New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

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Sniping the Arrow - Gold Sniping

Sideshow		Posted : Thursday, 12 December 2013 9:36:22 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 3/02/2013(UTC) Posts: 31 Location: Cromwell Thanks: 19 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Hi all I love reading all your guys post and seeing what you find its pretty damm cool So ive been detecting for just about a year now still no nuggets sadly but im not about to stop looking anytime soon. Me and my Gold Bug Pro have been hitting the arrow hard! Slowly getting better So i started to learn to Gold pan may have more chance finding color I decided to learn from few You Tube clips Then stumbled across a NZ Gold Sniping video WOW i thought im liking that So out i went purchased a 7mm dive suit mask snorkel booties BOOM lets do this But now im thinking can this be done in every river in public fossicking areas and what ones would really be worth doing Im gonna start on my old favourite the Arrow but looking at heading too the Coast for New Years holidays and wondering were to try there? Are there any snipers out there on this forum or people nice enough to give a fella a few tips on gear needed or pointed in the right direction? Thanks Sidey

Golddigger7		Posted : Thursday, 12 December 2013 2:39:44 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 6/09/2012(UTC) Posts: 252 Thanks: 1 times Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 35 post(s)		Hey Sidey Well hope you know where to start and stop within the fossicking areas, as the Arrow is all claimed outside the fossicking area, me being one of the claim owners :), so I hope Im giving you a good tip on the right direction. I have heard of the possibilty of another fossicking area being created on the Rich Burn, but this will be advised by Doc at some future date.

Sideshow		Posted : Thursday, 12 December 2013 6:04:08 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 3/02/2013(UTC) Posts: 31 Location: Cromwell Thanks: 19 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Originally Posted by: Golddigger7 Hey Sidey Well hope you know where to start and stop within the fossicking areas, as the Arrow is all claimed outside the fossicking area, me being one of the claim owners :), so I hope Im giving you a good tip on the right direction. I have heard of the possibilty of another fossicking area being created on the Rich Burn, but this will be advised by Doc at some future date. I sorta do few pointers would be good I'd hate to find someone else's gold! Or be on someone's claim

Golddigger7		Posted : Friday, 13 December 2013 8:03:47 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 6/09/2012(UTC) Posts: 252 Thanks: 1 times Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 35 post(s)		ok, well go to the top of this page and select the permit maps tab, zoom in and you will see where people private claims extend to, with a bit oay reading skills you should be able to determine within +/- 50m on the ground where peoples claims are and are not, really is that simple:)

simon		Posted : Friday, 13 December 2013 8:20:15 AM(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)		hey sideshow, i've done some sniping. was introduced to it when doing some sluiceboxing once and now getting more into that. awesome seeing the gold underwater, and very peaceful not having a dredge roaring in your ear also. i don't think the arrow would be too good for sniping as the piddly little public area is metres deep in tailings from mining over the years. you need to snipe somewhere where you have a chance to hit bedrock as thats where the gold is. there are some good spots but as you have found the whole arrow is claimed by various people. as golddigger here has pointed out you can find out what is claimed via the permit map. without referring to this you won't have a hope of figuring out what is "owned" by someone or some sort of entity. in the old days claims had to be marked. nowadays it doesn't seem the case. i've found this frustrating often as you will have to research good before heading to anywhere unknown in case you anger the holder. best bet is to stay well clear in case of ruffled feathers as these guys have paid a lot of money and invested a lot of time into getting there claim. back to the sniping - you need somewhere with shallow water really. even the edges of bigger rivers may be ok. really just need to cover some ground and find some gold in a crevice and follow in down as deep as you can. i snipe on a local creek but its more for the fun than the gold. the more remote you can get the better your chances i think. less people have mined the more remote stuff. perhaps talk to some people and make some contacts. you might get some off this site or you may be better off talking to some locals. golds a funny thing. i think you will find some very helpful folk who will point you in the right direction. there's a few who anger at every newcomer as they think they will rip them off or jump their spot. once you've proved 'yourself' as trustworthy someone should give you some good leads. if all else fails do some research. loads of info here and elsewhere online. or just hit the hills and see what you can find. gold can be anywhere.
		WWW

Sideshow		Posted : Friday, 13 December 2013 12:02:23 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 3/02/2013(UTC) Posts: 31 Location: Cromwell Thanks: 19 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		So the old arrow may be no good what about 5mile or 12mile creek??

trigger		Posted : Friday, 13 December 2013 1:05:53 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 13/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 142 Location: marlborough Thanks: 12 times Was thanked: 25 time(s) in 21 post(s)		Rockbed is key . No Rockbed no gold simple. And explore new areas never know what you may find but don't give up its out there

jafa		Posted : Friday, 13 December 2013 2:49:22 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 22/11/2011(UTC) Posts: 134 Location: auckland Thanks: 22 times Was thanked: 23 time(s) in 19 post(s)		Hi sideshow there's still good gold in the arrow did you ever see a picture of that big nugget a fella sniped a few years back it was nearly 9 oz:))) I wouldn't give up . Get into it.
		WWW

