New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

The forum has moved to community.paydirt.co.nz, see you there!

This forum is now an archive to preserve the knowledge and finds posted here.

Finding Other Stuff With Your Gold

simon		Posted : Sunday, 29 April 2012 5:37:06 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 789 Location: Central Otago Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)		Got two things to start this thread off. Firstly, i have found some sort of metal with my gold. Two little shiny metallic balls, silver in colour. One was actually attached to a piece of gold when i found it. One would be about 1.5 mm round, the other about .4mm round. I can remember finding these before, perhaps on the shotover. Where i found these two i have not found any other metal debris as you do sometimes in the gold layer, eg. metal spikes, nails, bullets, bits of sluice pipes, old shovels etc. I will try and photograph but they are very small. The second item i found today. A small red stone pebble down at bedrock. i have never seen any of this in over 2 years of digging the area. I will try and post a pic. Just interested in what the rock type is. I've seen the red schist and it doesn't look like that.
		WWW

Lammerlaw		Posted : Sunday, 29 April 2012 6:03:31 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Hi SImon Is the red rock either Rhodonite in which case more a pink colour or if it is heavyish then it could be a piece of cinnabar. You will know Jasper I assume so I guess that is not what it is. As for the little round things - It is a long shot as they are too large but I did wonder at Microspherules - these are up to 1mm across and come form a huge meteorite impact such as the Yucatan peninsular one or the Mahuika impact. I thought I was the first to discover these in NZ on my place under a paddock that had never been worked until the creek scoured a new bed and exposed never before worked ground and right at the bottom with fine gold was these microspherules. I have since heard that two foreign Geologists have also found them in NZ. They are magnetic though they have a high Carbon content. Under the electron microscope one of them showed gold adherence.

simon		Posted : Sunday, 29 April 2012 6:19:06 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 789 Location: Central Otago Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)		I have taken a photo of both items. Oddly enough the little silver things are not magnetic as i just ran my magnet over them. The red rock is not so red after all. it comes across as a lot like the big bits of black sand as its quite heavy for its size. I had this little rock in by bucket so it had been sitting in water. picking it up it marked my hand a browny red colour. you can see this on the paper next to the rock in the photo. i can remember rocks on the shotover that you could write with but this is a lot heavier as just small unlike what i was talking about on the shotover which was generally large rocks. File Attachment(s): _DSC0756.jpg
		WWW

Lammerlaw		Posted : Sunday, 29 April 2012 7:27:15 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Hi Simon - my guess is that it is Cinnabar, the principle ore of Mercury but I have been known to be wrong! It looks rather like Cinnabar in some respects and if it is heavy in comparison to similar sized rocks then that factor also might indicate cinnabar.

gavin		Posted : Sunday, 29 April 2012 7:43:07 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Administrators, Registered Joined: 20/02/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,326 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 736 times Was thanked: 535 time(s) in 287 post(s)		Hi Simon, I reckon Lammerlaw is right. Really interesting finds - thanks for sharing! The reddish rock looks quite like a worn down specimen of these I found online: http://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/geologic_hazards/hazardous_minerals/Pages/index.aspx http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwolf/5575708295/ And the silver balls could be gold and mercury amalgamation as some of the photos I've seen online have a shiny silver look just like them. e.g. http://nevada-outback-gems.com/Reference_pages/Amalgamation.htm Gav :)
		WWW

Lammerlaw		Posted : Sunday, 29 April 2012 8:37:30 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Gavin - you are not allowed to keep secrets from all your friends on the site - how many more great sites have you got to share with us! - I love the site reference above - its great. Simon - I would not rule out microspherules yet? Are they round like miniature .22cal dust shot for sparrows etc as used in orchards. If so then we are on the microspherule road. They need not be magnetic - the ones I have found are but they do come in a non magnetic form - I understand that they can be made of the same material as Tectites and that would mean a glassy material. They can also be silvery in colour as found at the Clovis site at Murray Springs in the good old US of A. I have absolutely no reason to disbelieve that diamonds WILL be found in New Zealand and thus I make a fool of myself declaring that belief now to you all! They would be in the form of Nanodiamonds. These will in all probability have been formed by the same incident which created the Microspherules. I suppose thats the good news and the bad news is that they will be about 5 nm in diameter or 0.000000005 of a metre in diameter! So there you go Simon - if you have found microspherules and you might want to look for nanodiamonds which may also be present then you need good eyesight! This is possibly the first photo ever published on line or in a book of what we believe are Microspherules as found in New Zealand - they were discovered with gold in my hut paddock - they were under twenty foot of soil and peat in places. The largest one is 1mm. Edited by user Sunday, 29 April 2012 8:52:01 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

