the boundaries are, so no excuses for being on the wrong side of the line.. Should mention I'm more concerned about eagles than any 12g. Plan is to detect a gully from the head down into the lower parts. A drones view is great but at the end of the day I'm going to have to work my way down and huff and puff my way back up that hill. 

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Just might be a chance in that gully as it is Crown land all the way down to the fence line where it would be too deep for a detector. I have not detected it due to the easier pickings out on the flat country where the Nuggetty lead meanders for miles over granite country. The bush reserve where the old Nuggetty school used to be might be worth a punt as the ground is shallow and I know of a guy who got small colours on the edge of the road there. Once again I have not detected that spot although I did get a patch of eleven ounces quite close by. The best bit was over three ounces.

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A lot of good information Reg, thanks. I was first drawn to the area because of the names used, Nuggetty Hills, Nuggetty Rd, Nuggetty School Rd, Nuggetty Winery... More research and I was curious to explore the area and have a look at the ground.

Had a good drive around the area, including Nuggetty School Rd, flew past the small bush reserve and missed the signs. Just spent some time on Google Earth and looking at the area along the road I can see that the farmers have ploughed over worked areas but there are small patches of workings hidden to the casual observer. Not visible from the road but a lot clearer from the air. Private property mostly with the smallest patches available to the public. The glory days of gold in the ounces, I'm excited by gold by the gram,  although I do like to dream of the big one.  Any excuse to get me out of Melbourne for a few days. All the best.

Nuggetty Maldon.jpg

Maldon Nuggetty Map.gif

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That’s a great map, should be helpful for you.  I assume those vertical dark lines are named stope mines following dikes?

And as for a potential way to get better resolution imagery of that area, have you seen this?

https://www.land.vic.gov.au/maps-and-spatial/spatial-data/how-to-access-spatial-data

 

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