Victoria - what licence do you need

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Hi, I wonder how do you stake a claim ? If I was to go to Waanyarra and dig out one of the old holes what and how do I go about it ?
How do I keep the authorities happy and the rest of you out of my freshly dug hole ! ;)
Has anyone on this forum done this ? And did you find gold or a cure for blisters ?
 
G'Day Ford

First of all go to the victorian mines dept website and look up what is required to do that. First of all the ground has to be free to peg, second it can be expensive, and it probably will not keep anyone off your land unless you camp there. For mining leases there may also be an expenditure annual requirement.

Araluen
 
If you wanted to take out a mining licence in Victoria you are best to look at a Prospecting Licence, not a Mining Licence. Its a little easier for a claim of up to 5 hectares. But..........you will have to go through Native Title, take out $10 million of public liability insurance, Pay fees amounting to about $2000.00 to register the claim and pay a minimum $10,000 bond for rehabilitation of the land.
I would never discourage anybody taking out a claim and am more than willing to help you if you wish to go down this path, but first you need to have a reasonable idea of what you expect to find.
On top of that there are equipment costs, and other running costs such as fuel etc, and the costs of securing your claim. You would need to collar the hole and put a hatch of some sort on it to keep unwanted people and animals out.
My rough estimate is 25k to start up a claim.
In the current environment you would be better to set up camp where you want to dig and spend a month digging the hole out. Then test the ground. If you do o.k. then maybe register a claim, if not, then you haven't laid out a small fortune for no reward.
 
That's good advise Puddler Bill,thank you.BUT if I dig out the hole and find a large nugget ( Im dreamin' I know)Without any registered claim being made ?Can I keep the gold ?
You talk 5 Hectares, can't I peg out a 12 ft by 12 ft claim like the old timers would have done ? My wife and I often think this would be a great retirement project just having a crack to see how hard it must have been back then.

Ford
 
Providing you adhere to your Victorian miners right obligations (DEPI has all the details online to reference) you would be right to do as you wish. It's merely a question of making sure you and others are safe, including open excavation aren't a hazard, shoring of sides in a safe manner, and using only hand tools. In a PL scenario things get a little harder and you will have to have some structure and clear purpose in mind and in writing to go down that path. The truth is Victoria has what I would consider the most generous prospecting position in the country, and rightly Puddler Bill has pointed this out, no real need to go all out when under a miners right you have a decent amount of latitude to explore some ground.
 
You would have to go through the same process for a 12 foot claim as for a 5 hectare claim. If you dig out the hole, which you can do with hand tools and you have a current Miners Right, then yes the gold is yours. The old 8 ft or 12 ft square claims disappeared years ago.
 
And remember then,,,, Bill, you could live on them!!!!

Thats when it all changed.....

I spent so many years thru that Vic country!!!

Remember when the Narby Pub burnt down???
 
Depends on the depth your digging at as well mate, Prospecting Licence covers works "not including" underground, to go underground you would need a Mining Licence.
So if you dug out your hole "prospecting" and picked up on a lead or vein then started tunnelling/driving into that you would need to get a licence, but the licence aside, once you got to this stage you would need someone with expierence to assist you in your endeavours, take out a keystone or pull to much gravel out of the one area and you might find your in a situation that you cannot back out of, literally!
 
You can work underground on a Prospecting Licence. It is a licence for up to 5 hectares. I sought clarification from the Mines Dept. (sic) re this and have a licence application for a small underground mine pending. Agree re the risk when driving. You have to comply with Worksafe regulations for safety. No longer a separate set of regs under the MRSDA, it is now all under Worksafe. The thing to remember is that shafts or potholes went down then out, usually to the edge of the claim boundary, so any hole you find will already have been driven as far as possible in every direction. Yes Simmo, I do remember when you could live on a MRC. Ahhh those were the days. Narby pub and Kevington both burn't down. Spent many forgotten nights at the old Kevo Pub.lol
 
It may be worth noting in addition to any requirements listed above, that a 'prospecting license' granted under the Amendments to the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990, limit your claim not only by size, but also by time.

Basically your claim can only be granted for a period of up to 5 years, and these cannot be renewed.

Although the granting of a PL does not require the identification of a mineral resource as a prerequisite (as in a ML), but you must have in place an approved work plan, rehabilitation plan and a community engagement plan.

There are restrictions also on adjoining other PL claims.

An application can not be made for a PL that adjoins an existing PL if that existing prospecting license is less than two years old.

Does anyone know if you are limited in depth under a PL?

;)
 
Same depth regulations as an ML. Once you go below 75 feet a whole new set of rules apply in regards to winches and haulage which is now regulated by Worksafe. The old Mine Safety regulations are no more.
 
Puddler Bill said:
You can work underground on a Prospecting Licence.
My bad, I was looking the copy of the Code of Practice for Low Risk Mines.
Got that much bloody paperwork laying around its all mixed up :lol: 8.(
It does however state that you can apply for a mining licence over the prospecting licence, subject to mineral identification, :|
i would assume you'd have that one sorted before you struck a blow 8)
 
Another well thought out, informative and accurate thread. I'm certain you guys could do a better job than those entrusted with the responsibility to inform and regulate this process, it took countless hours of Web trawling, face to face and telephone calls to explain this to me from the relevant authorities and you guys have put it down in a clear and concise manner that only takes a couple of minutes to read. Bravo gents.
 
Thanks for the info Bill & Metamorphic I have been toying with the idea of doing some serious systematic prospecting of a reefing field in my neck of the woods. This thread tells me that I had better be damn sure of getting at least an once to the ton of easy milling ore before I apply for any sort of permit or licence.
 
Jethro, 20 years of prospecting quartz reefs in my area have shown me that many times the mines and reefs were abandoned when the grades dropped to an ounce or less to the tonne. I have hundreds of mines mapped, reefs sampled, and new reefs found that were missed by the old timers in my patch.
If you need advice re sampling and assaying I am happy to help you.
The most important thing is to understand the geology and mineralogy of an area you wish to prospect, and then be extremely thorough in what you do. I have read everything and more that is available on my patch to better understand how the gold is formed and where it is likely to be. I have found real nice stone that was left by the old timers and missed by company geologists also.
My advice is pick an area and then spend as much time as you can understanding it, then and only then is success more or less guaranteed. and even then things change. Good Luck.
 
HEy Bill Im at least halfway there as I have confined myself to a relatively small area of reef workings and have read any & all reports & bulletins on the reefs & mineralogy of the area. I have actually found more information on the area by research in trove than I got from the mines dept records. The reefs were generally considered to be squibs as they are not very big but were exceedingly rich in places. I have found some good samples left behind in the dollying paddocks or dropped from drays or carts. I have also come across workings not marked on maps.
Assaying is something that I would like to see performed and perhaps have a go at. I have a couple of old books that go into quite a bit of detail on the subject. Im looking for a set of assay /ton weights & a conicle mold for pouring the molten sample into.
Looking forward to chatting more at length.

Jethro
 
Thanks for the input,you people are a mountain of information.I think I.ll just get out there and swing the trusty detector and see what I can find.

Ford
 
okay guys doing a little research on licences but the Earth Resources website is huge.

what licence do you need to get to a stage to do a few core sampling on a site??
 
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