John's New England Minerals and General Geology Blog: “THROUGH THE FENCE”, YARROW CREEK NEAR GLEN INNES NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

“THROUGH THE FENCE”, YARROW CREEK

NEAR GLEN INNES NEW SOUTH WALES AUSTRALIA

This location takes its name from the fact that an old wire fence runs next to the entire length of the place. As we got to know it better, we began to call parts of the creek further upstream “Through the Fence Extended”. It merges with the next productive area upstream which we know as “The Old Mine” at a point where the creek moves away from the fence. Downstream becomes “Down the Hill” where the fence crosses the creek.

I can identify 6 or 7 distinct sites where gemstones were most common and one of these yielded 3 sapphires each more than 30 carats in weight. Of these, I sold one blue for $330, the only time I’ve been persuaded to part with a really good stone. An almost identical stone was found by one of our group in the same place several weeks before. There are still several areas where little has been found yet and these need closer examination.

The creek in this stretch, just as almost everywhere else, is confined in a granite channel. There is only one small sandy area and no pools deep enough to make fossicking impossible. I expect that there will be many good finds amongst the rocks in the years ahead.