New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

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More Coro Gold - gjj109

gjj109		Posted : Sunday, 26 October 2014 8:14:35 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 14/03/2011(UTC) Posts: 464 Location: Thames Thanks: 217 times Was thanked: 194 time(s) in 115 post(s)		Popped out for a few hours one day last week. Took the scraper and sucker as the daughter had flogged the pack I use to carry the sluice. I wasn't going to post the result as there is nothing to show, but then, even nothing is sometimes the story in itself. I would like to be able to say I used one of Gavin's giant matches for scale, but nope, it's just a regular one. Anyway, here's the photo of not much. And there won't be too much more for a while either as I'm off to Otago for a few weeks to try out the new detector.

kiwijw		Posted : Sunday, 26 October 2014 10:41:40 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)		Good on you Gary. Yer mate any gold is good & there is an adventure & story in any find no matter the size. If you had of used a giant match stick for scale it would have made the gold look smaller. Wait until you get down to Otago I am sure you will find bigger nicer gold to take back with you & then you will have a story to tell. Good luck out there JW :)

peteatpapaaroha		Posted : Monday, 27 October 2014 8:16:40 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2012(UTC) Posts: 41 Location: Papa Aroha, Coromandel Thanks: 151 times Was thanked: 25 time(s) in 14 post(s)		Great to see you are still getting out. Im down waikato taranaki way, no gold to speak of down here. Itching to get back home to Coromandel to get the new detector out. Have to keep in touch while down south, I'm as envious as hell. Thomas had a good weekend at Paynes Find with the new detector left his 5000 in the truck.

gavin		Posted : Monday, 27 October 2014 5:51:28 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)		You could have used a really tiny match and that would work even better as long as you forgot to mention it ;)
		WWW

mwyatt		Posted : Wednesday, 30 December 2015 11:40:10 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 14/12/2015(UTC) Posts: 28 Location: Auckland Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 15 time(s) in 8 post(s)		Yesterday I went out to the Coro to prospect. Granted, I've only been out in the Coromandel a couple of times on day trips with the family, mainly hitting the beaches. So I'm not very familiar with the topography and not sure where I should go. Anyways, after studying all the info on this forum and some other forums, I decided to target the Paroquet stream as it's between both the Zeehan and Monowai mines and then if I have more time, the Comstock Stream. I didn't get to the Comstock stream. To be honest, my preparation wasn't correct. I packed the wrong equipment and my back pack was way to heavy for the terrain and so by 5pm after hiking up the stream from the Monowai Mine and then down again to close where the Paroquet stream joins the Waiomu stream, I was buggered... :) Like you said Gary, anywhere in the water, those rocks are real slippery. First try up the 3m high water fall, I made it all the way up and then as soon as I tried to stand up, I slipped and tumbled all the way down into the water hole at the bottom. Drenched from head to toe, I was standing there looking at the rock wondering (uttering colourful language) how in the hell am I now going to get up there, eventually I spotted a route on the left bank around the waterfall. Anyways, back to the gold. I found two 100 minus flakes behind a big boulder close to a waterfall and that's the total for the day. The gravels contains nothing. On the journey down, I looked thru a gravel bar where the stream makes a slow turn and the outside has been eroded away quite a bit. I did hit some orange clay at the bottom of the gravel. After reading this thread again, I should have checked out the clay a bit more... :) O'well, I had a great day out. A lot of exercise and the stream was gorgeous. I'll do some more research and hopefully my next trip I'll have better luck. Marcus

mwyatt		Posted : Monday, 1 February 2016 11:00:39 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 14/12/2015(UTC) Posts: 28 Location: Auckland Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 15 time(s) in 8 post(s)		On Saturday I headed to the Tararu stream to hunt for a golden smile trying out the new Gold Hog Stream Sluice I received two weeks prior. Last time I was in the Coro I found some colour just below the second Ford on the inside bend. So I thought, why not give the new sluice box a good run at this spot. It was interesting, since my last visit I found evidence of another prospector sluicing about 30 meters down from where I wanted to work. I hope this prospector had better luck than me... :) I've managed to process 12 x 25 litre buckets of gravel, but the results of the final cleanup wasn't as good as I thought it should be... And my dig... And finally the cleanup... O'well, I had a fun day out on the river with beautiful weather... What more can you want from such a lovely day? More Gold I recon! :) Edited by user Monday, 1 February 2016 11:17:57 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified File Attachment(s): The Beast of a Sluice.jpg Gold Hog Stream Sluice.jpg Evidence1.jpg Evidence 2.jpg Evidence 3.jpg Evidence 4.jpg The Dig.jpg Cleanup.jpg

The Hatter		Posted : Tuesday, 2 February 2016 8:51:26 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 21/05/2013(UTC) Posts: 259 Location: Westport Thanks: 62 times Was thanked: 320 time(s) in 125 post(s)		Nice looking bedrock and spot there. Very scenic and tranquil. Cheers Trev akas " The Hatter"

