Story Extracted from The Sunday Mail 8 October 2000
 

With Permission from Author David Laing copyright 2000

You don't have to go to the Olympics to win gold. David LAING did some digging and found the source of Sydney's treasured medals.

Sydney's Olympic Gold medals were made using gold from Ophir, in central New South Wales - and there's lots more waiting for you.

Armed with a metal detector and a little know-how, you can find gold in all the states. This year's strikes include a 43-ouncer on the Wet Lead near Dunolly, in Victoria, found by a part-time prospector in February this year; a specimen in black ironstone holding 10oz of gold found a kilometre north of Tarnagulla, in Victoria, by a retired couple from Brisbane; and a 20oz nugget found by a couple from Moliagul, again in Victoria.

I have managed to squirrel away close to 13oz of the yellow metal in the past three years, including a specimen from Upper Bingara, in NSW, weighing 6oz (3oz of gold) and a quartz and gold specimen from Clermont, in Queensland shinning with 1oz of gold.
On my last trip to Victoria in May 2000, I netted just 3oz, with my wife Pat detecting the major prize - a perfectly shaped little nugget. Prizes like these are being won by fossickers and prospectors nearly every day. And these modern "diggers" come from all walks of life.

Some are professional, some are members of detecting clubs and many are retirees who go on the road for six months a year. You can even get serious and sell up the house and home and rough it with a four wheel drive and caravan. Clermont is one of the best fossicking sites for Queenslanders. All you need is a fossicking licence ($30.00 per year for all of Queensland) and a kit to look for gold at the designated areas. You can buy a kit to look for a week or a month or longer, starting at $11.00 a week. The kit and licence can be obtained in Clermont, as well as maps of the diggings.

Don't rely on the maps that come with kits, though they're only good enough to get you to the various locations. A four wheel drive isn't needed in Clermont as long as you take care and don't run into bad washouts on many of  the tracks. It's important to take your time. That giant nugget has been lying there for a few million years, so a few more minutes won't matter. And don't go in midsummer as bush camping isn't allowed. you could also head for the Palmer river or Georgetown, in Queensland but not in the wet season. Check with the local mining registrar about which station owners will let you detect on their properties.

Down south, the Golden Triangle, bounded by Wedderburn, Dunolly, Tarnagulla and Talbot, in Victoria, has it all. There are lots of diggings and most of the tracks are sign posted. A fossicking licence costs $21.00 for two years and maps of the diggings are available locally, but John Tully's maps are the best. Spring and autumn are the best times to go, but there is no bush camping.

The mecca of gold seekers is across the Nullarbor in Western Australia. Head north towards Laverton, Leonora, Menzies, Sandstone and Cue, the magic names of legendary finds.

A lifetime licence costs $20.00. Remember that you need to contact the station owners before entering private property. Buy the CMA Road Atlas of WA, which names all properties and gives global positioning references. Take plenty of water and extra fuel as you might have to drive 200km to your preferred diggings.

David De Haveland's book Gold and Ghosts WA is the prospectors' bible. It was printed in 1985, so many gold hunters have been there ahead of you, but it will give you a starting point and will help with getting the right maps. The most useful maps are the 1:25,000 topographics, which have most features , such as a water tanks and bores, marked.

If your golden dreams don't extend to huge distances and months away from home, a weekend trip to Warwick in Southeast Queensland, and on a little further to Glendon Camping Grounds on the Inglewood road, offers a spot on the creek where the kids can get the hang of panning for gold. At Thanes Creek, on private property,   you can operate a small sluice and still find the odd piece of gold, and you might, just might, find something with your metal detector. For those serious about detectors, I recommend the Minelab SD series.

Plastic gold pans can be bought from camping shops for about $6.00. And don't buy a toy when it comes to a hoe pick  -  You need a strong tow handed job.

Get a copy of Gold Gem and Treasure form your newsagent and good luck.

TIPS  -  Glendon Camping Grounds are 38km west of Warwick on the Inglewood road and have on-site vans, camping, power and basic foods kiosk. Phone Bob and Ester Malden on 4667 4756. Buy a GPS (hand held global positioning system). Don't get lost: Victorian goldfields are heavily timbered, Western Australia has vast properties and in some areas of Clermont, your car will not be visible at a distance of 50 metres. Once you start finding gold, you will be mixing your weights in ounces and grams. The international standard for measuring gold is the troy ounce. (1.097 imperial ounces, or 31.1 grams). You will be selling your gold for about $14.00 to $16.00 per gram.