Fossicking For Opals In Australia

FOSSICKING FOR OPALS IN AUSTRALIA

Before you start on a fossicking trip in Australia, you need to purchase a fossicking licence. Licences are available in Winton and Quilpie from the Tourist Information Center or at the Lightning Ridge Tourist Information Center. More recently you can purchase them online.

We also highly recommend getting the interactive maps from Nugget Hunter. They provide you with GPS locations of known Gold and Opal sites and allows people to explore fossicking areas in the virtual world. Just download the files, open them in Google earth and you can zoom around the country checking out where exactly the fossicking sites are. This is a highly recommended tool to use when fossicking whether you are starting out or an ‘expert’ fossicker.

Preparation is essential before you start a trip as the Australian outback can be harsh. First prepare your vehicle so it is in good condition and check spare tires and add extra tires if you have space. Additional water carrying tanks are essential even in the mild months. Personnel items must include, insect repellent,sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, boots, gloves and a first aid kit. Don’t forget to double check your camping gear and cooking utensils.

Even in the mild months fires can be a problem so clear an area around your camp fire just in case the winds blow fire onto vegetation. Fossickers can go on private land but you need owners permission. Fossicking in National Parks or conservation parks is not allowed.

The Boulder opal fields in Queensland lie within a 300 km-wide belt of deeply weathered Cretaceous sedimentary rocks known as the Winton Formation. This extends north-north-west from Hungerford on the New South Wales border, west of the townships of Cunnamulla, Quilpie, Longreach and Winton, to Kynuna, a distance of about 1000 km.

Declared fossicking areas include:

Yowah

Ideal to speck for Opal fragments or Yowah nuts.

Boulder Opal can be specked in opal dumps and old workings in shallow ground.

A camping permit is required if staying overnight. These old Opal mining areas have been worked out but the best time to speck is after rains as the rain will wash dust away and make Opal colour visible. So when it rains even the locals do specking. Opal tunneling is not permitted as it is dangerous. Remember safety first and enjoy the experience of finding your own Opals!

Link to Fossicking in Queensland

Lightnng Ridge, New South Wales

There are plenty of fields to go fossicking both in town and around the fields. If you stay in town there are fossicking tours that you can go on to the Opal fields that are out of town. They are all fantastic and well worth doing, even the kids will love it.