Is Highbanking Legal In QLD?

[M3talmiliti4]

That is the whole confusion around the Qld fossickers act is that different people have different interpretations. Your right pheonix,

section 38 is exact that you cannot use mechanical means to "fossick" "gather" the dirt you wish to process anywhere in Qld, but if you look under section 19 sub section (b) it states:

19 Other prohibited conduct
A person on designated fossicking land or a fossicking area
must not

(b) operate a generator, engine-driven equipment, radio or
other electrical appliance in a way that may
unreasonably annoy someone else on the land

They way I interpret that is, I must use hand tools only to retrieve the dirt I wish to wash and if I am in a designated fossicking area I can only move water by hand and cannot operate any machinery, pump etc. But if I am on private land The only restrictions I have is i can only use hand tools to "fossick" "gather" the dirt but i can use any means necessary to wash it i.e. mechanical pumps etc.

Like you said it is all subject to interpretation. Thats just how i read it.

 

[cecc]

Thanks Phoenix, that's very good. I agree 100% tested in a court of law, but who wants to go through that as you say. This is like opening a can or worms, I am feeling there is so many unknowns here, things have been going along for years the same old way without anyone taking the bull by the horns and taking them on. After all, it could cost a lot of money, most of us don't have that, and don't need the hassle.

I would love to have a meeting with the minister, and with the assistance of a legal beagle, to sit down and nut a few things out. I would love nothing more than to see, some real progress for QLD fossickers, i.e. more ground opened up and a relaxation of the laws so that they are in par with other states, so we could all think Christmas has come, imagine being able to chose which creek will I go to today?

Oh, now that the laws have changed, I can get that high banker and give it a whirl, so which creek will I go.....oh what a pipe dream it would be Phoenix. QLDers, would just feel so much more free to enjoy their hobby without worrying about is the big bad Inspector gonna come down and get up me about something that is open to interpretation, and the only way to find out is.....go to COURT!! NOT!!

It's like having this black cloud over us.....and yet we still make the best of what we've got, even though it might not be much, we still go out to the little bit of piddly ground they give us, in the hope of finding a few specks.

The pleasure and privilege I also get, is meeting like minded Aussies, who have and love the same hobby as I do, these guys are the best, and we meet up, drag our stuff to our little meager diggings, and have a yarn and a dig with the pick, mattock, shovel, fill a bucket lumber down to the creek, sit and wash our dirt and pan it off, all the while having a laugh and a good old chat to some great diggers, young and old....(me) hahah.

The way I see this is like this, we're in a unique situation, the underdogs so to speak, and have decided to do something about it, and if we get a win, we can tell the grand kids, hey, we were involved in getting some better deals for for QLD fossickers/prospectors. Wouldn't that be nice, bit nostalgic, but I think like that sometimes.

I'll stop the rant now....just started running off that's the dreaming side of me.

Good on ya fellas.

Len

 

[M3talmiliti4]

Just thought i would re-post the link to the petition here seems appropriate to post in this thread aswell, hope you don't mind Len

https://www.change.org/p/dr-anthony...source=share_for_starters&utm_medium=copyLink

 

[cecc]

No mate go for it, we need as much exposure for this cause as we can get, thanks mate.

 

[casper]

Well we all know that Queensland is a funny place as far as Prospecting Rules go. But the old question arises. Is it illegal to pump water up to a highbanker or even a cradle? You are not using the water to "dig up" your gold, you're only washing what you have already collected by manual means (no machinery etc). In my book, it's no different than panning in a creek. You are using the water to wash your dirt. It is no different with a highbanker.

With a sluice, the argument is that you are upsetting the nature of things buy causing turbidity in the river/creek. Of course that's arguable anyway. A good flow of water after some rains will do the same thing.

But up here in the sunshine state we have rules influenced by left wingers and greenies. Actually I'm amazed at just what you can do in Victoria. The greenies have had a huge influence in that state. They've banned 4wd's from forests, stopped burn-offs so the bushfires are worse than ever, they have effectively locked up the high country - certainly to the cattlemen who keep the growth down and lessened the risk of huge fires.

But that's life fellas. I still believe that pumping water for washing your dirt has to be legal. If I was washing away the topsoil etc from the side of a mountain, then that's another story. Anyway, just my thoughts.

......that is not an accurate statement! Depending on the time of year it is only emergency or seasonal road closures* or rare MVO (management vehicles only) restrictions that will affect your access. The Victorian High Country is open and a popular destination for interstate 4WD enthusiasts.

casper
member 4WD Victoria and LROCV

*NB: a group permit is required to travel the Mt Skene road during winter months because of frequent past strandings of inexperienced and ill prepared day trippers.

 

[Mungoman]

G'day Phoenix76.

What I'm getting from your interpretation of the word 'fossick', and the restrictions involved in the act of fossicking is that once you have found your wash, or paydirt, and have classified it, transported it in a container (gold pan, bucket) to where you are working it, then any further processing of that said material is no longer fossicking, in fact it is processing the 'fossicked' material - which would negate any imposition of a fine, or confiscation of equipment - is that your view Phoenix76?

 

[cecc]

Would you guys in Qld be able to use something like this to pump water to your bankers ?
[video=480,360]http://youtu.be/R1pjntxmCrk[/video]
Just need to make the pump with PVC pipes a flexible hose and a bucket with the bottom cut out to submerse in the water.

I would say YES.

 

[cecc]

Would you guys in Qld be able to use something like this to pump water to your bankers ?
[video=480,360]http://youtu.be/R1pjntxmCrk[/video]
Just need to make the pump with PVC pipes a flexible hose and a bucket with the bottom cut out to submerse in the water.

I would say YES.

Wonder what size that thread is on the bung bit.

 

[cecc]

Ok that cleared that up Casper. Thanks for that. As I have posted you can get the water to your rocker, highbanker if it is done by hand, like Yobs rocker, has a bilge pump on the side, when he rocks it it sucks water up from the creek and sprays onto the the top hopper. This is ok, if you tried to use a petrol pump or 12v battery and pump to do this you'd be in breach of the laws.

There's no argument about a sluice, was told by Rossco from the dept where I got my license, that I can use a sluice in the creek so long as it just uses the flow of water from the creeks own natural means. So a sluice is ok.....it's the mechanical means they stop. i.e petrol pump, battery operated pumps etc.

Check out my post #17 straight from the horses mouth. That's why we're fighting here in QLD to get more access to crown land i.e forests, and to be able to use mechanical means to provide the water to highbanker, banjo, rocker etc. That's it. Oh, and to get our fees in par with the rest of Australia.

 

[Phoenix76]

Hey Casper, great to hear that. I left Victoria nearly 40 years ago so only pick up what I read.

I spent a lot of my mis-gotten youth in the high country, so I still have quite an attachment to it. However my friend, the bushfires of a couple of years back that burnt out the town of Marysville may have been caused initially by an electricity company, or so I read, but what happened after that had a lot more to do with no burn-offs, local council banning people from clearing around their houses, in fact the council was telling people to plant trees next to their homes so they would blend in with the forest. That my friend was the green influence. There was one guy whose home was saved. He had cleared around it but council hit him with a $30,000 fine for doing it. Even his neighbors changed their minds after the event. This bloke had his house, they didn't. To my knowledge he never ended up paying the fine. But that just shows how bloody stupid these people are. I sat here in Qld reading the fatality lists and seeing names of people I grew up with. Mate that sticks in your craw.

Anyway, enough ranting from me, I forget when to stop. Great to hear that some common sense has prevailed, and thanks Casper for letting me know. Cheers Bill

 

[Phoenix76]

Hey Mungoman. Yeah, in a nutshell that's pretty much how I see it. But don't forget, that is my interpretation and as I said, until it is tested in court, we are all depending on somebody else's interpretation. The other way of interpreting it is that maybe on a declared fossicking area it may be illegal, don't know only surmising. If you are on private land (with permission) the I suggest it would be another story.

That's the problem with our legislation mate, it is all open to interpretation until such time as a case is determined in court and thereby sets a precedent. And that is not only for fossicking etc, it applies pretty much to all our laws. In a court of law, precedent gives you a very strong case.

Must get on the correct thread tonight and introduce myself to everybody. I'm spouting off about these things but nobody knows anything about me. Lunch time now but gotta get back to work. Cheers Bill

 

[nucopia]

Would you guys in Qld be able to use something like this to pump water to your bankers ?
[video=480,360]http://youtu.be/R1pjntxmCrk[/video]
Just need to make the pump with PVC pipes a flexible hose and a bucket with the bottom cut out to submerse in the water.

I would say YES.

Wonder what size that thread is on the bung bit.

It fits into bung hole of a 44gal drum i think.