THIS CACHE CONTAINS A LARGE LOG BOOK. ALL ONLINE LOGS NEED TO HAVE A MATCHING SIGNATURE IN THE LOG BOOK.
GROUP LOGS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Most of the gold in the ElDorado area was present as very fine grains or flakes distributed through alluvial deposits, rather than in a thin layer over pipeclay or bedrock as occurred at other goldfields. Recovering gold from the washdirt at ElDorado thus required abundant supplies of water. The area receives an average of 950 mm of rain per annum, which meant that surface and ground water was available through much of the year for mining purposes. Subterranean springs and aquifers also fed surface waterways.
Miners on the goldfield initially used pans and cradles to wash gold from creek beds. The nature of alluvial deposits, however, meant that ground sluicing was soon adopted as the primary means of recovering gold. Ground sluices diverted water through channels or races and over a working face to loosen and wash away the soil and clay. The dislodged material was shovelled into a sluice-box with riffles or blocks on the base, behind which the heavier particles of gold were trapped. In later years hydraulic sluicing and paddocking were also practised, which left major scars on mining landscapes.
All these methods required substantial volumes of flowing water. To ensure reliable supplies, miners built dams on creeks and gullies to create reservoirs, and dug races to direct water to their mining claims.
Hyraulic sluicing originated out of ancient Roman techniques that used water to excavate soft underground deposits. Its modern form, using pressurized water jets produced by a nozzle called a "monitor", came about in the 1850s during the California gold rush in the United States. Though successful in extracting gold-rich minerals, the widespread use of the process resulted in extensive environmental damage.
Cock's Pioneer Electric Gold and Tin Sluicing Co worked over 600 acres to the east of ElDorado treating over 2 million cubic yards of washdirt. Towards the end the company was unable to show a profit due to the power plant being inadequate to deal with the work and also was very uneconomical. A great deal of time was lost dealing with mechanical defects.
The concrete foundations at the top of the gully are believed to be the power plant and pumping station. The concrete slab with the circular hole was where the pump stood. In the ground close by are several footings with bolts protruding that once supported a large structure (some are on the track where people park so be mindful).
When Top Cut became unviable a new area 1.5 km downstreem was tested and the sluicing plant was floated to this new location. The gully with the concrete walls nearby appears to be where the pontoon was built under the sluicing plant and then flooded to float it downstream.
The water race across the creek that originates at Kangaroo crossing supplied some of the required water to run this massive opperation.
Have a look around the area - there is much concrete & relics that the true use for are still unknown.
You are looking for a 30 cal ammo can, well camoflauged, containing a logbook, pens, pencils and a few swaps.