New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

how far up the shag are you likely to get gold. that's not a bad effort for a few shovels.

that's good news. I used to do some work for a farmer above dunback. have to see if he is still there and go down for a look sometime. when the weather warms up a bit.

that looks alsome mate , went to arrowtown in the weekend and got nothing only had a few pans right behind arrow town getn a sluice its on its way to me now cant wait! enyway Im new to this web site how do u get round paning and using that alsome gold dredge?

Most of the gold up in Silverstream is very fine and I notice some of it has a slight red tinge to it. Your right about it being pretty dense with bush and steep up that way which makes access a pain. I believe in the past the old timers worked that area with some pretty Ok returns in the early days and then it was abandoned possibly due to water access and better returns from other fields. At least its pretty close to Dunedin city though. In the same watershed if you look at the stream that runs under the Wingatui viaduct there can be found some colour. Access is via Gordon Road and then onto Mt Alan Rd.

@ Manic2010 - The public fossicking area in Arrowtown has been thrashed a lot over the years. Cant really say I have fossicked there much however a mate of mine who lives in Arrowtown seams to get a small amount every now and then by panning the banks where all the plants roots and moss are.

Cheers

The floods have definitely moved a lot of material around in the Eastern Otago rivers! I was watching some guys chop recent flood debris for firewood which was removed from the shag rail bridge- the thought came to me that they should be panning the ashes after its all burned!
I have heard of many people pulling small nuggets out of the bedrock at the ford in your first pic, surely there must be more exposed and ready for the taking.

I had been for a look up powder creek last summer and had absolutely no luck not a speck from 10 pans, even had my arm half a meter info a bedrock crevice but to no avail. I did find the remnants of an old stone hut somewhere in the bushes and the loop track along the old race is a good walk in itself.
I would guess that the water race workers/ family's went and worked the creek in their spare time fora little extra $$$.

Bloody good effort prich385 waters damn cold out there even for panning!

I've noticed a mention in this thread regarding access to public fossicking areas again.

This has been discussed in other recent treads also.

As a visitor to some of these areas i can say there is gold in them. just like other rivers and creeks. of course the stuff doesn't grow back but there is still some there. these public areas are the more accessible gold spots so you can't expect too much of them. to find the gold you just need to think hard about how to find it. even talk to others in regards to their successes and methods. they won't tell you their spot but they'll prob pass on some helpful tips. If you can't find any gold try a few metres further up. i'm always amazed at how most panners/sluiceboxers get out of their vehicle and head straight to the closest bit of water and are surprised to find others have beat them to it.

I'm not sure if there will be many more public fossicking sites made. the thing is most waterways have been claimed or are just too inaccessible for such use. the powers that be won't set up more remote areas for only the more experienced fossickers. they would prob say get a claim of your own.

From my extensive time at such sites and from passing by them often i can say that most of these sites down here get diddly use actually. Apart from panners at arrow town - and these are usually only found below the first crossing. the gold is there though - fine stuff generally but it all adds up.

Simon