Library Patchly Gold
Library Patchly Gold

Historic activity · Victoria

Victoria Shallow Workings

Victoria shallow workings and alluvial gold ground, mapped by geologists.

What it shows

Ground the Geological Survey of Victoria mapped as shallow workings or as alluvial gold country. Shallow workings are the gullies, flats and terraces dug over by hand in the 1850s to 1870s, which is the ground most worth swinging a coil across: worked shallow, worked by hand, and worked by people with no metal detector. The alluvial half is broader, covering both zones of gold-bearing gravel and areas that were actually mined, so it flags ground that was never dug as well as ground that was. This is a geologist's judgement rather than an automated survey, so it is smaller and cleaner than the former-mining-features layer and the two support each other where they agree. Where the worked ground is a single gully too narrow to draw as an area, it is mapped as a line instead.

Before you rely on it

This is interpreted mapping at 1:100,000 scale, so boundaries are approximate and it does not cover the whole state. Part of it marks gold-bearing ground that was never mined, so an area here does not mean the ground was dug. Where it was dug, the old workings can be archaeological sites protected under the Heritage Act 2017, so do not dig or detect into them. Always check land access and permissions before you go.

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.

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