Creating new fossicking areas

The Queensland Government supports fossicking for opal, gemstones and gold across the state. Dedicated fossicking areas attract tourists to regional areas and provide an economic benefit to the community.

To establish new fossicking areas, the Department of Resources works with local governments to identify areas of land that may be suitable for fossicking activities. This may be land that has existing or prior prospectivity, or land that has been nominated by members of the public, such as fossicking clubs. We also use information from our spatial information program GeoResGlobe to determine if land might be suitable for fossicking.

Creating a new fossicking area can take time as we need to assess the area of land for suitability. The department and local government will consider the suitability of potential areas based on whether they:

• are within a national park, conservation park or wildlife reserve
• are within an existing mining tenement
• have access from a dedicated road
• have tracks that are safe and fit for purpose
• have access to accommodation - for example, a nearby township or camping facilities
• have prospectivity for either gold or gemstones
• have consent from the landowner for fossicking
• allow the protection of cultural heritage, natural resources and the environment.

When we determine that an area is suitable for fossicking, we update the current list of fossicking areas. We also post an update on our Mining Queensland Facebook page.