MONTALBION

The old township of Montalbion is located in the vicinity of Herberton (not far from Irvinebank) From Cairns, it is about a two hour drive. In its peak period of 1890, Montalbion boasted seven hotels, a hospital with resident doctor, and an overnight stopping stage for Cobb & Co. on the run from Port Douglas to Georgetown (via the Bump.) Travellers stayed at the Miner's Arm Hotel Chinese gardens at Chinaman Ck, the remnants of this garden can be seen 1 km north east from the dam. Silver and lead smelters were established in late 1885 by a well known pioneer of the time, John Moffat. The town existed for 18 years.

IRVINEBANK

References
Pioneers Country by Glenville Pike
Old Mining Towns of North Queensland by Frank Dempsey

1883 late, the Prentiss brothers found silver-lead at Mount Albion

1884 Irvinebank,  aboriginal massacre 1884 at Graveyard Gully

1885 Establishment of police station at Irvinebank

1886 Provisional School

1889 State School

1889 Walsh District Hospital established at Montalbion

1897 Hospital building transferred to Irvinebank

1898 Walsh Divisional Board transferred from Mont Albion to Irvine bank

1903 School closed at Mont Albion, hospital shifted to Irvine bank.

Waveland's Flat dairy, later hotel conducted by George Game

Game's Flat, previously called Waveland's Flat, near Victoria Siding.

Dam Hotel in Mont Albion (Campfire Tales, "Lady Jockeys" E.G. 1949)

Woodville

Woodville, first called Watsonville, was a small mining settlement on the Hodgkinson River about 3km from Mount Mulligan. It started well before Mount Mulligan Township as it was a gold mining settlement. Due to the patchy nature of hard rock mining, it was sometimes almost deserted. Population ebbed and vaned as the economic metals outlook changed with the times. Woodville serviced mainly the Home Rule group of mines just above the township.

From the mining wardens report of 1877, we know that it had five public houses, four general stores a butcher and  a guesthouse. Robert L. Jack on his report on the Hodginson, 1884, reports that the Home Rule was worked by a limited liability company with Mr. James Crosby as manager. The "Brisbane" Machine (ex Tyrconnell) had been purchased by the company and erected on the river besides the works. Previously the "Magnet" was in operation in Woodville. The mine had been surface worked since 1882. The earliest Home Rule crushing in Feb. 1877 shows a yield of 240 Oz of gold for 102t of quartz crushed. The machine was the Magnet. The report also mentions an antimony lode running north-west and south-east towards the boarding house. The remains of this ghost settlement can be seen today.

Antimony would have been mined much later at this location. Together with Northcote a total of 2697t of Antimony was produced according to the Queensland Mineral Index 1913. Quite a few people would have lived in Woodville and worked at Mount Mulligan's coal mine. The remains of one pub site can still be seen today.

Not far from Woodville on the banks of the Hodgkinson River are the lonely remains of three graves. Only one grave is clearly marked with a marble headstone.

   
               Graves near Woodville                     James Whitley died May 24th 1877 aged 47

Dagworth

Dagworth was smaller settlement situated high up at an altitude of  600m and about 4km south east of Woodville. It is next to some alluvial diggings called the Midas and nearby the Queenslander group of hard rock gold mines with Comstock further east. The Comstock may have had some exploration work done in the last 20 years. It seemed to be habitated on and off to perhaps world war II. Evidence of rubbish remains show that the Chinese were active in the alluvial flats next to the creek. Countless remains of opium brass, two Chinese coins, a pot lid and some roofing head leads were found on the site. No bottle dump has been found. This creek is possibly the headwaters of Jemmy Cornish Creek. A old dray road leads to the site approx. 4km from the Hodkinson River. The remains of the old battery are on the banks of Garden Gully, which no doubt serviced the hard rock gold mines in the vicinity. Garden Gully may also have been an area of market gardens and dairy. Big mango trees and the remains of chook yards can still be seen today not far from the Hodgkinson river.

Garumbah a trip a long time ago
and testing the new Minelab Sovereign (a new release by Minelab)

Recently I had the opportunity to use the new Minelab Sovereign detector. I detected with it in different areas.

