Historical gold occurrences in Queensland

Interest in gold covers the full spectrum of society, from the largest mining companies, to the weekend prospector.

The Queensland Government and Federal Goverment have recorded many details of gold exploration and mining, particularly in the early pioneering days, which have been published in the Queensland Mining Guide and numerous explanatory notes and reports.

Extracts of some of these, which have been traditionally sold by the Department as hard copy booklets, have now been scanned and partially edited, the figures have been redrawn (in faith with the original diagrams), and these can be viewed and downloaded below.

Although they have a new look, it is important to recognise that the information provided is exactly as it was at the time of initial publication (with minor editing).

Gold occurrences in far north Queensland

Gold occurrences in north Queensland

Gold occurrences in central Queensland

Gold occurrences in south-east Queensland

The following prelude appeared in the hard copy "Gold occurrences in Queensland" booklets.

"Its widespread occurrence in a great variety of ore deposits throughout the metalliferous areas of the State makes gold a mineral of primary interest in the operations of the prospector. It may occur native in alluvial or lode, by itself or with other metallic minerals in sulphide ores, or as tellurides in many widely different classes of rock.

In its native or 'free' state, gold is never absolutely pure, but is alloyed with varying proportions of silver, accompanied at times by traces of copper, iron, platinum and other metals. Generally speaking, gold won from alluvial deposits is purer than lode gold from the same locality.

The physical properties which best identify free gold are its weight, colour, low degree of hardness, toughness and malleability. Its freedom from tarnish in the air or when heated and resistance to any single strong acid are also to be noted. The characteristic yellow colour of the purer metal becomes increasingly paler with an increase in the proportion of silver present.

Despite its high density, very fine gold particles in the form of 'mustard' and 'paint' gold will float readily on water, and this action is greatly increased if any trace of grease is present. The toughness and malleability of gold allow it to be hammered into extremely thin plates; being soft, it may be scratched readily, leaving a streak of the same colour.

By careful observation of these properties gold is readily distinguishable from such minerals as pyrite, chalcopyrite, limonite and golden-coloured mica which are frequently mistaken for gold by the inexperienced.

In sulphide ores, gold is not always present in a free state, visible in the dish. The prospector needs to bear this fact in mind, and, provided any 'tail' shows after roasting and regrinding the concentrate, it is well to have an assay made of a representative sample of the sulphide ore before accepting it as worthless.

The presence of gold in the form of tellurides may easily escape detection, although gold tellurides are not common in Queensland. They are highly lustrous minerals, silvery-grey to pale bronze-yellow in colour, and are soft and very heavy. Some of them in general appearance are not unlike molybdenite or flaky graphite".