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

Wildcat, thanks for the background. I take it then, that if you could, you would pursue it. Makes sense. Another thing, I sure like your "diggs" (homeplace), a great photo. Don't blame you for staying home a bit.

On a much smaller scale, I always investigate further. Yep its work, but that's how we find minerals. There's nothing of "romanticism" or "high adventure" about sluggin' it out in the bush, soaked in sweat, black flies going for your eyes, a sore back...and often little or nothing to show for it. But you gotta do it if you want a chance at a bonanza.

I had such a situation this past autumn at the base of a sharply inclined tailings pile. Found one small, but nice chunk of silver, and noticed some ruby silver on it. We don't often find that stuff. If I had a decent photo I'd post it. More often than not by far, one chunk of any kind of silver is all you're going to find. But there are exceptions.

I widened the hole, rechecked and sure enough another piece surfaced. I wound up several days later with an excavation...one rock at a time...maybe eight feet long by maybe three feet wide and easily two feet down. I kept finding more pieces, and the final tally was about 18 lbs. Most of it had a goodly amount of ruby silver on it. Not the beautiful crystals we see in textbooks, just small rounded masses attached to and often running through the calcite.

As a little sidenote, this ruby silver is unusually soft. If you abrade it with a dremel stone bit (diamond chip green stones), it'll go blood red. But when you wash and dry it, it returns to the same dull color and semi-metallic (is there such a word?) lustre it had prior to abrasion. But now, as usual, I'm going off topic.

That's why I asked the question about removing material and rechecking. You might be surprised what I learn here by asking questions of, and from reading comments made by experienced gold hunters. So, it's good to have you confirm my thinking, with thanks...  

Jim.

Just a quick post. Thanks to all of you for your comments. This photo shows the hillside with all the boulders where nuggets are scattered. Beautiful ground to work with detectors.

The Cat

You know, I'd never figure the gold would be on that hill in that boulder field--the rocks are too rough around the edges--here we're always looking for stream-worn, or glacial river worn rocks as an indicator. That's quite the hill, and quite the little honey hole you've got there. I'll bet you had some fun there, from looking at the pictures of the gold you found.

All the best,

Lanny

JW. The larger nugget is 1 oz.  The rest are Aussie nuggets. (or should I say nuggets from areas in Australia to be PC)
Jim. It seems that some company has proclaimed rights over the whole district now therefore I would not be able to go in with a grader or dozer. However I do have an excellent knowledge of the whole area and know where 'things' are.  This place is good, but there are a number of other spots that you wouldn't pick if you were wandering around. If I had 2.5 million I could buy the place, but I wouldn't as he wants far too much for it. However I would like the block next door too and I could jump the fence from there. (naughty)  The only problem is, I have a little piece of semi tropical paradise in Australia that I would hate to leave. Looks like I may have to renew my passport and go for a trip one day. I have a friend that I can stay with in Alexandra. It is only a half hour drive from there. There is some outstanding history in that region and many tales of miners losing their lives in the snows and never being found. It would be a fair assumption that there would be quite a number of little bags of nuggets lying in amongst bones on the Dunstan and other Ranges in the region. I found a cave down the Clutha River once and crawled inside. It was quite large and there was a large flat rock in the middle of it. My detector sounded off and so I moved the rock. (I was strong in those days) Underneath I found an old miners pick and chisels but unfortunately no cache. However, there may very well be one as there are remnants of an old stone house not too far away.  BTW, you need a boat to get down the river.
For the info of you Americanos...  NZ is only a 3 hour flight from Brisbane, Australia. Flights can be as cheap as $200.00 sometimes.
Cheers for now

The Cat

Beautiful picture of paradise all right! Wow--what a little slice of heaven. Quite the story you've told about that flat rock and that cave--well done detecting it and then excavating. I've found similar caches with metal detectors in the past--someone obviously intended (the items I found were cached in the 1800's) to come back and start mining again, but for whatever reason, they never made it back. It sure would be nice to find a cache of nuggets one day--I wish the same for you.

