Mt Gibson 2020

• Mt Gibson 2020 Field Trip
• Report by Jan
  • MT GIBSON, INNOT HOT SPRINGS FIELD TRIP
• Pictures from Jan
• Pictures from Tammi
• Picture from Debbie
• Report by John and Isabella

Mt Gibson 2020 Field Trip

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Those who attended

Report by Jan

MT GIBSON, INNOT HOT SPRINGS FIELD TRIP

OCTOBER 3rd - 5th By Jan Hannam

Our last field trip for 2020 saw a mixture of 18 new, young and experienced members plus three children converge on Mt Gibson over three days to find the elusive big blue. The peaceful surrounds of the Mt Garnet Travellers Park was where we camped since the Innot Hot Springs campground was booked to capacity. The 4WD’s traversed the very challenging parts of the deteriorated track, sometimes hovering precariously with one wheel in the air, but of course that’s all part of the fun of being a fossicker.

Kylie and her family were devastated when their vehicle suddenly stopped a quarter way in on the first day. Their vehicle, camper and family were transported back to Cairns via RACQ the next day.

Perseverance, moving big boulders and digging hard is what pays dividends, which we saw in the 132 carat blue topaz found by Debbie Davis and what other members found. 11 year old Ash Osada really showed the meaning of perseverance and passion when he dug and sieved relentlessly alongside his mum Mami.

So now it’s time to ponder the areas we need to explore next year…..Any suggestions?

Pictures from Jan

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Pictures from Tammi

Around the campfire on Sat night at The Mt Garnet Travellers Park

Picture from Debbie

Report by John and Isabella

John and Isabella joined the Mt Gibson field trip on 4 October on a day trip to gather data for a report on a tripod stand.

• The track from Innot Hot Springs to Glittering Star on Mt Gibson has deteriorated further. It now takes longer to traverse as there are longer sections of track where low range first gear at crawl pace with feet off all pedals is necessary.
• Tammi suspects she found a rare quartz, chrysoprase.
• Trevor and Richie quickly found promising topaz and this inspired them to move large amounts of overburden and large rocks out of the way to make impressive finds.
• Trevor’s attitude is anything blue is his. He has got nice stones!
• Michael, the club president gets results finding patches of topaz by moving lots of already shifted overburden out of the way and digging through to find patches of topaz. He was very impressed by Trevor’s and Richie’s similar work, particularly moving large rocks half their size. Michael was amused and resigned at their finds as on the previous day he had started clearing the area but stopped because dust was spreading to other fossickers.
• To quote Michael with regard to this trip: “I didn’t find any patches of topaz. In fact I didn’t find much topaz this time, just one or two small pieces. That’s the way it goes with fossicking. I had a good time and learnt a bit more about the field, where to dig and where to dig next time.”
• The newbies were not having any luck so the experienced fossickers joined in to help them.
• There is a report on use of a tripod stand

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There is a map to Glittering Star that shows

• Track from Innot Hot Springs to a frequently used area of Glittering Star labelled testing area.
• Area where the club parked marked ‘Parking for four or more. Recommended 4WD limit’. 280 meters from testing area
• Another parking area ‘Parking for three. Not standard 4WD recommended’. 80 meters from testing area.
• Point marked ‘Last opportunity to turn around’ on the other side of track to ‘Parking for three’. Any further and you will almost certainly need to back down to here.
• Point marked ‘Testing area’