Mount Arum Gold Mine Enoggera Reservoir, Queensland, Australia
By Beardman75 on 08-Oct-17. Waypoint GC7BT76

I visit Mount Arum Gold Mine while out and about caching with Kolour today.What a beautiful spot, so much going on here with the colours and rock types.Thanks Beardman75 for bringing me here.

Willis007 and I have had a plan to come out caching in this area for a long time and now that it was winter, we decided that today would be the day. Unfortunately, the weather wasnt looking kind, but we decided to give it a go anyway, to find our three target caches - this EC, the nearby oldie and Indiana Co. We headed down Duck Creek Track, where I found two Wingaap archived caches that I knew about. And then up the hill on a good trail to the old Butterfly Hill trad, then down steeply to this Earthcache. Wow, what rough terrain, especially as it was damp and slippery. We initially went down the wrong side of the mine (where there is an old rusty barbed wire fence) but we eventually got to the entrance by various means where we studied the rock. Answers have been sent to the CO. All of the marked trails on the map have recently been cleared, so we had no problem with lantana and we even found a cleared way through lantana to the creek, just left from the mine entrance looking down. Willis007 and I know this area intimately now. Interesting area - those miners were tough! TftEC

I've been looking at this one for a while now. I regularly go near it, but not in an accessible way. With a few other caches in the area I wanted to log, today I decided to deviate from my well worn path around the reservoir and go in search of the lost gold mine.Unfortunately, I inadvertently decided to take the path less travelled to get there. Looking on a map at the trails in the area, I decided on what I thought would be a nice look to go around. Turns out the first path to the south was well and truly overgrown and no longer a path. Plan B was to approach it via the creek below. Which was a beautiful spot for a bush bashing walk. When I got to the point along the creek where I was 150m away, I faced quite a steep climb up lantana covered hill. Being out there solo, with limited phone reception, I was reluctant to do anything to silly. But alas I thought why not atleast give it a try before I concede defeat and come back another day. After a bit of scrambling and squeezing between some thorns, a small clearing opened up before me and there was the mine. This was a great bit of history to be taken to, that I would certainly never stumble across without a cache to follow. Thanks Beardman75 for setting this up.On the way out, I took the recommended path out via Duck Creek Track. Turns out this was a much more sensible path, with an actually path to follow.

What an awesome adventure, even if i did get 2 ticks YUK! Had to make this one a fave. I love the learning that comes with these caches! TFTC

Out with Muggle65 (who sent our answers) on a perfect day. I had a few challenges with terrain today. It seemed to want me more horizontal than vertical. Great location! Thank you for the fun

Out with Green Gecko 1 strolling through the back blocks of Enoggera Dam. This location was interesting & not sure I learned anything, but was a worthwhile journey.Thanks Beardman75.

Today I was out for walk DAguilar National Park to grab a few caches. At least today it wasnt to hot. This earthcache was next on the list. Nice quick find at GZ. Beardman75 thank you for placing and maintaining this cache for geocaching community enjoyment.

Well that was interesting to access, I would say it was quite the hike, but I spent very little time successfully on my feet! Did some abseiling on vines and tree roots, then some rock climbing, then gave up on dignity and took to sliding on our bums. My trousers did not survive in one piece!
Anyway, it was definitely Type2 fun and we had a good giggle afterwards. So thanks for placing this earthcache!

The effort required to get here was a bit more than we envisaged. I feel lucky to get out alive and owe Probsty a new pair of pants. Do the jigidi soojs8w6 and you will see what I mean

TFTeC

What a crazy EC! The fire trail was nice to walk on. The walking track in was a bit tough to follow but we did find the birdbath. The direct line downhill took some work. At one stage, I called out ‘Its only 67 metres!’…… well it was a mission. Steep gravelly slopes, prickly lantana and only one little traveller (a tick) which I got to before it had really dug in.

I only saw the barb wire fencing after I crossed over it twice (rookie). Once Sandyofthesea, Probsty and I made it to the adit, we snapped some photos and jotted down the answers.

Another direct line down to the creek… it wasn’t easy. We all had cuts on us and Probsty ripped a hole in her pants too.