All the best,

Lanny

Strickman One thing I have learned is local knowledge is the best starting point in any gold area. The difference between each state in Australia is chalk and cheese.
The signs in Victoria are totally different to those in Western Australia and Queensland.  I have detected gold mainly in those 3 States and have had a huge learning curve in each of them. New Zealand is different again but closer to Victoria than the other States. My preferences for detecting are: 1. Western Australia, 2. New Zealand, 3. Victoria, then, 4. Queensland, however, there are areas of North Queensland that produce some remarkable finds. I have just  never made it up there. (yet)
Jim  If you want a straight answer re working that area, Yes, I would be like a bull in a china shop.  There is a fine schist a few inches down that the nuggets seem to be comfortable sitting in. This needs to be worked with dry blowers or similar equipment to remove their little butts from their comfy zone. I think it would be a payable proposition. There is also sediment in all the gullies that needs to be removed as there are nuggets down too deep for our machines to detect. And then of course there are proven reefs around there. You could finish up a millionaire, but you need to be one to get started....

Kindest regards
The Cat
 

G'day Cat,
   Brilliant thread (and great photos as well!) Haven't received permission as yet to have a look around properly, so that area will have to wait. However, I was looking at a map of the area, and I see that across the valley, an area called German Hill Diggings. Is it worth a shot do you think with small coil or larger? Any local knowledge hints that may help? As I seem to recollect from my geology days, I think this area is a horst and graben topography, so I'm wondering if the mineralisation is producing the same type of gold at German Hill as at Ophir? I may be way off base here, so feel free to correct me! I have a few books on gold, but I can't recollect seeing German Hill in any. (perhaps deeper research required!)
   In closing, I have to say this would be one of the best sites and best threads I've read.
   Btw Lanny, love your stories! There is nothing like reading somebody's real experiences to help everyone along in this great hobby!

Thanks again Cat,
Cheers all,
Aloysius.

Thanks Wildcat. You know, each insightful comment on this thread from yourself, JW and others is a veritable gem that gets me to thinking. Please keep this "comfy" discussion going, and thanks kindly, 

Jim.

aloysius Yes, I have heard of the German diggings, but, due to the fact that I have so much fun around Poolburn and Ophir, I have never ventured there. Most folk do not realize how much there is to see behind Ophir. Until you start walking it is hard to see the extent of the work carried out.  There are hundreds of heaps in one area alone and many gullies have heaps that have produced nice little pieces. It would be worthwhile flattening these heaps and using a small coil to investigate.  My brother and I have picked up pieces in a number of gullies that don't have workings in them. The only thing you have to contend with is the Matagouri bush and the Rose Hip Berry bush. Very prickly.  Many heaps have been flattened so farmers could propagate crops and grassland and we have picked up small nuggets in the paddocks around there.  If you make it to the German Diggings, I would suggest a normal coil or no bigger than a 14" mono for a start. Then you can switch to a 10" mono for any heaps. You will find it will pick up very small pieces easily as there is little mineralization to contend with. (and virtually no rubbish)
I wish I had the patience to write like Lanny. I really enjoy his stories too.

3 of my favourite books on NZ gold are:

COSTLY GOLD by JS & RW Murray   (Clutha Riches and their Human Toll)
GOLD TRAILS OF OTAGO  by June A Wood
NEW ZEALANDS LAST GOLD RUSH  by William F Heinz

JW  One for you...  Historic Gold Trails of the Coromandel  by Tony Nolan

I do not know if these are available now, but I have the first 3 and they are very informative. These books are packed with historical photos as well. Believe it or not, these books cost me $4.95 each new but I wouldn't sell them for $100.00 each now. They still have the price stickers on them.

