Library Patchly Gold
Library Patchly Gold

Geology · Victoria

Victoria Faults & Veins

Victoria goldfields structure: faults, quartz veins, dykes and fold axes.

What it shows

The structural lines that explain why Victorian gold is where it is, from the state's regional fault compilation and its 1:100,000 geological maps. Nearly every major goldfield sits on or beside a fault, and a tap gives the fault's name and how it moved where the survey records them. Mapped quartz veins are the reefs that carry the primary gold, and detectorists work the material shed downslope of them. Dykes are sheets of once-molten rock drawn in the same violet as the veins, so tap one to tell it from a reef and see what rock it is. Fold axes matter for a specifically Victorian reason: Bendigo-style gold sits in saddle reefs at the hinges of anticlines, so an axis line draws the target itself. A few chert bands show as cream lines. Only mapped folds are included, deliberately leaving out the geophysical trend and lineament interpretations that would otherwise bury them.

Before you rely on it

These lines are interpreted geology, not surveyed boundaries, and they are mapped at regional and 1:100,000 scale. Positions are approximate, the 1:100,000 mapping does not cover the whole state, and some faults and dykes are traced from magnetic or gravity surveys beneath cover rather than seen on the ground. A structure on the map is a reason to look, never a guarantee of gold.

Putting this on your map

Taking a layer from the Library onto a stack, and tuning how it draws, is a short guided tour on your own map.

How do I add map layers to Patchly?

More for Victoria