New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

Hi I have been into gold mining for about half a year now.
I work in Auckland and like thought of the Coromandel being so close for gold fossicking.
I have made my own sluice box that I know works mint I have got the pans and spade etc.

Gold mining recreation-ally if you live in the south island is easy because there is like 10+ legal sites to mine for the public, but how is a north islander meant to get all the way down there for a day trip or weekend trip.. I mean I see guys mining on here in the Coromandel and they don't seem to have any problems,Is this so.
I have also found that everyone that I have met is stoked at what your hobby is. Anyways point being what exactly are the rules and how much are they really enforced because I mean its not like your pulling out oz's or anything! Someone wrote on here that a D.O.C worker was helpful I mean it must not be that illegal i guess that is one of those bull$hit laws set back in the day?? I have been told you can get a mining permit but that wouldn’t help if you were mining in a national park anyways would it... because your not allowed to..
I guess what ever your answers are I kind of already know the very basics its not meant to be done but people do and they easily get away with it and you would have to be one unlucky dude to get pinged for such an innocent act.
I guess that i am just looking for some reassurance that it is okish to go gold fossicking in the Coromandel lol :)
Also
I would like to go mining with someone that has been doing this for sometime. Someone that goes to the coromandel from Auckland in the weekends as i want to pick up some tricks of the hobby that you would usually only learn over a long time and compare gear and just have a good day or weekend out with a like minded individual.

Well thanks for your time

Im pretty sure that if the right people catch you in the wrong place you may have your gear taken off you. I wouldnt recommend using any motorised gear anywhere where you dont have a right to be also just because one person met one nice DOC guy and got away with what he was doing doesnt mean they are all going to treat you that way. I think if you get permission from a landowner to fossick on their land then you are very unlikely to run into any strife.
In saying all this I see absolutely no justification for not allowing anyone to fossick within a riverbed (note I said riverbed and dont endorse digging up native vegetation) Im sure we have all seen the large amount of damage that a flood can cause to a river system multiple times a year so anything that lives in that environment will have evolved to deal with the rough and tumble through a sluice box.
Anyway enough said I dont think we can win the war against the lawmakers so keep your head down and good luck out there.

Matt - your words - In saying all this I see absolutely no justification for not allowing anyone to fossick within a riverbed (note I said riverbed and dont endorse digging up native vegetation)

Yes - and no. DOC and others who control the land such as Councils do have a say as to who and who cannot access some rivers and waterways - thems the sad facts.
Some rivers and sections of rivers are owned to the middle of them and it is through the good grace of the land owners that you can sit on the bank (their bank) and fish, or walk along the bank to get from A to B. Now where near all rivers in New Zealand have a section 58 strip I think it is called and most small streams do not have them at all so that you cannot access them without permission. Believe it or not you will find that the Waikouaiti river just north of Dunedin is owned out to the middle in parts, also the Shag and the Waihao in South Canterbury. This means that if you want to wade up the river fly fishing then theoretically you require permission BUT if you go up the river in a boat that is OK.
On one river I know the land owner blocks any person he sees fit to block from that river - in parts this river is nearly 75 and more metres across and yet he owns the bed out to the middle. This means that many keen whitebaiters cannot have a stand on that particular river as he owns both sides and bed to the middle for over a mile from the mouth to a point well upstream including all land within the tidal reach.
In order to determine which river, stream or watercourse you can or cannot access or walk up the bank or bed of then one should really have a good cadastral map which shows the public strip where the land owner can not deny you.

hi there
dont know how it all works up north i pressume its the same as on the west coastand the rest of nz
all i say is i cant aford a $20000 fine and loss of gear including car
its just like getting caught with paua and dive tanks on a boat its ok till you get caught
there are a few on this forum that think its worth the risk

at the end of the day it will cost nothing to ask a landowner after all they own the land and its there right to stop you

Hi Peoplesman. I thought I'd throw my 2 cents worth into the mix.

The rules are: Unless you are working on a claim, you are only allowed to fossick in a public fossicking area, all of which are in the South Island.

If you are not going to comply with the rule, then you need to decide whether the land you are intending to go to is public or private. A good place to start is http://wams.org.nz/wams/ which outlines public lands and public access. (Thanks to the late Criticol for this site)
There is relatively easy access to most of the larger waterways on the Coromandel. Unlike the South Island, there is no flood gold in the loose gravel. You need to get down to the bedrock. You will need a crevice scraper and a sucker in your arsenal of tools. If you go to the section of this forum - Equipment - Light, "Yet another Crevice Sucker design" posted by Kiwisouth, you will get the idea for a very cheap and very effective sucker.

If you use only handheld tools, I very much doubt anybody will bother you except to be interested in what you are doing. At worst, you may be asked to desist, but I doubt it. You will not lose your car or equipment. If you use a dredge, that may be quite a different story. If you are like most fossickers, you are looking for a reason to go somewhere and something to do after you arrive. Any gold you find is a well deserved bonus.

Get out there and do it. If you get some shotgun pellets or a bit of mercury, you are doing things right. A few colours may follow.

Lammerlaw had good advice. Go south for a holiday. The gold is certainly more readily obtained, but of course there are more sandflies there also.

Good luck with your quest.

hi alistair, welcome to the mixed up world of gold fossicking.

hatter, kiwikeith, lammerlaw and gjj have all hit it on the head with their replies to your questions.

basically it is not easy. make the most of online resources. and at the end of the day you aren't legally allowed to be anywhere except the legal fossicking areas (all in the south island).

waterway access, as previously explained, is not clear cut either. a lot of people think there is a "queen's chain" on all water courses which is not the case. the website stated in a reply below is newish and shows public access. you need to realise that a lot of this dates back to the start of time and does not really give access. there may be hills, bogs etc in the way and you would need a gps at least. in the old days some boffin would draw lines on a map of new country and call it access.

anyway, my point was going to be talk to the locals in any area you want to try. i mean, really talk to the locals. if one gives one reply and explanation you need to talk to several more to ensure you aren't being led up the garden path and into trouble.

my second point is even if you get landowner permission you are still need legally meant to be fossicking there. ie its no point digging a great big mess on the allowed land if its in plain view of the tree hugging neighbour out to ruin your day, month or year.

lastly, you mentioned national parks. this is certainly going to be a recipe for disaster. true, they are remote but you still need to get in and out on a road end. a good way of thinking is that there is always someone watching. you need to weigh up what you stand to lose. is a bit of fun worth it if its your pride and joy dredge/car/boat/gold/clothes off your back...?

things do vary over the different parts of the country (greenies like to live in places like the coro for example, and some national parks would be a waste of time perhaps if the rocks types aren't known to be gold bearing).

my last point is...go for it. ask lots of questions, observes how others do it, and do your research. it can be a fun hobby if you can look past all the negatives of the law's shortcomings.

Also heres the link to the DOC pamphlet on the broken hills are. Check under recreation onthe bottom of the second page. No way you could get in trouble up there as long as you stay off the area that is claimed by the guys working up the at the moment (which is the area directly across the river, not including the river, from the camp ground.

http://www.doc.govt.nz/u...ills-recreation-area.pdf