New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

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Greetings from a newbie who is looking for a little help..

Kittik		Posted : Thursday, 9 April 2015 9:21:19 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 9/04/2015(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Auckland Thanks: 14 times Was thanked: 13 time(s) in 9 post(s)		Hi Guys, I've been lurking around these forums for a while reading lots and lots of stuff! (So much knowledge on here..) Anyways, a couple of years ago we bought this great wee farm/large lifestyle block which has been a homestead farm since the 1850s. One of the first things that I thought of when we first looked at the farm, was how much the setting reminded me of Queenstown - lots of old established trees, and we're in a gully in a valley with lots of rolling crevices and streams. Fast forward 2 years and finally got around to getting a gold pan, and for a bit of fun, figured that I'd pan the stream - much to the mockery of my boyfriend! (Errr, I'm female btw). So a couple of pans and I'm finding LOTS of black sand.. really, not what I expected but definitely there. Then I start paying attention to the big chunks of rock and what I'm finding in the creek. Lots of quartz, gossan, cinnabar, manganese, brown coal (?!??). The gold that has been turning up is pretty much dust, but I've also been finding silver as well I think (guess it could be platinum or white gold?). As far as I can tell, the quartz has telltale signs of lots of iron oxide staining so in theory, from what I can gather, it shows all the signs of typical gold bearing quartz. At this point, the penny drops, and I'm pretty sure that the reef where the quartz is coming from is higher up the hill where I noticed in a paddock previously, after heavy rain washed a heap of mud away from one section, parts of it were showing a glittery bedrock. So yeah, basically I'm hoping to find a super knowledgeable person who might be able to come out and look at/play with stuff and help me out.. I don't really want to pay a geologist, and I don't know anyone interested in geology, so I was hoping to find someone here. ...after all, its in Auckland (just) and would probably give said person a chance to play without going very far. I have a suspicion that there may have been mining activity on the farm before in one particular spot in a gully, but I can't be sure. I do know however, that the locals who settled this area all agreed that there was gold here, and a few of them ran secret mining or panning operations on their family farms. However much they got, I don't know, but it was enough for a mining company to send a geologist to the road I live on, to analyze and give a report. He confirmed that there was gold, but the mine chose to open in Hunua instead. So yeah, but of a back story, but I'd really appreciate someone with knowledge to help me out. Even with panning, I'm not sure I'm doing it right lol Btw, I'm sure I'm the worst panner in the world. I keep stopping to admire the pretty rocks!

snowdrop		Posted : Thursday, 9 April 2015 10:20:14 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 24/12/2013(UTC) Posts: 191 Location: Canterbury Thanks: 225 times Was thanked: 66 time(s) in 49 post(s)		Welcome and good luck. Hope some help comes from North of the Bombay hills for you. Cheers

Kittik		Posted : Thursday, 9 April 2015 10:32:11 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 9/04/2015(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Auckland Thanks: 14 times Was thanked: 13 time(s) in 9 post(s)		Thanks Snowdrop, haha, could be south of the bombays too since thats pretty much where I am ;-)

Greg		Posted : Friday, 10 April 2015 12:00:11 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 28/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 13 Location: Auckland Thanks: 12 times Was thanked: 5 time(s) in 4 post(s)		Hey Kittik, I am in Auckland and have done a few panning and sluicing trips into the South Island gold fields and always obtained some on each trip. Ive got pretty good with efficient panning and running a small backpack sized sluice- all low impact hand operated gear. Recently I purchased a Garret AT gold detector which is very gold sensitive- but has only seen little action since new. If you have plenty of black sand its normally a great precursor to possibly finding gold. If your interested I would be keen to help with any advice I may have or bring my gear along to have "a low key" show and tell. Ive read the stories about the hard rock gold in the Hunuas and would be really interested in anything related. Feel free to PM. Cheers- Greg. File Attachment(s): 2015-01-14_16-05-54_898.jpg 2015-01-14_17-20-50_874.jpg

Mudwiggle		Posted : Friday, 10 April 2015 7:25:25 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered, Moderators Joined: 22/10/2013(UTC) Posts: 742 Thanks: 182 times Was thanked: 683 time(s) in 317 post(s)		Maybe contact the Geology Dept of Auck Uni, I'm sure there's one or two budding gravel monkeys who'd point you to the best spot to try.

Kittik		Posted : Friday, 10 April 2015 10:51:31 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 9/04/2015(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Auckland Thanks: 14 times Was thanked: 13 time(s) in 9 post(s)		Theres definitely plenty of black sand here. The neighbour had to get her pipes cleaned last week because black sand coming up the bore had blocked her kitchen tap :-D Thanks Greg, I'll send you a PM. I've been thinking about getting a detector for a while so I'd be interested in seeing in how its used and also what turns up. I'm a big history buff, and being such an old property I'm sure theres lots of interesting relics hiding in the earth around here, so even if theres no resale value on finds theres a lot of interest in that kind of thing for me. I haven't found anything on the net about hard gold at Hunua, just manganese. Same goes for Bombay and Ararimu.. I'd be interested in reading stories or reports if you have seen anything written? Cheers :)

mintcar		Posted : Friday, 10 April 2015 2:00:18 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 30/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 32 Location: nelson Thanks: 102 times Was thanked: 7 time(s) in 7 post(s)		Hi Kittik welcome you need 1864hatter to contact you he now lives in Auck

Kittik		Posted : Friday, 10 April 2015 5:41:50 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 9/04/2015(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: Auckland Thanks: 14 times Was thanked: 13 time(s) in 9 post(s)		Heya Mintcar :-) Who is he? :lol: ... I mean is he one of the more well known or knowledgeable people on the forum? ☆

c4bb0ose		Posted : Friday, 10 April 2015 5:57:55 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 7/09/2014(UTC) Posts: 97 Thanks: 1 times Was thanked: 32 time(s) in 29 post(s)		A way you could test this further is to do the ribbed drainage pipe sluice a go. Basically you get one of those drainage pipes that are ribbed like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYcrtHKaZlw, you don't need to widen the front like in the video, all you need is a couple of rocks on top to stop it going away. Since this is on your own property you can make it as long as you want, all youll need is something to classify the material and a spade to dig it all. I've got a couple of pans and a jerry rigged drainage sluice and I'm located in hamilton currently as well if your wanting some help :P Also have a metal detector but it will be useless up here since there is no alluvial or placer gold like in otago. Edited by user Friday, 10 April 2015 6:03:36 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

creamer		Posted : Saturday, 11 April 2015 11:06:00 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)		Hi Kittik. Choice story there. Sounds like GOLD may be everywhere around you. Good luck out there. HH .
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