mwyatt		Posted : Sunday, 14 February 2016 11:32:02 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 14/12/2015(UTC) Posts: 28 Location: Auckland Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 15 time(s) in 8 post(s)		Skunk'd on Valentines After reading thru Tony Nolan's book on the Coromandel Gold fields again, I'm out in the Coro trying out some new spots and locations. The original idea was to see if I can find an access point to the DOC land on the left upper tributary of the Tapu River. As I was driving up, I found a couple of easily accessible spots with a spot to park and some great looking bedrock. So I jumped down the bank and had a scratch...nothing... O'well, onwards... Then I reached the area where I thought I'd have walking access (checked http://wams.org.nz), alas "NO ENTRY" sign in big, bold and RED letters. So, there goes that idea. I'm not willing to take a chance and getting pump'd full of bird shot... Ok, what now... Then I thought, why not go check out the 309. You've identified the great looking target in that area, maybe the geological report from 1870 has missed something and there is gold higher up towards Castle Rock end. So I headed up that way and found this great little area on the Castle Rock road by the ford. Looked fantastic, beautiful big bedrock with nice crevises and small blow holes with tightly packed material. So I set to work, while the missus where relaxing on the bank reading a book. I cleaned out the blow holes first, nudda... Then the crevises...nudda. After about two hours of scraping and scratching, I was standing there perplexed. Maybe James Hector M.D. who compiled the Geological Explorations in 1870 actually had it completely correct when he stated that the gold found in the lower Waiau River's origin was from the northern tributary flowing from the Tiki gold fields and that no gold was found in the Waiau above the tributary. He explained that the rock formations is completely different and that the tributary stream's path is created by the fault running thru the area. So, then I decided I wanted to go check out Eagan's Park, after which I'll head home. I didn't expect to find anything at Eagan's park, which I didn't. Anyways, had a great day out in the Coromandel. Better than any day in this awful city :( I might not have a new spot to go to next time, that's ok. Just have to do more research young man and hopefully next time you'll get that golden smile again... :)

GoldPandemic		Posted : Monday, 15 February 2016 1:06:42 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 27/10/2014(UTC) Posts: 350 Location: Auckland Thanks: 266 times Was thanked: 141 time(s) in 102 post(s)		Last year I detected the corner in the stream just next to the first ford: Gun shot shell nothing much else, found one fist sized promising looking grey quartz rock though (no indication from detector). Then walked up road to the next ford where the old bridge was, spent some time there on upper side. Found a few indicators digging hole in water but after moving rocks all day gave up. Then found a waterfall with two mines on either side (possibly half dug or caved in), climbed near vertical dense scrub cliff for 200m to get over waterfall, but gave up as it was getting late in the day. They say some placer gold is found in Tararu. I detected the beach south of Tararu found nothing - though I stuck to the white sands. Some kind of sewerage pipes in the area and much concrete. No results, and North Tararu beach is full of junk - large steel beams, concrete reinforcing etc. I had a go under the bridge where the stream comes out, with no result. Next time I will go out into the darker silty mudflats. Definitely plan to try for the top of that waterfall another time earlier in the day.
		Treasure/coins: $1 Other artifacts: 1888 button Lead: 914g Copper: 46

mwyatt		Posted : Monday, 15 February 2016 2:35:29 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 14/12/2015(UTC) Posts: 28 Location: Auckland Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 15 time(s) in 8 post(s)		Originally Posted by: GoldPandemic Definitely plan to try for the top of that waterfall another time earlier in the day. Is that the waterfall after the bridge just after the Ohio stream joins the Turaru stream? I wonder if anybody ever creviced the Ohio stream? The mine on the Ohio stream where one of the richest in the Thames district, can't remember the name right now. But I'm wondering how hard other prospectors have worked this part of the stream and if it would be worth a scratch? The bedrock in the background behind my sluice was worked hard. In the photo you can see the slightly lighter brown color in the middle of the bedrock where a huge chunk of the bedrock where broken away. Was that you gjj109? He's left nothing for us poor jeffa's to find! :)

GoldPandemic		Posted : Monday, 15 February 2016 6:07:43 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 27/10/2014(UTC) Posts: 350 Location: Auckland Thanks: 266 times Was thanked: 141 time(s) in 102 post(s)		No, I only got about a kilometre up the road. It is a tiny waterfall hidden in the bush, you'd only know it was there if you checked the map. I found some bits of iron from the miners underneath the waterfall (got me quite excited). Thanks for info, I might try higher up the river. I've a feeling those two targets I was digging at are just some iron from the bridge, only they are too deep for iron reject to indicate.
		Treasure/coins: $1 Other artifacts: 1888 button Lead: 914g Copper: 46

mwyatt		Posted : Saturday, 12 March 2016 10:01:30 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 14/12/2015(UTC) Posts: 28 Location: Auckland Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 15 time(s) in 8 post(s)		I asked the question a couple of weeks ago... Originally Posted by: mwyatt I wonder if anybody ever creviced the Ohio stream? and today I tramped up the Ohio to see what cracks and crevices I can find. I've found some lovely spots and cleaned out probably 20 crevices. Found the typical small gold I normally find in the Turaru stream. 100 minus specks mainly. The one thing that surprised me is how the rocks in the Ohio stream change from the Turaru stream once you're about 150-200 meter's up the stream. The colours change completely, a lot more orange and lightly coloured (whites, creams). Some spots there are harder Igneous bedrock with nice cracks. Further up, you find conglomerate rocks and even bedrock formed by conglomerate rock. It's a very interesting stream. Every few hundred meters it changes. The one thing that's very interesting is the amount of silver type of oxide I found when panning down the material. When you get down to what should be black sand in the pan, it glitters silver and some bigger silvery clunkers. There is also masses of moss in the stream. At one place I stepped on moss expecting a rock about 1 cm below as usual, but my shoe sank almost 2 inches into the moss. Towards the top the stream narrows into a rock canyon for a distance. At the second waterfall in the canyon there is a old wooden dam just before the waterfall. Does anybody know if the dam was build when they where mining in the area? or is it newer? Anyways, that's about as far as I went. I had to get back home for a planned bbq that night, so had to leave around 3pm. :( All in all, I really enjoyed the hike. Didn't find much in terms of gold, but still had a great day.

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