October 2009 New England fossicking trip

[andrewb]

Maybe he found a giant sapphire

As fun as it would be to think that it would just be some unbalanced idiot causing problems and ruining things for everyone..

Sorry, I know thats obvious.. I'm just in a bit of shock as I had that all organised with my friends... I mean They didn't have gear, they were just going to speck at torrington but sieve at BB. Now I'm going to have to organise some gear.

[Wwoofa]

If BB closes for good then that is a major blow for the hobby and tourism for the area.  It is a very excellent facility for "casual" fossickers and families .... it was also not a bad option for more seasoned fossickers if you felt like having an easier day.  You were always guaranteed to take home at least some small cutters.

[andrewb]

If BB closes for good then that is a major blow for the hobby and tourism for the area.  It is a very excellent facility for "casual" fossickers and families .... it was also not a bad option for more seasoned fossickers if you felt like having an easier day.  You were always guaranteed to take home at least some small cutters.

It's a slam dunk if you're with people that haven't done it before (or even by yourself.) I might still try and source some of their wash to go through at Tingha. It was kinda my ace in the hole if we didn't go too well at Torrington to show the guys it's not all sweat and frustration.

[Mithras]

But is it true that the wash has been seeded?

something I heard on the grapevine

[calxoddity]

Hi,
 Good news - I just talked to Rhonda this morning and BB is still open for business and will be there for us if desired in October.

As for the seeding question, how can anyone accurately answer that?  Where's the evidence?

Regards,
Shane

[andrewb]

But is it true that the wash has been seeded?

something I heard on the grapevine

The wash available for purchase or the wash on site? The $20 a bag wash is certainly more productive than what's on site.. Could be from a more productive part of the mine (I think this is what was intimated).. Could be partially processed in the bagging/production - removing larger rocks and lowering the percentage of fine dirt thereby increasing the carats per kilo of wash.. Could be seeded.. Could be all three. Their onsite dump is still pretty high quality though... I think they all do a bit of whatever. I expect there is a bit of competition between the rivals.. It is business even though they're all friendly so it's hard to pay *too* much attention to rumours. I mean it's easy enough to not hit a stone in a bucket from any of the dumps but I doubt many bags are sold that are 100% pure dirt from any of the operations.

This might sound a little lame and very unsporting of me but I'm less concerned about seeding than I am about it being post-processed and having anything spectacular taken out.. They can palm rock or two on top of a 20ct blue and it's not going to bother me too much

The difference would be if it was literally a wash creation operation where pure dirt was mixed in with limited sized roughs. That would be peculiar on an operating mine where it wasn't necessary.. But it's not impossible at all..

I will say this though.. If they're seeding they're not doing it too stupidly.. the bags contain roughly the same zircon to sapphire ratio as the dump so they'd be seeding zircons as well... or seeding the dump as well but not as much as the bags.. etc etc.
How can you ever really know? And once again as an ace in the hole for if they were too frustrated on Saturday, there isn't really anything that would stop me from seeding it myself no matter where we ended up on Sunday

[Wwoofa]

Hi,
I personally don't see any issues with "seeding" at a fossicking park as long as the original wash is just enhanced a bit to make sure you find a bit more than you otherwise would.  I know that they are still actively mining excellent gems near Horse Gully so they are probably the only people capable of providing large quantities of high grade wash.  Not sure if there's any other commercial mining going on in the area any more?
Regards, Paul

[moonshadow_dancer]

Hi Paul,

In the early 90's when I managed a Sapphire park as the owner was always out working his Claim and his wife was busy with their baby and facetting. I had this Swiss lady named Beera who came every day for a week and she tried to find something worthy of cutting to take home to Switzaland. Part of my job was to go through the daily wash in the pulsator for the owner, I told him I was going to pick out a nice stone for Beera to put in her bucket, he didn't mind.

So with a wink at Beera I threw in a 12 carat Parti Cutter, and I helped her do her bucket as I enjoyed her company. She was over the moon and acted so surprised and gave me a big wink. The owners wife cut her stone which ended up around 4 carats and she was as happy as a pig in mud. Sometimes you do things to make people happy.

Take Care,
Deb

[mg]

I've only been to BB a couple of times and and I don't think it's been seeded. An acquaintance who is a regular has the same opinion. The main issue with BB is the wash is carted about 15 km and so all the heavy material works it's way to the bottom-when it's tipped out, all the sapphires and zircons are in the top portion of the load.If it's not supervised, all those in the know descend on the pile and just speck their way through it. Actually BB is a bit like life, your best prospects are in the first few sieves, after that it's all downhill!

[mehoose]

LOL

[shaker]

Who cares whether its seeded or not, its open again and thats all that matters.

[andrewb]

If it's not supervised, all those in the know descend on the pile and just speck their way through it. Actually BB is a bit like life, your best prospects are in the first few sieves, after that it's all downhill!

We'll definately make sure theres nothing left for anyone else.. so er.. no one else should come

[TG]

Only 3 weeks of work to go before we will be up there looking for the 'home loan reliever' once again. 

[Findem]

Hi everyone
Sorry I've been off the air for so long. We were out at Yarrow Creek last Wednesday. It was the first time I've been able to get down to Garnet Corner since May. Found 3 cuttable garnets and the usual assortment of smaller sapphires etc. The water was just warm enough to wade in to the bottom of my shorts. Since then, though, we've had about 40 mm of rain so it will probably be Pretty Valley this week.
Looking forward to meeting up with some of you in October.
John

[calxoddity]

John,
   Look forward to catching up again.  I've got a yabbie pump this year, so will be dangerous...  Have also packed the Speedos, so can show off legs as well (eek!). 

Must remember to oil the pump, or was it the legs...

Regards,
Shane