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Lammerlaws treasures - relics of the Goldfields...plus Gold finds.

1864hatter		Posted : Monday, 26 March 2012 4:18:19 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)		Sounds like you guys had all the fun back in those days. I recon it would be hard to come across cases of gelignite just sitting around these days. So did the Mcraes gold mine dig up the old tunnel you mention with the pillar of gold in it?
		And now....On sandy beaches and muddy soil, rings and coins await my coil!

Lammerlaw		Posted : Monday, 26 March 2012 4:43:36 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)		Originally Posted by: 1864hatter Sounds like you guys had all the fun back in those days. I recon it would be hard to come across cases of gelignite just sitting around these days. So did the Mcraes gold mine dig up the old tunnel you mention with the pillar of gold in it? Yes they did Matt - remember where we stopped on the way down the hill to Deep Dell - it was sorta about there except straight up...if you have the book Goldfields of Otago you will see two fellows standing outside the entrance to their Scheelite mine - that was 'the' entrance to the pillar in question which held up the roof - I have no doubt that they had many discussions about the appearance of the pillar and many debates that it was or was not getting narrower! From that level you could go down three levels I think it was with the railways still in place...Jim Callery once told me that one night they heard a roar and no one could work out where or what it was until next morning when the blokes went to work and in that particular mine the roof had all collapsed down burying all their gear - at that time it was all still there under the remains of the rockfall. I remember that the only way out was via the upper levels so that if it did collapse when we were down there we would have been in a bit of strife. That was halfway up the hill at what I think they called Round Hill but at the top of the hill there were more mines and they were also on two or three levels which you could get down if you were stupid enough and I was! Thats where the gelignite was and also the hut where I found the tin with gold in it. Right down the bottom where you found the scheelite in the spot I showed you there were other drives and once again once you were inside them you could get down two or three levels but it had caved in and you had barely enough room to crawl over the collapsed roof. When we used to spend heaps of time there the other guys having bigger brains than me never came down to the lower levels in that particular mine. Just in the creek a few years back after a large flood had scoured the bed I found a hundred kg or so of nice scheelite samples, mostly around cricket ball size...it wouldnt go far amiss for someone to go exploring there with a flourescent light...although others have done that in the past. On the other side from the main mine on Horse Flat there were also some drives and in them were some cracker veins of Scheelite - I got one nice piece with a cavity full of Quartz Crystals....I guess that daylight now two as I see a big hole where the drives in the hill used to be! Edited by user Monday, 26 March 2012 4:47:42 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

chrischch		Posted : Tuesday, 27 March 2012 8:18:43 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/08/2011(UTC) Posts: 811 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 192 times Was thanked: 105 time(s) in 104 post(s)		Man those old diggers must have had balls of steel working down two or three levels and chipping out more rock.....not like they had cellphones/radios etc to call for help if something went wrong........I guess after all the earth movement here lately, I have a bit more concern about going in small hard(rock) places. :)
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Lammerlaw		Posted : Tuesday, 27 March 2012 9:23:02 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)		Originally Posted by: chrischch Man those old diggers must have had balls of steel working down two or three levels and chipping out more rock.....not like they had cellphones/radios etc to call for help if something went wrong........I guess after all the earth movement here lately, I have a bit more concern about going in small hard(rock) places. :) I guess they got used to it - I never have any qualms about exploring these mines except for belting my head on the roof of some of them! I guess I can understand the reluctance of a Christchurchite who has had to endure a lot of shake, rattle and roll over the last year and more to go underground...just in case! The piece of Scheelite I got at Macraes in the mine is shown below - It is the best piece I ever found there which had the scheelite within the quartz and in between the two layers or seams there was a 'cave' full of quartz crystals...I have only found very few specimens with the hollow within like this in the mine wall. The day we went up there and got this specimen I took a .32 rimfire rifle to blast at hares on the way - a year or two back you could do that and no one really cared less - I didnt want to leave the gun in the Landrover so took it down the mine with me - my brother in law reckoned he could hear the ground actually moving and was getting a bit anxious so when he wasnt looking I fired the rifle down the mine drive in the opposite direction - he took off running - his candle went out but he still ran - he abandoned his wife (My sister - there was a pop group named after her - 'Twisted Sister') and just took off - in the pitch black he fair motored and how the hell he didnt kill himself running into the walls I dont know - he just ran all the way back out to the entrance! The tawny coloured seam is the scheelite. Edited by user Tuesday, 27 March 2012 9:24:32 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

ccam26		Posted : Tuesday, 27 March 2012 10:58:38 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 3/05/2010(UTC) Posts: 16 Location: dunedin Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 2 post(s)		i wouldnt worry about those small drives too much, if they was going to fail they probly would have done it years ago, just look for broken ground in the backs and any loose looking slabs...... "look up and live" is the saying. Being a small area there is much more strength and support so less chance of a major collapse. im in the underground at macraes and we are currently having issues with ground movement with parts of the mine having to be shut off for what can only be presumed for good and we have big tunnels with ground support systems in place. ive been looking to see if i cansee any gold in the quartz down there and so far havent seen any, mind you alot of our grades are down around the 1.5-2 grams a ton, there is the odd higher graded area round the 5g a ton. so i wouldnt hesitate to have a look down the old har rock shafts. loving the stories and the info on the gold fields thanks lammerlaw.

