THERES still lots of riches to be won deep below the surface, according to a central Victorian geologist and miner. SARAH HUDSON reports
Bendigo geologist John Cahill admits he's not yet been lucky enough to "put an X on a map and find gold".
But he's managed to do the next best thing.
Like the hero in every treasure-hunting film that has ever been made, John has pored over centuries-old historical documents - in this case Victoria's early gold-mining history - in order to strike it lucky.
"We examined the reports and drawings of the 1870s public companies and made 3D images of where they found gold," says John, who is the managing director of the small-scale Greater Bendigo Gold Mines.
"We've used that history of Bendigo's early mines to build models of where the gold is now."
As a result, GBGM, a company of about 15 employees, has recently started hauling its first gold out of its main mine, Maxwells Mine, at Inglewood.
And they expect to process up to 30,000 ounces of gold in the next three years out of all their leases, which include Avoca and Bendigo.
John says he is part of a renaissance in gold mining in central Victoria, which has come on the back of surging gold prices and advanced technology.
It is estimated 80 million ounces of gold worth $70 billion is still buried under farmland and bushland across Victoria.
"In the '70s and '80s gold was about $US450 per ounce. In the mid-90s it dropped to about $US300 and then in 2006 there was the first inkling that the US was losing control of its economy and now it's about $A1200.
"There's no such thing as an old goldfield, just an uneconomical one."
During such times, John says securing a lease - let alone exploring and finding the gold - can be a minefield in itself.
"It's a cyclic process, so when there's a rush on, everyone goes out and grabs ground. Inevitably, some people do get results," he says.
"We obtained some of our leases from a company who were about to lose them so they were a good deal.
"Up in the high country in the past two years, two old historical mines have started up again and you can't get a property for love nor money.
"Two years ago you could have bought a shack (in the high country) for a reasonable price but now you can't even get into the pub, there's just so many people and workers around."
John says even when a mine is established, it's not an exact science knowing how much gold will be found.
He says while the recreational prospector - who ventures out armed with a metal detector - is relying on luck, geology tries to take the luck out and make finding riches more precise.
"There's always technical difficulties," John says.
"When you think there's gold, you test it, estimate how much will be there, design a mine and then actually start mining it.
"You need all boxes ticked to have some confidence that a return for your investors will occur.
"Not too many geologists find an ore body and mine it. You hear just about the flash ones, like Joe Gutnick's people, who had a midas touch and a large drilling budget in the 1990s."
John is a local lad, born and bred, studying geology in the 1980s at Bendigo's College of Advanced Education, now La Trobe University, before starting his career with Bendigo Mining.
While his expertise is in rocks, as managing director of a small company he is expected to be Jack of all trades.
Much of his time is spent on the business and investment side.
"It's a great business to be in," John says.
"When they blast underground, it's good to go down there and see what's actually going on.
"I often want to drill holes and chip at rocks rather than be in the office signing papers.
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2010/05/...untry-living.html