LepreSean		Posted : Sunday, 29 April 2012 8:44:21 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 8/12/2011(UTC) Posts: 171 Location: Wherever I may roam Thanks: 187 times Was thanked: 130 time(s) in 78 post(s)		I agree, the silver material looks like Mercury amalgam, it goes solid over time as the mercury works it's way into the gold and it looks water worn, it could be natural and related possibly to the the cinnabar that you may also have found.
		auri sacra fames (accursed hunger for gold)

simon		Posted : Sunday, 29 April 2012 9:24:55 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 789 Location: Central Otago Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)		i also think the silver stuff may be mercury. i think someone has suggested this when i previously found some in the shotover a few years back. i smashed the red rock open. sort of. i was pretty hard to smash and is now in several pieces. inside it was mostly grey/black with reddish streaks. the rock has extremely sharp edges where it broke.
		WWW

garrymac		Posted : Sunday, 29 April 2012 9:57:06 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 3/03/2011(UTC) Posts: 84 Location: dunedin Thanks: 26 times Was thanked: 26 time(s) in 19 post(s)		as to diamonds- in 1990 ther was a mining crowd looking for them up the kakanui river, Ive found kimberlite rocks on our old farm on the kakanui and all the way up to volcano vents on mount dasher belive me,they are not rare here in nz,after being on the drill program for deberrs in the kimberlys aus gave me some insight

Lammerlaw		Posted : Sunday, 29 April 2012 10:00:25 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		OK so its fun trying to consider what you have - when you said about the small silver things being 1.5mm round I was assuming that they were round. I used to find a lot of tiny pieces of gold with Mercury in the Arrow in one particular spot down near Tobins Track and it was silver in colour of course due to the mercury - the word 'round' sent me off at a tangent! As for the rock - it is a form of Ilmenite or Haematite with Jasper running through it? I have seen rocks like that in both the Arrow and the Shotover. I am sure however that you will have seen them as well so assume this one is different again...now I want to see it face to face as I am curious!

Lammerlaw		Posted : Sunday, 29 April 2012 10:08:34 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Originally Posted by: garrymac as to diamonds- in 1990 ther was a mining crowd looking for them up the kakanui river, Ive found kimberlite rocks on our old farm on the kakanui and all the way up to volcano vents on mount dasher belive me,they are not rare here in nz,after being on the drill program for deberrs in the kimberlys aus gave me some insight I thought that South Africa got the diamonds as the Kimberley diamond pipes were formed another 10 kilometres underground than the Oamaru formations which are as you say more or less Kimberlite rocks and for this reason diamond has not as yet been found in New Zealand despite extensive searching. To the best of my knowledge the Kimberlite type minerals are there as the closest New Zealand has to the Kimberly formations is at Oamaru - Was Kakanui formed by a Pyroclastic flow? - but the diamonds are not for the reason stated above. To quote volcanologist Adrian Pittari 'There's no chance of getting diamonds from any of New Zealand's volcanoes, he says. The kimberlite pipes only erupt through very old continental crusts in the centre of continents. The crust under New Zealand just isn't thick enough.'...yes they have spent a lot of time looking aorund Oamaru but...they are still looking. This would indicate therefore that the first evidence of diamond in New Zealand will be in the form of Nanodiamonds as stated above. Edited by user Sunday, 29 April 2012 10:57:56 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

simon		Posted : Monday, 30 April 2012 1:59:38 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 789 Location: Central Otago Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)		Here's a new pic of the red rock now i've smashed it open. was a bit easier to take a pic in daylight. you can see the red streak going into the rock in the biggest bit at it's top. i had to give it several hard whacks with the hammer to split it. File Attachment(s): _DSC0761.jpg
		WWW

oroplata		Posted : Monday, 30 April 2012 2:46:30 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered, Moderators Joined: 16/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,040 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 211 time(s) in 152 post(s)		Originally Posted by: Lammerlaw As for the rock - it is a form of Ilmenite or Haematite with Jasper running through it? I have seen rocks like that in both the Arrow and the Shotover. I am sure however that you will have seen them as well so assume this one is different again...now I want to see it face to face as I am curious! I think you might be right - looks like it could be Haematite. Hang it on a piece of string so it's dead still, then bring a strong magnet close to it and see if it moves at all. That will confirm iron ore.
		WWW

simon		Posted : Monday, 30 April 2012 8:15:10 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 789 Location: Central Otago Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)		that's the stuff. since it has just rained i went for a walk and a bit of an explore and found a really bright red 35cm x 15 cm example. also noticed quite a few stained boulders nearby. all in a certain area so can't have moved too far. each rock has been part of a wall that is collapsing against the edge of the river.
		WWW

LepreSean		Posted : Friday, 7 March 2014 5:33:21 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 8/12/2011(UTC) Posts: 171 Location: Wherever I may roam Thanks: 187 times Was thanked: 130 time(s) in 78 post(s)		Thought I would add to this too...have found an old crevassing tool......other minerals-Red=Garnet, Green=Olivine?, Blue=???, Some of Lammerlaws Microspherules(fullerine), Verterbre from a small early European dog. Edited by user Friday, 7 March 2014 5:38:11 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified LepreSean attached the following image(s):
		auri sacra fames (accursed hunger for gold)

1864hatter		Posted : Saturday, 8 March 2014 10:10:09 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 4/08/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,007 Location: Auckland.... Thanks: 49 times Was thanked: 566 time(s) in 269 post(s)		Hey mate if the Blue crystal is from the shag valley area it could well be sapphire! There is some up there!
		And now....On sandy beaches and muddy soil, rings and coins await my coil!