Friday 12th of April, out of bed at 4 am to meet Trevor, Peter and Lindsay . Destination Garumbah. Never been there, a few days off with a new detector, that's just the right combination.

From Innisfail up the Palmerston Hwy up to Ravenshoe, Innot Hot Springs, Mount Garnet, turn off to the old tin mining town of Nymbool (only the old post office still stands). Our journey continues on an old rough road which used to be the old railway bed Mount Garnet to Lappa. Next we crossed California Creek past the old settlement of Ord and finally Garumbah. Oh yes, forgot to mention we also rebuilt a couple of creek crossings while we were there, run into the local mines field inspector (Peter) and got a few tips on the new mining laws (and that's another story).

The boys are keen on the bush, specially Lindsay who at 76 years of age would run the legs off a kangaroo and many a younger man, he has much local knowledge and can tell jokes all day long.

We had a heap of rain over the last few months and it all agreed with the grass. Between the spear grass and lush vegetation detecting was definitively a challenge. Finds were thin on the ground. I managed an old Victoria 3d and an old penny, not exactly Australian Gem & Treasure stuff. Perseverance brings its own reward. Next trip for sure, when the grass is gone and the moon is out.

This trip ended far too soon. Here are now some observations made during and after Garumbah.

The Sovereign. Minelab have done it again! A radical new detector for us long neglected coin relic and rubbish hunters. For us detecting is a passion a pleasure or both. And we never ask ourselves 'has this detector paid for itself'? I know, because I have one of the best collections of antique pull tabs in the north.!

Discrimination. disregards all small ferrous objects, disregards horseshoes, flat iron, large flat ferrous objects are indicated by a low clear overload signal.

Excellent hot rock identification is archived by switching between disc and all-metals (hot rock nulls). In very hot ground the auto sensitivity had to be used.

Notch. Very accurate and sharp narrow bandwidth allows for specific knock out. This process is audible and found to be accurate upon checking and digging the notched item (example: pull-tab).

Superb beach machine, can be used right up to the waters edge with no noticeable increase in audio, good depth regardless. Some spurious ghost signals were eliminated by backing off on the sensitivity. Accurate pinpointing only possible in all-metals pin-point mode. So when searching in discriminate mode just flick to all metal pin-point mode and dig.

Hunting in parks requires a little practice as to the multitude of signals encountered, notch control is very useful here. Just set it to cut out one of the offending tabs and don't dig them again! Pin pointing requires more skill and the use of the all-metals pin point setting. Depth is excellent.

The rechargeable battery pack lasted for about ten hours before the low battery warning signal alerted me to recharge.

I noticed a slight drift in threshold sound and had to increase it occasionally.

The name of the game with coin and relic hunting is to increase your good target to bad target ratio. With the right choice of discrimination and notch control it is possible to dramatically increase the number of good holes dug and decrease the number of bad holes. More treasure and less junk, I think the Minelab Sovereign achieves this aim better than any other detector on the market.

The Story of the amazing SD Super Detector  March 1995

During 1994 I had heard rumours of a new detector being tested in the Goldfields of  WA.

Of course I was not able to get any confirmation from Minelab that there was in fact a new prototype detector being put through its paces. The claims made for its performance were just too incredible to be believable. Had we not heard outlandish performance claims by other manufacturers before?

However I did meet a prospector that had actually seen the holes that had been dug. The depth being spoken of were not in inches but in feet, 3ft, 4ft ! Gold nuggets of  many ounces were supposed to be recovered by this wonder detector.

Rumours became fact when on Monday the 27th of March 1995 I received from Minelab all the information on the SD2000. Photos, product description and technical specifications.

The information astounded me. I realized this is new, this is a new generation of detecting technology that is going to open up all the goldfields over again. This new patented detection system is not just a tinkering around an old technology but completely fresh.

Detection capability is being quoted at 3 to 4 times deeper than the XT1700. Of course one would expect some improvement in depth performance with a 18" coil but not this astronomical increase. Even more it is able to perform this task in the worst soil conditions imaginable.

Peter and Joy with the first SD2000 in Nth Qld

All this performance does not come at the price of an XT17000 and at $ 4,300.00 it seems quite a hefty price tag, but on the other hand what does it matter when you consider its huge potential.

