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

[XIV]

i believe it is, in al part of Australia

 

[KeeponDiggin]

Unfortunatley mate its a horrible word, it scares the crap out of all the greenies and is
frowned upon.
It apparently is bad for the environment by sucking up sections of a river bed.
I am led to believe its how trout and other fish and aquatic are assisted in spawning and reproducing
within most water ways.
Now that im tapping and thinking ( deadly mix )
Has any one seen the turbulance and not to mention the damage caused by a good flood??
Lol plus an extra lol for good measure.
Ill stick to the oan and shovel ay
But mate its a big No No

 

[Ramjet]

I thought it would be. I've asked this guy yo try get a pic of the set up he saw next time he is out that way.

 

[Ag Man]

In the eyes of the law/rule makers, it's using water to lift pay dirt - no different to using a dredge set up with a pump.

Pay dirt is to be manually excavated - scoops, shovels, bare hands, buckets, spoons etc.

 

[KeeponDiggin]

Well said cuz.
Id love to demo it infront of the said lawmakers.
Same with the HB.
The damage we cause as opposed to the early days
is hardly a comparison.
Creswick and Smythsdale are but 2 examples.

 

[BrisJoe]

Can I use a dredge on my private property lease?
Like I own the property, and I also own the lease say, can I use it then?

As getting a small mining plant setup with a dredge is a lot cheaper then getting a full trommel/shaker/sluice/jig/seperator rig built up, and I can work through summer doing it to being in the water lol

 

[Diggerdude]

Can I use a dredge on my private property lease?
Like I own the property, and I also own the lease say, can I use it then?

As getting a small mining plant setup with a dredge is a lot cheaper then getting a full trommel/shaker/sluice/jig/seperator rig built up, and I can work through summer doing it to being in the water lol

You can if your environmental plan gets approved, but this is very hard to get appoval for.

DD

 

[BrisJoe]

An EPMP to dredge my own dam? what a crock

 

[Diggerdude]

An EPMP to dredge my own dam? what a crock

You said if it was on your own lease. If you have a mining lease than you have to obey the mining rules, which will require you to have an environmental plan no matter what you do. We had to do an environmental plan and get it approved just to push rocks of the surface and detect on our lease.
If you don't want to do an EMP and lots of other paperwork than you better stick to fossicking.

DD

 

[BrisJoe]

Well I suppose, for the cost saving of using a dredge, does really make the task of processing a 1Ha lease take a really long time, compared to spending an extra 60000 and building a plant and backhoe to work the ground
UNless I get 1 of those big commercial boat dredges

 

[Greglz86]

Hi everybody. I just seen some pics on Facebook of a fella that made a vacume dredge for crevicing.
Basically it's a leaf blower a few hoses and a bucket. This is a link of something similar but not the post I seen
http://goldadventures.biz/my_equipment
I think it's a great idea. But not sure if its legal.
Let me know what you guys think
Cheers
Greg

 

[Diggerdude]

They work good, here is a link to my old one.

http://www.keeneeng.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=HVS&Category_Code=DW

Pretty sure they are not legal unless you have a claim.

DD

 

[Greglz86]

Thanks for that. They look like great machines. Shame theirs no point in getting one. I wonder if there is a rule for using a dust buster
Greg

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Hand tool only unless you are using on a lease with lease holder approval. rules are different in usa were a lot if not all the vacuum videos come from

cheers, tone

 

[navieko]

Just curious, by 'leaf blower' you mean one of those that come with a manual conversion kit (convert to vacuum) - or just the typical leaf blower/vacs? Curious to see those pics if you wouldn't mind posting them.

 

[Greglz86]

Here's some pics of it. In the comments it says its just a blower. The air inlet is attached directly into the bucket. Hope this helps

 

[Beagleboy]

This is a great idea. I was looking at cordless vacuums on ebay like this one.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/220871933605?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I am not sure if it is powerful enough. Has anyone used something like this?

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Does the job Greg

 

[Greglz86]

I bet it does

 

[fikelly88]

This is awesome! Ingenious!