A number of fossicking areas have been set aside in south-eastern Queensland for recreational and tourist fossicking. Visitors can fossick for gold at sites near Warwick and Gympie, for topaz near Stanthorpe and for petrified wood near Chinchilla.
Fossickers require a fossicking licence in all areas. Sites that are general permission areas are subject to special conditions and all fossickers must be careful to comply with these.
If you have any questions about fossicking, contact the local mining registrar.
Petrified wood occurs in abundance in the Chinchilla area and is much sought after by lapidary enthusiasts for its quality and colours.
Two landowners in the Chinchilla area have given a general permission for fossicking at specific sites on their properties; fossickers must ensure they comply with the special conditions of access (see below). The landowner has the right to terminate the permission and direct visitors to leave the land immediately if they do not comply with the conditions set out below.
If you intend to fossick elsewhere than in the general permission areas, you must obtain the landholder’s written permission first.
Good specimens can be readily found beside roads in the area, but collecting is only permitted from the ground surface in road reserves and digging is not allowed.
The town of Chinchilla is about 300km west-northwest of Brisbane on the Warrego Highway.
Travel from the tourist information centre west along the Warrego Highway. At the 0.2km mark, turn left on to the overpass and travel straight along Heeney Street. At the 1.7km mark, turn right into Tara Road (towards the airport). At the 6.2km mark turn right into Greenswamp Road. The fossicking site is on the right at the 9.7km mark.
An entry fee is payable to the landowner (Kel Gaske) at the Chinchilla Visitor Information Centre, Warrego Highway, Chinchilla Qld 4413. Do not park across or block the access gate adjacent to the collecting site.
From Greenswamp, travel west along Greenswamp Road crossing Charleys Creek at the 1km mark. Turn right into Sturgess Baking Board Road at the 3.3km mark. The fossicking site is on the right at the 3.8km mark.
Alternatively, travel from the tourist information centre west along the Warrego Highway. Turn left into Sturgess Baking Board Road, cross the rail line and travel a distance of 8km to the fossicking site, located on the left.
An entry fee is payable at the Chinchilla Visitor Information Centre, Warrego Highway, Chinchilla Qld 4413. Please call the landowners, Donald and Lorraine Bell, on (07) 4668 9193 before arrival.
Camping is prohibited. There are several motels, hotels and caravan parks in Chinchilla.
Visitors need to be self-sufficient in supplies, including water.
Sedimentary rocks of the Kumbarilla beds of Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous age, which are part of the Surat Basin sequence, underlie the Chinchilla area. These include mainly sandstones and other fine-grained sediments that are generally deeply weathered. Most of the petrified wood is found in unconsolidated gravels capping low ridges of the Kumbarilla beds; these are probably remnants of earlier erosion episodes of the sediments, although some may have been transported.
Good specimens of petrified palm have also been collected from the Chinchilla area.
Material is easily collected from the ground surface or in drainages. Some shallow excavation in suitable areas may also prove productive.
The gold fossicking area of Thanes Creek is popular with tourists and fossickers as it is easily accessed from the rural centre of Warwick.
Thanes Creek is about 40km west of Warwick.
Take the Cunningham Highway travelling towards Inglewood. At about 37km from the Warwick Post Office, turn off to the right into Thanes Creek Road. The turn-off is 0.5km past the Thanes Creek Bridge, just past Thane railway siding.
Cross the rail line and go 3.6km to the end of bitumen and continue along the well-formed gravel road a further 1.6km to a fork. Turn right into Hart Road and continue 2.5km to a second fork. Turn right into Big Hill Road and follow a further 0.9km to the fossicking area on the left.
The main entrance sign is visible from road.
Camping is prohibited in the Thanes Creek fossicking area. Accommodation is available in Warwick at several motels, hotels and caravan parks.
The rocks in the Thanes Creek area have been mapped as the Texas beds, which are of Devonian to Carboniferous age. They include sandstone, mudstone, conglomerate, slate, chert, jasper, andesite and limestone. The primary gold-bearing quartz reefs occur mainly in slate. Alluvial gold in the gullies and creeks accumulated from the weathering of the rocks containing these reefs.
Colours of gold can be obtained from the alluvial sediments within the stream channel and from gravel layers in the low bank or possibly from crevices in rock bars. During dry times, water may be scarce but pools do remain in better seasons.
Panning is the simplest recovery method.
In 1867 a discovery of alluvial gold in a gully near the Mary River began the first major gold rush in Queensland, rescued the colony's economy and founded the mining town of Gympie. Today tourists and holiday-makers can try their luck in a gold-bearing gully in the town.
Deep Creek is at the southern entrance to Gympie, between the Bruce Highway and Brisbane Road.
From the south, exit the Bruce Highway at Brisbane Road or Jubilee Street and proceed along Araluen Terrace to Counter Street.
From the north, exit along River Road and Graham Street to turn right into Victoria Street.
There are 2 entrance turnstiles, one each at the ends of Counter Street and Victoria Street. Yellow metal posts mark the boundaries of the fossicking area; please do not go outside these.