A tough EC but now writing this I am glad we did it.

Favourite point added

Sandyofthesea and I took off from Perth, Western Australia at the start of April to travel more of Australia using geocaching as a guide to see the sights.

Beardman75, I found Mount Arum Gold Mine today. Thanks for placing and maintaining this cache.

What a great adventure, be careful with the barb wire fence on the mine.

Seriously, who hasn’t been sitting in a pub near midnight and thought up some crazy schemes. You sit around the table discussing phone apps that should make you millions but ultimately you land on daring someone to dig a gold mine on the side of a hill in the middle of nowhere.

Well whoever dug this one lost the bet. Alcohol is a funny but also tragic thing kids. I’d stick with it for the funny aspect.

At the butterfly cache I read out the best way to attack it from the cache description and we followed the instructions. We went left until we were on about the same contour level and decided it was the safest approach. It wasn’t and I’m not sure there is one. At one point Mrs Woodyrothwell was sliding down the slope holding on to just a tree that you wouldn’t cut down to make as a shoring beam.

The last 80 metres was slow going but we made it. I’m a big fan of all the Aussie Gold Hunter shows on the Discovery channel but none of them are swiping their detectors over this spot.

Finally we made it and if I had of read the previous log it would have dawned on me that I could have submitted our answers from home. We aren’t rock experts or even sexperts so our answers differed more than a political party. Answers submitted and we don’t care if they are wrong, we’re just happy to be alive. Favourite point added for the mad scramble (not the rocks). tftc

Over the last few months I have spent more time in front of the computer solving puzzles and updating my GSAK data base, rather than actually being out in the fresh air finding geocaches. Today I finally mustered some motivation and headed out for a walk along some of the tracks around Enoggera Reservoir, to pick up some solved puzzles and other caches of interest.

The last time I was in this area was in the presence of Swellerfungus and Crookedpete for a night time adventure in search of Indiana Co and his lost cache. I remember stumbling on the birdbath structure in the dark and almost tripping over a baby red belly nearby before we headed off downhill somewhere, but thankfully not down towards the mine. This would have been rather tricky to navigate at night. Even in daylight it was a very cautious descent. Arriving at the mine opening I resisted the urge to enter, instead taking the opportunity to rest in the cool shade while I made my observations.

Thanks Beardman75 for bringing me to this hidden location.

GC7BT76 Mount Arum Gold Mine

I visited your earth cache on 10/10/21 and supply the following answers:

1) The mine shaft appears to be about 10m long. I was probably dug to this depth to find the quartz bearing reef.
2) The rock around the shoring beams is mainly rust brown colour. Although the surface of the rock is jagged and uneven from fracturing, the rock appears to be made of a fine grained and smooth texture. The rock would appear to be a form of argillite being high in iron oxide which gives it its rusty colour.
3) The rock near the gum tree is more of a grey colour with no visible brown colouring, indicating an absence of the iron oxide in the rock. There is more lichen coverage of the rock at the gum tree than in the mine shaft.
4) The location was probably chosen as it was easier to enter and dig a horizontal shaft than a vertical one to reach the quartz bearing ore.

Thank you for providing this earth cache.

Jeff
seffnjarah

Wandering around the reservoir today with the aim of eventually making it to the mine. So we can at this cache from quite a different direction to what was mentioned in the cache description. Not recommended, but still quite fun! A great area to explore - TFTEC!

We came to this not by the recommended route which in hind sight was not a good idea spent lots of time in and around the mine once we finally got there - I don’t think I have ever seen moths so big! At first we thought they were bats Thanks for the adventure!
..We took the recommended path out and it was much less life threatening

We certainly made this fit the terrain rating (or higher) with our descent from the top. We didn’t actually manage to find any trail after the birdbath so carefully made our way from there to the mine entrance without falling in any shafts, or slipping down the hill. I can’t imagine bring mining equipment with me as well. An interesting piece of history to explore. Answers have been sent. TFTC Beardman75

I was out chasing Indiana Jones yesterday and came across this earthcache location. It is a beauty, isn't it? I know where to come and live when there's a zombie invasion.

Thanks for a good earthcache, Beardman75. This is a beautiful location with fascinating history.

