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.

gpx 5000  
Posted : Sunday, 4 November 2012 6:54:37 PM(UTC)
gpx 5000

Rank: Gold Flake

Groups: Registered
Joined: 25/10/2012(UTC)
Posts: 11
Man
New Zealand
Location: ross

Thanks: 4 times
Was thanked: 10 time(s) in 2 post(s)
hay guys/girls just wondering were most people have luck with detecting im on the westcoast and trying to think of good places to get to bedrock to detect as i feel im wasting my time detecting in areas with no close bottom for the gold to sit on . but from looking at other peoples posts most seem to be up high away from current creeks and rivers and way back in the hills is there any particular sighn to look for to indicate old glacier moraine or do you just look for exposed bedrock that looks rounded or cut ive been out detecting basickly for 4 days solid with my gpx 5000 with no luck lots of nails bolts washers lead shot i can find tiny stuff deep just no gold ;( but then again i am mainly in current rivers were trash collects .. should i be looking to go higher into the mountains and look for bedrock out away from the river i know how to detect just new to detecting for gold so any advice would help as im chasing my first nugget ( ive done dredging so i know how gold works in rivers and were its likely to settle but if theres no bottom to detect over im guessing im wasting my time as the bigger stuff will be at the bottom way down even if someones willing to take me out show me some pointers or recomend a river or place to go would be willing to travell to otago to if theres anyone that could take me out down there but would prefur locally
simon  
Posted : Sunday, 4 November 2012 9:51:07 PM(UTC)
simon

Rank: Gold Ingot

Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC)
Posts: 789
Man
Location: Central Otago

Thanks: 33 times
Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)
hi mate,

you've got it. the gold is just like in the river. i'm more river knowledge as well. but detecting bedrock will surely boost your chances. just as in the river there are exceptions.

for example somewhere like the cardrona where landslips have mixed up the deposits and can bring nuggets to the surface in the soil.

for sure you might hit some gold in the middle of somewhere away form bedrock but it is more likely to be found in an erosion channel like a dry gully that once had a flow of water.

you just have to remember that the land would have been kilometres higher thru the eons and the old channels could have been anywhere. and that gold just keeps getting recycled downwards.

unfortunately our detectors don't penetrate too deep so really by detecting we are simply scratching the surface depthwise with our detectors. a 100 metre deep drift monsters in comparison the ground penetration of several inches of a detector.
NUGGY  
Posted : Sunday, 4 November 2012 11:18:25 PM(UTC)
NUGGY

Rank: Gold Ingot

Groups: Registered
Joined: 20/07/2012(UTC)
Posts: 267
Man
New Zealand
Location: greymouth

Thanks: 85 times
Was thanked: 76 time(s) in 58 post(s)
Yes - you need to be seeing that bottom aye. Some spots to try are, higher up creeks where bedrock is appearing, old workings where the old timers have exposed the bedrock, such as old sluicing workings, heaps of this near you, and along banks where you can see bottom and detect a strip horizontally just above that. Get up above the bush line and there are spots where bedrock is exposed too. Geological maps can (with a bit of study) point you in the right direction too, as they show surface strata. Come up for a cuppa if you get time. NUGGY

http://www.treasurenet.c...rock-gold-mysteries.html

You could also read this above link for help and inspiration, might recognise a couple of names too.

Edited by user Sunday, 4 November 2012 11:30:54 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified