Victoria set for fresh gold rush

Victoria set for fresh gold rush

A NEW gold rush that could rival the discoveries of the 1850s is beginning in Victoria, a former government geologist says.

Several companies, including majors such as Gold Fields of South Africa and Newcrest Mining, are already drilling, looking for gold the original prospectors never knew was there, The Australian newspaper reports today.

Miners used to target the rich quartz reefs and visible gold that was relatively easily found. This time the hunt is on for what disseminated gold, or “invisible gold” – lower-grade material widely dispersed and not obvious from surface indications.

That gold is now economical to mine thanks to modern drilling technology.

CSIRO former head of exploration and mining Neil Phillips, will tell the Mineral Council of Australia’s first-ever gold seminar next Monday that he believes huge quantities of gold remain undiscovered in Victoria.

He calculated that the old prospectors looked at only about one-third of Victoria’s gold potential, and may have overlooked the other two-thirds.

“If that’s the case, there’s twice as much as was found before,” Mr Phillips said.

© The Australian

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