New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

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G'day gold diggers

LepreSean		Posted : Tuesday, 13 December 2011 9:04:05 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 8/12/2011(UTC) Posts: 171 Location: Wherever I may roam Thanks: 187 times Was thanked: 130 time(s) in 78 post(s)		How are you all. I hope the yellow, elusive alluvial stuff is coming out of the ground without too much frost nip, inflamed tendons and sore backs. I have given in to technology so here I am. Been digging since two ladies in their eighties showed me the pan when I was seven at the Gabriel's gully 125th, and been hooked ever since. Every year I attend the gold panning competition and was NZ champ 2006, some of you will have seen me with my thumb out on the side of the road. The Tuapeka field is where you are most likely to find me or under the nearest rainbow. Summer is looking goood with most places having had a couple of floods and holes filled in and tailings cleared out. Might see you on the road, I will be the one with the hat on.
		auri sacra fames (accursed hunger for gold)

mineforgold.co.nz		Posted : Tuesday, 13 December 2011 9:41:26 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)		Hi LepreSean, If I spot the guy with a hat with his thumb out I'll be sure to stop. I'd like some panning tips from a pro. Welcome to the forum and the world of technology. Dean.
		Own: Lobo SuperTraq, Garrett ATPro, Minelab Excalibur
		WWW BLOG

Lammerlaw		Posted : Tuesday, 13 December 2011 9:44:16 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)		Welcome to the forum Sean - watch out for the gold nuggets in the Shag river and the eels that bite!

LepreSean		Posted : Tuesday, 13 December 2011 10:09:30 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 8/12/2011(UTC) Posts: 171 Location: Wherever I may roam Thanks: 187 times Was thanked: 130 time(s) in 78 post(s)		Cheers, the good old shag. That dwindling water still puts out a picker or two. sometimes the eels rest on my gumboots waiting for a spider or something. Started noticing lamp rays so the water quality cant be as bad as i have heard. I look forward to learning more about using this forum over time and posting some pictures and stuff of my adventures
		auri sacra fames (accursed hunger for gold)

Lammerlaw		Posted : Tuesday, 13 December 2011 10:16:23 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)		Originally Posted by: LepreSean Cheers, the good old shag. That dwindling water still puts out a picker or two. sometimes the eels rest on my gumboots waiting for a spider or something. Started noticing lamp rays so the water quality cant be as bad as i have heard. I look forward to learning more about using this forum over time and posting some pictures and stuff of my adventures The picnic spot is a good spot - it still is after all these years - but then again you know that...a fellow got many ounces near there not so long ago I understand... my Father got a 12dwt (18grammer) out of the Shag not so long ago but gave it to the guy he went up there with. Edited by user Tuesday, 13 December 2011 10:18:33 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

LepreSean		Posted : Sunday, 18 December 2011 8:35:28 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 8/12/2011(UTC) Posts: 171 Location: Wherever I may roam Thanks: 187 times Was thanked: 130 time(s) in 78 post(s)		Originally Posted by: Lammerlaw Originally Posted by: LepreSean Cheers, the good old shag. That dwindling water still puts out a picker or two. sometimes the eels rest on my gumboots waiting for a spider or something. Started noticing lamp rays so the water quality cant be as bad as i have heard. I look forward to learning more about using this forum over time and posting some pictures and stuff of my adventures The picnic spot is a good spot - it still is after all these years - but then again you know that...a fellow got many ounces near there not so long ago I understand... my Father got a 12dwt (18grammer) out of the Shag not so long ago but gave it to the guy he went up there with. I have been told of some impressive amounts from that corner, 30, 60, 90 oz', I have tested with pan on foot over 20 km of it with colour everywhere, a mate of mine even panned colour at the head. The gold is well distributed through the gravel, the cracks can be very patchy, but sometimes hold wheaty gold that was missed by the shovel. in one spot you can find several types of Au, and in the concentrates , very nice crystallyne Iron pyrite, clear garnet and micoscopic gem stones,zircon etc. I plan to camp there quite a bit when the river is down, as the Moleneux at Beaumont still too high for any easy digging for me and I can have a roaring bonfire.
		auri sacra fames (accursed hunger for gold)

Lammerlaw		Posted : Sunday, 18 December 2011 11:59:21 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)		Yes I have been along its length from the head to the sea - at the head waters I got an eel and it was in a hole in what only had the merest trickle going in and the merest trickle going out and at the sea I have picked up Maori artifacts and in between gold - a nice place to be. Walked a lot of Deep Dell a while back - been there a couple of times recently. I have also walked a fair bit of the Waikouaiti but when I look at it on Google earth I seem to get disorientated and cant work out where I have and have not been - certainly from about six ks above Bucklands to the sea and form the point where the South and North branches meet I have been another 6ks or so up the South Branch but thats a while ago. I was just randomly prospecting then and didnt get enough to make it worth going back - though recently I have decided to go and have another look one day as it was country I like.