Lammerlaw		Posted : Wednesday, 28 March 2012 9:15:18 AM(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)		Originally Posted by: ccam26 i wouldnt worry about those small drives too much, if they was going to fail they probly would have done it years ago, just look for broken ground in the backs and any loose looking slabs...... "look up and live" is the saying. Being a small area there is much more strength and support so less chance of a major collapse. im in the underground at macraes and we are currently having issues with ground movement with parts of the mine having to be shut off for what can only be presumed for good and we have big tunnels with ground support systems in place. ive been looking to see if i cansee any gold in the quartz down there and so far havent seen any, mind you alot of our grades are down around the 1.5-2 grams a ton, there is the odd higher graded area round the 5g a ton. so i wouldnt hesitate to have a look down the old har rock shafts. loving the stories and the info on the gold fields thanks lammerlaw. At the lowest level in the Deep Dell drives they had all collapsed, even the smaller ones and I remember crawling through some of them. In some of them it was quite a squeeze. Further up you are quite right and other than the cave in described by Jim Callery there was no sign on anything untoward. It also comes back to me just now that he told me of somewhere they used big timber pit props to support the roof and some were bending with the weight bearing down on them but form memory I cant ever recall seeing any signs of timber pit props. I sometimes wonder at Macraes even mining there when I am sure that there are far better places...I have here a piece of quartz and under the microscope you can count around forty microscopic colours and without the microscope clearly see some of them...the grey side under the microscope has many colours visible under ten magnification and the brown side has several clearly visible without the microscope. The small pile of pebbles - every piece contains gold - it comes from arounda quarter of a bucket of stone from the pillar I mentioned at Macraes. The larger pile of pebbles comes form the same amount of stone from another location and once again every piece has gold in it - far better samples than Macraes. The two stones together - need I say more - the piece of gold in the right hand piece is 10mm across. The one the left is the smallest piece found and even it stands out clearly. we have other pieces similar to the sample on the right. It was found 1k from the pebbles in the large pile and the slab. My son found the larger gold when his metal detector went off against a quartz reef - close by it has done the same on other quartz reefs but we have not investigated them due to lack of time. Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

5AMP		Posted : Wednesday, 28 March 2012 9:31:55 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 3/11/2011(UTC) Posts: 57 Location: wellington Thanks: 105 times Was thanked: 16 time(s) in 11 post(s)		More fantastic photos gold and quartz photos Graeme and I really liked the scheelite. I was itching to run my UV light over it.Thank you very much.

Lammerlaw		Posted : Wednesday, 28 March 2012 2:25:52 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)		Originally Posted by: 5AMP More fantastic photos gold and quartz photos Graeme and I really liked the scheelite. I was itching to run my UV light over it.Thank you very much. You get down here sometime with the UV light and I shall take you to Macraes looking for some - I think you would find the trip well worthwhile...,if you didnt find any I can guarantee that you would take some home as I would be quite happy to give you some bits.

5AMP		Posted : Thursday, 29 March 2012 8:51:47 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 3/11/2011(UTC) Posts: 57 Location: wellington Thanks: 105 times Was thanked: 16 time(s) in 11 post(s)		Thank you Graeme-I will look forward to that. I was looking for scheelite near Glenorchy at Christmas but didnt find any-also checked out the gold in streams nearby and no luck either but the scenery is amazing and interesting old gold workings too.

Lammerlaw		Posted : Thursday, 29 March 2012 5:53:33 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)		Originally Posted by: 5AMP Thank you Graeme-I will look forward to that. I was looking for scheelite near Glenorchy at Christmas but didnt find any-also checked out the gold in streams nearby and no luck either but the scenery is amazing and interesting old gold workings too. Get in touch via the messaging department here or send me an email and swap details so that when you intend coming down this way I shall know who is contacting me - maybe you could come and try detecting for gold though our place has had a fair hammering and last trip out up there for my son and I was a fizzer! Macraes is well worth looking at though and theres a lot of fun to be had exploring up there and looking for a bit of scheelite.