Sideshow		Posted : Friday, 13 December 2013 3:07:56 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 3/02/2013(UTC) Posts: 31 Location: Cromwell Thanks: 19 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Originally Posted by: jafa Hi sideshow there's still good gold in the arrow did you ever see a picture of that big nugget a fella sniped a few years back it was nearly 9 oz:))) I wouldn't give up . Get into it. Pop nice love stories like that gets the blood pumping and the goldbug biting! Arrows the closest for me and a old favourite I'll keep hitting her till she shares the love I'm gonna try all the fossicking spots round central and the west coast after New Years gonna be great holiday fun

simon		Posted : Friday, 13 December 2013 10:37:52 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)		sorry, might have been a bit one sided above. what i was trying to get at was, it is a lot easier to start with some bedrock you can see, rather than trying to dig a hole underwater going down and hoping to find bedrock, smooth or otherwise. if visible bedrock is readily accessible to one and all it may well be cleaned out. then if you keep a watch on a bit of river you will see that different bits of bedrock will get exposed after each flood. so much easier hitting the likes of this than trying to find bedrock where you can't see any. you could well end up wasting a chunk of time for nothing. then again, if you are after a good find you might want to think where the places are that would be hardest to access. the tougher the better as fewer others may have had the same idea. with the likes of the arrow you need to remember it is right next to the township of arrow town, a town of miners from goldrush to present. residents have been actively digging this river over since day one. head away into the hills and there are endless waterways. all you need is enough water to stick your head in. you never know where gold has been trapped. it's a big country out there once you leave the populated basin and lakeside behind. funnily enough no matter how remote you ever feel there is also some sort of evidence of prior visitation if you look hard enough. i've even found a huge horseshoe way up a mountain, no track in sight. must have been a cydesdale from the size of it. not the sort of horse i would expect in that terrain.
		WWW

Sideshow		Posted : Friday, 13 December 2013 10:49:57 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 3/02/2013(UTC) Posts: 31 Location: Cromwell Thanks: 19 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Originally Posted by: simon sorry, might have been a bit one sided above. what i was trying to get at was, it is a lot easier to start with some bedrock you can see, rather than trying to dig a hole underwater going down and hoping to find bedrock, smooth or otherwise. if visible bedrock is readily accessible to one and all it may well be cleaned out. then if you keep a watch on a bit of river you will see that different bits of bedrock will get exposed after each flood. so much easier hitting the likes of this than trying to find bedrock where you can't see any. you could well end up wasting a chunk of time for nothing. then again, if you are after a good find you might want to think where the places are that would be hardest to access. the tougher the better as fewer others may have had the same idea. with the likes of the arrow you need to remember it is right next to the township of arrow town, a town of miners from goldrush to present. residents have been actively digging this river over since day one. head away into the hills and there are endless waterways. all you need is enough water to stick your head in. you never know where gold has been trapped. it's a big country out there once you leave the populated basin and lakeside behind. funnily enough no matter how remote you ever feel there is also some sort of evidence of prior visitation if you look hard enough. i've even found a huge horseshoe way up a mountain, no track in sight. must have been a cydesdale from the size of it. not the sort of horse i would expect in that terrain. It's crazy what sorta random stuff you find sweet so bedrocks the key fingers crossed tomorrow goes well off too twelve mile creek for a day of learning to snipe Went up today after work for a recon mission with the GBPro no luck and we both took a dip... Very chilly GBPro is drying out now for tomorrow

Buckrogers		Posted : Wednesday, 18 December 2013 12:59:45 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Dust Groups: Registered Joined: 17/12/2013(UTC) Posts: 3 Location: Scotland Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 2 post(s)		Sniping is an art and I have been sniping well worked rivers in Scotland for the past three years. Unless the sniper has been taught by a very experienced one they always miss things and leave gold for others. Especially if only looking for the big gold :) I have been on some of the public fossicking areas in NZ when I return to visit family but many are waist deep in gravel beds and the ones I have been on tend to have fine gold. I find the DOC offices are very helpful to find out where the public areas extend to avoid going onto a claim and they are always helpful with pointers in my experience. The key is to find bedrock and try to remember where the river was in the past. The gold isn't always on the bottom of the river bed and any thin pebble jammed crack can contain gold. You also have to work the entire crack as water does strange things. I have seen it travel backwards on the bottom of many rivers. Good luck anyway.
		WWW

mathew armishaw		Posted : Wednesday, 18 December 2013 9:13:41 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 11/03/2013(UTC) Posts: 10 Location: dunedin Was thanked: 4 time(s) in 2 post(s)		id be keen tack you we spot I no if you ever in dunedin

Sideshow		Posted : Wednesday, 18 December 2013 10:16:22 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 3/02/2013(UTC) Posts: 31 Location: Cromwell Thanks: 19 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Originally Posted by: mathew armishaw id be keen tack you we spot I no if you ever in dunedin Cool man man have a spare day during holidays I'll keep in touch.