Tennant Creek, Warrego Fossicking Area
Road to Warrego
Warrego Fossicking Area
This site has it all! Looking for gold, a great place for bush camping, some great desert scenery, or you may just find the ghost of Mad Mick. An hour's drive from Tennant Creek makes this a great place to explore for the day or the more adventurous camp out in this desert environment for a few days.
This is a declared fossicking area in the Northern Territory meaning no notification or consent from the landowners is required to access and fossick this site. The area has a small dry creek bed surrounded by low hills and desert scrub. The site has a shack on it with a solid roof (reputed to be haunted), located next to a vertical mine shaft that has been closed. Two windmills, a reservoir, elevated water tank, cattle watering trough, a few picnic tables with a roof over them, and some derelict BBQ stands can be found at the site. Unfortunately, none of the windmills are operational, and as such, no water is available on the site. One of the windmills is rather unique being an example of a vertical axis windmill (I have not encountered this design before) that stands next to a traditional horizontal axis windmill.
Fossickers are still finding small gold nuggets in the area with the latest newsworthy find belonging to an eight-year-old boy. Duqarn Foster discovered a two-ounce gold nugget estimated to be worth about $5000 while out fossicking with dad in late 2020. Gold occurs in the surface soil and can be found by dry panning. Metal detectors have also been used successfully in the area.
The NT Government has designated this as the Warrego Fossicking site to be distinguished from the Warrego mine some 15 km from this site. Locally it is known as Mad Mick’s Camp, but this one square kilometer section of land has had many names associated with it: Moonlight Rockhole; The Alluvials; Alluvial Find; Alluvial Luck; Central No. 1; Central No. 2; Central No. 3; Central No. 4; Neptune; Teresa; Setting Sun; Last Hope; Bull Pup; Mad Mick's; Mad Mick's Camp. (1)
The site is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of Mad Mick. The story of Mad Mick unfolds as follows:
“THE GHOST: Tennant Creek Visitor Information Centre worker Nigel Skelton recalls the giant police search for Mad Mick in 1984, about a year after Nigel moved to the area.
"The story has it that Mad Mick used to mine for Peko-Wallsend at the Warrego Mine (about 50km west of Tennant Creek), until one day he found a decent lump of gold," Nigel says. After finding the gold, he took out a miner's lease and started working his small deposit on his own.
The man kept to himself, and locals knew little about him other than that he was probably of Eastern European origins. He was nicknamed Mad Mick because his English was hard to understand and when he became agitated, he'd talk fast and loud in his native language. He worked alone for nearly 10 years, not seeing anyone for weeks at a time. He disliked having visitors and more than once fired warning shots at passing cars he felt were too near his mine.
In the 1980s, a man mysteriously disappeared near Mad Mick's Mine while attending a barbecue, and his body was found nearby a few years later. "I know this story is true," Nigel says. "My neighbour, Ted Wilson, was at that very barbecue." Soon after, one of Mad Mick's old workmates at the Warrego Mine mentioned that no-one had been fired at for a couple of weeks, and Mad Mick hadn't been to Warrego for supplies. The authorities were notified and a search was organised. "Police searched six days for Mad Mick and they found nothing except his four-wheel drive,"
Nigel says. From then on, the area was known as Mad Mick's Mine and, intrigued, Nigel would often tell tourists the tale." We get a lot of amateur prospectors come in and they camp on the old sites," he explains. He would ask the tourists to "find Mad Mick and send him home". But he didn't expect the tales they brought back. "Some complained of eerie wailing noises and a raucous clanking of the iron-on Mad Mick's old roof in the night." One night, Nigel stayed there and he also heard strange wailing sounds. "But it was just two cows arguing. There are lots of strange noises that come from abandoned mines and shafts. "They sound spooky, but can be easily explained," he says.
Despite his scepticism, Nigel remains intrigued by the mystery of Mad Mick's disappearance.” (2) Did Mick succumb in an abandoned mine due to a cave-in, or did he go on the run after the discovery of the dead man near his mine? Does Mick remain agitated by all the people now on his land that he worked alone to maintain for 10 long years?
Mick is only one character in a long list of prospectors seeking their fortune on this site. The site was discovered in 1935 during the period when Tennant Creek was experiencing its very own gold rush. Founded by Professor H.S. Waldron who was given directions on were to prospect during nightly séance with his dead wife. An eccentric character who dressed up like an old-fashioned explorer. For more information on the mining history refer to Mindat.org.
Getting There
Just north of Tennant Creek, you will find Warrego Road (bitumen) follow this road for 45.5 km. A small sign will indicate the turnoff to the right to the fossicking area (graded dirt road) continue on this road for 13.8 km to the site.
Camping
Bush camping is allowed but no water or facilities are available. Campers are requested to remove all rubbish when they leave.
What to Explore in the Area
When in Tennant Creek take some time to visit the local attractions. Located in and on the outskirts of Tennant Creek are:
Battery Hill Mining Centre
Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre
A short distance to the north of Tennant Creek is:
References
Mindat.org, Warrego Fossicking Area, Tennant Creek, Barkly Region, Northern Territory, Australia.
<https://www.mindat.org/loc-294199.html>
[accessed 30 March 2021]
Prospecting Australia, Gold Prospecting and Fossicking Forum. “Mad Mick” missing or dead?.
< https://www.prospectingaustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?id=26379>
[accessed 30 March 2021]
Tennant and District Times. Golden Boy’s lucky nugget discovery. Tuesday 30 March 2021.
https://www.tdtimes.com.au/news/golden-boys-lucky-nugget-discovery#1
[accessed 30 March 2021]
Northern Territory Government. Fossicking in the Northern Territory. Declared Fossicking Areas. Warrego.
< https://fossicking.nt.gov.au/declared-fossicking-areas/warrego >
[accessed 30 March 2021]