New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

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There's gold in them thar hills! (One week detecting trip)

gavin		Posted : Saturday, 12 November 2011 3:18:06 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Administrators, Registered Joined: 20/02/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,326 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 736 times Was thanked: 535 time(s) in 287 post(s)		Just back from an awesome trip down south into the arse end of nowhere gold detecting. Pleased to say we recovered 27.75 grams between us so very happy with the results. Feeling like I've had a good work-out with all the walking and climbing in and out of gnarly gorges. All good fun though! Some of the clothes got a little shredded pushing though spinney scrub. A few photos attached to whet your appetite :) The big nugget weights just over 5 grams. My friend had a Minelab 2100 and I must say I was a little envious of the simpler machine at first. Took me a good hour playing around with the settings on my Minelab GPX 4500 to try and discriminate some of the larger black sand patches that it kept going off on. He still seemed to be able to discern the difference between hot rocks and smaller nuggets when I would need to dig them up. I definitely need a bit more practice with this complex beast of a detector! Swapped the coil one evening for his larger mono and I seemed to be back at square one again regarding black sand. Interesting to see how there seems to be distinct lines down rivers where gold seems to get dropped. Would have also been awesome to have had a sluice box along as the dirt we panned from the holes dug for nuggets were rich in gold flakes. Definitely learnt a lot on this trip. Looking forward to some more missions now! :) gavin attached the following image(s):
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digahole		Posted : Saturday, 12 November 2011 3:33:28 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 8/09/2011(UTC) Posts: 12 Location: christchurch Was thanked: 11 time(s) in 6 post(s)		Good going Gavin.

Lammerlaw		Posted : Saturday, 12 November 2011 4:45:31 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Just love it and its great to see guys getting out there and having some success - great scenery and great finds - what more could you want - note however that for months you look forward to such trips and finally the day arrives - you get there blink twice and its time to come home! Nice photos and good gold. Edited by user Saturday, 12 November 2011 5:08:18 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

gavin		Posted : Saturday, 12 November 2011 5:03:33 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Administrators, Registered Joined: 20/02/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,326 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 736 times Was thanked: 535 time(s) in 287 post(s)		Originally Posted by: Lammerlaw Just love it and its great to see guys getting out there and having some success - great scenery and great finds - what ore could you want - note however that for months you look forward to such trips and finally the day arrives - you get there blink twice and its time to come home! Nice photos and good gold. Was ready to come home this time - needed a rest... my buddy is a relentless gold seeking machine! :P Every day was a gold seeking mission from morning right until the light started to disappear. Was great fun though. Was awesome being disconnected, off-line for a week out there in the beautiful back country :)
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nzpoohbear40		Posted : Saturday, 12 November 2011 6:04:28 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 14/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,482 Location: Matura Thanks: 26 times Was thanked: 384 time(s) in 329 post(s)		great finds gavin..cant wait till i can aford to get out thee and get some of that stuff..lol... thanks for the great pics to..
		Chris - Fisher Dealer http://www.puiakisupply.co.nz/

oroplata		Posted : Sunday, 13 November 2011 10:09:42 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)		Well done team!
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Ash_T		Posted : Sunday, 13 November 2011 11:42:12 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 17/09/2011(UTC) Posts: 219 Location: Nth Canterbury Thanks: 138 times Was thanked: 28 time(s) in 25 post(s)		Great stuff! That color gold looks much more pleasing than the 1 and 2 dollar variety ;)
		Check out my BLOG : Its where i post my finds :D
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starflash		Posted : Monday, 14 November 2011 12:31:09 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 16/08/2010(UTC) Posts: 192 Location: auckland, tairua Thanks: 18 times Was thanked: 38 time(s) in 30 post(s)		great work gavin, seems quite a rich spot when you think of all the flake that may of been there as well Thanks for posting some great pics, looks like you scored some nice weather. Awsome nug, well done

kiwijw		Posted : Monday, 14 November 2011 7:45:58 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,152 Thanks: 92 times Was thanked: 658 time(s) in 324 post(s)		G'day Gav, Well done mate. There will be no stopping you now with that detector. Yep....they are a learning curve that is for sure. But with time, patience & practice you will get to know your machine inside out. You would have learnt volumes on this trip & there is nothing like getting out there & doing time out it in the field to learn. You can read all the books, watch all the vidoes/DVD's, which are great. But it is the hands on stuff & doing the hard yards out there that will stick in your mind as to what works & what doesnt. Gold is where you find it. Dont be afraid to wave your coil in the most unlikely of places. Happy hunting JW :)

