Leard State Forest
North West. 12 km north-east of Boggabri.
Gazetted
2 November 2001
Mapped size
57 hectares
Nearest town
Boggabri
Photo: Kdliss (CC BY-SA 3.0). Wikimedia Commons.
Location
Gold marker: the middle of Leard State Forest. Dark marker: Boggabri.
Fossicking district
The gold line is the gazetted fossicking district. Inside it, you do not need an exploration licence holder's consent. The line is not landholder permission, and it is not the only place fossicking can be lawful in New South Wales.
Line simplified from Geological Survey of NSW fossicking districts, CC BY
History
Leard State Forest is a fossicking district mapped over state forest. It was gazetted on 2 November 2001 and covers about 57 hectares. The ground sits 12 km north-east of Boggabri.
It carries forward former fossicking area 61, one of the old fossicking areas remade as districts in November 2001.
Leard State Forest sits near Boggabri, in the Gunnedah coal basin. A state forest needs the Forestry Corporation fossicking permit on top of every other rule. Working coal mines in this district are mine sites, not fossicking ground.
The Geological Survey of NSW inventory has no gold, gem, or metal occurrence inside this district, or within 3 kilometres of its centre. The gazette draws where an exploration licence holder's consent is not required. It is not evidence of a payable field.
What you can find
There is no standout fossicking mineral in the state inventory for this exact ground. Come for a legal, careful look, and let the map tell you if a title or a landholder stands in the way.
Anything you keep has to fit the state take-home limits: 50 grams of gold in any 48 hours, up to five nuggets of 10 grams or more, 100 grams of gemstones, 10 kilograms of gold or gem-bearing material, and 5 kilograms of other minerals. Publicly owned minerals found while fossicking lawfully become yours. No royalty is charged on them.
Getting there
Boggabri is on the Kamilaroi Highway, south of Narrabri. This district is 12 km north-east of Boggabri.
This ground is state forest. You need a Forestry Corporation fossicking permit, which you apply for through Service NSW, and you should check that the compartment is open. Harvesting, fire, and road closures override a fossicking plan.
Open the district on the Dig Here map before you drive. The map shows this boundary against current titles, which a printed description cannot keep up to date.
Camping
The gazette notice does not create a campground. Plan to stay in Boggabri unless you already have permission to camp on the land you are visiting.
Showgrounds and caravan parks in Boggabri change with the season. Book what the local council currently lists, and do not assume a creek flat is free camping.
Important notes
- !Inside a fossicking district you still need the landholder's permission on private land. You do not need the exploration licence holder's consent. A mining lease, mineral claim, or opal prospecting licence still needs that holder's consent.
- !State forest fossicking needs the 12-month Forestry Corporation permit. Apply through Service NSW, and carry it with you.
- !Hand tools only. A pan, sieve, pick, shovel, non-powered sluice, and metal detector fit the rules. Pumps, dredges, powered trommels, and machinery do not.
- !Disturb no more than one cubic metre of ground in any 48 hours, put the soil back, and take your rubbish with you.
- !On native title land or water you need the registered native title body's consent. The only tools allowed there are hand-held, and digging or clearing is not permitted.
- !Mineral counts on this page are locations from the Geological Survey of NSW. They are not grades.
Nearby districts
Open Leard State Forest on the map
Titles change. Check this boundary against current leases before you dig.
Open mapDistrict boundaries and mineral counts are from the Geological Survey of NSW, CC BY. The words on this page are Dig Here's. Read the current rules on the NSW Resources fossicking page and check titles in MinView.