The demand for the SD2000 is so strong that Minelab had to release them on a quota system to its dealers and at the time of writing all the production of this unit had been purchased in advance by eager prospectors. Hopefully supplies will become more readily available later in the year.

Update, August 95

The demand for the SD2000 has not diminished with well over 700 units sold Australia wide. The unit cannot be purchased ex stock over the counter and waiting lists with all major dealers are up to 200 prospective customers long in WA. While there have been some teething  problems with the unit (18"coil had problems and has not been supplied), many ounces and ounces of gold nuggets have been found in most gold fields with just the 11" coil. Soon the 18" coil will become available for even greater depth! In Nth Qld gold has been found in Clermont, Charters Towers, Palmer River, Georgetown etc. Results in Central Qld (Clermont) have been especially good. The SD is easy to use and very quiet due to its almost complete disregard of ground mineralization and hot rocks. To the ear it sounds very quiet and target response is a subtle change in pitch that must be investigated. Groundbalancing needs some care in hot ground but in quiet ground it cannot be groundbalanced as there is nothing to groundbalance. Some rumours are circulating that the SD will not work here or there but if you understand the unit you will realise that it likes specially hot ground and deep ground. While the depth advantage in quiet ground is not as striking as in  hot ground, the 11" coil will almost certainly outperform other machines in quiet ground with a similar sized coils. The SD is not very good at detecting specimens of gold where the gold particles are spread and not continuous in the quartz. For this job of detecting small gold a high frequency detector is still a better machine for the task. Some people have commented that the SD will make all other detectors obsolete. No, this is not the case.

The SD likes the gold  lumpy and solid to be detected. Many specimens have been detected but the gold was fairly solid in the rock. The smallest piece of gold detected with the 11" coil has been 0.15 gram.

The first article on the SD has appeared in the August edition of the Australian Gold Gem and Treasure magazine. This report by Mr Bruce Candy, inventor designer of the SD2000, is very interesting and explains some of the technical details on the unit.

Update 25/8/95.  A 8.8kg nugget has been found in Victoria. Due to increased production costs the SD2000 now costs $ 4,900.00 Production of the unit has been increased and hopefully will reduce the waiting lists to a more realistic level of  4 to 5 weeks?

The 18" coils are starting to trickle through with back-orders being filled steadily, however recent media exposure has put further demands on production.  Reports on Gold nuggets being found keep on coming in.

New Release the SD2100. Almost a year later Minelab released the SD2100, it incorporating many improvements cosmetic and performance wise. There is the built in detector stand and protruding sides protecting the controls. Included is an instructional video and an additional 8" monoloop search coil. With an increase in sensitivity on small gold and extra depth it has an edge on its older brother the SD2000. Many operators who have switched to the 2100 have reported extra finds in areas that were flogged by their previous SD2000. For SD2000 owners that don't wish to upgrade, the new 8" monoloop coil will fit their SD2000 giving an immediate improved performance on small gold. Its smaller size and lesser weight makes it ideal for gully bashing and cleaning out of patches. This coil is available as an accessory. A company spokesman for Minelab assured us that there will be no new SD's coming out for another two years.

Easter 1998 New Release the SD2200D. Another development of this now successful line. This model offer now for the first time automatic ground tracking and discrimination facility. At a cost of $ 5,200.00 it is supplied with one 11” DD coil. The tracking works very well. The SD2100 is still available at a reduced price of

$ 4,500.00 and represents good value as it comes with 3 search coils.

SD2100e released August 1998. Economy version of the SD2100 supplied with only one 11” coil and the small battery system. The control box is mounted on an S bend shaft and is not so heavy and better balanced.

Used Minelab SD2000

All Minelab SD’s are very good gold hunting units. SD2000’s are no longer made but are worthwhile as a second hand detector for about $ 2,200.00 to $ 2,500.00. Improved performance can be obtained by adding a 11” Monoloop Coil ,a Sound Enhancer and better headphones (11” Monoloop Coil $330.-, Soundenhancers from approx $ 95.-)

This detector was originally supplied with 2 search coils (11” DD and 18” Monoloop coil) The original 18” coils were not very good and prone to breakdowns. Very forgiving on groundbalancing.

Minelab SD2100

Are a current model with a recent price reduction  from $ 4,900.00 to $ 4,500.00 are much better value as this price includes 3 search coils. Hard to come by as used units. Pricey upgrade path available to the SD2200. All SD2100 coils compatible with the SD2200. Improved performance, more sensitive on small gold, improved audio response. Due to the extra gain on this unit, it could be a little noisier on hot ground. This unit was originally supplied with 3 search coils, the extra coil being a 8” Monoloop coil. This smaller coil works well in small gullies and is able to detect even smaller pieces of gold.

Minelab SD2100e Economy version of the SD2100 $ 3,900.00. Lighter more compact version, no back pack required. Smaller battery is hipmounted, you may have to invest in a spare battery to get a full days detecting. Only one coil supplied, the 11” DD.

Minelab SD 2200d  Minelab have now added automatic ground tracking and discrimination. Supplied with only the 11” coil it is the top of the range at $ 5,200.00. After testing this unit I was very impressed with its ability to keep track of changing ground conditions. It does this quickly and quietly. The result is a much quieter and better behaved detector. The main benefit is simply optimum performance all the time. No more twiddling with two knobs and a switch. The result is more small gold deeper and more often with less fatigue. I found that the discriminator, which only works with the DD coil, has some good uses around thrashy areas. However I would not rely on it 100% All forms of discrimination can give false readings. If in doubt, dig it out. Investing in the extra coil kit for $ 680.00 is essential for the serious hunter. The extra coils would give more scope and expansion of the detectors ability.

Search Coils One of the most useful accessory  coils for the SD’s is the 11” Monoloop coil. ($330.-) This coil provides very good sensitivity and depth on small nuggets and excellent ground coverage. It is lighter than the big 18” coil with not a great loss of depth. There is no coil that is the best but like a plumber with various spanners in his tool box there is a coil for different applications. Large coils go deeper and cover more area. Small coils get closer to the ground and are more sensitive to small gold close to the surface.

Useful tools and options for all SD’s

Walco Picks. These picks would have to be one of the best made picks for metal detecting sold. This well balanced pick has a very good pick end with a generous hoe which allows for the quick opening and clearing of holes. The wide hoe end acts like a shovel. Made of spring steel with a solid wooden handle.

Sound Enhancers/Boosters very useful if you have a hearing problem. Will amplify target audio signal, make it  louder and clearer, less likely to be missed.  Does not suit everyone, use with caution. Some units have an overload protection  built in to protect your ears from being blasted. Some models require internal batteries and can be used on all detectors while other boosters are in-line and derive their power from the SD detector. (can only be used on SD’s).

Headphones The sound that you get from your detector comes from your headphones. A good set of headphones is important. Good headphones give you loud crisp and clean sound. You want to be able to hear the faintest whisper. What is a good set? The ones that sound good to you!! It’s in the ears of the beholder.

Protective Cover Protect your investment, soft padded control box  cover  saves scratches and bumps. $ 38.-

SD detectors are not difficult to use, there are no big secrets that only professionals know. All you need to know is in the instruction manual. If you can find small pieces of metal you can find gold.

My best tip?  GO LOW, GO SLOW, GO OFTEN  Good Hunting!                           George Mayer

MY CROYDON TRIP FIFTEEN YEARS AGO!  Testing the Tesoro Golden Sabre

I really was looking forward to this one. September school holidays, a few days off and the opportunity to try the new TESORO GOLDEN SABRE PLUS detector.

The mandatory research had been commenced weeks ago. The main source for information on Croydon I obtained from Glenville Pike's excellent book "Croydon Gold" and from the just released, long awaited "Gold & Ghosts" Vol 4 by D.H.de Havelland. Vol 4 covers North Queensland and is destined to become a classic and a must for prospectors and mining history buffs.
The historical map and booklet kit "Croydon" by the Qld mines dept were of great help with the survey map of Croydon showing the town layout & streets.


After an early start from Cairns, our journey took us through the green lush Atherton Tablelands, past Ravenshoe, Innot Hot Springs, Mt Garnet, Mt Surprise, Georgetown and finally Croydon.

