New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

Giddday Sluiceboxmaker.

I understand it is not uncommon down South. There are a number of forum members who have this arrangement. Maybe they can comment on the advantages or otherwise of the endeavour.

I suppose the question you would have to ask is "If you had a claim up North, how would you work it?"

If you were just to use a shovel, pan and sluicebox, why would you bother trying to establish a claim for such little reward.

If you were to use a dredge, yes, a claim would be great for piece of mind, but rewards would be questionable.

Hard rock mining would be the only way to go to realize a reasonable return and yes, at today's rate, there are a number of payable areas; but you are talking big dollars. Is it really the type of business you wish to invest in?

The other thing to keep in mind if there was a bunch of people who each had part ownership of a claim (especially if they wernt mate,s to start with)....is who,s go,s were and how often...i mean if a couple of fellas out of the group were getting out all the time to the best spots wile the others were at work etc...i could see human nature kicking in....conflict !
gbm.

yes i agree with GBM gold dose funny things to people i think 2 people would work but its like flat mates "never flat with 3"
its 2 against 1 a gang up
do as i do with my claim just invite people for the weekend ( im always there )cheers kiwikeith its always better to have someone sitting round the camp fire at night to tell lies to

cheers kiwikeith

Hi All a quick comment on claim sharing .I own a claim up the Wakamarina River in the south
island.I am a serious dredger and used to do everything on my own and all the gold was all mine.
I have a shared claim now and enjoy the company and the help cheers (Steve).It is hard to sell a share as in
not knowing how much do charge.Steve has become a good mate and enjoys finding gold as much as
I do and would of just about payed his investment back.Rules need to be set from the word go.
Steve and I have a deal if you go up on your own gold taken is all yours 10% back in the claim if both of
us go up gold taken is added up 10% back into the claim then 50% each.Feel free to ask any questions will
be happy to answer!!

Public Fossicking Area For the Coromandel, For the People of the North Island Isnt there any chance of like minded people getting together,(probably will need quite a few people) and llobbying the local MP,and keep on at them,might be a slight chance that you may well be able to get something moving,just a thought.
Mem

Hi therr GBM, The truth is that Coromandel gold is hard rock gold, well any worth while gold is going to be any way. Any "alluvial" or detrital gold is just a flash of colour & with a high silver content to boot. So not worth much either. Ok on a hobby bases but not for the expence of a claim & all associated costs.
There is/was?? a no mining zone north of the Kopu/Hikuai road. So that is most of the Coromandel. The Coromandel has a very strong "green" tree hugging, frog arse licking movement. Not to mention Coromandel Watch Dog, which is a greenie body that is very vigilant on enviromental matters, & then of course there is Enviroment Waikato & I have had my run in with them. I dont think you would have any show of getting a claim in the Coromandel. Enviroment Waikato gave me that option but I think they knew I would be pushing shit up hill & that I would just be doing a heap of paper work for nothing. Not to mention the expence.
The old timers got what worth while "alluvial" gold there was & I dont think it was even much worth there while either but it did lead to some rich gold/quartz stringers & reef gold when they ground sluiced & exposed these out crops. Colin, Critical (sorry to hear he has passed on to the great goldfield in the sky. RIP) he & I shared a common interest in one such spot.
These specimen pieces are from there















JW :)

Hi there jw
Yea i understand exactly what your talking about as fare as deposits go...not that i have experinced them up north myself...but i carnt help but feel that a lot of jokers probably wouldnt give a toss how much gold there was and would just like to give it a go to see a bit of colour in there pan i mean at the end of the day there is a lot more people liveing up the north island than down here so why the isnt that caterd for...is all im try,n to say.
i reckon the tree humping frog BUKAKIE licking greens try and keep there thumb firmly pressed on anyone that wants to try something different in the wilde,s and thats not rite why shouldnt there be a fossicking area up north ya no id be farely confident to say that i bet 99% of the tree humping frog BUKAKIE licking greens wouldnt have a clue what gold was or wasnt EVER there...not that that should really matter in the first place i mean do you think that the goverment actually set up these fossicking area,s for people to get rich lol no its a place for people to go and get a bit of gold...maybe a nugget...like yours!!... leagly
gbm

I hope you're not knocking silver there, JW? :)

Hi Krazy-that wouldnt be x-terra Steve would it?

I tend to agree with JW as well.

The biggest threat to casual fossickers on the Coromandel is probably from some highly-strung, ultra zealous greenie type - so utterly miserable with their own austere and wretched existence that they feel an overwhelming desire to pull everyone else down.

[Begin rant] A couple of years ago I actually witnessed someone of that ilk berating a small family group sitting on the rocks in the Kauaeranga, trying to pan a little gold as an activity for the kids during their xmas holiday. And I bloody well cringe when I hear the Sue Bradford’s of the world going on about there not being enough expenditure on welfare for kids and families that go off the rails.

If a fraction of that money and effort was invested in encouraging wholesome pastimes, rather than providing ambulances at the bottom of a cliff for dysfunctional families, our society wouldn’t have nearly as many social problems as it does today. [End rant]

By comparison the DOC guys down there seem pretty relaxed and not overly worried if people are using handtools and confining their activities to the wetted area of the stream. It really comes down to good old fashioned commonsense - if you dig a hole fill it in, be descrete, and don't paint a target on your back and you should be fine.

Watch out for those greenies though – those bastards are the enemy of any New Zealander who values their independence and wants to get ahead by their own efforts.

Karl