Wellingrove Creek
TRIP E: Saturday 13th March 2010 - Kensilgrove
Be at the car park at the rear of the Services Club ready to depart with your guide in convoy at 9:00am. You must have a ticket ($11 adults, $4 children) which will be available on the morning before departure from 8:30am or by pre-order.
Be at the car park at the rear of the Services Club ready to depart with your guide in convoy at 9:00am. You must have a ticket ($11 adults, $4 children) which will be available on the morning before departure from 8:30am or by pre-order.
Travel time to the Wellingrove Creek site is approximately 25 minutes (about 20 km from Glen Innes). The route follows the
The Wellingrove creek has produced fine Sapphire and Zircon in the past and great Yellows and Parti are still coming out of the area. Our reconnaissance trip turned up some nice colour - although small stone is more common, large gem material can be found. It is difficult to get access to new areas on private property so don’t miss this opportunity.
The gravel is mostly very dark and must be well sieved to guarantee that the gemstones are centred at the bottom of the sieve. There is almost no quartz in the wash. This area has good rocky barriers to trap the gems between the rocks. There is also normal alluvial wash.
It is essential that you strictly follow the Trip Leader’s instructions about where you can and cannot dig and where to wash the gravel, please backfill all holes.
There is little shade at this spot so a beach umbrella would be an advantage.
You must have a ticket ($11 adults, $4 children), which may be purchased before departure on the morning of the trip or by pre-order.
You can expect to find sapphire, zircon and some black spinel.
Bring: shovel (preferably a long handled one), sieves, bucket, tweezers, container for your finds (preferably plastic), crowbar, yabby pump, sun block cream, insect repellent, food and drink and sturdy footwear. A bucket is very important for carrying wash away from where you are digging to where it will be washed.