Dredging in Australia for recreational activities IS illegal..

[Sparra]

What I don't get is I see a bunch of dredges for sale...big and small on eBay.

It's ok to sell a dredge...just can't use it. Hmmm.

I sent an email to one fella selling them on ebay to see where in Australia you could use them...He sent one back saying I had to get a lease in Australia giving me the impression that he sells them all over the world...

 

[hillbilly]

what about a hand pump dredge, "gold n sand"
feeding into a bucket for later classifying?
still illegal?

 

[Solomon 009]

PLEASE tell me using a pump to get water to run through my High banker is not Illegal, Because if so why do I have to carry water to a dry creek bed and then reuse that water to run my gear, because that sounds totally stupid if it is illegal. Normally when running in a dry creek that only has water in it during a flood I carry water and have a reuse system running to take water from the bottom end of my highbanker and filter it and reuse same water back through the system again. I then take all my fines & cons back home to process it.....Please tell me I can still use my pump in a creek with water.........Please, please, please....lol

Cheers all Paul

 

[thedigger]

Gee I been using one to clean out my "Fish Pond" I hope I don't get into trouble.

TheDigger

 

[Nugget]

PLEASE tell me using a pump to get water to run through my High banker is not Illegal

That's a completely different thing altogether mate. The legalities of using high-bankers has been covered in reasonable detail throughout various topics. Let's keep this one about dredging so not to confuse people.

 

[GOLD Billyen]

Gee I been using one to clean out my "Fish Pond" I hope I don't get into trouble.

TheDigger

Your in big trouble now Mr. !!!

 

[Solomon 009]

Nugget,
I have a question is moving gravel in a creek using a Venturi pipe, is it called Dredging if I use a V.P to move gravel to an area so I can feed it to my H.B at a later date, I rang and asked Qld Mining dept. if I was able to do it, and the guy in charge, said he had no idea and ask someone else. I am not trying to a smartass I would just like to know as so far no-one can give me an answer...........Cheers all Paul.

 

[Nugget]

Sorry to say Paul, but I don't work for the DPI or any other governing body so I can't provide a definitive answer to your question.

 

[Solomon 009]

Ok I just thought I would ask as no-one has been able to answer the question for me....Cheers Paul

 

[G0lddigg@]

yes this is still dredging Solomon 009, or could be called hydraulic sluicing either way illegal.

 

[GOLD Billyen]

It's sad when staff in the mining dept don't even know if "something" is legal or not.

 

[Solomon 009]

Ok thx guys and yes The people who govern the laws should know what the heck the laws they are responsible for.

 

[G0lddigg@]

I agree and don't agree, you cant expect every department to be across every little component. A bloke who has been working for the department for the past three years who has never come across someone breaking the law shouldn't have to know the workings of an illegal piece of equipment. I think a lot of prospectors wouldn't know what the venturi effect is let alone what a venturi pipe is.

The reality is the department of natural resources and mines are there to support infrastructure investment and research in our natural resources and implement policies to protect those commercial interests for the state not police illegal activity.

I think it sucks but they do make it pretty clear http://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/mining/fossicking/permitted-activities-materials

Permitted activities and materials

Fossicking is a regulated activity in Queensland and requires a fossicking licence. This licence allows you to search for and collect fossicking materials using hand tools and for recreational, tourist or educational purposes only.
Permitted tools and extent of diggings

Hand tools such as picks, shovels, hammers, sieves, shakers, electronic detectors and other similar tools can be used. No machinery is permitted.

You can collect from the surface or by digging, but you are not permitted to dig below 2m of the natural ground surface of land or below 0.5m in streams. Overhangs and tunnels are not allowed.

On road reserves, no digging is permitted but collection from existing exposures is allowed.
Materials collected

You can collect gemstones, ornamental stones, mineral specimens, alluvial gold (including nuggets) and some fossil specimens, but not meteorites and fossils of vertebrate animals.
Sale and trade of collected material

You can sell the occasional lucky find of a gemstone or sell and trade to hobbyists or through fairs and exhibitions. However, repeated removal for sale through shops or businesses, or as part of making a living, is considered commercial, and requires tenure under the Mineral Resources Act 1989.

Royalties are payable on fossicking materials that are the property of the Crown, but threshold exemptions of $100,000 mean that generally most fossickers are not liable.

You can receive an on-the-spot fine or be prosecuted if you breach the provisions of your fossicking licence.
Find out more

For help and technical support when purchasing a fossicking licence online contact:

MyMinesOnlines helpdesk
Phone: +61 7 3199 8133
Email: [email protected]
Last updated 24 March 2014

 

[Horse]

Ok thx guys and yes The people who govern the laws should know what the heck the laws they are responsible for.

In QLD it says no machinery...so what do you intend to power/feed the venturi pipe with?..Would need much more than a manual bilge pump

I believe right there you find an answer.

