Fossicking around the Inverell and Glen Innes areas

[Heatho]

Hell of a lot of it everywhere Ben, even more than GG which has heaps. Those granite boulders in the River have some deep crevices in them, was not too keen on climbing all over them by myself. After classifying and in the right light it looks like the whole top of the bucket was golden and shimmery from the Mica.

Very fine gold though as you have mentioned before, doubt I even got 0.1g. Anyway was a nice day and would be a nice place to camp.

Have you found any decent sized Garnets there? Or just tiny ones?

 

[Heatho]

Had a Dig at the Billabong Blue Sapphire park today and had a top time. The hosts and owners Keith and Jo are wonderful and enjoy meeting the visitors who come to the park. After a busy morning sieving Jo turned up with Morning Tea and Bickies which was great and unexpected.

The digging was easy as they dump a big pile of gravel wash there for you to sieve if you're feeling a bit lazy as I was today. Or you can go down to the creek there and have a dig in the crevices. Also they are happy to show you how they mine the Sapphires and Zircons as they have a working lease on the property, will hopefully see this in action tomorrow out of interest.

You can camp there too, also down by the creek and dig as long as you like.

They are open 7 days a week between 9am and 4pm, they have all the equipment there which is included in the entry fee of $20. Best 20 bucks I ever spent.

The stones I found today, not huge though quite numerous and nice colours.

Anyway if you're up this way and don't know where to go for a dig you do now as I'd recommend Billabong Blue to anyone.

Keith also showed off the best stone they found today and it was more then 1/2 an inch long and about 1cm wide and clear blue.

 

[Sw1fty]

Thanks Heatho, great finds and photos...

 

[Varts]

Nice. Heatho ...ENJOY.......

 

[Syndyne]

Cheers for the update and photos Heatho! Sounds like you having a pretty good time of it.

Great to see your collection of stones so far. Some nice colours there and clarity too boot!

Good luck with it and stay safe on your travels!
Kindest regards,
Shauno.

 

[Heatho]

Cheers guys, yeah having a great time Shauno, the weather has been good, excellent food at the pubs along the way, some excellent craft beers.

Very happy with the stones I found today, some nice Zircons in there too, colours are from Champagne to Red.

Will be heading back for sure in the morning to have a dig in the creek. Will post up some more pics and stuff tomorrow or the next day.

 

[Ben78]

Very fine gold though as you have mentioned before, doubt I even got 0.1g. Anyway was a nice day and would be a nice place to camp.

Have you found any decent sized Garnets there? Or just tiny ones?

Just the little ones and heaps of the coarse black gravel. Best garnets I've had come from a creek near Glenreagh but even then they were quite small.

 

[boobook]

Heatho.
You should be finding some nice spinel (black jack) there also.
Dont chuck it out, it cabs. very nicely with a good finish.

Cant recall the exact spot but above Frazers creek there is a "red hill" which is decomposed basalt. (unlike some basalt which decomposes black)

The sapphires, and some top blues, are scattered in the red gravels. Fairly easy dry seiving, being the hardness they have not weathered like the basalt gravels.
Mike

 

[Heatho]

Hey Mike, interesting to note at this location is the lack of Spinel compared to say Grabben Gullen where there is heaps and quite large. The Spinel from Billabong Blue I kept 1 piece which was still pretty smallish.

A young lady there today found a fantastic clear Blue which must have been 7 or 8ct.

Will be coming back here to camp for a week in the near future so will have a look for that hill.

 

[Heatho]

Went down this afternoon to check out the Sapphire mine on the Billabong Blue property, what a great operation they have going, forgot my camera though doh!

Anyway you can pretty much camp there anywhere, 1 guy has been there for months and is loving it and doing quite well. There are toilets, soon to have bush showers and areas to set up under when raining, perfect spot. You can dig on the lease and they will even remove overburden with the dozer to help you get to the wash layer.

Fossickers heaven, the hosts/part owners have only just taken over there as a tree change from Wollongong, they are truly living the dream.

Haul today was about the same or better than yesterday. Pics later.

 

[Heatho]

Combined haul from 2 days. Keith also handed me a few nice Blues to look at which he refused to take back, what a top bloke. A couple of good quality stones around the 100ct mark have been found there recently by lucky fossickers too.

 

[headbut]

Awesome Heath , good pool there for 2 days mate

 

[Nugget]

Nice haul there Heatho. I want to head up to Inverell for the next Gem Festival. It looks like I just missed out on this years

 

[Colin&Lee]

Good to see you got a few good carats heatho well done mate. Might see you back at GG

Col

 

[joe]

Well deserved Heatho - were you Walbanking?

 

[Heatho]

Thanks guys.

Thanks Paul, was hot, dry and the flies were thick. still feeling it this morning.

I'm keen for the Gem Festival too Nugget, would be great to check out, great town Inverell, starting to feel like I'm at home.

Thanks Col, we'll be back down in GG pretty soon, hope to catch up for a yak.

No Walbanker Joe just seives from the wash provided.

Would be hard to run a banker there as there is literally no water at the moment at all except for a dam for the mine and they treat that water like it's gold. It's all collected again after the wash plant, filters through Reeds and Bullrushes then into a settling pond and then back to the main dam. They only top it up via a bore when needed when there is no rain. Can probably use them in the public areas after rain.

Clean water is essential as any mud thickens it and they start to lose Sapphires out of the pulsator. I asked and they won't let highbankers/powered sluices be used there, the pickings are rich enough just seiving. A Willoughby is no probs at all, one bloke I met had his set up. Would love to run a Walbanker there, there would be bags full by days end.

Even specking Gems after heavy rain there is quite rewarding they were saying, 11am-1pm when the sun is high they said is best. I asked 1 long term camper there if he has done well and he just gave me a wide smile and a wink.

All you guys would love it up here.

No digging today, maybe head to the Gem and Mineral museum at Emmaville.

 

[elrodeo]

Nice haul there Heatho. I want to head up to Inverell for the next Gem Festival. It looks like I just missed out on this years

Minerama is on just around the corner http://www.minerama.com.au/default.asp.

Definitely one of the biggest if not the biggest gem show in Australia and you get the best of both worlds with gem hunting in Glen Innes and Inverell just up the road plus plenty of gold areas nearby.

 

[Nugget]

Cheers mate, I'll add it to my calendar and hope the stars align for that weekend

 

[Varts]

Hay heatho ,you should come home through the piliga state forest,sounds like you need to sit and recover in the hot mineral water swimming pool,she does wonders mate!

 

[richo966]

hey heatho what is A Willoughby mate and good looking stones well done mate