finally started!

[kiwi101]

Last weekend we traveled to the west coast to do a bit of sluicing at the goldsbourgh public fossicking area(My excuse was to see the parents and grandparents

we went to the public prospecting area. got a few specs but couldn't do too much as the kids kept getting themselves in the water. used my little sluice i bought a few weeks ago but decided i needed to make my own bigger one. so here are some pictures of the beginnings. ordered the alloy and got it delivered to work. the boss had a 120 year old guillotine and sheet metal bender so that was handy. going to get the the steel for the riffles this week. and hopefully after Christmas i will buy a huge sheet of miners moss to finish off the basic sluice.

the longer one is going to be my sluice while the 2 shorter ones i am going to sell to cover the costs of my big one.
My idea for my sluice is to make it universal and give it different ends that can come off and on. ie a general sluice flare, dredge hose outlet, and a high banker too.

Ideas? suggestions? questions?

 

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[kiwi101]

 

[Prospector70]

Very nice!
You can do just about anything to get a sluice working, heck this homeless guy down at grant frontier park in Denver Colorado made his own out of a rain gutter and a cut up plastic sign held in place with some silicon caulking. He showed me his catch so far this year in a old cologne bottle with a cork... a cork! lol love that guy.

Keep us up to date! Show lots of pics and I'm sure others will chime in with what carpet / matting to use all the way down to what is the best angle for your riffles.

Best of luck! <3

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Well, best of luck to you. I have a daughter who lives in Christchurch with her family, so I have visited New Zealand a half dozen times or so. We did a lot of touring and I saw quite a few places I wish I could have panned or sluiced, but never did get to; especially Otago. It seems the rules are fairly strict there (hand tools only) unless you have private property to work on.

May your sluice have golden clean-ups.

 

[kiwi101]

I live about 30 mins north of Christchurch.
That is correct, there are public fossicking areas all over the west coast and in the south of the South Island. There's no gold here on the east coast. In these areas you can only use manual hand tools and sluices to find gold. Nothing like dredges or high banks or anything that has a engine. These areas are still concentrated with gold even after all these years. They just keep replenishing.

If you know someone with a claim or you get a mining or prospecting license for a piece of land. There is better gold. But unlike other places. You need to get resource consent to use water, land access agreements with government etc

By law all gold and minerals are owned by the crown so royalties are to be paid too.

It's quite an expensive task here lol

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hi Kiwi,
Any public spots you'd recommend to someone visiting from aboard and wanting the NZ gold experience?

 

[kiwi101]

Hi Kiwi,
Any public spots you'd recommend to someone visiting from aboard and wanting the NZ gold experience?

depends on what part of the country you'll be visiting and what else you'd like to do while your here. I personally only go to the west coast as thats where i go to see my family and what not. I have heard that the arrow river down in Arrowtown, down south is pretty good and that is close to Queenstown which is dubbed the "adventure capital of the world"(just FYI)

I go to a place called Goldsbough on the coast and want to try out nelson creek. they both have department of conservation camping grounds.

Here is a map of public areas( i hope i am allowed to post it?)
Public Gold Fossicking Areas - New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Fossicking

There are no public areas on the North island

 

[KevinInColorado]

Great info Kiwi, thanks SO much! When I get to NZ I will be thinking of you as I see that first yellow in my pan!

 

[kiwi101]

When are you coming over? Where are you landing?

 

[KevinInColorado]

When are you coming over? Where are you landing?

In a year or two. We have friends who moved to Australia so we are penciling out a trip to Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands. Also going to Bali as volunteers to teach English. Going to take several months and do it right...so it'll be after I retire. For a trip like this I figure on months of planning and info gathering then buy the tickets way in advance to get good prices. I don't mean to hijack this thread so maybe PM me any advice on good time of year to come, basics of where to land/ visit...

 

[Duckwalk]

Look into goldhog matting. they have mats for all sorts of conditions, gold type, and gold/gravel sizes. I know some people who run their sluice with nothing more than the matting they buy from goldhog. No riffles or anything.


Edit: They even have a link on the site that shows what type of mat to choose for your conditions.

What Gold Hog Mat should you be using?

 

[goldenIrishman]

In a year or two. We have friends who moved to Australia so we are penciling out a trip to Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands. Also going to Bali as volunteers to teach English. Going to take several months and do it right...so it'll be after I retire. For a trip like this I figure on months of planning and info gathering then buy the tickets way in advance to get good prices. I don't mean to hijack this thread so maybe PM me any advice on good time of year to come, basics of where to land/ visit...

Let me know when you're going Kev. I'll give you a shopping list for things in the Cook Islands I need for my inlay work. Just different kinds of shells but they're expensive here in the states. My father brought me back some years ago for next to nothing but I've gone through all of it over the years and need to replenish my supply.