New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

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What could it be?

Alistair		Posted : Tuesday, 25 October 2011 9:59:31 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 14/10/2011(UTC) Posts: 20 Location: Auckland Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 3 time(s) in 3 post(s)		I had half an hour up a coromandle creek today as that's all my back could handle. I just had my pan and a hand trowel and was working some deep crevices filled with gravel. Just done my final clean up and have ended up with half a dozen small pieces of gold a couple pieces of fools gold (pyrite?) and about half a dozen small bits of a material that hung out with the heavies in my pan but have a dark golden bronze colour to them. Anyone got any ideas as to what it could be? I will try take a photo tomorrow and load it up (gotta find my macro lens for my camera). Also found a nice piece of quartz with specs of gold through it. Not surprising given there were battery's working the area a while ago. Still bloody good for only two pans worth (forgot my classifier aswell) of material given the area and I had spine surgery only 6 weeks ago!!! That gold fever is a bit@h ain't it haha.

Alistair		Posted : Wednesday, 26 October 2011 9:05:49 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 14/10/2011(UTC) Posts: 20 Location: Auckland Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 3 time(s) in 3 post(s)		Ok so next time in pan out my cons I'll wear my glasses.... The "golden bronze" pieces I was lost over were actually gold caked with a thin film of clay that came off with a bit of a rub. Also found a small piece (slightly bigger than a spec) of either silver or mercury. Total count for a couple of pans 11 small bits of gold, 5 small bits of fools & a piece of silver/mercury. (I think it's silver because it has very sharp points and mercury tends to be smooth) Photos are coming out blurry.... Any pointers for taking pics of gold?

1864hatter		Posted : Wednesday, 26 October 2011 9:24:04 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 4/08/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,007 Location: Auckland.... Thanks: 49 times Was thanked: 566 time(s) in 269 post(s)		Set your camera to the macro setting its usually a small flower looking icon. That should let you take close ups without so much blurryness. Good work with the gold, you must be a bloody tough bugger to be looking for gold that soon after surgery but good on ya!
		And now....On sandy beaches and muddy soil, rings and coins await my coil!

Alistair		Posted : Wednesday, 26 October 2011 9:43:15 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 14/10/2011(UTC) Posts: 20 Location: Auckland Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 3 time(s) in 3 post(s)		Some would say tough, some would same stupid... After 6 weeks on lock down in the house I had to do something. Paying the price for it now though was a bit too soon. Morphine makes my world go round. Experimenting with photos now. Cheers

rgmcbrid		Posted : Wednesday, 26 October 2011 9:56:49 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 3/06/2010(UTC) Posts: 583 Location: Southland Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 180 time(s) in 140 post(s)		Yeah, that happens to me all the time, find a pile of stuff that looks like bronze but when I clean it up and put my glasses on and it turns out to be gold... not really. Congratulations!
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Alistair		Posted : Thursday, 27 October 2011 10:35:12 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 14/10/2011(UTC) Posts: 20 Location: Auckland Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 3 time(s) in 3 post(s)		Yeah well i'm looking forward to bigger piles of the stuff in future as well. That will teach me for being too quick to post things on here. Finally worked out how to upload these photos to photobucket. Apologies for the quality i'm still working on that. I still cant get the camera to focus on the actual pieces (as they are not of huge significance). These are the bigger bits i got. The biggest one is about 2mm across thats why there is nothing in the picture to compare it to... unless someone has some tiny coins they could loan me? Edited by user Thursday, 27 October 2011 10:37:34 AM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

oroplata		Posted : Thursday, 27 October 2011 11:13:27 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered, Moderators Joined: 16/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,040 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 211 time(s) in 152 post(s)		Macro setting as previously suggested, along with a mini tripod and plenty of natural light. To help the camera focus, adding an wider object that reflects infrared well night help, so the camera can calculate the distance. Maybe a piece of paper with some printing on it would work? Could be an interesting experiment. The camera is certainly having trouble focusing on that pan. Also, find a fit, keen nephew or suchlike to do your digging for you! Edited by user Thursday, 27 October 2011 11:18:31 AM(UTC) \| Reason: Sentences added.
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Metal Kiwi		Posted : Thursday, 27 October 2011 11:35:54 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 19/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,210 Location: Auckland Thanks: 498 times Was thanked: 484 time(s) in 322 post(s)		I still cant get the camera to focus on the actual pieces (as they are not of huge significance). These are the bigger bits i got. The biggest one is about 2mm across thats why there is nothing in the picture to compare it to... unless someone has some tiny coins they could loan me? I think you may be holding the camera too close to the subject. Try putting something small like a coin or perhaps a postage stamp in the picture so that you can see more easily where the limits of focus are for your lens. Just a thought. HH Chris.
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Goldnut		Posted : Thursday, 27 October 2011 12:09:23 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 2/08/2011(UTC) Posts: 461 Location: Auckland Thanks: 48 times Was thanked: 95 time(s) in 92 post(s)		Well I have one of those 7x eye pieces and i just pop that onto the lens and I can get really close shots of small objects. If you have one I would suggest giving it a go.
		Fisher F2 11DD coil, Garrett Pro-Pointer ----> My Blog: http://goldnut.blogspot.co.nz
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gjj109		Posted : Thursday, 27 October 2011 1:22:19 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 14/03/2011(UTC) Posts: 464 Location: Thames Thanks: 217 times Was thanked: 194 time(s) in 115 post(s)		Gidday Alistair, I reckon you have done bloody well getting that result from just a couple of pans. Most places I try, I'm lucky if I get that much after a couple of hours using a sluice box. Well done!!

Alistair		Posted : Thursday, 27 October 2011 3:48:52 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 14/10/2011(UTC) Posts: 20 Location: Auckland Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 3 time(s) in 3 post(s)		Thanks for the camera help with the photography stuff guys Im still trying to get a better picture but wanted to get one up coz it's easy to say you found gold but harder to prove it haha. Gjj sometimes the best spots are over looked I didn't see any sign of anyone having been there before even though it was right beside the road... We should hit the creek sometime, I don't have a sluice but I'm a aluminum boat builder so could get a decent one knocked up pretty quick once i get back to work I reckon. And as for finding a nephew or similar to do the digging? I'm only 25 I don't have any yet unfortunately. Edited by user Thursday, 27 October 2011 7:02:17 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified