Hi from Black Springs

[TheFossickingKid]

Yea well I think for me sapphire bend that area will be a miss for me during the summer because of snakes etc that's why I went in the winter haha. If you go down to sapphire bend you may run into tex he has been doing sapphire hunting for ages he is great he will tell you where to dig and everything.

 

[Matturbo]

Heatho on those maps, are those markers precise or is it general area?

 

[fossickeract]

Hi Matturbo, Perhaps you should think about checking out the crazies at the O'Allen gathering in mid Nov in the Member meet ups Canberra connection proposed get together. Wal & Liz will be there and you can't get better advice.

 

[Matturbo]

Hi mate, ive spent the last few hours watching Wal and liz on YouTube, very informative, I'll try make it down, life is crazy ATM preparing to sell up business and house for a new life.
I didn't mean prospectors are crazies lol, wifey just isn't trusting of forums cos she doesn't go on any. She trusts my judgement so a BBQ will happen

 

[Wally69]

I think gold fever has made us all a bit crazy, but a good kind of crazy.

Welcome to the forum Matturbo, quite a few members frequent the Oberon/Bathurst/HillEnd region and regularly advise where they will be on their next planned outing so you may be able to meet a few prior to getting the keys to the front gate.

If you have some sieves and a pan, a couple of test holes should give you an indication if you have sapphire. The small ones will generally concentrate at the bottom of your pan and may be an indicator that there are some bigger ones to be had.

Fiskars make a hand auger that can be purchased at bunnings and will sample down to just over a metre. Might be worth the investment to cover some ground quickly. One thing is for sure, if your back yard doesn't deliver, you have some great country a stones throw in all directions.

Enjoy

 

[Matturbo]

Cheers Wally, I'm tempted to run out to SB this weekend to learn where to test, I haven't had ANY experience yet, I started researching fossicking after researching the forest for horse/bike trails. Now I'm more excited to start this than what we bought the house for! (Shooting,horse/bike riding, 4x4 and mostly peace and quiet)

 

[Matturbo]

Hmmm missus is starting to look at the vids I'm watching, I may get her involved yet lol

 

[Matturbo]

Alrighty, house settles next week, if you guys are around early November lets have a dig at my place, I'll supply beer, bacon and snags (all homemade) I'll pick your brains, learn equipment, signs to look for on terrain etc, just a warning i will have a 12g handy for any aggressive snake, so hopefully firearms don't make ya uncomfortable lol who's in????

 

[Digginholes]

Me me me pick me ! Lol
I might head up that way for a day trip this week if I can get a day free, christen my new sieve hopefully pull a few sapphiress, any body else gonna be out there?

 

[Matturbo]

Just pm ya before I saw post lol

 

[Matturbo]

So far you, AuFever and Heatho are keen to come over, but not sure if other two have seen that post about timeframe

 

[Matturbo]

I'm flat out in Sydney so can't get out there till settlement unfortunately

 

[Matturbo]

I think 3 or 4 peeps is good to start with

 

[Matturbo]

FFS I took the day off to sort out my clientele list and inventory for my dog grooming business so it call sell and we can move...... But nope I'm stuck on this forum lol

 

[Digginholes]

Ha ha yeah I'm the same.. I'm at work testing, think I'll just check the forum then spend hours reading and re reading posts for info, sounds like your hooked already, just wait till you get your first find ! I'm at erskinepark and since my first outing I'm driving up that way every chance I get lol

 

[Matturbo]

Cool I'm in penrith
Here's a snapshot of the river bed from Google earth , where would one start with test Holes?

 

[Matturbo]

That's my house, the fence is on other side of river and runs up near the dam, my right boundary is pretty much edge of photo

 

[Matturbo]

The whole shot is my 72ac of my version of paradise

 

[Digginholes]

I would start on the bends of the river bed close to the dam, that way you have water close by to wash with, dig off the top soil and start washing the gravel, also keep an eye out for any gravel layers on the hills as they may have once been river bed. It seems the wash layer in the area is only a few feet down and in some spots right on top, have you checked out the walbanker, it may make your hunting even easier

 

[Matturbo]

Thanks dh, there's a couple of water holes in the wide part too, I'll look at walbanker. I've really gota get started on client list, was meant to start at 8am ?