Lammerlaw		Posted : Sunday, 1 April 2012 9:46:50 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)		At this stage I wondered whether to put more bottles on or take a moment to show some more gold - the bottle took precedence - come to think of it on cold days and in warm cosy huts the bottle often did take precedence! these bottles are all Sarsaparilla Bottles - today Sarsaparilla is still obtainable and its one of my favourite drinks - I love it - tastes just like horse linament. These bottles possibly span a year or two as the embossing begins on the first bottle 'LEDIARD & TOWNSENDS' then it is' D TOWNSENDS' and then 'OLD Dr J TOWNSENDS' They obviously originated from ALBANY N.Y. as indicated in the third photo and/or NEW YORK as indicated in the fourth photo. In the fifth photo the embossing indicates the contents SARSAPARILLA These bottles are all the same shape but for some reason I dont think I ever found any two exactly the same colour! I always did like these Sarsaparilla bottles as they reminded me of Judge Roy Bean - Law West of the Pecos - he had a huge bear called Sarsaparilla who was chained to the verandah post of the Judges hotel - The judge encouraged everyone to shout Sarsaparilla a whisky...or two. When the Judge went off somewhere a friend decided to play a joke to see what the reaction would be so sent the Judge a telegram 'Sarsaparilla Dead' so the judge sent to another different friend a telegram 'Skin Sarsaparilla' so the friend took his rifle , went out onto the porch and shot and skinned the bear - no more Sarsaparilla! History doesnt record what happened. The judge was once summoned to an accident where a fellow fell off a roof and got himself killed stone dead. The judge went through the mans pockets and found a Colts revolver and $40 so he declared "Its against the law for a dead person to be carrying a concealed weapon so I am confiscating this here gun because its a damned fine gun and I fine this here dead body forty dollars for carrying a concealed weapon" A bit of research into the life and times of this character is well worth a laugh - his hotel is preserved down in Texas and hasnt changed since he was there. Edited by user Sunday, 1 April 2012 10:17:19 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

Lammerlaw		Posted : Friday, 6 April 2012 10:16:26 AM(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)		An interlude in the on going saga - three pieces of gold two of which I think I have shown separately earlier in this thread - the third piece I simply picked up the other day - no gravel, no detector and six inches of water. It was shining in the sun like a beacon. It is the bottom piece weighs six grammes and the total of the three pieces 38 grammes. If this thread lasts long enough I am going to divulge one of the two locations that some of my gold came from. Currently it is claimed by a third party but when we owned the claim we gave them and others permission to go there working and although I have never in my life asked if I could work claims owned by others we did allow others to work ours. on the claim in question we took nuggets up to and over three ounces and the majority of the gold was coarse. Should the present claim owners give you the courteousy and allow you to potter that we gave them and allow you to go there then if contact is made with me I will happily divulge a couple of spots where a great days gold minng could be had and other spots to stay well away from as they are more or less swept clean. None of the gold in this photograph comes from this claim however but the gold from that claim was just as good and lateron some samples of gold from that claim will also be shown. It also yielded some pure black nuggets but more on that later...maybe...if I remember! Edited by user Friday, 6 April 2012 10:21:01 AM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

Lammerlaw		Posted : Tuesday, 10 April 2012 12:01:23 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)		Many people are very shallow and they want to find gold and yet they know next to nothing about life on the gold fields or for that matter they know nothing about the history - their only interest is 'Theres gold there so I want some' - theres more to it than that. The guys who are truly into fossicking and prospecting and are not the shallow 'fly by nighters' who think they can go and make a quick buck generally have a deep interest in the gold fields and know a great deal about the goldfields they frequent...hence the purpose of this thread. Gold fields life is something that always intrigued me even as a kid with a family back ground going back to the US of A, the Australian goldfields then Gabriels Gully and the Arrow where great great grandfather and his partner, seasoned miners from Australia and California no longer actually mined but supplied the miners with goods and produce - let someone else do the work - you supply what they need and make a good steady income. I guess it was from this back ground that I wanted to find out more about the goldfields. This bottle is one which was common around Lawrence during the gold rush era - the embossing reads - JONAS HARROP MEDICAL HALL LAWRENCE Jonas Harrop - He emigrated to Victoria in the early 1850s and came to Otago in 1861. He went into business with George Jeffery as General Store keepers in Munros Gully at the foot of 'Holy Joes' Gully' - George Jeffery went to the Dunstan rush and Jonas Harrop stayed and set up a chemist and bookshop which was called the 'Medical hall' - he carried this on until he died in 1889. Jonas Harrop was a member of the Tuapeka Pioneer Lodge, Court Star of Tuapeka, for 20 years a member of the School Committee, borough councillor, mayor, secretary of the Domain Board - he was a cricketer and also played bowls and was also Managing Director of the Phoenix Water Company for 12 years. I never knew any of this until i found the bottle and decided I wanted to find out its story - the old timer miners might be long gone - but their story lives on in what they left behind - but how many on this forum truly care? or want to know? This thread is more for those of you who are truly 'gold miners at heart' and who dont want to just find gold but also want to find out about the goldfields, life on the goldfields, the items and utensils of everyday life the miners left behind to tell their story and the history of the goldfields. Edited by user Tuesday, 10 April 2012 12:03:48 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

