Geelong in bid to find gold

Hamish Heard
Prospectors want to search for gold in hills north-west of Geelong.
Sydney firm Goldalot will begin the search if it wins a green light for its mineral exploration licence.
The company yesterday confirmed its intention to search for gold and silver platinum in an 80 square-kilometre area between Lara and Bannockburn.
An agent acting for the company, Ron Nolte, said it was seeking a licence from the Department of Primary Industries to drill soil and rock samples to assess mineral content.
“It’s not an intrusive type of exploration,” Mr Nolte said.
“They’ll probably just drill holes along road reserves at intervals.”
No one from Goldalot would comment on why the company had earmarked the land near Geelong for a potential gold mine.
A Department of Primary Industries spokesperson said the company had applied to search for minerals at several other Victorian locations.
“I can’t ever remember hearing of gold discoveries near Geelong,” the spokesperson said.
“Very few licenses are actually converted into working mines.”
Miners have previously struck gold at Steiglitz, north of Geelong, during Victoria’s 1850s gold rush.
Anyone opposed to the company’s plans has two weeks to lodge an objection with the department.