A cattle station in remote north Queensland is hoping a new campsite and new amenities will trigger a modern-day gold rush among grey nomad ‘old timers’
The owners of Palmerville Station, located 135 kilometres or so from Mareeba along the Mulligan Highway, are openly welcoming prospectors as they embark on an exciting new a tourism venture
Station co-owner Darren Pearson and Palmerville Gold partner Ben O’Reilly have opened a campsite at Cannibal Creek, and new roads, mobile phone towers, and water tanks are on their way. The plan is to take advantage of booming Cape York visitation and surge in the popularity of fossicking and gold detecting.
Veteran gold miner Mr O’Reilly told the Cairns Post there was so much gold being found at the site, that there was concern the fledgling operation could not cope with the influx.
“We have had over a 1kg found in the last four weeks and we have had, at the most 12 people; it’s a huge amount of gold,” he said. “We have not properly marketed the place yet because there will be a big gold rush and until we get the facilities in, we are holding back a little.”
But he told the Cairns Post that attracting new visitors was not the only motivation behind the initiative.
“The driving force was to try and work out a solution to illegal trespass problem,” he said. “Because the station managers’ business is cattle, they saw it as an irritation, every time they wanted to do something they had to move people off.”
The new gold rush at Palmerville Station is likely to be significantly more serene than its predecessors. The Cairns Post reports that back in the late 19th century, the area was a hotbed of violence and murder when alluvial gold was discovered and thousands of miners clashed with indigenous tribes and each other.
The tradition continued into modern era when, in 2012, station lessees Dianne Wilson-Struber and Stephen Struber murdered gold prospector Bruce Schuler. His remains have never been recovered and are thought to be hidden somewhere on the huge 134,000ha property.
I would love more info please
G’day I’ve got a gold pan, seems it would be fun to.pan for gold while set up in an idyllic spot, is it possible to camp this weekend at Cannibal creek
would love to get this email regularly about to join the grey nomads still working my whole life now aged 67 and still working. Retiring next year can’t wait !!
Hello, If this gets of the ground my wife and I would like to spend a few days at a time up there, I have a metal detector and would love to walk around
Yes, we have a detector. It’s the Vanquish 540 Pro. Hoping to get some use of it when we can escape 🙂
Yes we have a metal detector. We also travel in an RV – hopefully the roads etc will be suitable for non-4wd vehicles too. Looking forward to hearing more
Please keep me informed. Will be travelling to the area next June
Without information on road conditions into the area (for non off road vans) plus availability of water and distances to any shops for perishables the news is hardly worth considering. 135 kms of rough dirt dusty roads doesn’t sound too inviting when other detecting sites in Vic, WA and even Qld are so much rewarding for detectorists. We have done this for 15 years now and had 2 overseas trips to Alaska, Canada, USA, ans both islands of NZ. We need information not teasing.
Try this web information link about the Mulligan Highway. Seems all roads are 4WD around Palmerville area. Not on my plans unfortunately.
http://www.cook.qld.gov.au/services/roads/current-road-status
Please plan properly before going up there. Cheers
Here is another link
https://www.whichcar.com.au/explore/qld/north-queensland-tracks-lower-cape-york-peninsula
Don’t think it’s for gold hunters!!
A very good read thanks Reg R.