New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

It was mentioned a few weeks ago but it is harder than one might think. It is one of quite a few places I know which I am seriously considering divulging - some are on our old claim which is now claimed by others BUT we were decent enough to allow them to mine there when we owned it and I would think pretty poorly of them for not giving the same privileges to others - they approached us and asked if they could mine it and therefore they would be poor specimens to refuse others to work there.

Some absolutely amazing detecting spots there but I am now the only person who knows what has and what has not been worked - even the present claim owners dont know which parts have been worked thoroughly.

You would be welcome but you already know that anyway!

There are many,many people who know for certain where gold is - that is no problem whatsoever knowing where it is - but sometimes getting it is another matter entirely. Gold is not 'rare' - it is quite common but it is matter of knowing the lie of the land, knowing what has and what has not been worked, knowing how to go about getting it. Many people on this very forum can tell you where it is - that is not the problem!

Many of the rivers, high in the hills and not so far from their sources must still contain good gold. On one occasion we was trapped for eight days in my tent up in the hills about 1k from this spot during heavy rain and floods and toward the last day the creeks had gone somewhat so I put my skin diving suits on, waddled overland to this spot and the river was so high that it was difficult to keep a footing and so dirty that I could only see the bedrock when my head was within inches of the bottom - in the one and one only spot beside the wing dam where I could get an anchor hold I scooped up one and a quarter ounces of gold including a 13dwt nugget - nearly 20 grammes...I never did that well again here when the river was at normal flow though over the years we did get a good deal of gold within a stones throw of this spot.

Hi Simon - the lay of the land isnt quite as the photo might suggest - it is virtually all bedrock with excellent crevices which had been worked by the old timers hence the wing dam. The crevices all go across the stream from one side to the other at a right angle. The stream is also shallow here hence the reason I could work it when it was in flood.

On the near side of the stream it didnt appear as though the old timers had worked it all that thoroughly as this was a spot I took visitors to in order to totally gaurantee them at least half a dozen double match head sized nuggets to take home.

On the far aside when it was in flood is where I got the one and a quarter ounces of gold including the nugget mentioned above. It was all in a small crevice under a point where floods had scoured away the side of the wing dam.

Good reading once again sir. Thank you for taking the time. Definately keeps the urge up knowing theres some gold left if you willing to do the work. Roll on the warmer weather!

Sure looks harmless enough in the photo.....I can see how some people get caught out when not prepared. A kilo of gold!!! Makes the few agates I collected on Sunday seem like rubbish lol

You are a lucky man.

Yes you are right - it is a coating on the gold - I guess that in many respects it is a bit like painting a nugget dark brown but in the case of it occurring in nature it will be mostly an iron oxide coating or limonite.

I guess that is the untold part of the story - yes it has ruined my health - skin diving when the ice extended out onto the river, going gold minng when I had the flu and ending up really crook in bed for two weeks, refusing the leave the river until it was dark and coming home so exhausted that I couldnt get up in the morning, walking for miles after getting my Landrover hopelessly bogged, having to drive myself to hospital forty five miles away with a broken leg, getting pickled after a night in the hut and ending up more or less unconscious for a week (not the golds fault - blame it on the guy who gave me a full 1125ml bottle of Black rum just after I had finished three bottles of beer). Days stuck in huts while it is howling blizzard outside, snow swirling, and moving so many rocks that at the end of the day I stood back and marvelled at how I managed to move them in the course of a day, having troube through exhaustion trying to walk overland back to the hut and tent...it all adds up and maybe that part of the story is best left untold!
Today just as keen - another day, another river and another mountain beckon - BUT!

We all look forward to next season, next spring but there comes a year when you put your tools down, say goodbye to the river not knowing that this was the last day, the last trip - my Uncles last trip is still so fresh in my mind, his/my old gold mining partners last trip is also still fresh in my mind - and for neither of them was it their last trip but fate determined otherwise. I guess a bit of sentimentality in that - but reality as well.

Edited by user Saturday, 7 July 2012 10:28:02 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified