September 11, 2014
Kilkivan’s Prophet Gold Mine will stop running weekend gold panning and gold pouring demonstrations because they’ve given some tourists the impression gold can be found in Kilkivan’s creeks.
“It seems that providing a panning service for the general public has led to the belief local creeks are accessible for this purpose,” Prophet Gold Mine owner Ruth Parsons said today.
Mrs Parsons said all creeks in the area are on private property and local property owners have become very annoyed about having to discourage amateur gold-seekers.
“The worst offenders are the metal detector operators who think they can venture onto private property,” Mrs Parsons said.
“There are also some who try to use dredges and high bankers, both of which are illegal.”
She said the Kilkivan area had never offered any possibility for metal detector operators to locate gold.
Husband John Parsons agreed, saying the Prophet Mine used stone quarried several kilometres away on another site.
The panning demonstrations were conducted using this material.
“It’s not alluvial gold – there isn’t any in this region and never was,” he said.
“Any gold that might remain in this area would require a full-blown mining operation to extract.
“Metal detectors can only penetrate to about knee height, so anyone using them in this area is just wasting their time.”
Mr Parsons said the annoyance amateur gold fossickers were creating for local property owners had caused the couple to reconsider what they were doing with their business, which has operated at its Rossmore Road site since 1990.
“We sympathise with these property owners’ concerns and respect their property rights,” he said.
This had led to the decision to cancel weekend panning and pouring demonstrations for tourists.
The business will continue to offer school tours and gold pour demonstration tours for groups, but by appointment only and subject to numbers and date availability.
“We think education is important and we’re very happy to continue to provide this particular service,” John said.
The Prophet Mine’s main business is the provision of building stone and rock for stone houses, retaining walls, cobblestone paving, landscaping and pool sides, John said, and this is what the couple intend to concentrate on in future.