Croydon is 560km west from Cairns on the way to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The road is bitumen all the way to Georgetown (narrow in places). From Georgetown to Croydon another 147 km, you will encounter some dirt road sections. This region is called the Gulf Savannah. Burketown, on the Gulf, is only another 123 km away.
Present day population of Croydon is approx. 300, a pale reflection of its golden past. In its heyday it had 6500 inhabitants, a real rip roaring gold mining town, declared a goldfield in 1886. Mining virtually stopped by 1925 and cattle took over as the main industry.
Recent gold mining activity and tourism has injected some fresh vigour into the area.

Arriving by road I could see the evidence of a once busy and populated township. I was not going any further. What I saw had me reaching for the detector. This town is a dream for the coin, relic and bottle hunter. There are streets and streets of empty allotments where houses, shops and hotels used to be. Yes, the rusted metal, nails, wire, tin, roofing nails would be a problem just big enough to test the Golden Sabre Plus.

A walk through Croydon revealed some interesting restored old buildings. The library, gymnasium, town hall and the old court house complete with jury and witness boxes are good examples of early Queensland architecture. The Club Hotel, built in 1890, is the only pub left out of 98 liquor licenses issued.
Part of an 95 year old store has been converted to a museum, with many interesting historical items and bottle display.
I had the pleasure of meeting Chris Weirman, the local tour guide. Chris was born and raised in the Gulf District and he has a wealth of information on Croydon. His tours are highly recommended.

Well, back to detecting, I had been informed by the locals that "the place had been gone over", a challenge I can never resist. I had heard recently that someone had found a gold coin in the town, that was enough for me to try my luck.
Besides the Tesoro I also wanted to check out a new solar battery charger. The charger takes 4 AA nicad batteries with the solar cells built into the lid ( not much bigger than a cigarette pack). You need two chargers if your detector takes 8 batteries. The instructions indicate a charge time of 10 - 14 hours for a full load.

The Tesoro Golden Sabre Plus performed with excellence. With rechargeable nicad batteries in the detector, it worked well with only a slight loss of power. If you detector works well with a slightly lower voltage, the solar chargers are ok (there is no shortage of sunshine in Croydon) and would be a good supplement and back-up to your regular batteries.

The Golden Sabre Plus is a real turn on and go, fun machine. The specifications state that it has a factory preset ground balance, discrimination control, notch control, normal mode (all metals) disc. mode, tune switch, notch reject, off, notch accept switch. The Sabre works in silent mode discrimination with dual tone identification.

Target identification with the Golden Sabre is very positive with coin sized objects giving distinctive signals in both north south, east west coil movements. Add to this the dual tone, the higher pitched tone being the better targets to dig. Bigger targets with large surface areas gave a distinctive choppy target response. Being a silent search detector (no threshold sound), it does not drive you crazy with millions of sounds by every nail and tack (it ignores them completely).

The notch control deserves special mention and is best called into service when needed. Just think of all those parks out there that have not been detected thoroughly because they are littered with thousands of aluminium pull tabs. Just flick the switch into notch reject, turn the control to tabs and presto, no more pull tabs. Without losing predecimal response!
Or you could switch the notch control to accept, tune it to your wedding ring. Only targets like your ring or similar will give a response. The possibilities are many.
What this all means to you is that you will be spending more time pulling coins and valuable items out of the ground and less time digging junk.
I use and recommend one of those cash/thrash aprons, with the two pockets. Not only can you dispose of the junk quickly in one pocket, but you can keep a tally of your detecting progress. My ratio of good targets versus bad targets has increased dramatically since I have started using the Golden Sabre Plus.

Well there is a lot more to the Golden Sabre that meets the eye, despite earlier misgivings about the preset ground balance, it worked quite happily in a variety of soils. The Golden Sabre comes standard as a shaft or a hip mounted detector with an open centre coil for accurate pin pointing.

No, I did not find that elusive gold coin, not on this trip anyway. Next time.
Croydon is well worth a visit for the coin, relic bottle hunter. Have a look at the historic buildings, take a tour, stay at the Club Hotel or the caravan park. Maybe do some detecting? Happy hunting.

A footnote

This story was written about fifteen years ago. I have just recently visited Croydon and I must say I was impressed with the little township. It has had a major 'spruce up' and looks great. The historic old buildings have been restored beautifully and the town has heaps of historic, outback, bush character. Now it is bitumen all the way!