 

[Geeza73]

When i went up to Beechworth the other week, a guy walked up and said he was a friend of the ranger up there....he said he was keeping an eye out for dredgers and told me that just downstream from me.....two guys got caught with a bobcat and dredgers......they had ripped the guts out of the banks and he described the scene as a war zone. -apparently they had pulled out quite a few oz - can't remember the exact figure he gave me but it was a lot .
he said they thought they would get all the gear taken....but were only handed a fine for not having miners rights and having a dog in the park. - so i am a bit sceptical of his story. - i can't find anything online in the news about it.

the more of this sort of activity dredging or using bobcats.....they will ban reedy creek all together (then state wide, australia wide)..which will be a sad day for us that do the right thing.

 

[Diggerdude]

When i went up to Beechworth the other week, a guy walked up and said he was a friend of the ranger up there....he said he was keeping an eye out for dredgers and told me that just downstream from me.....two guys got caught with a bobcat and dredgers......they had ripped the guts out of the banks and he described the scene as a war zone. -apparently they had pulled out quite a few oz - can't remember the exact figure he gave me but it was a lot .
he said they thought they would get all the gear taken....but were only handed a fine for not having miners rights and having a dog in the park. - so i am a bit sceptical of his story. - i can't find anything online in the news about it.

the more of this sort of activity dredging or using bobcats.....they will ban reedy creek all together (then state wide, australia wide)..which will be a sad day for us that do the right thing.

Sounds like just another fairy tale to me. It's pretty easy to check court records for prosecutions under the mining act, I have done it before. Last time I checked there had been 1 prosecution in the last 10 years, he was given a small fine and kept all his gear.
Even in WA there has only been 2 prosecutions in 10 years. And that's because one guy was caught using a dozer on someone else's lease, he was given a friendly 'hey cobber you can't do that here' and was only fined after ignoring them and continuing.
And the other one was employees of a mining company pinching ore.
Beechworth is famous for spreaders of fairy tales, most of the stories come from local prospectors trying to keep the area to themselves.

DD

 

[Redmanti]

When i went up to Beechworth the other week, a guy walked up and said he was a friend of the ranger up there....he said he was keeping an eye out for dredgers and told me that just downstream from me.....two guys got caught with a bobcat and dredgers......they had ripped the guts out of the banks and he described the scene as a war zone. -apparently they had pulled out quite a few oz - can't remember the exact figure he gave me but it was a lot .
he said they thought they would get all the gear taken....but were only handed a fine for not having miners rights and having a dog in the park. - so i am a bit sceptical of his story. - i can't find anything online in the news about it.

the more of this sort of activity dredging or using bobcats.....they will ban reedy creek all together (then state wide, australia wide)..which will be a sad day for us that do the right thing.

Sounds like just another fairy tale to me. It's pretty easy to check court records for prosecutions under the mining act, I have done it before. Last time I checked there had been 1 prosecution in the last 10 years, he was given a small fine and kept all his gear.
Even in WA there has only been 2 prosecutions in 10 years. And that's because one guy was caught using a dozer on someone else's lease, he was given a friendly 'hey cobber you can't do that here' and was only fined after ignoring them and continuing.
And the other one was employees of a mining company pinching ore.
Beechworth is famous for spreaders of fairy tales, most of the stories come from local prospectors trying to keep the area to themselves.

DD

1 prosecution in 10 years lol.

We beat ourselves up way to much about this topic. Dredging is a non-event based on this.

 

[rc62burke]

Hey Diggerdude
When you researched the prosecution records, did you search the records of the Magistrates court or those that went to trial?? this would be interesting to see!
cheers
Lee

 

[Diggerdude]

Hey Diggerdude
When you researched the prosecution records, did you search the records of the Magistrates court or those that went to trial?? this would be interesting to see!
cheers
Lee

I read the trial transcripts, some of the others where a good laugh actually. Married couples getting divorced and fighting over tenements, small scalers going big companies to acces alluvial ground etc. Most of them were like these, extremely rare to see anything against hobby prospectors.

DD

 

[Solomon 009]

Hello again guys................ A venturi pipe is normally a 2"or 3" pipe about 14" to 18" in length that has water ( I use a venturi to move gravel) or air at pressure to move, liquids or semi solid material e.g. sand, dirt or gravel from one spot to another through a flexible pipe, ( please don't confuse the use of one of these as being used for Hydraulic mining) because I definitely would object to that!!! the use of a Venturi pipe isn't used with a dredge,The reason you use one is to make the task easier for yourself ( the pump I normally would use would be the one I'm pumping water for my Highbanker with).
My original question was... just that a question as I didn't have the answer even after I rang Dept. of mining in Rocky, and had hoped someone here might have known. Thank you to all who answered I won't be using one .....

Cheers Paul