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.

6 For 2.2 Grams

kiwijw		Posted : Sunday, 13 January 2013 6:22:34 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,152 Thanks: 92 times Was thanked: 658 time(s) in 324 post(s)		Hi guys, My wife & I decided yesterday to go for a random mountain bike ride down an old miners trail through the mountains. I backpacked in my GPX 4500 with 11" commander mono coil in case we came across some likely looking ground. There was a fair bit of bike pushing & grunting & groaning & a sore arse from the bike set & jelly legs at the end of the day . Bugger....hadnt riden the bike for ages...... it showed & took its toll. Slept like a dead bastard last night. After an hour & a half we got to a spot where the old timers had sluiced down to bed rock. Ah....here is a go I thought. Rigged up the detector & got into it. I noticed a few old unfilled dig holes so thought I may have been beaten to it. Detected over an old shallow dig scraping & got a faint signal that sounded nice & mellow. Scraped away some more into the old dig hole & the signal got better & still sounding good. Down about 6" I came on to the bed rock schist up on edge & the signal was booming. Dug into the schist braking it up & came to a crevice, so often the gold is in a crevice. Spun the pick around to the pointy end & scraped out the crevice a few times. The signal was out. Was a piece of gold, one of the small flat cornflake looking pieces. Before I backfilled the hole I scanned the pile & there was another signal in there. You beauty....another piece of gold. One of the smaller bits bottom right. After backfilling the hole I steped forward one step & kept scanning. Another nice signal greeted me. Was the exact same result as the previous dig & in the same run of crevice. A flat cornflake piece of gold followed my the other smaller bit bottom right. Ha...what a hoot. Ended up with 6 pices for just over 2 grams. Wife was making noises about sandflies & wanting to start heading back. Oh....there was so much more bed rock to explore. BUGGER. Oh well, wife is going away for a week on wednesday so I think I will make the trip out again in the weekend & camp over night...weather permitting. Good luck out there JW :)

overdog		Posted : Sunday, 13 January 2013 6:42:59 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 2/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 418 Location: nelson Thanks: 69 times Was thanked: 82 time(s) in 68 post(s)		Nicely done John... some well worn bits there...

nzpoohbear40		Posted : Sunday, 13 January 2013 6:58:57 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 14/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,482 Location: Matura Thanks: 26 times Was thanked: 384 time(s) in 329 post(s)		wtg JW always nice to see the gold posts..am looking forward to my next trip dwn south.
		Chris - Fisher Dealer http://www.puiakisupply.co.nz/

simon		Posted : Sunday, 13 January 2013 7:09:09 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)		the bike is a great way to extend your range john. you're pretty keen in this heat. done that before and gotten stuffed just biking end. then having to detect. then gold prospecting is never easy is it. i spent the day running loads of driftwood from the lake. the lake is covered. never seen so much. as you pick it up more comes in on the waves. need a barge. some nice heartwood. makes great burning.
		WWW

gavin		Posted : Sunday, 13 January 2013 8:45:02 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)		Awesome results - well done. Just got my 11" Commander mono now so chomping at the bit to get out there and give it a go! Cheers for the advice ;)
		WWW

kiwijw		Posted : Monday, 14 January 2013 6:02:14 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,152 Thanks: 92 times Was thanked: 658 time(s) in 324 post(s)		Hi guys, Thanks Overdog & NZ poohbear for your comments. Hi there Simon, Yes it is getting a bit hot on occasions & does make it a bit more daunting. A motorbike would have been good but there were fences to get over & locked gates. Land owner is ok with walkers & mountain bikes. The mountain bike was sure quicker than walking. The lake is very high & heaps of drift wood. I went past Wilson bay in the weekend & it was chocker with wood. Went out on the lake fishing on sunday. Got one Salmon & there was heaps of wood all over the lake. Quite dangerous for boating. Had to keep an eye out that is for sure. Gavin, I am sure you will get some good results with the 11" commander mono. I havnt taken it off for weeks. Good luck out there JW :)