Thanks for the cache and for bringing me to this interesting location. Visited with two impressed muggles.
Cheers

Out and about with the Domskys on this hot summer day to tackle Indiana Jones and the lost cache. This earthcache was 17 m from one of the waypoints. I imagined it to be huge that we could fall into it.

Answers sent. Thanks for the cache and taking us here Beardman75. Very informative earthcache. There was a cute little bat inside .

We had decided to make this earthcache the focus of a walk today.
It was a bit of a slow morning, being a Sunday and so we were not up to early. Our bad! The day promised plenty of heat and by the time we were in the car it was already pretty warm. Arriving at a decent parking spot on Mount Nebo Road, we headed off with backpacks and plenty of water. There was also one other geocache we have not collected and we did this one on the way in, since it is such an oldie and in a great location.
The initial path on the Firetrail was pretty hot, with the nearby ground and trees still suffering from a fire that must’ve swept through with in the last year or so.
We almost missed the Trail head, even though we had it well marked on our GPS, as we were too busy talking and after about 100 m realised we had overstepped the very subtle Trail head on our right. Back we went, and in we went.
For the terrain rating of this earthcache,  we knew that we should be expecting something a little more exciting towards the end. Sure enough it did not disappoint. After a lovely undulating walk, our compass said it’s down there. not far at all, but just straight down there. So down we went, and.....in all honesty we had plenty of trees to hold onto which kept us upright.
At GZ, we were met with the mystery and excitement of spotting this remote piece of Brisbane history. Imagine trekking there daily in the search for that elusive piece of gold.
No wonder the horses needed the bird bath!
After exploring the area for a bit it was time to head back up and so with the help of a few trees we scrambled back up, which was actually easier than the downhill descent.
Heading back to the car, we decided to continue our drive down to Bellbird Grove, only to discover the road in there is shut at the moment until the end of the year for maintenance in the day use facilities.
Thanks Beardman75.
An excellent adventure and a FP added.
Domsky

What a wonderful morning for a walk. Assisted JAVS to grab a trad or two we already had then diverted off mine hunting. Oh dear the terrain got a bit steep and yet again for my own safety I implemented the bum slide !!! Alas metres from the mine entry a wicked piece of barbed wire arise from its hide and tore across my calf! Ah caching with gcoven! A buddy has suggested a suit of armour might be my ideal caching outfit! This mine however was worth it all! Fabulous to see! Thanks for bringing us here! Answers sent by TeamARF! Thanks Beardman/tea maker !

This cache was flagged as a potential earlier in the week as a suggestion by another Geo buddy, but other ideas were floating around and I had my eye on another much further north. As the school week commenced and each day I grew more tired and my desire to travel dwindled. Gcoven mentioned this again and the offer of being picked up! Well who am I to argue with that luxury! I was surprised that I was able to collect a few caches on my way in including a second tier oldie. The scramble down to the mine was ‘fun’ and I was certainly glad I wasn’t on my own. Such a unique place for a gold mine.

With a souvenir on offer just to talk about getting your rocks off, this earth cache came highly recommended. Headed off with Gcoven and JACS team for today's walk. Remember catching the butterfly on a previous visit pre this earth cache so it was good to go over old ground.

The walk in wasn't bad and thoughts that this was going to be an easy T4 started to cloud my judgement. It was only the last 60m that the terrain turned nasty. The team had one accident coming in so for future visitors, watch the barb wire!!

Getting to the mine face after dodging all the potholes above, I was impressed with this hole in the ground. The rudimentary timber shoring has withstood the years and the termites. The bush engineer that put this safety feature together should be congratulated. Thanks Beardman75 for highlighting this piece of Brisbane's history and have a FP to add to the total.

The track from the dam was closed due to a planned burn.
Continued up the road until we came to an open road, Central.
Followed that down to the creek and then had a very enjoyable walk in the rainforest to the mine.
Humid, bell birds, and many pools of water.
Some interesting reasons why anyone would try to mine for gold here.
Will supply the answers, if not before tomorrow.

Thank you BM75, have an FP for this cache
R

Finally getting round to catching up on back logging.
Family day out as Team B.

Answers sent by Barb.

TFTC

Well that was so much fun

We we go

Coming was freaking scary

Lost my cord

Will send the answers through for team b

off on a family hike to find a multi for barb

this is amazing
i usually like to find containers
but i am learning heaps lately at all the earth caches

lots of photos taken

we came in a different way, tried to leave another way but decided we would turn back

On a morning mini hike with the family.
Longer log to follow.

Oh wow, what a morning!

We headed out early this morning to tackle a nearby mystery cache (Indiana, baby!) and decided to tackle this earth cache while we were in the general area.

What a fun area to explore. There are actually many different mines in the area, some much deeper and bigger than others. I've also taken a photo of what looks like a giant bird bath, assuming it had something to do with panning for gold? My calves got a great workout walking up and down these hills, and I won't even mention my glutes...

Thanks for taking me to this area, and for the geology lesson. Not my strongest subject, but an interesting one nonetheless. Answers sent

TFTC - and TB visits

Wondering around the bush with OzBC and totalube we stumbled across the Gold Mine In fact in our search we stumbled across it , over it , under it and above it and now have the benefit of knowing the area intimately .

Much have been hard work digging away at this hillside. Judging by the size of the digging I guess they either made it rick or gave up empty handed.

Answers sent by my partners in crime.

Thanks for placing this cache which provide a welcome distraction from our search of things lost .

oz_bean_counter, ruzzelz and I were in the area while on an archeological adventure and we were hoping to find some gold to fund our work. No gold was found but an interesting location, and an adventure itself to get to

I've sent off my answers, thanks for bringing us here.

I have had the caches in this little pocket of bushland on my "To Do" list for many years now and after I saw that 1MinniMoo had taken a stroll to Radnoski35 during the week I was triggered into action. I mentioned my plans to my Son and we soon had a family group of 10 interested.

Today we all headed off and after missing the parking spot on the way up as we were distracted by the radar cop up a bit further. We continued on to Bellbird Park where it was decided that my Son and I would return to do the walk while rest stayed at Bellbird Park and did some shorter walks around there.

We arrived back at the parking spot (the radar cop was still there) and headed off to do a loop of 8 caches which took us just over 3 hours.

We came at this after leaving Radnoski 35 and the goat track up the hill was taxing. We almost gave the cache a miss until we arrived at the Bird Bath and decided to take the detour to check it out We had now been on the trail for over 2 hours and the energy levels were getting low after the climb up to this point but we made it to the mine and we were not disappointed with the site.

Answers sent.

TFTC Beardman75

This was a tuff walk around with the recent lock downs a lot of these tracks are truly over grown now, so it was a struggle to maintain the path, hopefully with it open again the tracks will be cleaned up around the place.
An interesting place and I could have spent a lot more time here exploring. There are a couple of smaller mine sites in the area as well.
Thanks for placing this cache here, I wouldn’t have known about it if it wasn’t for this cache, so thank you. Now to tackle that hill and hopefully find a path out.
Thanks for taking the time to produce this cache.

As of midnight on Friday 1st May 2020, the Qld government has eased COVID-19 restrictions and now allows "recreation within a 50km radius of the person's principal place of residence"

https://www.health.qld.gov.au/system-governance/legislation/cho-public-health-directions-under-expanded-public-health-act-powers/home-confinement-movement-gathering-direction

Disabled as per Home confinement direction from the Queensland government: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/system-governance/legislation/cho-public-health-directions-under-expanded-public-health-act-powers/home-confinement-direction/_nocache

An otherwise domestic weekend, but with an early morning start I have a couple hours to "get out and about" - so after a few warmups nearby I headed off to conquer BFP#3. Which ended up being quick er than anticipated. So with some time to spare still I decided to take a look at this earthcache. It sure sounded like an interesting place.

It sure is an interesting place. The .... walk. Slither, Into GZ was fun (hmmm, I gotta go up that later don't I?). And then - bingo. A Gold Mine. Wow. I love little finds like this. Spent some time checking it all out (safely outside ... I am not that stupid). Took some photos. Read (and re-read) the quesitons. sorted some answers (that thankfully the CO has accepted).

