Recent gold

[flyspekau]

Had bad luck for the last few months not being able to dredge in an area due to power plants being turned on all day long so now that the plants have all but stopped running and the waters down it just got to cold and DFG hassling a few guys in the area decided time to give up, pulled the dredge out of the area but i did finally get to a few spots I had been wanting to work and picked up a few grains of gold not the results I had been hoping for wanted to leave with at least an oz in my pocket, that didn't happen but hey got plenty of excercise these last couple months, got out and breathed fresh air from this nasty city life, got a few good dredging experiences like swimming my dredge down stream in a gorge 1/8 mile or so by myself which was a little scary considering I was in water about 50 feet deep at times to deep to see the bottom , dredged in some deep water about 10-12 feet unsure when the water would rise and come up 5-10-15 feet before realizing it was happening got kinda crazy at times but hey that's what made it interesting.

Anyhow thought i'd share something here since it's been awhile. Got the dredge home now going to do some work on the pontoon leakage and then to another spot or 2 later on next month when the water starts running again in them..

Some video some of you might be able to watch some won't not sure why that is I think you need high speed connection to watch the video.

http://crackle.com/c/Reality/Long_arm_dredging/2415275#ml=fu=2109298&fx=

 

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[Sierra Kid]

Sweet pics! Nice Land Cruiser

 

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[kiwi jw]

Hi guys, G'day Flyspekau,

Sorry mate.....didnt mean to hijack your posting, just got a bit carried away & got a roll on LOL
Yer that Coromandel gold hasnt come far from its source, but damnd if I can find it. I have tried believe me. The little creek, as you can see from the sluice box pics, doesnt have much water flow. So I have to use my sieve buckets to pre classify the material before I put it through the box. Otherwise there isnt enough water to wash through the bigger rocks & waste material. Bit of a bonus really as the secret of fine gold recovery is to classify your material & use as gentler flow of water as you can down your box to remove the waste but not wash the fine gold right on through as well.

Sieve buckets. The grey pipe is my under water view finder that has 6mm glass siliconed in the bottom of it.

White pipe above the sieve is a 2" hand gravel suction pump that I used to clean out that little hole to the right. It had a few of those nice little quartz specimen pieces in it. There isnt enough water in the creek to run my 2" suction nozzle set up. As you can see I have been cleaning up this little creek right down to its bed rock & putting it all through the sluice box.

Here is my prospecting & crevicing tool kit.

These two crevicing scrapers I made from the steel of an old builders hand saw blade. Very strong & flexible. Also a little crevicing hand sucker/pump

A few weeks ago I had all these tools, Sieve buckets, My sluice box & wooden header box that I made to fit at the head of the box to take my 2" suction hose/nozzle set up, stolen from where I had had them stached in the bush for nearly a year. PRICKS. I had had this gear for quite a while & it all worked bloody well.

2" suction nozzle set up

The landcuza I dont have any more & I have just got rid of my old Hilux Ute.

 

[kiwi jw]

Here is some more NZ gold
A 5 ozer detected with a GPX 4000 Not by me though

Some more South Island gold from my dredging & sluice boxing

Here is a selection of good sized NZ nuggets from Central Otago & the West Coast

And a 2 ozer from the Hokitika area on the West Coast

Happy golding all

JW

 

[Sierra Kid]

Great pics. I hope I can find some gold! Did you replace the Toyota's? (I collect Vintage Toyota Trucks)

 

[kiwi jw]

G'day Cork, I was going to get a later model hilux but instead of forking out NZ$25,000 I spent $2,200 & got a (dear I say it)......cringe.......A mazda Proceed

Happy golding

JW

 

[treasurefiend]

Great stuff!!!

 

[flyspekau]

Awesome post JW thanks again for sharing

Just a basic tool kit for crevicing a guy could put one together in no time and pretty cheaply, bedrock is where the golds at

 

[kiwi jw]

Yep, bed rock is where the gold is at that is for sure.
The chunky gold I got in the black pan was from a 2" gravity dredge system that I used before I got into motors & pumps. The area was kind as it had steep fall allowing this kind of operation. Also the little creek is a violent mountain torrent in flood. So very little fine gold, hence the chunky stuff getting into these rock pools & staying there during heavy flood. I have also tried this with a 4" pipe to process more material quicker. I would start the flow by bunging a tennis ball into the bottom pipe that goes into the sluice box & then race up to the hole I am sucking out & fill the pipework up with water. I have a flexi hose at the top end for vaccuming around the rocks etc. I would make sure the top end hose inlet was anchored under water then race down & pull out the tennise ball.....& hey presto.....water out the bottom & good suction up top....we are in business.

Hole up top that I was working on. Notice rope & winch hauling on the big rock. Some rocks I was able to drag out but this one I just held in place while I sucked under it. Grey pipe has glass siliconed into the bottom for an under water view finder so I can see what I am doing.

A couple of pieces of gold either side of the tip of the pliers

Here I had my 3" dredge helping out.

All good fun.....Dont you just love it. This gravity set up is also nice & quiet & no petrol fumes or noise to give you away as to what you are up to. I like that.

Happy golding all. I am off for a play with my banjo as we have had a bit of a flood & I need to check out for deposited black sands to throw through the banjo

JW