LepreSean		Posted : Monday, 19 December 2011 3:11:32 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 8/12/2011(UTC) Posts: 171 Location: Wherever I may roam Thanks: 187 times Was thanked: 130 time(s) in 78 post(s)		Originally Posted by: Lammerlaw Yes I have been along its length from the head to the sea - at the head waters I got an eel and it was in a hole in what only had the merest trickle going in and the merest trickle going out and at the sea I have picked up Maori artifacts and in between gold - a nice place to be. Walked a lot of Deep Dell a while back - been there a couple of times recently. I have also walked a fair bit of the Waikouaiti but when I look at it on Google earth I seem to get disorientated and cant work out where I have and have not been - certainly from about six ks above Bucklands to the sea and form the point where the South and North branches meet I have been another 6ks or so up the South Branch but thats a while ago. I was just randomly prospecting then and didnt get enough to make it worth going back - though recently I have decided to go and have another look one day as it was country I like. Wow that a good size area to prospect, I know the Waikouaiti sth branch has a bit of colour, and a friend found some better stuff near Bucklands. I know of a trib of the north branch near Stoneburn where one can find up to fist size floaters of ore rock with 1-2mm visible gold , I don't think this has eroded into the Waikouaiti yet and needs a few thousand years deposition to make it worth it, We found the floaters up to ten km from source and gold about 12km. I will tell you more about that place later, wink,touches nose....thinking of Stoneburn, do you recall where the Otago rock and mineral club had their gold claim, I think it was somewhere near mount royal, it was a long time ago. We shoulld catch up some time, I would be keen to pitch my tent up at yours for a couple of nights.
		auri sacra fames (accursed hunger for gold)

Lammerlaw		Posted : Monday, 19 December 2011 3:36:25 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)		All things are possible...are most likely...in fact will happen. The Otago Rock and Mineral club took out their claim on Reedy Creek I think it was. Stone burn has its resident 'Good keen man' and for that reason I dont go back there but its not claimed at all and there was good gold to be had there as well - I dont know where they are now but I did have some nice match head nuggets from there. I had an invite form one of the farmers to go to their place when ever I wanted - they probably felt sorry for me as they were coming toward me on the road when I was driving South - I was driving along the long stretch coming into Waikouaiti form the North when a Landrover wheel all complete with axle went past me in the same direction - I wondered where it came form - and then the horizon started to angle over...need I say more. The farmer and his wife stopped and took me to my grandparents home in Waikouaiti - thats how I met the owners of Murpheys Flat in behind Stoneburn! Bucklands is well gone over and last time I was there with a friend and her kids we got nothing at all - there used to be a lot of fine colour there though. I got some good Gold out of Nenthorn to - I was there the other day but with a detector...I always had a soft spot for there.

LepreSean		Posted : Monday, 19 December 2011 5:00:31 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 8/12/2011(UTC) Posts: 171 Location: Wherever I may roam Thanks: 187 times Was thanked: 130 time(s) in 78 post(s)		Originally Posted by: Lammerlaw All things are possible...are most likely...in fact will happen. The Otago Rock and Mineral club took out their claim on Reedy Creek I think it was. Stone burn has its resident 'Good keen man' and for that reason I dont go back there but its not claimed at all and there was good gold to be had there as well - I dont know where they are now but I did have some nice match head nuggets from there. I had an invite form one of the farmers to go to their place when ever I wanted - they probably felt sorry for me as they were coming toward me on the road when I was driving South - I was driving along the long stretch coming into Waikouaiti form the North when a Landrover wheel all complete with axle went past me in the same direction - I wondered where it came form - and then the horizon started to angle over...need I say more. The farmer and his wife stopped and took me to my grandparents home in Waikouaiti - thats how I met the owners of Murpheys Flat in behind Stoneburn! Bucklands is well gone over and last time I was there with a friend and her kids we got nothing at all - there used to be a lot of fine colour there though. I got some good Gold out of Nenthorn to - I was there the other day but with a detector...I always had a soft spot for there. thanks. I have looked around Reedy and Bungtown with promise to go back. I think th "good keen man' has departed with his clydesdales to friendlier pastures, land use is changing and access the long way in for now, when that gate isn't locked. Most of the established locals are great and say "go for gold' but some of the new breed lifestylers think they can padlock public roads and acquisition commanage. I have been trying to get into the Verter burn without much success, once the farmer watched us all day from on top of the hill then locked us in, we fixed the gate with the rock hammer, he would have been puzzled as to how we got out. One day I will walk the government track from the Waipori end up the flanks of Maungatua to the old post office creek, I am sure I can sense the gold in the ground all the way from here, I dream of the monster nuggets that were found in the hidden gullies. Papers past is very useful for researching the topic, we are quite lucky to have that at our fingertips now.
		auri sacra fames (accursed hunger for gold)

Lammerlaw		Posted : Monday, 19 December 2011 6:22:09 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)		I shall tell you a story about the land owner of the place you mentioned one day - not him but his father - but I daresay he is tarred with the same brush as they say - the Verter Burn and Post Office Creek were one and the same I thought. Bungtown has been well thrashed -over the years and a friend of mine with the farmers blessing spent a day or two there for very little, I know of good finds there though over years past. Walked most of Reedy Creek and found some nice little nuggets in years past but it is there that the rock hound club had their claim I think and so I dont know how much is left there now - theres some big eels in Reedy Creek. Theres lots of spots around the vicinity that I always have intended looking into...y' never know theres heaps of time yet.

Shelia		Posted : Tuesday, 20 December 2011 8:51:20 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 20/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 45 Location: Dunedin/Arrowtown Thanks: 20 times Was thanked: 5 time(s) in 5 post(s)		Do the Otago Rock and Mineral club still have a claim on Reedy Creek?

Lammerlaw		Posted : Tuesday, 20 December 2011 8:58:12 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: Shelia Do the Otago Rock and Mineral club still have a claim on Reedy Creek? No they dont have it any more. It was situated close to the road crossing on the Waitahuna - Mahinerangi/Waipori Road. I was the last person to have a mining licence over the copper mine there and at one stage had some nice samples of Reedy Creek Copper. I tried to locate the site on Google Earth the other night but seem to get totally disorientated. Edited by user Tuesday, 20 December 2011 2:02:16 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified