Hunting in New Zealand ( Lots of NZ Photos in this thread)

[Wildcat]

Here are some little babys I picked up last time I went to New Zealand for a holiday.
They were found between and to the left of the 2 rocks in 2nd image

 

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[Wildcat]

I see you are using a Garrett? Gravity trap gold pan in your avatar Lanny. I had a large one and a small one. Lifetime guarrantee they said. When it was about 4 years old I dropped it accidentally and it split straight in half! No-one would replace it back then. I still have the small one. It worked well with the black sand and gold on NZs West Coast. I have att. the Piccy of the shells and the 1924 penny.

The Cat

 

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[goldtimer]

JW, I reckon it might be a good idea to have a NZ detectorists get-together. Pick an area, get permission from the owner and/or claim holder, and have a weekend out detecting. Saves flying to OZ too
Probably be best for the summer......

 

[Lanny in AB]

Wow--those shells really cooked off didn't they! That's crazy. Nice find on the penny.

The pan in the pic is a Keene Superpan--a tougher, much more flexible plastic. I haven't split one yet, although most plastic pans will crack if you've got them loaded with river-run and you set them down quickly on an angular rock! I've done that before and it's always a sick feeling when you hear that bottom snap.

Once, way up north of here in the Omineca gold field, a Cheechacko visiting our gold camp had a pan loaded with gravel while he was sampling the face of a wall in an open-pit placer operation, and a rock came ripping down the face, hit the pan, and broke the bottom out!! He was sure lucky that day that the rock didn't hit him in the head.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[kiwi jw]

Hi Guys, Welcome back Lanny. It has been a long time between drinks. What you been up to??
Goldtimer....I may not be here in the summer......heading back up home about october. I will send you a PM tomorrow. I would like to catch up with you. Must get off to bed. I have a day back up in these workings tomorrow. We have had a couple of scortcher days 11--12 degrees. Bit of a change from minus 5-6 degree frosts & highs of 2-3. The snow up in the old workings has melted back a bit so I will go up for a look. May be the last time I go up there. I think I have got all I can from them.
Wildcat....The Garrett super sluice gold pan is my favourite.

Happy hunting

JW

 

[Lanny in AB]

Nice pictures JW--I'm glad you got out in that 11-12 degree scorcher and got some sluicing done. What kind of a pump are you using to run your high-banker, and what size of hose is your output? That's a nice looking little rig you've got there--did you fabricate it yourself? That Garret Super Sluice looks like it has a nice, wide flat bottom--I've never used one. What do you like about it?

Well, nice to hear from you again.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[kiwi jw]

Hi there Lanny, The pic of me running the little highbanker/banjo was from a couple of years ago & is in the river directly below where I have been detecting these old sluiced workings which are much higher up on an uplifted terrace. As the crow flies they are about a mile apart but the high terrace up about another 500-600 feet. The motor is a 5 horse honda coupled to a purpose built dredging pump. There is no makers name on the pump but it is 2" in & 1.5" out. It came on a 3" dredge I bought that I have made in to a 4" dredge. I dont normaly use this motor & pump to run the highbanker/banjo as it is an over kill & heavier to carry but I was able to drive right to this spot & wanted teh hose attachment coming off the pump to wash down the exsposed schist that is abobe the normal river flow. I actualy took the 2" suction hose off the end of the 2" nozzle & used the water pressure from the pressure hose to blast the schist. Bit like a mini hydrolic monitor. I would then just use the hose to help wash material into a hole & to give the nozzle some water to suck up to help clean out the hole that I had washed the blasted material into. Worked bloody well.

Result was 16 grams for a coupke of hours

 

[kiwi jw]

Hi guys, Well I took this mate of mine up to these sluiced workings that I have been detecting in. We couldnt have had a more perfect day except for the lack of gold. I think some bugger had all but cleaned it up.
Prior to getting up there I took Gavin into the Gold Shop in Arrowtown to show him what he needed to keep his eyes open for. Jim the manager of the shop went out the back & came back with a 23 ounce nugget that he dropped into our hands. WOW.... it was found on the west coast a couple of years ago by a detectorist.

Gavin was down to a "T" shirt in the snow detecting. Bloody poms, I dont know?? LOL

He managed to find a good haul of.303 & .22 shells along with bullet heads & other asorted junk. I too found my share of rubbish & thought I was going to get skunked. It would have been my first day that I hadnt found anything. It was well after we had stopped for lunch that I got the faintest of signals that could have been anything but a signal. But after scrapping away an inch or two of soil it got a lot more positive. Then I hit the schist & it was still there so I was 100% sure it was gold. I looked up for Gavin to see if he was close bye so I could get him to sweep it with his Fisher C Scope & see if he could pick it up. He was no where to be seen. He had gone off to find a spot that hopefully for him I hadnt been. I waited a bit but he was still not in sight so I kept digging. It was a bit elusive to find but I finaly had it in my hand. Not a minute later Gavin turned up. I poped it on a rock for him & he was able to get a signal at about 3-4 inches. It turned out to be a .46 gram piece & the only piece for the day.
I think Gavin had a good time despite not finding a bit of gold & I am sure he learnt a thing or two & what to look out for in the old workings.
I wont be back to these old workings again. I have photo's & the memories of some great weekends up there.
I awoke this morning to another postcard perfect day when I opened up the curtains.

Headed off to a new spot not knowing what I may or may not find. Went to some more old ground sluicings & targeted the exposed bed rock. Ended up with 12 bits. The biggest was 1.21 grams & the smallest .11 for a total of just under 5 grams.

The piece by itself is the bit I found yesterday with Gavin

Happy hunting

JW

 

[Wildcat]

I look forward to late Sunday evenings because I wait to see what you got for the weekend!
Well done JW
I know my Bro spent a lot of time around Lake Hayes Building many years ago. It is a beautiful place. Driven past there many a time myself.

The Cat

 

[Lanny in AB]

To the Cat--this thread never disappoints; neither do the pictures disappoint!

To JW--nice finds--I'm glad the Oldtimer's left you some. Depending on rain, ground moisture, atmospheric conditions, a newer more sensitive coil etc., your old worked out patch may yet produce more gold.

All the best to both of you,

Lanny

 

[kiwi jw]

Hi Guys, Since taking my friend up to the old sluiced workings I have been to a new spot that I have been told has been pretty hammered by detectorists over the years. I found 12 pieces on my first day for a total of 4.96 grams. Smallest was .11 of a gram found with the minelab 8" commandar mono & the biggest 1.21 found with the coiltek 10" X 5" joey mono. The area is old ground sluiced workings down to schist bedrock. The gold being found in the folds of the schist that is standing up on edge & also under the schist layers that are laying horozontal. The old timers I guess just got the gold that their water would wash through their tail races & sluice box channels. These are still very easy to see & often lined on the sides by rocks stacked up on there edges to form a "U" channel to direct the water flow & material down them. Over a few days I have found 27 pieces for a total so far of 8.5 grams.

The smallest .08 of a gram. Most have been found with the joey coil & all in soil/sensitive & boost/deep modes. Deadly on the tiny gold in this shallow bedrock. I would say the detectorisists before me have found anything of size & I am getting the rats & mice. I have yet to try a larger coil than the !0" X 5" but will try the 11" mono on the fringes of the bedrock where it drops off into a bit more depth. Will also try the mini UFO & the UFO coils. There are some powerlines going over parts of very shallow bedrock where the mono's are a bit noisy so may try my 11" DD.

Happy hunting

JW

 

[Wildcat]

You are making me jealous JW... I have been informed that the new Whites TDI Pro has arrived in Aussie, however the battery packs are arriving on a later flight. Must get my gold sold so I can get one...

The Cat

 

[Lanny in AB]

JW--you little detecting devil you--well done--and in a worked out patch to boot. You're doing great--keep it going and then post the pictures of the big stuff you sniff out.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[kiwi jw]

Hi guys, I have been a bit quiet on the posting front lately but have still been getting bits of gold on each visit to these sluiced workings. All be it quite small & on occasions only one or two pieces. My last full day there had me only get two .11 gram bits. One was in some old workings further up stream that had some good exposed bed rock but it looked like it may have had some modern day activity with possibly a trommel plant & excavator doing some work over the old workings. I was supprised I didnt do better there. I was about to give it away when I got a .11 gram bit with the 10" X 5" mono. I then went back to the workings where I have been doing quite well to a spot where I had got a few bits where a road in has crossed some bedrock. I put on my new 6" round coiltek mono to see if it could sniff out something more than my 10" X 5" had got. I had been over the ground very slowly & very thouroughly with the !0" X 5" a couple of times & had got a couple of bits more on a previous visit. My first signal with the new 6" mono was a .11 gram bit. It was dark by this stage so I packed it in for the day. Boy what a long day for a total of .22 grams. I would have walked miles backwards & forwards over the workings. Through briar rose, broom & gorse.
The weekend before I had crashed through some briar rose, tearing up my old jacket in the process, under some powerlines, which made the mono a tad noisey, when I spied some good looking bed rock up on a small slope that I hadnt noticed before. Damn the powerlines . They where above some stacked tailings & looked as though they may have been washed down with the ground sluicing in the old days, but there was no tailings on them but some small tail races either side. So my thoughts were that they must have been pretty exposed in the first place. It was the usual schist up on edge but very smooth & rounded off by glacial grinding.
Here is a pic of the slope looking up hill.