Camping and pets are not allowed. Accommodation is available in Gympie at several motels, hotels and caravan parks.
Gold in the fossicking area is derived from weathering and erosion of the Columbia, Smithfield, Monkland, Never Mind and Russell reefs. No records exist of the early alluvial diggings to indicate the depth of the alluvium or its gold content.
The area was extensively worked in the first couple of years, but it is likely that gold may still be found as a result of reconcentration over the years or in pockets missed by the early miners. The most likely places are along the banks and bed of the creek, in particular on the inside of the creek bends. The alluvium there consists of silty sand, which incorporates sand and small rock chips from old crushing batteries upstream. Depth in the creek banks exceeds 1m and in places may reach 5m.
Panning is the simplest recovery method.
To avoid disturbing stock grazing on surrounding land, pets are not allowed.
Sections of the Talgai State Forest have been released as general permission areas for gold fossicking. Fossickers must ensure they comply with the special conditions of access (see below).
Talgai State Forest is about 35km north-west of Warwick.
Take the Cunningham Highway west from Warwick for 8km before turning right into Sandy Creek Road, which turns into the Leyburn Cunningham Road.
Pass through the town of Pratten (20km), then take Macalister Street, which turns into Margetts Street. Turn left into Big Hill Road, which will take you straight through the Talgai State Forest.
Once inside the general permission areas, use only formed roads and tracks to access creek areas where alluvial deposits are found.
There are no facilities in Talgai State Forest and camping is not permitted. Accommodation is available in Warwick at several motels, hotels and caravan parks.
Carry all water supplies. No permanent potable water supply is available, and no water may be taken from dams, water bores or pump equipment.
Colours of gold can be obtained from alluvial sediments within stream channels, from gravel layers in low banks or possibly from crevices in rock bars.
Panning is the simplest recovery method.
Gem-quality topaz occurs on part of the Passchendaele State Forest, near the small township of Amiens, about 13km north-west of Stanthorpe. This is a general permission area so fossickers must ensure they comply with the special conditions of access (see below).
From Amiens, head west along the Goldfields Road for about 0.7km and turn left into Pine Forest Road. Travel south for 1.4km, turn left, then almost immediately right and keep travelling south until you reach the ‘T’ junction (about 1.3km). Turn right and travel a further 0.6km. Swipers Gully fossicking site is located on the right.
Inside the forest, use of motor vehicles is restricted to formed roads and tracks.
There are no facilities and camping is not allowed. There are several motels, hotels and caravan parks in Stanthorpe.
Water is not usually available in the area so supplies need to be brought in.
The rocks in the area are mainly granitic and have been mapped as the Stanthorpe Granite of Early to Middle Triassic age and the Ruby Creek Granite of Middle Triassic age. These igneous intrusives are part of the New England Batholith.
The granites are either coarse-grained or medium- to coarse-grained rocks, mainly consisting of pink K-feldspar, white plagioclase, quartz and biotite. Cassiterite (tin oxide) occurs throughout the granites in quartz-greisen veins and topaz is commonly found associated with the tin. Other gem varieties originated in similar veins or in pegmatite zones or veins.
These resistant minerals were liberated by erosion and later concentrated in alluvial deposits in the creeks and gullies and possibly in hillwash deposits.
Topaz and other gemstones and minerals are found in shallow alluvial gravels (wash) in Swipers Gully. The wash consists mainly of silt, sand and gravel fractions. Adjacent colluvial deposits (hillwash) may also have some potential. Tailings from previous mining operations in the area (now rehabilitated) offer further potential for gem finds.
The topaz is commonly colourless but pale blue, yellow and green (rare) have been found. Generally the stones are waterworn but crystals with well-developed faces are not uncommon. Other gemstones found include mainly quartz varieties rock crystal (clear) and smoky quartz along with rare garnet and zircon. Fragments of cassiterite are also found.
Water is not usually available in the area so supplies need to be brought in if wet sieving methods are to be employed.
Sections of the Durakai State Forest have been released as general permission areas for gold fossicking. Fossickers must ensure they comply with the special conditions of access (see below).
The Durikai State Forest is on the Cunningham Highway 27km west of the city of Warwick in south-east Queensland. There are only 3 practical access routes, one to each site, all of them off the Cunningham Highway.
Inside the forest, use of motor vehicles is restricted to formed roads and tracks.
There are no facilities in Durikai State Forest and camping is not allowed.
There is a caravan park as well as a hotel close-by, as well as several motels, hotels and caravan parks in Warwick.
Apart from stock dams, there is no permanent water in the fossicking area, with all creeks drying up quickly after streamflow events. Carry all water supplies.
Colours of gold can be obtained from the alluvial sediments within stream channels and from gravel layers in low banks or possibly from crevices in rock bars.
Panning is the simplest recovery method.
South-eastern Queensland fossicking, 05 Sep 2023, [https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/activities/areas-facilities/fossicking/fossicking-areas-in-queensland/south-east]
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