Allowed area

[lulupointu]

Hello every body !

I just bought a metal detector and wanted to use it in North Queensland.

Do any body got advice to know where iam able to prospect and where I cant ?

Thanks a lot !

 

[Troutman]

Hi lulupointu,

North Queensland is a big place, you might have to be a bit more specific. What sort of machine do you have as this will possibly determine your options too?
Are you after gold or coins/treasure? If the latter you can try any beach or park near you, just don't leave a mess and council workers will probably leave you alone.

If gold is your target then in general terms the only state owned (government) land you can automatically access once you have a Fossicking Licence (you need one of these to hunt for gold in Queensland whether you go looking on private land or government land) are the General Permission Areas (GPA) at Clermont which is really central Qld.

All other state owned land requires more specialised permissions and more fees and charges. Most Qlders have to find private land on which to get permission and detect upon. There are big cattle properties that allow people to detect upon them for a daily fee. There are some of these around Townsville, Forsayth, Georgetown and other places. Search this forum and you will find references to these places if they are near to you.

Good Luck,
Troutman

 

[Matt80]

Have to agree that the Queensland government seems to be pretty anti fossicking. If your lucky you might be able to get a permit to search areas owned by forestry, but your best bet is to do your research on where gold has already been found and try to get permission from a landholder. Might cost u a case of beer or just require a decent chat(no surprise most people don't want people they don't know on their property). Some landowners won't even consider giving u access though and there are lots of reasons why they might not let u, but don't push it, just try to find someone else.

 

[lulupointu]

Hello, thanks a lot for your answer.

We just bought a gold monster 1000 and travelling around Australia.

We tried to find place by using the QLD gouvernement map and looking at land and river without owner. ( is it the good way to look for area ?)

Actually we are around Mareeba.
Do you got any area where we would be able to prospect and try to understand how the detector is Working ?

What is the best way to look for allowed area ?

Sorry for my English, and thanks in advance for your answer.

 

[Troutman]

Sorry to break the bad news to you, but basically there are no areas you can go to in Queensland other than what I already mentioned. Other states are different NSW, Victoria and Western Australia are all more accessible and you can get onto a lot of government land in those states with the right licences, so maybe you will have to wait until you visit those states in your travels.

 

[Pro-oz]

If you wanted to travel out a bit, try Georgetown (Western Creek) 40625591.

Cheers

 

[lulupointu]

What about land without fences or which are not owned by anybody ? like river or in the outback ?

Cheers

 

[Matt80]

Best be careful about the 'not owned by anybody' part as trespassing might get u mistaken for a feral pig in some areas.
There are areas outside of the GPAs that you can prospect but it can be really difficult to work out where. Even crown land may require permission or be completely off limits as it's often leased to one group or another or being used by government departments or government owned companies.
A lot of things in Queensland are about as clear as mud, the government love making no single department responsible for anything so even asking the mines department might not get u the full answer, indeed it generally won't.