Our last field trip for 2020 will be to Weldborough on Saturday 2020-11-27T22:00:00Z → 2020-11-28T06:00:00Z
The meeting place will be at the beer garden of the Weldborough Hotel at 9:00 am Saturday 28th November. As usual, there is no cost for the trip, but it is only open to members. If you’re interested in joining PMAT, you’re more than welcome to come along and join up on the day.
We probably won’t have much Association business to discuss, and the meeting will be more to organise who’s heading where. Options include Main Creek, the Moorina Fossicking Area on Weld River, and Black Creek.
As many of you may already know, there have been some issues with access and damage to the camping area inside the Moorina Fossicking Area early this year. These issues affected only the camping area, which is now being rehabilitated. We’ve had good rainfall last winter and early spring, which might have carried out some fresh sorting of the gravels in the Weld River. With luck this will have improved the fossicking, so it’s a good time to give it a test.
Getting there
The Weldborough Hotel is located at 12 Main Road, Weldborough, approximately 25 minutes from Derby and 45 minutes from St Helens.
Where to stay
There is free camping at the back of the Hotel, with toilet facilities and paid showers. The Hotel serves meals, though they have warned us that, because of COVID, their capacity indoors is restricted to 25 people, so if you’d like to eat at the pub, it would be wise to book early: https://weldborough.com.au/contact-us/
What to bring
With a bit of luck the water will have warmed up a bit by the end of the month, but still it would be good to bring either waders or a wetsuit in order to stay warm for extended periods in the water. For fossicking for gemstones, your main tools will be a long-handled shovel and a pair of gem sieves. Other useful bits of gear include panning dishes, scoops, and containers for your gemstones.
Nowadays using a small river sluice is allowed, and Black Creek has a small amount of gold in it, so if you’re planning to head out there, bring your pan or sluice.
Fossicking options
Three main areas have easy access from Weldborough: The Weld River Fossicking Area at Moorina; Main Creek; and Black Creek.
There will likely be people heading to all three of these either on the Saturday, or those who stay overnight, on the Sunday.
Trip rules
Because of COVID regulations, we have to collect contact details for every attendee. There will be an attendance sheet available, please sign in, and also please sign out when you leave so we know you’ve returned safely.
