Pirate prospecting, Who's to blame!

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/wa/11255442/pirate-prospecting-on-the-rise/
Shifty folks doing shifty things!

Someday, the unfortunate thing is that I dont believe for a minute that everone is squeaky clean on this or any other forum who detects for gold.

This is not a fault of the modern day prospector its fault lies with the government by allowing mining companies to lock up vast amounts of ground to the detrement of the people who originally found the stuff in the first place.

Prospector should have the right to explore for gold anywhere and any place without the permission of mining companies---That was the idea of a Miners Right..with a bit of common sense thrown in.

A 20a allows you 3 months to detect on specific ground within the application..another cost to the humble prospector--what is the use of a miners right?

Regards
Oneday69

Gday

I tend to agree with Oneday69, its totally unfair that mining companies are allowed to lock up vast tracts of land for what amounts in a lot of cases to be nothing more than another form of real estate speculation, many of the areas I know of have not seen any real working by mining companies in twenty or more years, and they for the most part only carry out sampling and drilling programs to satisfy the conditions of the lease.

We are looking mainly for detectable alluvial gold, they are not interested in this as its not worth their while, and still the onus is completely on us to make sure we do all the right things, and have permission and permits, but there is no onus on them to clearly define borders or put up the appropriate signs.

Its no surprise to me that people flaunt the rules, the whole system needs to be looked at and simplified, if leases are taken up they should have to be worked, if not access to them should be allowed to detectorists providing we are following the fossicking guidelines.

cheers

stayyerAU

Seems the public gets a screwing no matter what country it is.Here in California people have mining claims and do no actual mining on them.A few years ago the laws were changed to allow people to hold mining claims by just paying their fees and not have to do any assesment work on the claims at all.The bureau of land management(BLM) who regulate this will not support anyone in a legal dispute or offer any assistence at all,just collect fees.Almost impossible to start any mining operation of consequence in California with all the requirements for permits,enviro,traffic noise etc.No more dredging in California,what's next?

Where I was coming from was be careful if prospecting in WA! You'll have do gooders Not prospectors dobbing in anyone they see, the old camera in the phone may become our worst nightmare?
I totally agree, the laws needs to change in favor of the small time prospector!
Cheers Chris.

You won't get any argument from me on this bull. The mining companies need to be told they are not gods and should not act as if they are.

As for eastern state prospectors being responsible for using machinery that is indeed a laughable accusation.

If the retireree and casual detector operator can't go and swing a detector on what is land belonging to all the people of Australia then there are huge flaws in the way things are run in this country, flaws that need urgent attention.

Section 20A's while being of some value only accrue more cost and keep prospectors working inside the system that has been forced upon us.

There are better ways of doing what we do but I cannot see anything ever happening that will benefit the casual prospector.

Cheers, Jim

Typical of the Mining powers no matter what State they are. My experience of the Vic. Mines Dept was that I as the lease holder was continually hounded by them in relation to off lease digging !!! yes it was with a backhoe ,ours was a tracked 30t excavator , couldn't be bothered listening to the facts of evidence of the difference between a tracked digger against a tyre one !!! the pirate did this digging in times when we were not around ,was a local, but just like the ppl leaving their detecting holes open so did this guy !! why were we so roundly accused for these illegal diggings ? because we were easy to get at --the Dept knew everything about my life and my partners as well !! would I ever take a lease again ? NO WAY!

Murachu--partially agree. Mines dept know the ins and out of what we do here in the west as well...They dont go bush checking on people to see if they have a legitimate right to be were they r..

12 months after applying for a couple of SPL's I am still in the wardens court fighting the mining company up here to get them approved. Not to mention the leaches that have been goin over the areas I pegged...but u get that---personally I dont agree but thats the only way certain individuals find gold--they scour tengraph then head out in the general direction and plunder too their heart desire.

If u get shot at --its for a reason in most circumstances--no questions asked just go.

Regards
Oneday69

-personally I dont agree but thats the only way certain individuals find gold- (parra phrased) I couldn't agree more on that one!!!!! I do hope you eventually win !!

People around the world are awakening to the tyranny imposed on them by their corporate fascist governments and Australia is no different.
www.basicfraud.com
And then there's this
Australia Is a Private Corporation

Hi
I was talking to a bloke at the Marble Bar Pub W.A. two weeks ago.
He went with his Son out to his lease to chase 7 Caravan’s set up on his lease.
Paper work in hand he said it was lucky they were big blokes as it got very heated in the eviction.
They then noticed they just moved on to the next lease set up.
He said they had had enough by this time and left them there.
Regards Neale
.

Working small leases should be left alone, but only if they are working. Far too many Real Estate leases cover far to much of the goldfields.

Cheers, Jim

The current system would appear to be biased toward income stream for state governments (EL/ ML lease fees and charges) take this away from the govt coffers and _____________________ I'm sure one can fill in the blank spaces?

Certainly makes a mockery of the "use it or lose it" principle for mining tenements, I personally know of EL's and ML's that have not had no exploration done on them for up to 12 years.

A change in the law would be beneficial to all concerned imo.

It's all about the tax which pays for the roads, health care, pollie trips over seas etc.

If you're big enough to pay enough tax to cover the bills of government when doing what you do then you have the right of way (according to law).

(according to law) isnt a statement based on profession, just a statement saying if your a company & you want a chunk of land & are prepared to pay tax on profits, YOUR IN.

++ If I find a patch & you want to buy it PM me!

I agree with Oneday. The big mining corps over here in WA whack massive blanket leases on massive areas of land that lock up and exclude the everyday person.
Yes, absolutely, small "working" leases should be left well alone as we would not like it if we owned a small lease and every man and his dog came upon it.
The gov should def pass a new law stopping these nig companies having these massive mining and exploration leases and holding them for years and years without ever doing what they are suppose to be doing on them. But the gov does not want to bite the hand that feeds them (if you know what i mean).
It does'nt hurt to contact these big mining companies to ask for permission to prospect on their leases though. Alot of them are very accomodating and so long as you are willing to report ant descent finds to them (gps co-ords) then they actually save heaps of mioney in their exploration department as we have done part of their job for them.

If you do get permission from the big guys, You don't have to tell them of any finds, its written in the legals!
Thank god the 99 year lease idea is gone!
Apparently Vic is coming out with new laws in Feb which is supposed to help the small time prospector peg a claim?
So this topic goes a bit in either direction, The guy who wants the right to swing and sluice where ever they want, to the guy who doesn't want anyone scratching on their patch!