Using a dredge in Australia for recreational prospecting is illegal - information and questions

[k man]

Should we skin them alive and roll them in salt ? These arnt amateurs there poacher's.this is what the activists are looking for to kick us out of the bush

 

[Coyote]

Bugger,

I was coming over in a couple of weeks and planning to visit the north east for some Sapphires. Sounds like I may as well go not bother.

Only there for a couple of days anyway.

Hope they are caught.

Cliff

 

[cormorant]

Dredging is a no no ! and can only be greed that motivates these pricks ,was going to take my daughter and friend up to
that area soon to do some sieving for gems . if we go i will certainly be watching out for illegals and reporting to the authorities any
sus behavour ,it won;t be long before it shuts down for all of us if this crap continues !.

 

[Jaros]

I wonder if they're the same ones that are pilfering our waterways of everything that swims??

 

[k man]

I bet they only hit it at night too

 

[outboard]

This is what happens when you make highbankers and sluices illegal (which actually looking at the legislation is not in Tasmania, despite being all over the prospecting licence website that you cant use them their definition of fossicking and prospecting is using hand tools to remove minerals from the ground, sluices and highbankers are used to process minerals after they have been removed) , turn decent folks in to criminals with bad laws and then to get the gems the fastest method available will be employed to get in and out as fast as possible to lower the risk of being caught.

Disclaimer: I ain't no lawyer, any information contained in this post is my opinion only and is not legal advice. Seek professional legal advice before taking any action

 

[Jaros]

Don't worry we've got your photo, DUM D DUM dum---Daaahhhhh!!!!

 

[stevo]

And here come the black helicopters... :lol:

 

[user 1769]

No seriously, the problem started about a year ago. Some of us are keeping our real, as well as electronic eyes (hidden motion sensor cameras) out for this. It's so sad it's coming to that. The more this sort of thing happens, the more likely we're to have the few rights left to us removed.

 

[Tathradj]

That is just sooo wrong.
But I would not mention on a forum your positive actions.
Gives to much away.

 

[flashhunter]

Hope you catch these W@$k!#s before they can ruin too many more spots. good luck.

Trail Cams!

 

[Redmanti]

To whoever has been dredging NE Tasmanian creeks: If you're reading this, several of us have noticed some of the serious work that's been done up there. MRT are on the case as well. Thank you for screwing it up for the rest of us. Some of the work done in some of the smaller creeks in the last 12 months would have taken 20 years digging by hand.

One of the creeks well known for larger sapphires has been completely vacuumed clean. In some sections 20-30 meters of creek have had all the rocks neatly stacked to the side and the creek dredged right to the bedrock. Shame on you. It's fu#$!ng heartbreaking.

How do you know for sure it was a dredge? Could it have been a couple of organized guys hitting it hard with shovels? Your talking about the Weld right?

 

[AtomRat]

It's a shame and luckily I have not seen anything like that yet, but I have spotted ad's on Gumtree with people selling those small hand dredging machines, like a submersible. Is it possible for someone to post what a dredged area looks like? Its those sort that give us all that bad name

I have seen some massive work done by hand and shovel out in areas, but not down to the bedrock like you say! ( It was all correctly filled in by the way, but I could not believe the amount of turnover )

 

[dwt]

Dredging, not good, digging to bedrock with shovels, cant see the problem, done it many a time, always refilled the area, put it back to the way it was.
Had one bloke a while ago come up p###ing and moaning about the size of the hole i had and was digging in a creek, when i asked him the issue he had he couldnt give me an answer..................i did the respectable thing and gave him some clays floating around the bedrock line, sat there and watched him pan out some nice little pin head sized pieces, he's tone soon changed, go figure. :|
Dredging is definetly a no no, besides the damage it dose to the enviroment you really dont leave anything for your hobbiest prospectors, digging and refilling a large hole just shows you have a set of stones big enough to have a real dip, and that i find lacks alot nowadays, some people are more interested in p###ing and moaning than having a dip.
This is in now way meant to be taken as a "crack" or a "dip" at anyone posting on this thread, or on this forum, just my 2cents

 

[user 1769]

How do you know for sure it was a dredge? Could it have been a couple of organized guys hitting it hard with shovels? Your talking about the Weld right?

