Well Folks. Time I told you a bit about myself and then as time goes by, some of my adventures. I'm now almost 66. Yep time flys when you are having fun. My gold adventure started at about 8 years old when I was a young lad in Reefton, and my Dad used to take me out on his prospecting adventures. Later we moved to Greymouth, and we were partners in a Claim on the the right hand branch of the Waimea Creek. About that time I became very interested in geology. So much so I read every book I could find. And I still continue to do so. At my young age I worked out that to improve my knowledge of gold I had to research, I read every book I could lay my hands on. These books became my bible.
When I understood the principles of geology, I then moved to the history of the gold fields, and even then there was a lot of reading, I did Central Otago, Westland , and the Coromandel.
And then I moved into assaying different minerals, by using the blowpipe. I just loved the concentrates, so many heavies that needed to be identified. The yellow one was easy, the other grey and pink or black bits mystified me. But I got there. Its hard to find some of the chemicals I used now. Like protochloride of tin. In those days I was still at school and was doing chemistry and had the run of the Lab and the back room where all the goodies were stored.
Every weekend was spent exploring, visiting mine sites, batterys. Water races. A tip here, if you want to follow a water race, take a tent and a sleeping bag and sum tucker. You may be gone a few days.
Sadly at age 24 I had to move north for employment reasons. But no problem. I had the Coromandel to delve in. But then it was marriage and a baby. I still kept doing my research. Can you ever do enough.
DID YOU KNOW THIS. In the Blackball Creek, of course at Blackball. A meteorite the size of a large boulder was discovered laying in the creek bed. It was like the size of a Austin Mini. There was even a photo of it. And a group of ooh ahhas looking at it and prodding it. Now that was about 1953 when no value apart from scientific value was placed on a meteorite. I found the reference in an obscure NZ geology book at the Hamilton Library. And yes chip samples proved it was a genuine meteorite. Now we all know they are metalic in nature, so a Detector will really sing on a lump that size. I have no idea of where in the creek it is. But in the photo doing some prodding were pony tailed members of the fairer sex, most likely from the Canturbury University Geology Course, and they weren't wearing back packs. So it cant be to far up the Creek. And in those days they didn't have heavy lift helicopters, and that thing would have weighed a few ton. And as I have said there was no value on them space balls then. My guess is, it is still laying there. And many a prospector in search of gold complacently walks past it.
Not knowing that perhaps a fortune has just by passed him. A tip, an adventure. I am reminded of the SAS motto. " Who dares wins".
Need I say more.
I do tend to ramble at times, however I have many more tales to tell. I got sick of black sanding, it was boring, so moved into dredging.
I much prefer getting my gold in this size
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Yep I moved into underwater dredging.
More storys to come and a few tips along the way. And no I am not full of myself. Guess its just time I shared some of my adventures and knowledge that I have gained over the years. Imagine if I was laying on my death bed surrounded by a bunch of you guys. You see I do know one place that is so rich, an undiscovered gold field, not large but its there. Not forty miles from where I sit. Prick of a place to get to.
Gotta tramp over about two kilometres of bog and moss. And its in a National Park. So its a stealth mission. And the gold is wheat sized and the old guys never found it. And that is for real. And just as I say, " The gold is at, frig then I go aaaaarh and that is my last breath.
One of these days I will tell you. But that day will be when I choose. How did I find it, well, actually I havent been there, well yet. An old guy about 70 years old told me. It was his father that found it, whilst he was possum trapping back in the depression days. In the same watershed a geoligist mate of mine was doing random sampling for minerals. He found a very brown glassy piece of rock, which was hydrothermically altered and looked interesting. He sent that of for an assay and it came back at several ounces to the ton.
He was unable to find the source of the rock, and beleived it was either glacier borne or bought up the coast by the Northerly currents. Beleive it or not good sized pieces of jade/greenstone can be found at Charleston. And the source as we all know is the Arahura River just north of Hokitika.
Anyway I sent a mate in, to check the old guys story out. He came back with wheat sized gold, crisp angular stuff. And he found quite a lot of the brown glass rock. Which incidentally my geoligist mate said if you try to smack it open wear safety goggles. Its so hard when it shatters, it kinda explodes. My mate dropped a rather large boulder on one of the ones he found. And he said a spark jumped out and fizzed for about four seconds. Almost like a flint. Thats the pressure of the actual compound of the rock. My mate did several pot holes, its a papa type bottom in the creek which has very high sides. He only found one place where he could climb down. He did about three trips and came out with around an ounce. Then they National Parked it, and beside he was my dredging mate, and we were getting far more dredging.
I being me with the generous nature, told an Aussie guy about it. Loaned him my backpack dredge and off he went. He was tough that aussie, what two clicks across a bog. He came back with about half an ounce. And when we looked at the maps. Well buggar medays, he didn't get to the right creek. He dredged in the one before it and still got half an ounce. And it was the wheat gold identical to what my dredging mate got.
Hard to get to now as the Forestry roads are probably stuffed. Since they stopped the milling quite a few years back. And in some places on the way in,in the papa are fossil remains, baby sharks teeth and bones.
Oh dear dear me. I have said to much. My Mum always said I had a big mouth. And didn't know when to shut it. But its got to be worthy of some young fit guy to sneak in and do a bit more. Its a bridge to far for me.
Cheers Trev aka " The Hatter"
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