Within a minute I had my first signal that had that lovely mellow gold sound. I scraped away a couple of inches of the topsoil, checked the signal & it was still there. Another scrape & I was on to the schist bed rock. Another check of the signal & it was gone. Bugger, I thought. That isnt a good sign. Scanned the pile & the signal was there. Not giving it much hope now of being gold but more likely a bit of lead. Too my suprise it was a piece of gold. You beauty. Must have been sitting right on top of the schist. I got 6 pieces off that slope when darkness set in. I didnt take my head lamp with me so had to bale before it got too dark to find my way back through all the briar rose, damn the old miners for planting that stuff. They planted it to use the hose hip to make tea as a source of vitamin C. Now the bloody thing is growing wild & taking over the land scape & invading the valleys & mountain sides. A real pest now. HORRIBLE STUFF.
Looking down the slope with a dig hole & detector showing another find. Notice the powerlines & briar rose bushes.

Notice the shallow topsoil down to the schist bedrock, About 2"

And another piece down into the folds of schist. The broken out schist to the left.

Piece of gold on the white lid of my gold bottle

River way down below & the exposed high bank on the other side cut down into the glacial material. Notice the powerlines & briar rose, GRRRRR

Some of the pieces I found before dark on this slope.

I went back during the week after work & found 12 bits all up off this slope using the 10" X 5" mono I havnt tried the 6" mono but had a go with an 11" DD in mono mode to combat the powerlines. Got nothing further off that slope but on my way back to my wagon snagged a .7 gram piece on some bedrock exposed by a 4 wheel drive road that also gave a heap of crap targets & .22 shells.

Total finds from these working since my last photos. 32 bits. I think I have now done my dash at this spot & will have to find another.

Found 20 grams all up. Not bad for a spot that has been trashed in the past & also by a GPX 4000 that I know of.

Happy hunting

JW

 

[Wildcat]

As they say in this part of the world JW, You da man!! Congratulations once again. Will catch up when I get time. Too many docs and specialists at present.

The Cat

 

[kiwi jw]

G'day Wildcat, Sorry to hear of the Doc's & specialists. Hope all is well.
I am looking at getting back to Poolburn this month. I have got myself an 18" mono & I am looking at a 20" nugget finder mono. The country there is ideal for these bigger coils. The weather has taken an unusual turn & heated up a bit. Not normal for this time of the year, as you will know. I am sure it will turn to crap again any day. We have only had two falls of snow in the Queenstown & Arrowtown areas. That is unusual as well. I am sure that will change too before winter is over.
I went back tonight after work to the sluiced workings armed with a saw to cut back the briar rose to get at some more bedrock. Didnt find anything. That dented my pride as I had been getting bits of gold every time. Oh well, I knew it couldnt last. Two targets had me very confident they were gold. Both were down into the schist a good 4". One was a boot tack & the other a piece of wire. BUGGER. Makes you wonder how they got so far down.

Take care & I hope all works out well for you.

Regards

John

 

[nuggy]

Hi all, great reading on this site, specially this thread. I'm an older miner / detectorist coming back to have another crack at it. Awesome to see the NZ content and hear of recent finds. Keep posting guys it makes my day and enthuses me to get out bipping again.

 

[Wildcat]

Wecome nuggy, Hope you enjoy the site as much as we do. What part of the country are you from?

The Cat

 

[nuggy]

Hi there Cat, I'm near Greymouth on the west coast, but am wishing I was in Queensland like you cos it's still cold as here.

 

[nuggy]

Spent an hour searching for my 4 inch dredge nozzle today, pretty sure it's in that garage somewhere. The weather seems to be getting warmer, though that might be wishful thinking. The motor and pump look ok. Need new pack straps for my carry frame. Got my wetsuit that I haven't worn for ten years and ten kilos, might still fit ?
Got to get a crevice sucker (cheers JW), a big gad (thanks Lanny) might even take a trip to central, (good one Wildcat).
My new detector coil is on it's way from the states. Reading all the posts from you guys has helped with tips and attitude adjustment - about a month more preparation and I will be good to go, should be a great summer. Thanks guys!

 

[Wildcat]

Hi Nuggy, good to hear you are prepping and psyching yourself up. I went through Greymouth once, at least I think it was.... lol
I used to have a b in law that owned the Whataroa hotel for many years and have been fishing on a few of the lakes up that way. Beautiful landlocked salmon. Happy hunting.

The Cat