Field Trip to Luina / Heazlewood River & 2020 AGM

2020 AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the Prospectors and Miners Association of Tasmania (Inc.) will take place on Saturday the 8th of February at 9:00 a.m. at the abandoned town of Luina.

Membership dues for 2020 are now payable, unless you paid in the last trip of last year. If you wish to keep supporting us, by far the easiest way is to pay your dues on the day, but if you prefer to pay electronically or can’t make it, please get in touch and we’ll send you an electronic invoice.

If you would like to nominate for a committee position, we’d love to hear from you! Either email us on info@pmat.org.au or get in touch through our website’s contact form.

After the AGM business of reviewing the past year and electing a new committee is over, we will have a short General Meeting for members to discuss any issues.

Field Trip

There is not much that can be reached on foot from the meeting location, but there are few places in the Savage River area with enough space to hold our group, so the plan will be to camp and meet at Luina, then spread out after the meetings, as we did at the Corinna, Weldborough, Queenstown and Beechford trips.

There are a number of options within easy reach:

Easy

• Lord Brassey Mine Fossicking Area – a designated Fossicking Area, no permission or Prospecting Licence required. Mineral specimens
• McGinty’s Creek & Flea Flats – Osmiridium, some gold
• Roaring Mag Creek – some ossie

For the adventurous or further afield

• Mount Stewart – osmiridium
• Brown Plains
• Corinna area
• Upper Nineteen Mile Creek

Getting there

Luina is an abandoned mining town on Savage River Road, approximately 17 km (~15 min drive) west of Waratah. There are many old abandoned house sites and gardens around the old town that are good for camping and plenty of space for camper vans, but no facilities. The Association will provide a portaloo.

Camping

There is plenty of camping space at the abandoned town of Luina, and plenty of space for caravans and camper vans. The weekend of the 8th of February is a long weekend in southern Tasmania, so there will be plenty of time to explore the area. That said, the only official PMAT event is the AGM and Saturday trip.

Once in Luina, you can drive along the old streets to look for a secluded place if you want privacy, or there is a large open area at the designated site. There is good Telstra coverage in the abandoned town thanks to the nearby phone tower on Mount Cleveland.

Safety

Given the format of the trip with members spreading out to various locations, we will have a sign-in and sign-out sheet at the meeting location, which will be along the main way members will drive into the area. If you plan to drive out through Corinna, please get in touch to get a contact phone number to text when you leave safely.

Conditions

Part of the area we are welcome to visit is the Heazlewood River bridge area, which is under exploration licence to our committee member Ron Gregory, who has given us permission to fossick there. This includes the area of Roaring Mag Creek. If you haven’t noticed the pattern, Ron has been extremely generous with the Association over the years, so please take the time to say thank you, if you get a chance.

More information

For more information or questions, please use the meeting thread on the PMAT Forum.

Miguel de Salas, Secretary,

Prospectors and Miners Association of Tasmania Inc.