Victorian Miners Right information and questions

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MJB said:
I think the key here is that it states 'National Parks' not state forests. So unless they include them it will be business as usual for highbankers, trommelers and dry blowers :D
Click to expand...

There will be 'blanket bans' on operating any sort motorized equipment in prospecting Matt. This will apply to all areas including state forest.
Sluicing, dryblowing etc will go down the same path as dredging did.

This will be their first priority, after which the land titles will be reclassified.

Its that serious mate....unfortunately!
 
Worse case scenario is that Victoria may end up like SA, with fossicking license free, but with heavy restrictions on equipment usage and limited areas to prospect in. If they have have dramatically cut the fee for a miners right, losing the right to own the gold you find may be on the cards, with the crown effectively owning anything you find - as it is in SA. Maybe they will scrap the miners right for a permit based system for State Forest access, with daily/monthly/annual fees to make up for lost revenue from scrapping the miners right. Doesn't make much sense to drop the Miners Right fee by so much, without have other avenues to make up for lost revenue.

Taking away the right to own and sell the gold you find takes away the monetary value of the gold, which would likely to result in less people bothering to take up prospecting for that purpose, and reclassify fossicking purely as a recreation vs prospecting to make a few $$$ on your finds.

I am probably getting a bit ahead of myself, and this may not be the case, but you never know what is on the cards with the pollies these days. Much easier and cheaper for the Govt to manage prospecting / fossicking by locking up areas and throwing away the key, along with the proposed equipment/fossicking restrictions.
 
I think Metamorphic is right.
A blanket ban not just in Nat. Parks but right across the state. They want sluicing banned. It will be pans, detectors, or nothing, and restricted access.
Maybe it's time for a few people to get together and take out exploration licences over large areas of the state like mining companies do. Then "explore" with detectors or sluices as the primary means. They would be regarded as low impact exploration methods and under current legislation would be legal. So say 10 prospectors put in 2k each. That would get an El. up and running. You could take say 100 sq. km's of prime gold bearing country. They can't touch you then. Just a thought.
 
Never mind about looking like your getting ahead of ourselves or being nay sayers, I've only got to cast my eye over most other states legislation to see just how backwards things have become. We are living in age where rights are squashed overnight and having enemies like the VNPA . We have so far dodged the bullet on the Veac report, the liberals ran out of time, but it's still all there and more for implementation.

At the risk of getting political look how fast the guns were taken away. I'm not here to debate the merit of such things merely to point out the powers that be can and will take your rights away whether you agree or not. I hope those getting ideas of trying to ban prospecting and taking away our rights read this, at least it shows we are preparing for possibilities.

So we move a few rocks, use a bit of water dig a few holes. What odds. Old mother nature can rip your house up, flood your lands, burn the forests to the ground, tear a new watercourse over night, smash all your property, spread disease, even kill you. They are kidding themselves to think we are somehow destroying the environment, it's bloody laughable. But taking my rights or telling me what I can or can't do well, I take that quite seriously.

These type of regulations have zero to do with civic order and responsibilities, justice or culpability. But as I have already started it has everything to do with liberties and rights. Penny for pound I'll bet alot of prospectors do far more good collectively than these so called concerned citizens. Any how rant over. Sorry to get on the soapbox I get a bit upset when these inconsiderate clowns are involved.
 
Metamorphic said:
MJB said:
I think the key here is that it states 'National Parks' not state forests. So unless they include them it will be business as usual for highbankers, trommelers and dry blowers :D
Click to expand...

There will be 'blanket bans' on operating any sort motorized equipment in prospecting Matt. This will apply to all areas including state forest.
Sluicing, dryblowing etc will go down the same path as dredging did.

This will be their first priority, after which the land titles will be reclassified.

Its that serious mate....unfortunately!
Click to expand...

Well this is unfortunate Meta, I've only been prospecting for about 18 months and just when I think I find a hobby that suits me to a tee they go and ruin it. I hope it does not eventuate the way predicted.

