Saphire Sieves what size required

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.

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. :-))

.

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

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

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!