Conditions Relating to Fossicking Areas

Fossickers do not need a permit to fossick in the designated Fossicking Areas, although the following conditions must be followed.

Fossicking outside of designated Fossicking Areas is ILLEGAL without a prospecting permit. Further details are available from the Registrar of Mines (info@mrt.tas.gov.au).

1. The areas are to be used by amateur fossickers only. Removal of material for commercial purposes is prohibited.
2. Fossicking Areas are on land managed by various agencies. Fossickers should be aware that entry into some areas may be restricted due to timber harvesting, reseeding, burn-offs and so on.
3. Only hand fossicking for material is allowed. The use of power-operated equipment, mechanised equipment, or any explosives, is prohibited. All care is to be taken in the fossicking of materials and any diggings shall be restored to normal surface level before leaving the area.
4. No fossicker shall remove from any area, in a period of 48 hours, a quantity of gemstones, semi-precious stones or rocks or any combination thereof exceeding 10 kg.
5. Any material capable of being removed by hand becomes the property of the fossicker. If the material found is of such weight that it cannot be carried by hand by a single person it shall remain the property of the Crown and shall not be removed from the area nor shall it be destroyed. The presence of such material shall be reported to the Director of Mines (info@mrt.tas.gov.au).
6. Fossickers will ensure that run-off or drainage from their diggings is discharged so as not to erode or pollute any land, stream or creek.
7. Fossickers will conduct operations in a manner so as not to cause or aggravate soil erosion.
8. No major excavation is permitted on any natural stream bank. Creek and river banks must not be undermined.
9. There will be no fossicking in roadside gutters, or extraction from road embankments.
10. No track cutting is permitted.
11. No trees or shrubs having a trunk diameter of more than 100 mm will be cleared, ring-barked or cut.
12. Rare or unusual specimens of fossil material found on Crown land remain the property of the Crown so as to ensure that opportunity exists for proper study of the palaeontology of these areas. Discovery of material that is not recognised as common should be referred to Mineral Resources Tasmania (info@mrt.tas.gov.au) or the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
13. Discovery of mineral specimens not recognised as common should be referred to Mineral Resources Tasmania (info@mrt.tas.gov.au).
14. No Aboriginal artefacts or sites, or historic relics (including mining relics) or sites, should be damaged or removed.
15. No speleothems (stalactites etc.) are to be removed from limestone caves, whether these be previously broken or not. Removal of speleothems is an offence and offenders can be prosecuted.
16. No excavation is to be made in any sinkhole in a karst area or within 10 metres of the entrance of any cave.
17. No fossicking is permitted within any cave, nor in any underground workings.
18. Vehicles will not be taken off formed tracks.
19. No fires will be lit without the permission of the relevant land manager.

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