New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

hi overdog
thats a bugger perhaps you should have got in first

He is also applying for one on the Wangapeka down stream of the Dart.
They were both for sale on TradeMe recently http://www.trademe.co.nz...er/auction-432184763.htm

I think he is one of those who may be more interested in finding a sucker - invests in a claim then sells it and makes a killing - I might be wrong but if he ties up all that area I hope he is lumbered with it unless, like we did, he allows others to work the claim on a limited scale or on a tribute basis.

went up the Baton a couple days ago.......fossicked in two spots but only got a dozen specks or so from about 4 hours work. We arent sure if we doing it wrong eg two fast flow or too much flow thru the sluice or if we just werent in the right spot. I have no idea if its operator error or what.
Spent another day yesterday at 15 mile creek which runs into the Aorere river. Spent a few hours band didnt even get one speck of flour. Have been gathering "paydirt" from banks of river, behind big rocks and from the crevices which collect gravel on the bedrock. From what i have read, I seem to be doing it right but its nfrustrating not knowing if all the gold is just running straight thru the sluice or if there isnt any to start with!
Sorry about lack of pics.....every time I go, something cocks up on the camera. Will try again today....might try the Wangapeka river.

MforG is right-its not often I have to go to the trouble of opening my gold bottle!

Bloody nice part of the world to be in when the sun is out tho-and golding gets me out of mowing the lawns!

chrischch, you want to buy some bushmans brand insect repellent. its perfect for fossicking as its waterproof, unlike most of the other brands that wash off in a matter of seconds. bushmans will last for hours. its not cheap but thats the price of sanity. if i ever have one wish from a genie in a bottle it would be no more sandflys!

Not that I'm an expert at sluicing but if I was in a river with one, I would put loads of non-gold-bearing mud through the sluice, adjusting the angle/rate until it only just ran through and produced a clean sluice afterwards.

I remember watching the last episode of those Alaska Gold guys and it seemed to me that even after they thought they'd finally got the sluice running properly, it was still filling up with too much crap. A gold sluice full of crap is no longer a gold sluice.

Correct?

chrischch,

yeah doesn't matter what repellent you have, it's feeding time at the days end and nothing stops the buggers. the bushmans will, like and repellent and sunscreen, wear off through chaffing etc while you are mining. nothing beats covering up as much skin as possible.

no matter what your sluicebox set up is you should be able to observe the black sand "dancing" in behind the riffles. if the black sand is not jumping up and down chances are it's not set up properly. it is in this fashion the debris (ie. all the crap you want to get rid of as tailings - stones, small rock, excess black sand) will start to accumulate in your box thus stuffing up its effective operation.

i usually try and bed in to the stream bed some flat rocks for starters to support the box. then i chuck the box down and and weigh it in place temporarily with a good sized rock to stop it floating away. then i work out the height for the bottom end of the box. this needs to be clear of the water height in the stream so tailings flow out. the more drop here the better as tailings will build up in the stream as you work. then i work out the height for the top of the box. you usually only need a small amount of water flowing over the top end into the box but this will depend on the size of the gravels you put through as you want most of it to free tumble away thus avoiding having to hand pick the bigger stuff out. this is where you may need a little (or big) wing dam of rocks across the stream so you can adjust the water height into your box as you need to get the angle right so that the material dances around behind the riffles, thus letting it discharge away. try it out as you go. everything should wash away except a little blacksand and fines which will remain behind the riffles. by no means should the gravels simply sit over the box as it will block up and by useless in trapping gold. on the other hand the largest rocks you put through (presuming you aren't preclassifying all the material) probably shouldn't go flying out the end. if they do you probably have to much flow.

so its a bit of trial and error. a wing dam is great to adjust the flow though especially if the river flow goes up and down over the day. you could also get a sluice box with a flare which will gather more water flow and eliminate too much wing dam building.

lastly. once i have the flow right i place stones and rocks each side of the box up to the boxes top. i then place some rocks over these that overlap the edge of the box thus holding the box in place as there will be a bit of water pressure trying to pop it up and you don't want it to float away downstream. don't have too much rock overhanging the box though as you won't be able to see what's in the box or easily be able to pour in your gold bearing gravels.

the weight of the gravels you place in the box may eventually make the box settle a little on the rock base under it. to counteract this simply find some thin pieces of rock and slide them under between box and base rock and its fine again. this also allows for fine tuning as the water flow goes up and down over the day. without a rock base you may see your box quickly settle into the sand which will waster half your propspecting time.

hope this helps.

I will be doing a hands on panning display at the Tapawera show tomorrow (Saturday) and have a range of my sluice boxes etc there if you or anyone is going past. Do call in for a catch up.

guardian,

i've heard of that also. sure works, maybe too well. good for repelling the missus and people in general too!

not that general insect repellent is much better.