Going on my very first ever fossicking trip. Any pointers?

[CHEFpphire]

Hi guys, jimmy here. So excited. Heading out to sapphire bend on thursday for my first experience fossicking.
will be camping at black springs rd. How far is it to the site from there?
Going to do a recy of the area as im thinking of moving up the for 3 mnths to pratice and hone my skills.
Only seen afew vids on how to sieve and sort. How to find paydirt. and read all the rules and laws. any other tips would be great.
Liz n wal are my favorites and ive learnt alot. But obviously have alot to learn.
So far..... Go slow. take time. Do my home work. but practical tips would help alot.
Would love to share my first find with you guys.
Thanks for any help.

Regards. Jimmy.

 

[LD.]

G'day Jimmy,

I had pretty much the same questions as you a little while back. I received some great tips, just check out answers to my questions posted by Varts, helped me a lot.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=5357

I have by trial & error realised the volcanic rock Varts mentions to avoid is generally black/red and has a rough surface texture as opposed to the smooth round pebbles that is the good wash layer to look for.

Cheers & have fun,
Laurence

 

[CHEFpphire]

Great stuff L.D. Thanks mate. do you know if theres and gold out there?
any left? Is it worth putting in the extra effort panning as i will be doing it for the first time.
Going for a week on so... if i could find a gram or two its worth it to me.
Is it coarse, fine, or flour? Gotta pratice panning anyway... it would be good just to see a flake or two.

Got 2 sieves and a pan. But im also making a very small sluice to concentrate the fine stuff from after 2nd sieve before panning.
I used some fine gauge metal screendoor security mesh to act as riffles and 4 layers of very fine shade cloth type
webbing under that to act as miners moss. screwed to the bottom of a plastic bird cage base with a slit to let water out.

I hoping....Lol, with any luck... by adding small amouts of fine sediment and a steady stream of water.....????
The super concentrate might be easier to pan. Sound good in theory...lol.
But would there be enough gold out there to warrent this kind of effort? Dont want to waste time if sapphires and zircons are the better target.

 

[LD.]

Hey Jimmy
As far as I know from what I have read here on the forum there is no gold at sapphire bend. Varts mentioned Tex to me, an old prospector who you're likely to meet, he knows the place back to front. I met him last week & he's a very friendly, helpful guy.

I've found sapphires and zircons each time I've been there, mostly small, good quality but when you are new to it as I am it's a thrill whatever size you get. My largest blue sapphire from there so far is 2 carat & a nice one. I'll keep going back there because I think it's a good spot to learn the skills.

There's no water where you dig for the sapphires but a 1 min drive further down the road is a good size little dam where you can sieve clean & check for gems. My only advice is check well and take it slowly as sapphires even when clean often look black so check anything that looks black. The zircons are usually red & quite noticeable in the sieve.

Sorry if I've rambled on, it's Saturday & that means a few beverages

 

[CHEFpphire]

Spot on brother. Doing the same. Great info. well keep you informed.
very excited just to get to the bush. Thanks heaps.

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Chef. Your sluice sounds interesting to say the least. Can you post a pic. Make sure you have a area at the entrance that is clear of any riffles or mat. This will allow the water to wash the gravel and start the separation process.
Good luck out there

Cheers Tone

 

[CHEFpphire]

Thanks tone. will us your ideas to improve. then send pics.
As ive never tryed before , just using the info i got from utube and T.V.
But sound good in thoery..got to test on good ground.

 

[Paydirt]

Hi Jimmy, your sluice idea sounds even more dodge than my milk crates, ply and doormats design, hope it comes up with the goodies. So far I've taken mine out a couple of times only to pack it back in the car because of low flow clogging the grating. You reply need to spend a bit of time setting them up with good flow and angle to work well.

 

[Heatho]

Pretty much no Gold at Sapphire Bend, I've tried panning off the classified bottom seive stuff from there and there was not 1 speck. There is supposedly Gold around the area though just not the fossicking area. Good luck out there.

 

[CHEFpphire]

Awesome feed back Fellas. Thanks. Better Get to packing.
Just one more question..... As a newbie, would it be better
to dig fresh.... or pick over old holes? or is it frowned upon.
I want to do the right thing by others. I think i ll just dig my own.
But is picking over old holes Ok to do? dont want to upset anyone.

 

[LD.]

Hi Jimmy, it's a public fossicking area, there are countless begun holes you are wholly legally able to jump into & continue digging. In fact it's the process the official Oberon website suggests you follow.

Ownership of a hole only lasts as long as you are physically in it, that said on a given day if you have left your hole to go wash and sieve at the dam most people would respect and leave your hole alone if you have left a bucket in it or it's very obvious in some way you are on site somewhere.

Digging a fresh hole is a hard slog but there would be some satisfaction getting to the wash.

Cheers mate