New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

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South Island beaches

chchnuggetdetect		Posted : Sunday, 19 January 2014 11:15:37 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 5/05/2013(UTC) Posts: 63 Location: christchurch Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 4 time(s) in 4 post(s)		Have given chch beaches a go over with a minelab PI: Sumner: Hairclips Taylors: Bottle Caps, nails New Brighton: Fishing trace wires In Oz youd think from youtube youd run into a ring every half hour, I didn't get any in 3-4 hour sessions at low tide and did try all different areas of each beach. Anyone found and rings or anything interesting on south island beaches?

latch		Posted : Monday, 20 January 2014 6:49:26 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 16/02/2013(UTC) Posts: 192 Location: dunedin Thanks: 198 times Was thanked: 27 time(s) in 27 post(s)		found a couple but its hard looking and alot of beer caps and pull tabs hair clips etc,more rewarding park hunting but you've gotta be out to be in.
		fiend hard and find all

number8wire		Posted : Monday, 20 January 2014 9:12:45 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 10/06/2012(UTC) Posts: 1,175 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 913 times Was thanked: 880 time(s) in 425 post(s)		Yeah....certainly Chch beaches seem to be an incredible waste of time....possibly with the exception of Taylors.....haven't been there myself but it is probably the only heavily frequented beach used by swimmers during summer. The other beaches tend to be walked and sunbathed to a degree but not like Taylors. The rewards are to be found in parks and domains, sadly not at SI beaches :( ....in my humble opinion!
		TEKNETICS T2 SE plus X-POINTER 2016 Silver coins- 233 Other silver- 13 Gold- 1 Sovereigns-0 Spendies -$119.00

kiwisouth		Posted : Tuesday, 21 January 2014 1:27:44 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 3/04/2010(UTC) Posts: 326 Location: Blenheim (Renwick) Thanks: 39 times Was thanked: 105 time(s) in 83 post(s)		Try Corsair Bay, I have found all sorts of good stuff there before I moved to Marlborough. It is a beach with a lot of history. I have silver rings, old buckles and a cannonball from there, and it is a good family beach. Google it for the history but it was in use in the Victorian Age. Another place would be magazine Bay in Lyttleton. There is a torpedo boat museum there and photos showing the old shed where sailing ships were dragged for maintenance. Did I mention the gun emplacements?
		Nulli Illigitimi Carborundum
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Shilo		Posted : Tuesday, 21 January 2014 2:16:21 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 29/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 573 Location: Kawhia Thanks: 17 times Was thanked: 285 time(s) in 185 post(s)		If I remember correctly, the Christchurch beaches were hit hard by erosion a year or 2 ago? If so then the sand would have built up by now and covered all the good finds. The unfortunate thing with gold & silver is that it is heavy and will just get deeper with each erosion event. Don't count on recent drops since these are rare and chances of coming across them are slim, the good patches are where drops have accumulated over decades. But don't lose heart. and keep an eye out for any new erosion especially above or even below the low tide mark. Even take a mark out of Max's book and use a waterproof detector. Christchurch might not have as many swimmers / beach goers as in Queensland or Auckland but if there are any then there will be good finds there. The old photo's show some of the beaches packed with people so the finds will be there - you just have to learn to read the individual beaches and know when the sand has moved offshore enough.
		BLOG

Metal Mikey		Posted : Tuesday, 21 January 2014 5:40:53 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 29/03/2012(UTC) Posts: 120 Location: Rangiora Thanks: 17 times Was thanked: 22 time(s) in 18 post(s)		While I have had some good finds over the years at beaches nothing has been outstanding. In the last 3 or so years I think there has only been two occasions where the weather waves and moon have produced the right event to uncover the goodies in my opinion. My most common find is old full soft drink cans. I have also seen money poking out of the sides and tops of wind blown sand dunes. Went to Woodend beach to locate some lost keys and found a penny and halfpenny! I have photos of the only beach that I do in my phone. They have reference points you can see to see the current level of the sand. Can be 2 meters difference in the level at that beach. Watch for the very low and very high tides. These can make quite a difference. Cheers Mike.

tobyl		Posted : Wednesday, 22 January 2014 7:04:40 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Dust Groups: Registered Joined: 27/04/2010(UTC) Posts: 4 Location: new zealand Was thanked: 1 time(s) in 1 post(s)		have to agree folks.the Christchurch beaches don't throw up much these days.i brought an garrett at pro a year or so ago,and got the bug,i found heaps of coins ,the best being 21 coins in one area by the surf club north from brighton pier.one day also turned up a half adozen silver rings and various dog tags, i go back now and then but the odd 1 or two dollar coin,is u all you get for a few hours detecting.usually .had some early success near the pier with a gold ring and a nice gold earring ,but latest visits have yielded just the odd coin.and the usual rubbish ,luckily the at pro can distinguish betbetween coins and the dreaded bottle top, so I don't bother digging them.sumner seems to be the worst beach the odd coin but soooo much rubbish.i met a guy 30 years ago who sold me his garrett ground hog ,he had been using ,while here with the deep freeze out at the airport.he took me to his garage and the shelves were lined with agee jars full of old pennies,coins watches etc ..amazing finds ..but lets face it he was probably the only person detecting at the time and got the motherload..what is needed is a big winter storm to scour the beaches and uncover the deep beds below..the parks are getting hammered ,some by idiots leaving big holes and rubbish.so no doubt the days are numbered in these areas.it would be nice to organise a day out with agroup detecting a new area...anyone interested?
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creamer		Posted : Thursday, 23 January 2014 9:42:22 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 19/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 2,022 Location: Bay of Islands Thanks: 2289 times Was thanked: 525 time(s) in 391 post(s)		Good reading guys. .
		Garrett Ace 350 Xpointer www.nzfossickers.co.nz
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number8wire		Posted : Thursday, 23 January 2014 6:26:03 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 10/06/2012(UTC) Posts: 1,175 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 913 times Was thanked: 880 time(s) in 425 post(s)		Originally Posted by: tobyl Yep....always keen to explore new possibilities and to meet some new fellow detectorists.
		TEKNETICS T2 SE plus X-POINTER 2016 Silver coins- 233 Other silver- 13 Gold- 1 Sovereigns-0 Spendies -$119.00

Reubin		Posted : Monday, 3 March 2014 1:42:54 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 27/09/2011(UTC) Posts: 32 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 3 times Was thanked: 6 time(s) in 5 post(s)		I know this is an old...ish post now but I was reading it with interest some weeks back. Several years ago I spent some time detecting the beaches around Christchurch with good result. My best day for rings was 13, two of which were gold and the most gold rings found in one day was 3, amongst other odds and ends. One thing I did learn is that heavy objects lost below the low tide seem to wash in (even weighted crab pots lost off the pier!) where as objects lost higher up on the beach wash down to where the beach flattens out. As a result most of the targets seemed to be within a 2 or 3 meter channel running along the beach. It does however seen to be best in the spring after winter storms. I don't bother with the beaches much these days myself, I've tried a couple of times but mostly cleaned out now.