The Mathinna goldfield started, like many others, with the discovery of alluvial gold, this time in Black Horse Gully. The area contains one of Tasmania’s largest gold mines, the New Golden Gate, which had a total (historical) production of over 260,000 ounces (~8 tons) of gold. The whole area is riddled with mines, prospects and old workings, and is fairly easy access with light bush.
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Lune River Fossicking Area — Overview
The most popular fossicking area in southern Tasmania is Lune River, which produces mostly lapidary material. Lune River materials include agate, carnelian, onyx and sardonyx, jasper, petrified wood and petrified fern. Occasionally agate geodes have vughs with clear quartz crystals, rarely citrine or amethyst.
Continue readingGetting started fossicking – Tools
So you’re interested in fossicking in Tasmania? What do you need to get started?
The main things you’re going to need to know about can be broken down approximately into tools, areas, and permissions. Today I’ll cover tools in general, and in the next two posts I’ll go over areas and permissions, which are somewhat interlinked.
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