Weld River Advice

[user 3232]

Hi all im heading up to the NE to try my luck at sapphire hunting but need more advice. i have all the gear but absolutely no experience so i am wondering if someone could please point me in the right direction!
My main question regards finding good wash pockets, is it best to dig on the river banks for flood wash or to dig in the creeks and rivers??? ( i have waders).
From what i gather, people tend to search around boulders and roots is this correct?

I look forward to your helpful advice,
Nick.

 

[user 3232]

Trial and error proved to be very informative! didnt find any cutters but found some small gems none the less

 

[dezman]

Well done Nick, I guess you mean NE Tassie!
I love the cold for keeping the pace up and thus staying warm, did you end up in the water!
Im thinking your first question was over looked as a common one that ends up being answered with reading posts here.
If you want to be noticed then try posting a picture of a stone 'not a girl' and the well wishes and envy will follow
I would love a dig around that patch down there one day.

 

[cormorant]

Hi Nick , just to let you know it's actually illegal to dig the sides of the river bank , however you should have little trouble
finding gems in the Weld , Main crk. Ringarooma , etc. i suggest you go into the river --move some of the larger cobbles
and shovel the wash below , if you hit bedrock then scrape out what you can and sieve !! plenty there but after this weather pattern the rivers will be raging , so wait a few days or weeks even -could be dangerous and flash flooding can occur.
let you know when i am heading up that way , i have a few areas i want to suss !!.
Cheers .

 

[Lefty]

Hi naturelover.

I can't give you much specific advice since all my sapphire digging experience has been in central QLD - no running rivers to dig in on our sapphire field. But I can say that I think you'd be on the right track searching around boulders, roots and depressions in the stream. Sapphires are a very heavy mineral and tend to become concentrated in such spots. Whenever I have come across what appears to be a stony, bouldery depression in a fossil stream bed, that spot has usually proven to be more productive.

Good luck

 

[user 3232]

Thanks for your replys and handy tips!
by banks i meant gravel bars just didnt know the right term for them, and i left the banks alone. Ended up finding a bar full of spinel so mainly worked that but around boulders provided a few too
i dare say after all this weather there will be lots of fresh deposits, im keen for a trip up around october but will stay posted!

 

[user 3232]

And yes Dezman, ended up in the water but the waders did a great job at keeping out the cold.

 

[user 1769]

Hi there, spinel is by far your best indicator. I usually dig either in rocky areas where I can reach bedrock, or behind and under big rocks. Look for natural riffles in the river bed, such as where you have rocks across the flow. You will only very rarely find gems larger than the largest spinel you're finding, so look for lots of spinel on your shovel, the larger the better. I'm hoping to get out a few times once the warmer weather starts, I can pm you before I go, if interested.

 

[user 3232]

Im interested mate, i cant wait to get back up there.
Now im also planning a trip to flinders, looks amazing up there too, id love me a huge topaz pebble!

 

[Redmanti]

One area I was working on the Weld was no longer on the river but had lots of spinel deposits and sapphires. Had been worked before by others for that very reason.

 

[user 3232]

Nice, so you found a section of the former water course? did you find any cutters?

 

[Redmanti]

Nice, so you found a section of the former water course? did you find any cutters?

3 cutters. Lots of Spinel.

I think most guys work the river more from what I hear. I'll be making some trips there again soon.

 

[magoozil]

howdy guys , im new to prospecting australia but not to fossicking or prospecting in australia. I have spent a substantial amount of time in and around the weld river and i would have to say that in the river is your best bet providing there is not too much water or too strong a water flow (try and pick a calmer spot) definately amongst the bigger rocks and stay away from the sandy areas , they are easy to get wash out of but generally good for nothing. I would love to see some photos of some stones rough or cut out of the weld. anyway this website is pretty sweet and i hope to meet some groovy rockhounds and the sort through this page.

 

[user 1769]

Hi Magoozil,

Welcome! It's nice to have as beautiful and productive a spot as the Weld. I'm looking forward to getting out again soon.

 

[Jessiy]

Has anybody been back out the weld since it got sucked clean? Im hoping to get out in the next couple of weeks. Hoping i dont find a sorry sight when i get there though.

 

[user 1769]

Hi Jessiy, I haven't been to the Weld for a while. If you don't mind long walks, you can still get to areas that haven't been so flogged, though.

 

[excalibur63]

Just a note, was at the weld three days ago. The river is well up and flowing fast, Lot's of leech's and the occasional snake on the move.
Was hoping the level was down,but last weeks rain must have been heavy in the area.
Cheers

 

[user 1769]

Just heard that two of my fossicking buddies went up two weeks ago and got a few good blues near Harridge Falls. There are areas that still produce well, though it gets harder and harder as time goes on. Essentially the further you walk the less likely it has been flogged recently. However, I've never done well walking up out of the top end of the fossicking area: either too worked out or not good enough sediment traps in that part of the river. I can imagine the recent rain would have brought the rivers up a bit! Still, after the 2011 flood, I found a ton of stones in crevices that I'd previously worked, as well as on shingle banks here and there, right on the surface. One particular bank below the Frome Road bridge was so heavy with spinel that it looked black when you looked down at it. It was easy digging, just scooping the surface stuff.
Interesting about the snakes, I was on the west coast, near Corinna for two weeks early this month and saw a couple of tiger snakes spend ages in the water. One of them was swimming pretty much entirely under water, checking under rocks and in crevices, looked like hunting. It stayed with its head under water for something like 5 minutes. I've seen a lot of tiger snakes, and copperheads near water, but never in it like this.