New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

Morning
I am trying to get information in regard to the Act review and how it will effect hobby fossickers, I have read the discussion paper which outlines the 2 tier system but does not really explain fossicking and what the permit requirements will be.
I am very much a hobby fossicker (sluice box pan and shovel)
Has anyone got information or links to a site that can claify what the new requirements will be

"we are restricted in a legal sense to hand tools only in designated fossicking areas, which are outlined on the crown minerals web site. I have never been one to follow rules, I follow my nose and use my gut instinct and commonsense" LepreSean.

nicely put mate.

anyone with a keen interest will soon realise gold is indeed where you find it.

i guess the idea of all the public areas is to attract all hobbyists and keep the rest of the ground free for multi-nationals to mine.

you are limiting your experiences and findings if you only do as you are told. if the old miners had all the crap we have now they would never have found any gold. chances are the runholders would have issued them all with trepass notices or they would have been burdened with consent proceedings. obviously there were rules, some law, and hurdles but none of the current nonsense.

if any new hobbyists ever run into a claim holder they should ask them just how much effort and cost it took to get mining.

As a claim owner i can tell you there is an awfull lot of effort and cost in getting a claim so far it has been over 2 years and 10s of thousands and is still not fully complete just waiting on LINZ now .crown minerals were the easiest and most straight forward to deal with. f&g local iwi were alright but DOC and LINZ are a nightmare and i hear NZHPT Are even worse . I doubt the costs will go down as they usually dont get any royalties from small scale mining unless they do extremly well. and the fee for an application isnt to bad considering it usually last 10 or 20 years. I only hope that the changes will help get through the hurdles with getting local RMA consents and linz acess but i wont be olding my breath.

Hi Everyone, Great to see average blokes getting a small claim and having a go. Unfortunately a lot of these claims are straight out bullshit. From inside information I have a large majority are in the hands of mining corporations who use middlemen to secure them and hold them on behalf, and in return let them make a few dollars for very little outlay. These corporations make their money by ripping the tops off mountains not using a Keene dredge in a small section of the river. Have you ever wondered why all the good gold bearing areas have been claimed and yet you never see anyone working them and yet some of them encompass thousands of hectares. (Realistically can small operators like yourself pay the cost on these claims anyway?). The corporations have the time and money to just sit back and wait: for gold prices to soar: sympathetic governments to come into power to support them etc! etc! etc!
I have worked in the past for a government dept and have first hand knowledge of fraudulent activities rolled in cotton wool to protect the ones concerned. Trust me! The people in power don't like to dig too deep in case it bites them in the arse and exposes their activities as well, so we need to band together and get strong and give these governments the message loud and clear.
Government Depts try to shut us up by giving us a few poxy worked out creeks and sell the rest. As far as I am concerned they can get stuffed and I will detect or chuck a sluice box anywhere I like at the risk of ending up in court. I do not think it will happen though as the last thing they want is exposure on this one. Bureaucrats in this country are way out of place and control with these domineering laws.
You work for us Government and that does NOT give you the power to shut us out of our own back-country and sell the rights to our recreation facilities and destroy the landscape.
All I ask you fellow detectors is not to let greed cloud your judgement. If you make a rich strike that's a bonus and it's great, but remember the other good reasons why you started fossicking: The love and freedom of the outdoors and the rights to do that whenever you feel like it! HAPPY DETECTING!

I love it - someone else sings my song and is prepared to state his view - a good fellow who is on the right track - ever so true - It is high time Kiwis wrestled control of THEIR country back from the Politically corrupt politicians and their master, the overseas mining corporations and their financiers, the very bankers who own the debt which our country created to become the 'Welfare State' - who bankrupted us on purpose under the Fractional Reserve Banking System and who now dictate terms.

It only takes the citizens to wake up before it is too late - get rid of the politicians who sell themselves to the Devil (Bankers) - tell those bankers to get rooted as we have paid back more than sufficient and then run our own country for our own people and create a system for the benefit of the average New Zealander including access to our wide open spaces and the right to mine and fossick to their hearts content as l long as the rules are abided by - those rules being simple and easily understood and the mining rights easy to apply for and at a minimal cost.

Dont even get me started!

Old timers just had to have a miers right ad bang a few pegs in to mark out the outline of their claims. But yeah if a few of those that are envious of those with claims ( that includes me sometimes) combined forces and got a claim together they could easily get a claim.
Perhaps I should consider that actually.....

Not many guys have a minelab detector that I know of.... certainly not one that would cost as much as a claim. If I was staying in the country I'd seriously consider getting a claim. The only problem that I have is with getting a claim is- why should we need to? Sure for dredges etc a claim has its place but for detecting or a bit of sluice boxing? I don't see the sense in that!!!! Perhaps a small fee for something like a fossicking licence, where the money could be spent on perhaps restoring mining relicts? But really why should there even be a fee for fossicking on a small/weekend/hobby scale?

Look what ya started Willy :) a bit of discussion on this is needed as there is some dirty stuff going on with the govt department's and mining companies, permits applications/miners /prospectors and companies that "do the paper work" or the exploration and prospecting at first glance seem legit kiwi companies, but do some homework and you will find that they have questionable overseas roots, cause that is where the Au going!!! Doc is starving and has sold land and leasing a heap to coal mining companies and doing plenty of deals with Macrae's, Reefton gold mine and Denniston plateau. Not to mention the non public notified fracking consent for Stewart Island. Our back country is being choked. Your average jo blog detectorist or digger cant be pinned down in one spot as exploring and finding new ground is a part of the hobbie, and with luck find a spot that would be worth putting a claim on. Most of us Kiwi diggers are a bit more tidy than our American counterparts I hear from a source, who has informed me he is on to good Californian Gold.

Hi gb2
yea well its not rocket science to figer out what the goverment want take a look on the crown map its been like that for a good few years now letting these big companys peg off huge tracks of land some have zero,d in to i notice a good few exploration/mining permits now and the noose is getting tighter for us dredgers that have to comply with all the rules....all i was asking you was if you think big "foreign" companys are trying to mine river systems as i would find it doubtful....unless mr key has special rules for special people guess it could be plausible !!
I dont really detect just dredge though i do try my best to get rich!!

Like gogold said if your really that keen on what you like to do get a claim i reckon youd better be quick to you wait i wouldnt be surprised when it comes to the day when they stop granting permits or make the cost,s so high its simply not worth it and then what shall they do with you guys oooo there already crying about people detecting in some area,s which dont get me wrong is pretty dam pathetic but still thats how these departments operate these days....so goldgug old boy you should read these bottum lines carefully because i think the way things are going its guna be like the old farm gate....CLOSED.

Hello again Gingerbreadman
Suggest you read the article in this site on "Hugh Mc Allister". That's what an obnoxious, greedy attitude inspires in small minded people. The largest percentage of us on this site are doing this for the love of the outdoors and the money means nothing. We wander around with a detector or small sluice and leave no damage whatsoever. The spectacular native forest and freedom to access it whenever I like is what is important. I have had an absolute gut-full of greedy bastards destroying the bush and then to cover up their destruction they fill these areas up with pine trees knowing eventually the public will forget. The next stage is the trees are taken off and these areas become farmland and the bush is gone for good. All this clearly visible on "Google Earth". I personally have huge sympathy and empathy for Maori who have to sit back and watch THEIR country being systematically destroyed.
To be honest Boy, i think you are just a bloody dreamer anyway. I make my living through a very successful career and hard work. Maybe you should take your hand of it and do the same.