And can I say - the innocent directional statement "When you get to the bird bath," ... yes. yes it is. Why?

Thanks WMG187 for bringing me to this location.
*{Overall find #6728}*

I wonder how much gold was sucessfully found here.
We never found gold but we found the next best thing.
An earthcache find.
Good comraderie.
Great hiking.

Thanks Beardman75 for creating this earthcache to compliment other local adventures we also undertook.

Well done.

Came across this area and this cache today when I joined a group hike. I saw a little bat in there once the crowd of us had moved off. I believe our group have sent you our responses. TFTC

3213

Saturday. Out today with several cachers including HumBug, K8'n'Co, Tough Mothers, 1MinnieMoo and Walandor. This was another target cache today for Slow Puncture. It was a bit of a slippery scramble to finally get to the actual mine and I can’t believe that this was ever built here in the first place. Thankfully the weather was excellent, and wasn’t too hot / humid. Thank you for creating an earthcache here Beardman75. Answers have been submitted to the CO. Love the history of this place.

This was the 2nd of 3 caches found on today's trip.

Thanks ***Beardman75***, for showing us this place.

Out with a group going to Indiana with CO and decided to do this one while out this way. Great area. Lots of interesting things to see. Tftc

Out with the big group here today. Answers have been sent by Kerry cousins. The cave was amazing.

Found with group doing the Indiana cache. Slow puncture kindly did a group set of answers, so hopefully it's all OK and can log. The walk up here was quite tricky but a very interesting spot. Tftc

Out caching with the Tough Mothers (Jemillalucy, Bennyboppers and Lisylou), Slow Puncture, Dahumbug, Walandor, Minniemoo and her son and K8nCo. We were on a mission to do the Indiana Jones multi cache and for the CO to check on the waypoints. While we were out and about we decided to do this earthcache. We discussed our answers and agreed on our final answers which were emailed through to the CO. TFTC and for bringing us to this interesting place!

My second visit to Mt Aurum mine - always a pleasure to walk in this part of the park. The footpad to the site is considerably worn in since last time I visited - this site is just off the long range walking track - so it must be getting some traffic which is good!

wow, what an adventure! I had no idea what I was in for when I chose this epic Earth Cache. While most wouldn't have too much trouble, I am getting on a bit so I am not as steady on hills as I was. I also set out alone........ Well I survived and sent my answers to the CO. How did you find this mine????? I often walk to a cache and think 'Why here?' or how did they even know about this area! It was a great day for a walk and I now have 8 planets. TFTC WMG187

This cache just happened to be the last qualifying cache I needed for a challenge cache to the north. I only had 3 or 4 hours free this morning before father duties, and this cache and a quick walk around the area fitted the bill nicely.

I left the visitor centre car park nice and early. After wasting time with a DNF at a puzzle cache along the way, I footed it straight here. The climb from the trailhead has certainly changed since I found BFP #3 - Enoggera Butterfly Hill back in about 2011. Back then, there was almost no lanata around the first part of the climb, only open eucalypt forest and then a real wall of lantana beyond BFP 3 when I smashed my way from BFP 3 down to the creek and then on to Radnoski 35.

Soon enough I was at GZ, and realised I had been around the mine workings here before, though at night whilst chasing a waypoint for an interesting K8nCo multi. The rock was studied and answers recorded. Enjoyed my walk here this morning. Answers sent tot he CO. Many thanks, Beardman75

Pete

#4,006

A free morning presented itself and despite a forecast of occasional showers I was determined that some bushwalking on Mt Nebo was required. A certain challenge which I signed on a recent visit to Adelaide highlighted a glaring deficiency of the "abandoned mine nearby" attribute in my stats, so I'm seeking to rectify this.

Having previously found all the caches nearby this one, I wasn't in a rush to visit but the required attribute was present so it was nice to revisit the area.

The walk was pleasant and the history of the area was almost palpable as I discovered loads of big old holes nearby. After a scramble I was at GZ and enjoyed having a look around before returning. Answers submitted.