Not that I condone 'illegal' activity in any way but are they serious in thinking they will be able to police the new bans. With so many hobby prospectors spending big dollars on equipment I cannot for one minute think we are going to just hang up our highbankers on the wall and not use them. They can ban stuff but they better be prepared to enforce it.

Its good to see and read so much passion out there in this thread
 
MJB said:
Metamorphic said:
MJB said:
I think the key here is that it states 'National Parks' not state forests. So unless they include them it will be business as usual for highbankers, trommelers and dry blowers :D
Click to expand...

There will be 'blanket bans' on operating any sort motorized equipment in prospecting Matt. This will apply to all areas including state forest.
Sluicing, dryblowing etc will go down the same path as dredging did.

This will be their first priority, after which the land titles will be reclassified.

Its that serious mate....unfortunately!
Click to expand...

Well this is unfortunate Meta, I've only been prospecting for about 18 months and just when I think I find a hobby that suits me to a tee they go and ruin it. I hope it does not eventuate the way predicted.

Not that I condone 'illegal' activity in any way but are they serious in thinking they will be able to police the new bans. With so many hobby prospectors spending big dollars on equipment I cannot for one minute think we are going to just hang up our highbankers on the wall and not use them. They can ban stuff but they better be prepared to enforce it.

Its good to see and read so much passion out there in this thread
Click to expand...

I bet the same thing was said about dredges...and that is why they are still used.

In NSW we can not touch anything in a national park, Flora Reserve, State Conservation Area (which covers my closest two alluvial targets.. Copeland and Cells Creek...SUX majorly)...so we look else where.
 
hummm interesting well I wont say what I already do then lol but I will say I take samples out of old mines as a way of prospecting then crush them in a dolly pot at home for gold everyone may have to start doing that ??? maybe

but I guess if there going to ban panning and sluicing the fish wont be able to eat the worms or other bugs that we stir up in the creeks witch means less fish in that part of the creek because it hasn't been turned over witch means fish populations wont grow or other aquatic creachers because there's no food for them and when you go detecting what do we do to help the birds ? ill tell you what we do we dig a hole then back fill it the birds see that we have dug a hole so they then come down after we have left and grab the bugs and worms from the over turned soil so really we are not really hurting the environment at all where helping the wildlife and aquatic life

but the greenies cant see that they have got too many bushers blocking there vision

now if they do ban almost everything it wont stop me or 364 of my prospecting buddies :)

I totally agree with puddler bill and gold target

I reckon if we kick up a big fuss like back in 1860s with the eureka stockade we can beat them just need numbers and like gold target said this whole state was built on gold if you wore to look on a mine map of vic you will see that from stall down to Ballarat and up to Bendigo and woods point as well as Richmond Rushworth Costerfield Heathcote dalesford Castlemaine warrendyte beachworth Creswick st arnaud just to name a few towns that wore buit from the money or gold that came from near by towns even half of Melbourne was build from people selling gold and the gold being of a currency or trade back then it paid from almost everything :eek:
 
Puddler Bill said:
The Victorian National Parks Association wants to ban panning, sluicing, and detecting as they say all these activities damage the environment. It will be a total ban in National Parks if they do what I think they will. I will make a call tomorrow to a senior department head and see what I can find out. I will post here my findings.
Click to expand...

Hey PB! did you make the call - and what was the result......?

casper
 
Yes I did and got the departmental line unfortunately. There are some big changes coming in regards to what activities will be allowed in National Parks. When I asked if they would affect prospectors I got a very definite no comment. These are department heads who would lose their jobs if confidentiality was broken, which I respect and understand. We will have to wait for an announcement from the pollies. I don't think it will be far off.
 
It may get to a point where we as prospectors have to make as much noise as we can to as many people as we can. Maybe a picket line around parliament house or the environment ministers house. We did this back in the 80's. Poor David White, a minister in the Kirner government couldn't get out his driveway. We had a lot of media that day. I would happily do it again.
 
MJB said:
Not that I condone 'illegal' activity in any way but are they serious in thinking they will be able to police the new bans. With so many hobby prospectors spending big dollars on equipment I cannot for one minute think we are going to just hang up our highbankers on the wall and not use them. They can ban stuff but they better be prepared to enforce it.

