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newbie question
dairyman  
Posted : Saturday, 14 January 2012 2:21:24 PM(UTC)
dairyman

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Location: Somewhere near lake titicaca
Hi there
I am currently in the process of buying a gold pan from trademe, I work on a dairy farm that is bordered by a stream which has a sandy/stoney bottom and the is also a very narrow creek that runs through the farm which the bottom is predominantly sandy with small pebbles and is about shin deep ( I can walk up it in my blundstone gumboots ) would it be worth me trying to pan in this narrow creek? it is fed from the hills that the farm sits below also our runoff around the corner has a stream running through it which is quite rocky on the bottom and once again small pebbles and very shallow also fed from the same lot of hills. The boss reckons it is worth me trying as there is an old gold mining area around the corner from us.

Now I know nothing about panning for gold so I do not really know what I should be looking at or for to gain evidence of the possiblilty of gold in the mentioned streams and creeks that run through the properties, any advice or help would be appreciated I am also located in the waikato.

Cheers
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overdog  
Posted : Saturday, 14 January 2012 5:18:57 PM(UTC)
overdog

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From what I can gather the Waikato wasnt known for its gold but if there are really gold workings around then go for it!

If there is any moss around on the banks or on rocks in the creeks I'd start there-lots of tips on mossing if you search the forums.

Let us know if you are the first Waikato millionaire!

Oh and welcome to the madhouse...
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dairyman  
Posted : Saturday, 14 January 2012 6:17:26 PM(UTC)
dairyman

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Location: Somewhere near lake titicaca
Yeah I doubt that would happen lol but is always worth a shot I actually live near the wairongomai valley where the old quartz stamper battery etc is located even though that old gold mining operation was apparently a failure according to the info sign at the site.
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mineforgold.co.nz  
Posted : Saturday, 14 January 2012 8:35:33 PM(UTC)
mineforgold.co.nz

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If the creeks have a hard rock (bedrock) bottom not too deep you will probably get on better. If it has a lot of lose sandstone or light gravels you might struggle to get down to any gold with just a pan. Always worth a look though. Good luck.
Own: Lobo SuperTraq, Garrett ATPro, Minelab Excalibur
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dairyman  
Posted : Sunday, 15 January 2012 10:03:58 PM(UTC)
dairyman

Rank: Gold Dust

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Joined: 14/01/2012(UTC)
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Location: Somewhere near lake titicaca
I have been studying the outlay of the two streams I have in my sights the bigger one is spring fed from up in the hills went and had a look from the fjord on the public road behind the farm and it is very rocky up in that part and down in the lower part by the farm boundary the corners have build ups of shingle/gravel where no water is flowing over so may go down with a spade and see how deep it is to get to the bedrock as it may be worth trying to pan that once my pan arrives as I can dig down and not have as much water to deal with and just pan the contents in the water flow of the stream. either way will be trying both bits near the farm and another place up the end of a side road that I had noticed on the topo map for this areas at the topo map site
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LepreSean  
Posted : Sunday, 15 January 2012 11:59:52 PM(UTC)
LepreSean

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Have a look on Papers Past, and look at the Waikato region papers, and use key words like "Gold Found" , I have always been intrigued about the reports of colours being found there over the years.
auri sacra fames (accursed hunger for gold)
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