The Cat

Hi all, Wow....this thread is really getting some momentum. Good to hear from you all & all your comments........ Great you guys are showing soooo much interest in little old New Zealand.
 I dont know where to start in reply........
Yes Lanny you have a majic way & play with words & always a pleasure to read you writtings on your advantures. Always many a useful tip & trick in sussing out those sassy nuggets as well. I couldnt agree with you more on the trout.....as you have observed & stated on them hanging out in low pressure areas.......just like gold. Two key elements of a prospectors search for gold is, "obervation & imagination".
Those Quartz rocks, is that PC enough, on that slope are actualy quite rounded & I would say have been dropped there by a glacier. They are generaly localised to an area & not scatted all over the place every where. In Wildcats pic of this slope you will see a barren patch to the right where there arent any. They seem to just follow that dipping ridge & a little bit around to the left & then they cut out again. The sharper more jagged ones are schist bedrock, commonly called schist tors, huge unshapely masses of rock- weather beaten, geological veterans blackened & seemed & scarred by god knows how many centuries of conflict with the elements. Some prostrate, some erect, others inclining earthwards. Some fanatically grouped, others isolated & solitary. All scattered at irregular intervals amidst immense tussocks of snow grass, like relics of a vast Druidical temple.



I need to get off to work so will continue tonight.
Here is a pic of the bit of gold I got with my little 3" dedge on saturday. Very rough & coarse.



Happy golding

JW

JW and Cat and all--thanks for your nice comments on the writing--I appreciate it. JW--the rocks really looked rough in the photo--the rocks around here, when they've been tumbled by a glacier or large glacial river are very round--can't seem to find rough edges, but now that you've explained it all--it makes sense. By the way--New Zealand is a much more fascinating place then I'd ever imagined. Nice dredge gold--nugget shooting and dredging are my two primary areas of focus for getting the gold right now. So, it appears we have some common interests. Great thread, both of you!!

All the best,

Lanny

HOLY COW!!!  I just looked up Amazon Books and they have a second hand  NEW ZEALANDS LAST GOLD RUSH  by Heinz  for $123.53
They could be hard to locate but a second hand shop may have any of them.... maybe ..... possibly ..... doubtfully ... luckily?

The Cat

G'day Wildcat, How many copies do you want? I have a vast collection of NZ historical gold mining books & do deal in them. Sort of started off buying them for myself to do research. Research is the key to finding gold. Lots & lots of research. I then realised there was a huge want for these types of books & now buy & sell them. You name it & I have probably got it. I have just sold two copies of Costly Gold & Two lots of the four historic gold trails series. I have a few copies of the ones you mention & many many more.







 One you may hugely be interested in & one I got just prior to your starting of this thread, isnt it a small world, is a 1906 copy from the Department of mines. New Zealand Geological Survey Bulletin No/2. The Geology Of The Area covered by the ALEXANDRA SHEET. Central Otago Division including the survey district of Leaning Rock, Tiger Hill & Poolburn.



Very interesting stuff, 50 pages with old maps showing the land make up, cross sections & gold workings, both alluvial & reef. Alluvial workings around Ophir are: Blacks No/3 diggings, German Gullies No/1, 2, & 3 where the paydirt is mostly shallow & that these slope deposits occur in places where there is no water. Gold bearing loads include Ophir Load, Trig N Load, Red Hills, Chatto Creek, Green's Reef Ophir & Ophir Reef.  It has an old black & white pic of what I reckon is those Chinamen stones, oopps SORRY, I mean those Siliceous Cement Stones that you arrowed in a photo across the Ida Valley & is probably near the German Hills Diggings that Aloysius is refering to.

   

Here is a map of Ophir Golds Ltd Prospecting boun dry. Bound to be on your old land. Your woolshed area is just to the right of this boundry which Glass Earth have rights over. They are down doing a joint venture with Ophir Gold. This shows their assay results. Some of them arent too shabby. Glass Earth have just got a mining permit to work ground over in Moa Creek. Thought you might be interested in that.



Oh well I better send this off before some thing happens & it gets lost in cyber space.

Happy golding all

JW

JW  You just blew me away.....  lol   Wanna Partner?  hehe   Certainly some of the Ophir Gold Project findings look very rich. Good luck to them. The picture of those 'rocks' scanned up well. Looks like a good prospect for the future.
Cheers
The Cat

Lanny, I ment to mention about those quartz rocks/boulders. Take a good close look at them. Go back to my earlier pics & Wildcats & the one with the gold I found sitting on one of those rocks. They are smooth. There isnt a sharp edge on any of them. They have all been rounded off. Look at the one that I show that has been turned over. The one where the hole from it is where I got the 4.5 grammer. Take a look at the rocks that you can see sitting deep in the ground with just their tops flush with the ground surface. They are smooth & as rounded off as can be. That is from ice grinding over them. Look at the scenery pics of the mountains. They are all very smooth from glaciation & not rugged & jagged from faulting & folding of which they would have been before the glaciation. Here is a pic of the Remarkables Range in Queenstown in the back ground. The tops were above the ice during glaciation but notice how smooth & ground off the tops of the other hill are in the foreground. This was totaly ridden over by ice. You will see the left hand side of the hill where the bed rock has been ground smooth & groves ground into it. Probably by big boulders caught up in the glacial ice like giant sand paper grinding over it & scouring it out.


