Paddy's Rockhole Fossicking Area, Arltunga Gold Field, Central Desert Region, Northern Territory, Australia

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	23° 27' 51'' South , 134° 42' 41'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-23.46422,134.71151

Metal detecting is allowed in a fossicking reserve, 1.3 kilometres east of the Arltunga Bush Hotel. Check whether a fossicking permit is required as this can change depending on who is in government. The reserve is centred on the intersection of the Arltunga and Atnarpa Roads, near Paddy's Rockhole.

The intersection was the site of the Little Flower Mission 1942-1953, although it appears little if anything remains.

The site was the first discovery of gold at Arltunga, in 1887, by Joseph Hele. Fine gold was said to have been found in sand and silt, with small leafy and ragged (but not waterworn) nuggets in the underlying clay. Gold reefs were discovered shortly after to the north, in what was to become the Arltunga Gold Field. South Australian Government Geologist H.Y.L. Brown visited shortly after stating there was only one claim, and a 50 metre trench. In 1890, he reports 12 people around the rock hole area, and 27 elsewhere on the goldfield. By this stage 153 ounces had been won from the Paddy's Rockhole area, with the largest nugget 2.15 ounces.

By 1890, several mines were operational, including the Wheal Fortune, the oldest mine on the goldfield. The White Range lodes were discovered in 1898, and the same year a government battery and cyanide works opened at the Star of the North Well. This operated until 1913, then intermittently until 1920, before being sold in 1934. The battery produced in excess of 14 000 ounces.

In 1935, there was a small rush to the Jenkins workings after the discovery of several small but rich reefs, however the rush was short lived. The historical reserve was established in 1970 to protect various buildings, mining equipment, and workings, however many of the mines including the most important at White Range remained outside the reserve. In 1983 a modern crushing plant was established at White Range, with limited success until 1989-1991, when strip mining occurred at this site.

People who have reported historically on the field include A.A. Davidson 1890, South Australian Government Geologist H.Y.L. Brown 1890, 1896 and 1903, Mines Inspector W.H. Matthews mainly about the battery 1905, Arltunga Goldfields Ltd on the Excelsior leases 1932, aerial mapping by P.S. Hossfield 1937, New Consolidated Goldfields Co. 1957, BMR investigated McIntyres Adit 1962, United Uranium NL also drilled Excelsior 1962, BMR regional mapping 1964, Centamin Ltd explored Whites Range 1971.

Metal detecting is not allowed outside of the fossicking reserve, including the Arltunga Historical Reserve.

Co-ordinates for the fossicking reserve are listed as:

23 27 28 S 134 42 35 E
23 27 53 S 134 42 35 E
23 27 53 S 134 43 03 E
23 28 21 S 134 43 03 E
23 28 21 S 134 42 35 E
23 28 02 S 134 42 35 E
23 28 02 S 134 42 11 E
23 27 28 S 134 42 11 E

Mineral List

1 valid mineral.

Regional Geology

This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.

Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org

Paleoproterozoic 1600 - 2500 Ma

Cavenagh Metamorphics Age: Proterozoic (1600 - 2500 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Cavenagh Metamorphics Description: Well layered and massive quartzofeldspathic gneiss, para-amphibolite, amphibolite; rare calc-silicate rock, hematite quartzite Comments: high grade metamorphic rock; synthesis of multiple published descriptions Lithology: High grade metamorphic rock Reference: Raymond, O.L., Liu, S., Gallagher, R., Zhang, W., Highet, L.M. Surface Geology of Australia 1:1 million scale dataset 2012 edition. Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia). [5]

Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

References

External Links