Reubin		Posted : Monday, 14 November 2011 8:02:40 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)		Well done!!! Finding gold nuggets is no mean feat...as you found out - often hard work though. I've got a GP3500 and spent untold hours at the Beach with it until it became an extension of my arm. David

gavin		Posted : Monday, 14 November 2011 9:24:26 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Administrators, Registered Joined: 20/02/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,326 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 736 times Was thanked: 535 time(s) in 287 post(s)		Cheers guys :)
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kiwijw		Posted : Tuesday, 15 November 2011 10:08:37 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,152 Thanks: 92 times Was thanked: 658 time(s) in 324 post(s)		Originally Posted by: Reubin Well done!!! Finding gold nuggets is no mean feat...as you found out - often hard work though. I've got a GP3500 and spent untold hours at the Beach with it until it became an extension of my arm. David Yep, Couldnt agree more. It also becomes an extention of your mind. Once you have ground balanced your machine.....you need to "ground" balance your mind. VERY IMPORTANT. You need to be very focused & 100% concentrated on what you are doing. Happy hunting JW :)

fastangler		Posted : Wednesday, 16 November 2011 3:19:28 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 1/10/2010(UTC) Posts: 37 Location: christchurch Thanks: 17 times Was thanked: 14 time(s) in 9 post(s)		very nice finds there gav.just wondering what system you used for charging your batterys, im off for a mish n a bout a week and wont be near any power sockets for a while.ive got a solar pannel hooked up to a battery and am planning toattach a cigarette lighter so i can charge.its a pretty flimsy way but its the only option im aware of. any help would be great scott

gavin		Posted : Wednesday, 16 November 2011 6:46:42 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Administrators, Registered Joined: 20/02/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,326 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 736 times Was thanked: 535 time(s) in 287 post(s)		We had a solar panel and a spare battery out of a boat which we used to charge our batteries. Worked nicely :) Good luck on the mission Scott - hopefully see some nice nuggets posted here when you get back ;)
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starflash		Posted : Thursday, 17 November 2011 8:27:02 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 16/08/2010(UTC) Posts: 192 Location: auckland, tairua Thanks: 18 times Was thanked: 38 time(s) in 30 post(s)		did i get that right gavin? that you hiked in a car size battery!

gavin		Posted : Thursday, 17 November 2011 8:48:16 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Administrators, Registered Joined: 20/02/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,326 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 736 times Was thanked: 535 time(s) in 287 post(s)		Nah, sorry - we only hiked in the solar panel but then later returned to the car as water levels were too high to get up some of the gorges so when we returned to the car we had the battery option also ;) God that would have been a killer! We used the car as a base for most of the trip after we hiked back out of initial search area.
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kiwikeith		Posted : Thursday, 17 November 2011 9:04:42 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 28/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 648 Location: hector Thanks: 359 times Was thanked: 230 time(s) in 154 post(s)		hi gavin nice photos and gold great to see someone getting gold just got back form 10 days around reefton area will post the results on the "west coast stories "later today

madsonicboating		Posted : Thursday, 17 November 2011 10:03:17 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 21/03/2011(UTC) Posts: 674 Thanks: 187 times Was thanked: 157 time(s) in 127 post(s)		wow that big nugget is awesome Gavin well done man...that place looks pure bliss!!
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jafa		Posted : Tuesday, 22 November 2011 11:53:40 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 22/11/2011(UTC) Posts: 134 Location: auckland Thanks: 22 times Was thanked: 23 time(s) in 19 post(s)		I can see im going to have to be quick and get down there before you guys get all the gold!!
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kiwikeith		Posted : Tuesday, 22 November 2011 5:08:10 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 28/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 648 Location: hector Thanks: 359 times Was thanked: 230 time(s) in 154 post(s)		hi jafa TO LATE