Here is a shot from a bit further around. Again you will see the very top has escaped the ice, just, while the flanks are smoothed off. This lake is a glacial lake & has its bed way below sea level. You can see from the smoothed off mountains how deep this was buried in ice.



Here is another view looking down over the Arrow Basin towards Queenstown. Again this valley was buried in ice & you can see how smooth & carved out the bed of the valley is & how rounded off the hills are where the ice rode up over them. Probably buried bloody deeply.. The smoothed off hill centre left is the same hill in the first pic above from a different angle.

 

And a live glacier



With smoothed off rock wall



You will see the jumbled up pile of rocks & debry in the foreground, that is the lateral moraine left behind from the retreating glacial ice that has been pushed to the side by an advance of the ice, like a giant bulldozer blade, & then left when the ice melts back in retreat. This material has travelled many miles from it source & it is such material that could be carrying gold bearing material that the glacial ice has smashed & ground & transported many many miles over many many centuries & then just dumps in no paticular place or order as the ice melts & drops it. It is this kind of activity that has dropped the gold on the side of the hill that Wildcat has started this thread on. I believe any way!!  So like they say. "gold is where you find it" Looking at it today can makes no sense as to why it is where it is & you can do your head in trying to work out where it has come from. But if you take on board the glacial theory it puts your mind at rest. All you can do is look for the indicators which in this case & the German Hill Diggings. are the Chinamen Stones. Stuff your PC.



Thats me for tonight

Happy golding all

JW

Great pics JW...you should get in touch with Jim at Sierra books in California..he deals in mining and geology stuff.Very good fellow.

Lanny, I ment to mention about those quartz rocks/boulders. Take a good close look at them. Go back to my earlier pics & Wildcats & the one with the gold I found sitting on one of those rocks. They are smooth. There isnt a sharp edge on any of them. They have all been rounded off. Look at the one that I show that has been turned over. The one where the hole from it is where I got the 4.5 grammer. Take a look at the rocks that you can see sitting deep in the ground with just their tops flush with the ground surface. They are smooth & as rounded off as can be. That is from ice grinding over them. Look at the scenery pics of the mountains. They are all very smooth from glaciation & not rugged & jagged from faulting & folding of which they would have been before the glaciation. Here is a pic of the Remarkables Range in Queenstown in the back ground. The tops were above the ice during glaciation but notice how smooth & ground off the tops of the other hill are in the foreground. This was totaly ridden over by ice. You will see the left hand side of the hill where the bed rock has been ground smooth & groves ground into it. Probably by big boulders caught up in the glacial ice like giant sand paper grinding over it & scouring it out.

Yes--thanks--I now see what you're talking about. The edges are rounded, and from glacial action--much like the rocks I see very close to the mountains--chunks of bedrock that is, that have been tumbled by glacial/glacial stream action. I guess I've been referring to two different things. What I generally refer to as glaciated rocks are the ones that have been tumbled to such an extent that they are "round" or oblong and rounded--you can't find an angle on them anywhere. But, now that I understand that we're talking about the same action that rounds off sharp corners on pieces of bedrock and stone, I understand what you're saying. 

I'll see if I can dig up some pictures of glaciated rock from this area. Beautiful pictures of your mountains and the glaciated areas--and the live glacier!

Thanks again, and all the best,

Lanny

JW  Thought you might be interested in this semi technical explanation of exactly what the MXT is and how it was developed

The Cat

http://whiteselectronics.com/info/field-reports/73.html

Hi there Wildcat, Thanks for that. Very interesting.

Happy hunting

JW