Going to try my hand at sapphires..

[Adam Lastnme]

I was planning to to take my kayak up the calliope river for a week and do a bit of gold prospecting but the nasty weather and prospect of flooding has forced me to reconsider my plans, pretty disappointed but such is life. Instead I thought i might head to the central queensland gem fields and have a go at something I wanted to do for ages but never gotten around to, hunting for sapphires.
I have a few questions for those with a bit of experience in the area if they don't mind.

First of all, how is this weather going to affect me? I don't mind fossicking in the rain but I have never been to that particular part of the country and am unfamiliar with the terrain, flood risks etc and wonder whether I will be heading into a dubious situation..

Will my gold equipment serve me well enough? I only have a 1/4" sieve, is this too big? I am used to seeing a few gemstones in my gold pan but my research indicates the pan is not the way to search specifically for gems but if the sieve is too big will the pan do the job to seperate the heavy stones from the clays and gravel?

Is it clear on the fields where I can and cannot go? I can find plenty of information on where the wash with gems is located but lots of it implies that large amounts of the fields are locked up in claims and leases. I don't want to find myself trespassing by accident. I assume it would be pretty obvious once I get there given the amount of tourists who come through the area to do the same thing.

I have a 4wd if that makes a difference in access to places.
Also free camping, so a nice camp spot or two would be pretty awesome.

Any tips for a beginner would more than welcome
Thanks in advance

 

[fossickeract]

No doubt you will get different opinions on many of your questions but here are mine.
If you don't like digging in 30*c + leave your trip till May-Aug.
To get the low down and experience call in at Blue Hollow Mine at the town of Sapphire they hire gear ,give directions and a few days with them will get you on the right track.https://www.facebook.com/BlueHollowMine
A 1/4 inch sieve is fine,for good cutters but you will miss the smaller ones, get a finer one to go with it.
No forget the gold pan it catches tiny sapphires but larger ones wash out with the gravel(have proved it)
There are plenty of fossicking areas in the gemfields the locals will point you in the right direction. You can camp on the fossicking reserves think there is a fee.
Cheers Ted

 

[Lefty]

Hi Adam.

We normally don't go out to the field between the end of September and about Easter - it's often very hot and the risk of heavy rain is pretty high. It's hammering down in Gladstone as I'm writing this and I wouldn't be surprised if Sapphire and Rubyvale end up isolated by floodwater. It's not a very good time to go, sorry

If you come back between May and early September the weather is much nicer - dry, warm (but not hot) days and cool, often quite cold nights. Perfect digging and camping weather.

If you do manage to push on out there, there are plenty of places to go - the field is a very extensive one and I have been going out there all my life and still not been to every part of it. If you haven't done much chasing sapphires before it's probably not a bad idea to do as Ted suggests. There are a number of tourist mines like Blue Hollow and also guided fossicking tours to various parts of the field. You will need a fossicking permit to go digging yourself, available from the Sapphire trading post, the first shop you see as you drive into Sapphire township. They are not expensive.

Once you have one of these, you may fossick on any designated fossicking area, the field is made up of a number of them. Some - such as Glenalva and Tommahawk creek - are for fossicking only. In other areas such as Reward, you will notice white posts around the place - don't dig inside the area marked by the posts, these are claims.

Sorry to say I think the weather has beaten you this time - but do come back in winter, it's an intruiging place

 

[Adam Lastnme]

Thanks for the replies and information guys, much appreciated.

In regards to the heat, I currently live in north queensland and to me 30C is prime digging weather, I actually get quite cold in anything under 25c. I'm a warm weather creature
I am in Gladstone as well at the moment holed up with my grandparents. I grew up in Calliope so fortunately I have a few relatives in the area to hide from this nasty weather. Will be here until Monday at the very least, I took the preemptive step of getting my smaller sieve posted down to me and don't expect to see it until monday at the earliest. The outlook is not good but with a bit of luck perhaps the weather will turn a little nicer by then, won't be holding my breath though.
Being isolated is not a problem for me, I'm self sufficient and have enough supplies to go a couple weeks without contact with civilization if i have to.

If I make there I will definitely check out the blue hollow mine. For now i think I will just enjoy the company of my grandparents and watch the creeks fill up and reassess the situation early next week.

 

[Lefty]

I grew up in Calliope

Yep, so did I - at River Ranch. Good to see another Calliope-ite on the forum

 

[Adam Lastnme]

Damn, me too!! on Aquarius Ave

 

[Lefty]

I was across the other side of the creek, on Schilling lane. I had a mate who lived on Aqaurius avenue.

 

[Adam Lastnme]

Small world that it is. I'm 27, if you are anywhere near my age we might already know each other Calliope is a small place, well it was... It seems to have lost that country town feel in the last 10 years or so. I can hardly recognize it in places now.

 

[silver]

Starting to sound like you fellas might be old mates even ?

 

[Lefty]

Actually, it seems I'm about 15 years older than Adam so we wouldn't have gone to school together. Many of the same families probably still live in the area though.

Yes, the place certainly has grown since I was a kid. Hazelbrook, Silverdale and the area beside the golf course are full of new housing, they were just cow paddocks back then. This kind of rain would always see us trapped for days at least when I was little. There was no bridge beside the caravan park, just a culvert and the rising floodwaters would cut off all three exits from our place. Every Jan-Feb-Mar, was always the same.

 

[Adam Lastnme]

Would have been a spinout if we had haha
Alot of old friends have since moved on which is a shame as i remember playing near old mines on some of their properties as a kid, no idea who owns them now.
I don't suppose you know what happened to the crusher that used to be out the front of the library Lefty?

 

[Lefty]

Can't remember for certain Adam but I think it was given to a historical society or something - it might have been moved to the historical village?

It was originally from Norton if I recall. Norton holdings are mining again, the old smelter chimmney stack is still standing but you're not allowed to go in there to take photos. Had a look around the site of old Norton township (which is just on the other side of the creek from Norton mining lease), found some ancient axe heads, nails, bottles and other stuff but no gold

Yeah, I think a reasonable amount of gold was recovered from the Calliope/Boyne valley area in the late 1800's. Very fragmentary, sketchy records do mention the finding of gemstones such as garnets and zircons - I've never found any myself unfortunately. The geology of eastern QLD - mainly igneous - actually does favour the existence of gemmy materials but being allowed to actually look anywhere at all can be a problem.