Field Trip to Corinna

*** NOTE: The Corinna area is remote and hazardous. This trip will require RSVP so we can ensure proper head counts ***

The Prospectors and Miners Association of Tasmania will hold a field trip to the Corinna / Savage River area on Sunday the 25th of November 2018. There are very few places in the Corinna area that can accommodate a group like ours, so we will meet at the large abandoned gravel quarry that is at the start of the Whyte River Road, in Browns Plains, and fan out from there. f you have a GPS, the turn-off is at 41°36’29.8″S, 145°10’21.0″E.

The Corinna area saw a succession of gold rushes in the 1880s and the two largest gold nuggets ever found in Tasmania came from the Rocky River nearby. Possible locations to visit are numerous.

As usual, we will meet at 9:00 first to briefly discuss any Association business, followed by the field trip. Some of us will arrive on Saturday 24th and make sure the road into the quarry is passable for low-clearance 2WDs.

Pre-trip working bee

The access road to the Whyte River Road gravel quarry erodes after heavy rain and can develop bumps too high for 2WDs. If you would like to volunteer to come a day early (Saturday 24th) and help tidy up the road in, your help would be very appreciated. Please bring a spade and/or mattock if you have one.

Access

The Whyte River quarry is at the start of the Whyte River Road, which comes off Corinna Road at Browns Plains, just over half-way between Savage River and Corinna. The start of Whyte River road often gets a raised middle, so if you have a choice of a higher-clearance vehicle, it would make sense to bring it. Some of us will arrive a day early with tools and fix up the road if it’s a bit iffy.

Where to stay

There is ample space for camping at the quarry, though it is a bit exposed if the weather is windy. There is luxury accommodation in Corinna, as well as limited camping, and there is plenty of sheltered free camping at the abandoned town of Luina, which is between Waratah and Savage River.

Material

The main material in the area is gold. Large nuggets were found in the Rocky River, and a number of smaller nuggets were found in the creeks around Browns Plains. These include modern finds.

Localities worth checking out include Sabbath Creek, Middleton Creek, the creeks around Browns Plains, smaller creeks that drain into the Whyte River between there and Corinna, and the Bald Hill osmiridium field. The main thing to take care of is not to stray into the Pieman River State Reserve.

Safety

• Weather: the area around Corinna / Savage River experiences some pretty foul weather, so come prepared for any kind of weather.
• Lack of mobile reception: mobile phone reception is patchy to non-existent, especially in the gullies. If you have a Personal Locator Beacon, please bring it along.
• Scrub – Getting lost: the scrub around the Corinna area is something else, and if you haven’t experienced it before, is to be treated with plenty of respect. It is very easy to get lost and it can take many hours even to make a few hundred meters of progress. We will be insisting on RSVP so we know numbers beforehand, and will be conducting a head count in the morning and another at the end of the day.

If you’re coming, please RSVP to Miguel on the phone number below.

See you there!