Hi mate, not just the Weld. A section of another river in the area was cleaned so thoroughly there was absolutely nothing resting on the bedrock. The rocks all neatly stacked on the sides like the old-timers did, the wash completely gone. This was very recent work, as I had been to this area not six months previously and it was pristine. I mean, I would find it very hard to remove everything with a dustpan and small brush. The ends where the dredged area started and ended had vertical walls of wash. Now, when I use a shovel, the mechanical disturbance of digging causes the banks to collapse at least a little. You end up with, at best, about a 45 degree bank of wash. A vertical wall can only result from gently removing material through suction, unless someone has a better idea.

I suppose regardless of whether it was physically possible to do this with a shovel, if you want to mine in that scale you should go take out a mining lease. Fossicking areas and prospecting permits are designed for smaller scale prospecting than this.

 

[cormorant]

Just got back from the Weld , cannot say i saw any sign of dredging in the area known as the public fossicing area ? however in saying that i could not cover all of it either , perhaps mfdes can enlighten us to where this is occuring so we can all keep an eye out ?
i found an orange saph as well as a purple one which i would think pretty rare , as well as a few blues etc but all small to very small
, the kids loved it and the day was sunny and warm .excellent !! .will try and get a few pics up later.
Cheers Colin.

 

[user 1769]

Hi Colin,

The worst hit area was Main Creek. The public fossicking area is a tiny proportion of the area that sapphires can be found in, not the best fossicking either, IMO. If you're happy to organise prospecting licence, tenement access, etc, there are far better places to go. MRT website is a great place for research, and recent exploration reports for the northeast make the most worthwhile reading.

Cheers,

 

[Magpiez]

To whoever has been dredging NE Tasmanian creeks: If you're reading this, several of us have noticed some of the serious work that's been done up there. MRT are on the case as well. Thank you for screwing it up for the rest of us. Some of the work done in some of the smaller creeks in the last 12 months would have taken 20 years digging by hand.

One of the creeks well known for larger sapphires has been completely vacuumed clean. In some sections 20-30 meters of creek have had all the rocks neatly stacked to the side and the creek dredged right to the bedrock. Shame on you. It's fu#$!ng heartbreaking.

So where is the evidence of dredging? I don't need to ask what creek.

You have made some extremely erroneous statements not supported by fact and/or logic.

Dredging is indiscriminate, it removes EVERYTHING, therefore if a dredge was used the dredged material would still need to be sieved to extract gems, which is something you seem to dispute.
If you think a dredge will discriminate between gems and spoil, think again. We all know that a vacuum cleaner sucks up anything and everything on the floor,... dust, dirt, money or jewellery and the only way to get the valuables back is by sifting through the dust bag and dredges are no different, you will need to sieve it to get results.

Anyway, why I decided to comment in this thread was because someone I know told me about your posts and what a fuss you were creating due to your sweeping seriously erroneous and unsubstantiated statements. I felt it appropriate to enlighten you and set the record straight with any forum members that may have been mislead by your posts.

I can tell you that I know exactly where you are talking about, know who did it and can guarantee you that there were NO dredges involved.

All of the work was done by a "Cyclone" (you can get one from any Bunnings store). HOWEVER, you do need a well trained Cyclone, it has to be one that is prepared to really work hard and put in a big effort. I should add though that the Cyclone working that particular place was not only an exceptionally hard worker but also liked to do things "properly",.... just like the old timers used to do..

Rest assured, find yourself a decent cyclone with a great work ethic and you will get the same results.

 

[Goldpick]

Ok, point made, and unnecessary sarcasm removed. I know both parties involved have heated opinions or views on the matter, but please keep it civilised thanks.

 

[excalibur63]

Mfdes, I know the feeling when you revisit a favorite spot to find recent and major activity, and the thoughts and feelings that accompany that.
However THAT is prospecting.
You can think things like " if only I'd gone a little further last time maybe I'd have got onto what this person has" or like "hey this is my hole, who's been digging here".
Well in my opinion hard work is hard work, give up or slack off in an area is Your own issue, no one else's. Just have to suck it up " pun intended".