Fossil rich areas in Qld

Submitted: Sunday, Jun 06, 2010 at 20:26
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Hi All,

I've had a request from family who want to visit some of the good fossil areas in Qld, starting at Cairns and finishing up in northern NSW. Probably July-August. Our own experience is a bit limited to provide a comprehensive list. Chillagoe, Winton (Lark Quarry), Muttaburra... but no doubt many many more. They'll be driving a capable 2WD.

Any suggestions and recommendations please.

Thank you

John
J and V
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Reply By: Member - John R (cQld) - Sunday, Jun 06, 2010 at 20:46

Sunday, Jun 06, 2010 at 20:46
Any particular type of fossils, John? You can add Hughenden and Richmond for dinosaurs. Rocky has some Permian age marine fossils that can be found at the entrance to the Memorial Gardens at Nerimbera, but it helps a lot to know something about what you're looking at first.

Cheers, John


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Reply By: George_M - Sunday, Jun 06, 2010 at 21:05

Sunday, Jun 06, 2010 at 21:05
Depending on how much time you have, this spot is worth a look.

We've been through there at various times over the past 30 years, and the fossils of small mammals are easy to find.

Riversleigh fossil field
Come any closer and I'll rip your throat out!

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Follow Up By: D200Dug- Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 13:02

Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 13:02
I just checked the map on the Queensland Tourism site and 19 Marian St Mt Isa is NOT the location of the fossil deposits as they have indicated :-)

Check this website or contact these people for more information.

This is one of the places I would love to go to, I am not sure if you can collect fossils there as many of the species are still being discovered and have not been named.

contact@riversleigh.com


http://www.riversleigh.com/

Riversleigh covers an area of approximately 80 square kilometres and is located 250 km north-west of Mt Isa
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Follow Up By: George_M - Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 13:11

Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 13:11
Oops - ROFLMAO!
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Follow Up By: D200Dug- Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 13:25

Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 13:25
I emailed tourism Queensland and got this reply :-)

( the information center is at 19 Marian St Mt Isa :)


======================
Hi Doug,

Thanks for your email.

Our records show the Fossil Fields are located at 19 Marian St Mt Isa which is
correctly indicated on the map.

Please let us know if you think the record requires any updating.

Thanks,
The Team at TQ
========================

I have sent them an update !
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Follow Up By: SDG - Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 22:55

Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 22:55
Apparently, or so I was told last year by the Dinosaur people at Winton, You can keep anything you find. The government wants nothing to do with the fossils. No money to make. The only legal requirement is that you have permission off who ever owns the land. It would be up to the individual to hand over there find if it was a new find, but not a legal requirement.

Currently in the area, they have enough finds to dig up, to keep them digging for approximately 60years. They can only dig for about one month or so a year.

Property owners have been finding these fossils since the area was settled, but were scared to declare their finds incase the government took their land. If they so wish, they can donate their finds now to a musuem, and they can get a tax rebate in return.

Around Winton you can volunteer to help with the major dig each year. Will cost you around 2grand from memory.

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Follow Up By: Member - John and Val - Tuesday, Jun 08, 2010 at 09:16

Tuesday, Jun 08, 2010 at 09:16
The information centre in Mt Isa is certainly worth a visit especially if you have been out to the Riversleigh site. The Info centre has a lot of displays showing the animals that are fossilised, what the country where they lived was like, how they came to be fossilised etc. You also get to see (or did when we were there a few years ago) how the fossils are extracted from the surrounding rock - very interesting.

I don't have the address so maybe its at Marian St.

Cheers,

Val
J and V
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Follow Up By: D200Dug- Tuesday, Jun 08, 2010 at 09:41

Tuesday, Jun 08, 2010 at 09:41
Yep the Mt Isa district tourist information including the information center for riversligh is at 19 Marian st Mt Isa.

NOT the fossil field :-)
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Reply By: SDG - Sunday, Jun 06, 2010 at 21:44

Sunday, Jun 06, 2010 at 21:44
Kids and I found a heap of decent fossils in Richmond last year. Good enough for the local museum to want to add a photo of the finds to their website.
AnswerID: 419852

Reply By: Alloy c/t - Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 14:07

Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 14:07
One area that is not advertised as being fossil rich is Boulia , the local council does a great job on promoting the 'Min Min light' as its tourist attraction and kind of disregards the fossil / dinosaur connection of the town , a world reknown dinosaur expert lives and looks after the museum in Boulia , Richard Soutar , otherwise known as "dinosaur Dick" , a veritable fountain of knowledge on the subject of fossils and dinosaurs.
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Follow Up By: Mills5 - Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 19:20

Monday, Jun 07, 2010 at 19:20
Nambour will have a good one soon...a Fossil of Ruddasourintheass you wont have to wait long ..the Mining Giants will dig him up and put him back there...

pity buts that the way it goes when you don't cover your ass..
steve
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Follow Up By: Alloy c/t - Tuesday, Jun 08, 2010 at 08:54

Tuesday, Jun 08, 2010 at 08:54
Mills5 , well it wont be Mr. backflip magnate Palmer that buries him , " oh yes I'm cancelling 2 projects that would have employed 5000 " and now " the projects will go ahead no matter what tax we pay" one large lump of money / resources [that he does not own] grabing lard.
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Reply By: Member - John and Val - Thursday, Jun 10, 2010 at 13:45

Thursday, Jun 10, 2010 at 13:45
Thank you everyone for your responses, they are very useful.

Cheers,

John
J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein

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