Thanks for the EC **WMG187**, this makes #4707. Discover our TB

..........@__,
/____\\_/__________\
\\________/_TGQNRV_/
~~~~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~

I wanted to get out for some exercise so this cache walk seemed perfect this afternoon. After sending T-Tech a message about where I was going, I grabbed my water and an apple and set off down the hill. At the WP I had no trouble seeing the faint trail and it led me all the way to the trough. Then I just followed the pink line on my GPSr, and after some thorny bush bashing found myself above the mine. A bit of careful maneuvering and I reached the mine entrance. Easy as, really.

I took lots of photos, and noted lots of rocks, and listened to the sound of birds and the rushing creek, and really enjoyed my visit here. I'd like to know how much gold (if any) was found here, but I guess we'll never know. TFTC, WMG187 and for bringing me here.

As a point of interest, the "bird bath" you mention was actually a horse watering trough and if you go down to the creek there are discarded steel tracks that probably carried a small rail cart from the mine to the creek powered by said horse.

Answers have been sent to the CO.

Dora the Explorer! and I were in the area with a view to completing a tree climb however the rainy weather would make this too dangerous so we decided to complete this Earth cache instead. Dora the Explorer! has had this cache on her to do list since its publication.

After pulling up in an area off Mt Nebo Rd, we found the trail and completed the other caches on the trail as we passed by them.

About five minutes from GZ the rain started falling heavily but this was not going to deter us.

We made it to GZ and the mine entrance being very careful climbing down the rocks as they were now wet and slippery.

We gathered the necessary information and headed back to the car for a change into some dry clothes.

Find #1155

A favourite point has been given for the challenge.

TFTC ***WMG187***

Great cache. Love the mine shaft. Sheltered here out of the rain. Thanx for showing me this place. Completed with CDAH55 who will send the answers through.

Happy to have one of my caching partners in crime available today, 1MinnieMoo We had made other plans but the pull of a **FTF** made us think again!

Meeting up at the Duck Creek Track trailhead, soon enough we were booted up and trekking the path. A few stops along the way and finally we found ourselves at GZ.
Well 1MM, was at direct GZ, while I made notes about the questions from just above with Jelly the Wonderdog. It didn't take long to have the answers we were seeking and then just enough internet power to send them off.

Thanks for a challenging EC and smiley WMG187

11/10/17, 11:50 am Find #1204
FTF with NyssaFlutterby. Log to follow.

11/10/17, 11:50 am Find #1204
Today. It was my day off. And my day off calls for... CACHING! So my partner in caching crimes, NyssaFlutterby, and I made some caching plans. However as happened with another set of plans this weekend just gone, we decided to change our plans and this time attempt to get an FTF on another earthcache by this CO. We had seen this one published on Sunday night but of course having work Monday and Tuesday I had put it out of my head, assuming IolantheK or somebody would have claimed it before midweek.
Well still no notifications by this morning, so we were convinced it was waiting for us. After doing all the morning school runs etc, we pulled up at the Duck Creek Track trailhead and made our way along the main track, with a couple of quick stops along the way. Then we turned off the main track and headed towards the final traditional cache before the bird bath. Once we had done that it was down to business at hand. We found the birdbath - not sure how much the birds use it at the moment, but I'm sure it's a great breeding zone for mozzies. We then followed the COs instructions and continued along a track that was not always obvious or clear but soon arrived at some rather large holes only about 15 metres from GZ. Then we started to head down. The ground here was quite loose and wasn't the most enjoyable for either of us, or Jelly the Wonderdog, but we made it and saw the entrance to the mine just below. While Nyssa kept an eye on Jelly both because of the heat and the barbed wire here, I headed down for a closer look.
I will admit it did take some will power not to go in the entrance of the mine and have a look, but I was very well behaved and we stuck to working out the answers to the questions instead.
Once that was done we decided we couldn't stay around to explore any longer, as poor Jelly really was feeling it here today and we decided we needed to get her back to the car so she could rest and cool down.
Answers submitted we got the green light from the CO that we had indeed got **FTF** and were ok to log our find.
Then it was back to the cars and time to take it easier for the afternoon.
Thanks for the earthcache WMG187, a very interesting little spot. It's nice to see these spots around here and find out some interesting info about the Northside that I have grown up in and been oblivious about for so long.

Published