Saphire Sieves what size required

Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009 at 21:45
ThreadID: 66713 Views:5507 Replies:5 FollowUps:6
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One of the things I want to do is sieve for Saphires at Mud Tank out of Alice Springs. Wife wants to have a garage sale and get rid of a lot of gear/toys/books/games as well as my gear so there is less tiding up to do and we can get away more.

Have 2 sieves ex brickie, you know the ones with the wooden frame about 900mm in diam. one with the mesh holes 4mm and the other around 6mm. Alternatively they may be both 5 mm with one having more rusty mesh.

Which sieve should I keep for mud tank?

Peter
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Reply By: Member - Willie , Sydney. - Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009 at 22:05

Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009 at 22:05
Peter,

I have no idea, but being an optimist, I would just take the big one !

There must be plenty of gem chat sites that can give you this info if nobody on here is a fossicker. There is plenty of gold scratchers on EO, but I have never seen a fossicking post on here - pity.

Good luck,

Willie.
AnswerID: 353310

Reply By: Member - Kiwi Kia - Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009 at 22:16

Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009 at 22:16
Depends which gemfield you are going to. If you want some nice coloured small (match head) gem gravel for samples you can use a small throw-away kitchen sieve. If you use a large wooden frame sieve you will soon get a bad back. I would suggest that you only want a sieve about the size of a large fry pan, mesh size is up to you. If you go larger then 10 mm may as well just go and buy a lotto ticket. :-))

.
AnswerID: 353314

Follow Up By: Member - Kiwi Kia - Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009 at 22:42

Tuesday, Mar 10, 2009 at 22:42
Ooops, sorry Peter, I meant to add the following web site

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/04/09/2212380.htm

There are some pics top left click on arrow to advance them. ayou will see the size of the stones that they are collecting.

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Follow Up By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 08:58

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 08:58
Could hang it from a tripod, make it easier on the back.
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Follow Up By: Member - Kiwi Kia - Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 09:56

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 09:56
You are right Oldplodder. Not having heaps of gear space like Willem and already having a bad back I tend to sit down (camp stool) on the job quite a bit :-))

.
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Follow Up By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 10:44

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 10:44
Saw a good idea up on the gemfields in central Qld.

They had used a bit of 10mm dia steel rod that they stuck (hammered) in the ground about 500mm. The top was formed into a ring to hold the 300 dia sieve. Just stand there and shake it back and forwards, and the fine material (soil/sand) drops through onto the ground.
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FollowupID: 621516

Reply By: rosgeog - Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 08:26

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 08:26
Peter,
You will be able to find Zircons at Mud Tank and there is a garnet field on the other side of the Plenty Hwy but I don't think sapphires are found there. The sieves generally used are about 300mm diameter and come in sets with different size mesh. The smallest is around 2-3mm. Contact the people at Gemtree 08 8956 9855. They run fossicking tours there and will be able to tell you what areas that are open to general public.
Ross
AnswerID: 353354

Reply By: Member - Howard T (QLD) - Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 09:03

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 09:03
GDay Peter

When I first started sapphiring I used 2 sieves. One was 1/8" and the other was 1/4". The kids used to like going through the 1/8th one and everything in the 1/4" was mine.
I now only use 1/4" mesh with 1" mesh on top, which catches the larger rocks etc..
Most sites hire mining equipment and I am sure Gemtree would also.
Good Luck

Howard
AnswerID: 353361

Reply By: wendys - Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 14:58

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 14:58
Peter,
Mud Tank is a topaz field. There are garnet fields a bit further to the east. The Gemtree Caravan Park - great place - does a Mud Tank "tour" where you can learn what to do, they provide the gear. You could hire gear from them, last time we were there.
We use a 1 inch mesh sieve to get rid of the rubbish rock and general dirt and so make the main sieve easier. Thats a dry sieve - we use a circular holder, stuck in the ground, as described above. Just always quickly check the big stuff before you turf it, though! Put the resulting gravel through a 4 or 5mm mesh - wet sieve (in a drum of water) to get topaz. Garnets don't need to be wet sieved.
The best place to get sapphires is Rubyvale, Willows area in Qld.
Another topaz area is O'Briens Creek, near Mt Surprise in far north Qld. Blue topaz is found in the Blue Hills section there. Mind you, the best piece of blue topaz we ever found was a chunk we picked up off the ground in the parking area of a construction site we worked on, south of Pt Hedland - that's the easy way!
AnswerID: 353440

Follow Up By: mickf69 - Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 18:04

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 18:04
mud tank is zircon
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Follow Up By: wendys - Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 23:41

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 at 23:41
Of course it is. That will teach me to concentrate on what I'm writing "now" instead of on what I'm going to say next!
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FollowupID: 621650

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