Its good to see and read so much passion out there in this thread
Click to expand...

Well its the old adage mate...they will rely on people dobbing others in to police it.

We read the threads on the forum now, you know the ones....'That mongrel who left open holes at Muckleford' or ' the bastards that have been dredging the Tasmanian rivers'.

Give it a year or so after the new bans come into effect and we will start reading new threads here entitled, ' I saw some mongrel using a sluice at Dunolly' or ' spotted a dryblowing site around Ballarat, who are these thoughtless lawbreakers'.

You get the drift. Those that take the high moral ground will be the worst enemy!

The pollies love it when we fight amongst each other, rather than banding together to fight them!

;)
 
If they ban sluices they should do a buy back if they want to stop us using them. This happened unofficially after the dredging ban a few years back. Someone put a wanted ad in the Trading Post offering to buy Dredges back, and offered good prices. The number put on the ad belonged to Frank Jones who at the time was the state mining warden and supported the dredging ban.. After about 500 calls they changed his number. He got the message. Maybe it's timeto call the current Minister for Mining and ask what they are going to do if they try and ban sluicing? After all its their job to support and promote prospecting and mining.
 
When we last voted here in Vic month or so ago I asked all of the Party people's who hand out the how to/who to vote for forms which party would support prospectors and their rights to prospect, blank stares is all I got back, the Greens party did offer me their paperwork but I think she only heard me say the part about National Parks.
My point being that our plight is not that well known.
I know the PMAV dose all it possibly can, but I'm thinking this time the horse has already bolted, personally I have sent letters to members of parliament local papers, cleaned up parks and forests ect, and still to very little recognition of our hobby/profession.
Dunno guys :|
 
Puddler Bill said:
I think Metamorphic is right.
A blanket ban not just in Nat. Parks but right across the state. They want sluicing banned. It will be pans, detectors, or nothing, and restricted access.
Maybe it's time for a few people to get together and take out exploration licences over large areas of the state like mining companies do. Then "explore" with detectors or sluices as the primary means. They would be regarded as low impact exploration methods and under current legislation would be legal. So say 10 prospectors put in 2k each. That would get an El. up and running. You could take say 100 sq. km's of prime gold bearing country. They can't touch you then. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
I'm starting to think about talking to the mining companies and previous mining companies about this exact proposition. I understand a partnership would be difficult but their overheads are quite significant too. The local ELs mainly have focused on deep lead that to an average prospector would not be a concern anyways, plenty of au in reach of the detector and shovel. As you rightly point out the game can still be played, it gets more complicated and expensive.
 
I,ve got a really bad feeling on this change in the proposed duration and cost of the miners right also. As previously stated sucessive governments have only ever placed more restrictions & regulations on activities carried out on crown lands. WE have NEVER got anything back.
The proposed new fossicking areas to be opened up within National parks are largely a joke as there is either little or no alluivial gold within the areas or the areas such as that proposed over the Dart River goldfield is extremely hard to access by the average weekend prospector.
I think we will find that a further tightening of the regulations regarding processing equipment is what is in the wind.
It may be time for the likes of the PMAV and all clubs & forums to band together & start a fighting fund to challange any more erosion of our rights.

Jethro
 
jethro said:
I,ve got a really bad feeling on this change in the proposed duration and cost of the miners right also. As previously stated sucessive governments have only ever placed more restrictions & regulations on activities carried out on crown lands. WE have NEVER got anything back.
The proposed new fossicking areas to be opened up within National parks are largely a joke as there is either little or no alluivial gold within the areas or the areas such as that proposed over the Dart River goldfield is extremely hard to access by the average weekend prospector.
I think we will find that a further tightening of the regulations regarding processing equipment is what is in the wind.
It may be time for the likes of the PMAV and all clubs & forums to band together & start a fighting fund to challange any more erosion of our rights.

Jethro
Click to expand...

time to check how much money PMAV have in the coffers to appoint a firm of lawyers to begin the process of smashing these dogsh1t magggots .
 

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