Whats the deal with Digging banks and trees in NSW

Hey Guys

In NSW are you only allowed to dig within the creek same as Victoria?

I think so

http://www.resources.nsw.gov.au/__d.../A-Guide-to-Fossicking-in-New-South-Wales.PDF

After reading that, why do you blokes even bother? Limits on gold in 48 hours? What do you do if you find big gold - put it back. Head west or south my friends.

We wait for the gold police to arrest us! Or we turn ourselves in if no one is around to fine us.

G0lddigg@ said:

Hey Guys

In NSW are you only allowed to dig within the creek same as Victoria?

Click to expand...

HI,
Can you elaborate on that ....
Is that in relation to HB'ing and sluicing ie can only get stuff from the creek and it ends up back in the creek.
Does it mean you can't classify stuff from somewhere within the area and take it to a creek (or home as some seem to do) to sluice/pan off?
I've seen detector holes deeper than what I thought a detector could reach .
Cheers Tom.

The fossicking brochure does not contain a complete account of the relevant clauses of the NSW Mining Regulation 2010, which states in Clause 12(3):

(3) In this clause:
gemstone means a Group 6 or Group 7 mineral.

Note. Group 6 and Group 7 minerals are listed in Schedule 2.
power-operated equipment means any equipment powered by mechanical or electrical means.

prescribed amount, in relation to material, means:

(a) 10 kilograms of mineral-bearing material (other than the material referred to in paragraphs (b)(e)), or
(b) 5 kilograms of minerals (other than gold or gemstones), or
(c) 50 grams of gold (except where found as nuggets of 10 grams or greater), or
(d) 5 nuggets of 10 grams or greater of gold, or
(e) 100 grams of gemstones.

So if you find a some big nuggets, you don't have to put them back, unless you find more than 5 at once!

How to strangle small old gold towns - take one part gold bearing ground, take one part baby boomers who are cashed up and want to spend $, take one part great old gold towns that are doing it hard, add cow cockies using crown land (the Squataucracy we got rid of in Vic), add several layers of bureaucratic nonsense and hey presto, town strangled of the tourist dollar. Absolute nonsense. Every tourist study I have seen of the triangle sees gold prospecting tourism as a major factor - thats why you see good RV facilities, free camping, great maps, good people and ready cash registers.

Teemore said:

G0lddigg@ said:

Hey Guys

In NSW are you only allowed to dig within the creek same as Victoria?

Click to expand...

HI,
Can you elaborate on that ....
Is that in relation to HB'ing and sluicing ie can only get stuff from the creek and it ends up back in the creek.
Does it mean you can't classify stuff from somewhere within the area and take it to a creek (or home as some seem to do) to sluice/pan off?
I've seen detector holes deeper than what I thought a detector could reach .
Cheers Tom.

Click to expand...

Doesn't matter how you process your material you are supposed to fill in your holes and repair any damage done you are certainly not allowed to take buckets of material away and process them. Like i said seems to be a bit more relaxed in NSW.
http://www.energyandresources.vic.g...on-and-mining/prospecting-and-fossicking/faqs
24. What if damage is done to the land while prospecting?

You must repair any damage to the land arising out of the search or you will face prosecution.
32. Can the holder of a Miners Right use motorised equipment to process gravel for minerals that has been excavated using hand held equipment and loaded into the processing equipment by hand?

Yes, however, significant land disturbance using these methods will not be permitted.

I know this comment is going to draw brick bats. But if the laws were repealed and allowed the holder of a miners right to use a hand held dredge of no more then cumulative say 8 hp, would there not be less environmental damage. The history of mammoth steam driven dredges and the impact on the environment I know, but the only true impact a small hand dredge has, is creating a minor suspended load in the waterway which, having seen and played with a few in the states, only truly lasts say 10m before it settles.

As far as permits go, as I understand it, all facets of government would like to set it removed, however as it has been there so long, none can be bothered to do the work to remove it altogether. And under the user pays theory, as it does see enough patronage the cost will just increase without any real service. To honest in 40 years of prospecting, I have never been asked to produce one. And the last time I spoke with state forests in new up around the bathurst area about 2007, they said don't worry.

I think we need to get hold of clive palmers ear, and get him to do something for kin, on a nationally scale in relation to this.

loamer said:

How to strangle small old gold towns - take one part gold bearing ground, take one part baby boomers who are cashed up and want to spend $, take one part great old gold towns that are doing it hard, add cow cockies using crown land (the Squataucracy we got rid of in Vic), add several layers of bureaucratic nonsense and hey presto, town strangled of the tourist dollar. Absolute nonsense. Every tourist study I have seen of the triangle sees gold prospecting tourism as a major factor - thats why you see good RV facilities, free camping, great maps, good people and ready cash registers.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a lot of small towns/villages in NSW. If only we could get some of Vic's mindset up here. We can't even get a united front running without petty squabbles about he said she said & too many want to push their own agenda.