mineforgold.co.nz		Posted : Tuesday, 10 April 2012 1:11:50 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 14/11/2011(UTC) Posts: 299 Location: Nelson Thanks: 58 times Was thanked: 38 time(s) in 35 post(s)		Pure black nuggets sound interesting - never heard of such a thing.
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Metal Kiwi		Posted : Tuesday, 10 April 2012 1:28:35 PM(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)		Originally Posted by: mineforgold.co.nz Pure black nuggets sound interesting - never heard of such a thing. Yeah I wondered about that one too.
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Lammerlaw		Posted : Tuesday, 10 April 2012 2:02:03 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)		Originally Posted by: mineforgold.co.nz Pure black nuggets sound interesting - never heard of such a thing. Many years ago I found a good number of heavy 'black things' in a crevice and didnt think about them much except that it werent gold! I told my uncles gold mining partner who became my gold mining partner when my uncle died. He came from an old gold mining family and throughout his life mined gold himself for a hobby - he told me that the heavy black things could well be gold. I cannot recall if I went back to get them but think I must have as they were at a spot I did frequent a lot. In any case I did get a lot of this 'black gold' and cleaned all of the nuggets I found - except two which i kept as 'black gold' but did clean them enough so that they are now half shining gold and half 'black gold' - I fully intend disclosing the location from where I did find black nuggets as well as the biggest nugget I found so that anyone who wishes to go there might approach the current claim holder and ask permission to have a fossick - They approached us and asked permission to go onto this claim when it was our claim and we readily gave it so I think it would only be fair for them to show the same courteousy to others. There are still some amazing spots there - if you know where it has and has not been worked! The 'black' nugget below was close to pure black when I found it but with a lot of cleaning the gold can readily be seen and the near black has cleaned to a dark brown. Its weight is around 1.5 to 2 grammes. The black is of course not really gold but rather a mineralised coating, generally I would think of Limonite or iron oxides - it can be enough to deceive you to the extent that you do not realise that it is indeed gold you have found! the moral of the story is that if you are gold mining and find something that is nearly black or dark brown and weighs the same as gold dont throw it away as it could well be gold. Edited by user Tuesday, 10 April 2012 7:52:55 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

Lammerlaw		Posted : Tuesday, 10 April 2012 7:56:21 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)		Further to the Black Nugget story - I had a hunt around and found the two black nuggets plus a couple of smaller pieces and so I have just taken some photos and this is what the black nuggets are like after being cleaned enough to identify them as gold. I have placed another couple of nuggets beside them to show the contrast - it is easy to see how black nuggets can be missed taking into account the fact that they were totally black when I first found them and only knew they were god because they were still there when the gravel was cleared away. The largest nugget is about 6 grammes. Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

mineforgold.co.nz		Posted : Tuesday, 10 April 2012 8:06:32 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 14/11/2011(UTC) Posts: 299 Location: Nelson Thanks: 58 times Was thanked: 38 time(s) in 35 post(s)		Whaddo you know - black gold. That makes it tricky lol I'll be double checking all them heavy rocks now!
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creamer		Posted : Tuesday, 10 April 2012 8:37:53 PM(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)		Awesome finds Lammerlaw. The blackened GOLD thing is quite cool. I found a nicely shaped piece of blackened lead the other day ( Shanes Stuff #93 post) and it has a certain mystique about it. And yes (tho not black..) GOD is good. Edited by user Tuesday, 10 April 2012 8:44:17 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified
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bittenbythebug		Posted : Tuesday, 10 April 2012 8:49:41 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 27/11/2011(UTC) Posts: 56 Location: Wellington Thanks: 22 times Was thanked: 20 time(s) in 12 post(s)		Great photos there Lammerlaw, interesting black gold nuggets. Yeah life on those gold fields would have been harsh back in the old days, would have been great to see the amount of gold they dug out of those early fields but I prefer my "modern" comforts like sleeping bags, modern clothing and freeze dry food when out fossicking! Great work on the thread.

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