Prospecting Crown Land Victoria information and questions

Best way to go mate.

I sometimes stay in the Karri Track campground, south of Maryborough and I do know that north and north east of the camp is conservation and detecting is not allowed.
Toward Amherst and Talbot is. I know this for a fact because I checked with the Maryborough Parks Office.

I use topo Vicmap, if it's listed as State Forrest I work on it being OK.

But what confuses is that there are State Parks, State Forrest, Conservation, National Park, Historical Parks etc and they all have different regulation and not always consistent. If not sure, the local authority is the best source of approval or not.

Although it rarely happens, you can have your gear confiscated and any gold you find if in the wrong area. I'm told the Rangers are reasonable and will give a warning, providing you are polite and don't argue the point.

Cheers condor22 as everyone says research is the key in this game

condor22 said:

Best way to go mate.

I sometimes stay in the Karri Track campground, south of Maryborough and I do know that north and north east of the camp is conservation and detecting is not allowed.
Toward Amherst and Talbot is. I know this for a fact because I checked with the Maryborough Parks Office.

I use topo Vicmap, if it's listed as State Forrest I work on it being OK.
Ni
But what confuses is that there are State Parks, State Forrest, Conservation, National Park, Historical Parks etc and they all have different regulation and not always consistent. If not sure, the local authority is the best source of approval or not.

Although it rarely happens, you can have your gear confiscated and any gold you find if in the wrong area. I'm told the Rangers are reasonable and will give a warning, providing you are polite and don't argue the point.

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Hmmmmm where does said gold end up? In a post pack to the crown?

Probably, same would happen if you are sprung without miners rights and they can prove you just dug it up.

Havelock - good news. I reckon you are pretty safe to have a swing in that area. Bad news - very scattered gold. The best lead is on private land (Havelock Lead). Worthwhile and accessable some years ago, but a lot of work to get on there now - fence jumpers and clowns probably ruined it for hobbyists.

Crown land- scattered gold, sandy and deep in places, boggy in winter rains. Hard research will reveal EL reports which I can confirm that recoverable gold is deep and beyond detectors in most areas. Our search found about the same as EL results - we had better luck to the east on private land but uneconomical.

Some surfacing that is obvious - small tiddlers as expected some years ago. Tracks are a nightmare - take a GPS. The gold run reappeared up near the winery on private land - was accessable, don't know about now. Duffy's maybe worth a crack. 2200d which you use - try a DD, despite some 'expert' opinion, mono on a 2200 in that area will encounter a lot of mineralisation.

Some interesting old maps are available (parish series). Convert chains to metres etc etc and do some plotting - some interesting data but, big coil country.

Hey Loamer, I know that you live in the area, what's the deal with historical sites such as Moliagul and around Castlemaine are they detectable or not?

Cheers

Be great to catch up with you, I'll be in the area near Anzac day for a month...

Thanks guys as always some very Useful information

You can detect anywhere there no fence if there a fence then it's off limits cheers.

condor22 said:

Hey Loamer, I know that you live in the area, what's the deal with historical sites such as Moliagul and around Castlemaine are they detectable or not?

Cheers

Be great to catch up with you, I'll be in the area near Anzac day for a month...

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Condor- yes mate, both places are OK to detect/pan etc. Good spot Castlemaine. Further south is good also but please oh please do not go into the Porcupine Ridge area in hot weather- if there is a fire, it is super dangerous given the terrain (steep and hilly). There are some great SA - Mt Alexander historic connections, mainly through Tolmer's gold escorts (Adelaide to Mt Alexander) and the large number of south aussies that were there sending their gold home (got a better price in Adelaide).

Don't know about ANZAC Day yet - usually in Melbourne for the Dawn Service then the footy at the MCG.

Thanks Loamer, I'll be there for a month, I normally march in Adelaide, but may do the bit in Ballarat, Bendigo or Maryborough.

Interesting History, thanks for the info.

BTW I only come over in late Autumn, Winter and early Spring, I have to stay home for the wife in the heat. Plus there are less "moving branches" slithering around.

Hi all,

So being new to recreational prospecting I (and I'm sure from what I can see others too) have been very confused about which areas are allowed in Victoria. Clearly you need a miner's right (which I have) and there are some very clear lists describing areas of State/National Parks where prospecting is permitted and a clear list of waterways which are prohibited.

Has anyone worked out about other parks or areas - particularly those listed as crown land reserve? I can only find contradictory information.

I have contacted Parks Victoria and the part of DEDJTR covering resource strategy and industry development, Minerals Development. I have had responses from (both quite prompt, professional and polite). Parks Victoria have said they only know the regs for the parks they manage (which are the lists of state/national park areas) and DEDJTR spent time looking into to it but couldnt work out anything further.

I have just contacted DELWP to see what they say.

Has anyone had much luck getting clear information regarding the rules and regs for non-state/national parks that are listed as crown land reserve?

I cant get my head around it with seemingly contradictory legislation which can be read a number of different ways - just trying to do the right thing here!