There's gold in them thar rivers.

[Bill Douglas]

It's summer here in the south pacific and girlfiend, dog and I are doing a drive around the south island here in New Zealand as our summer holiday. The theme of it will be stand up paddleboarding the lakes, walking the dog, trout fishing AND panning for gold in the rivers.

I've spoken to one or two guys who reguarly pan for gold in Otago and it sounds like fun. I expect to find some gold but not enough to make up for what I've lost on the stock market in the last year on my gold mining stocks.

I'm going to snorkel around likely places and maybe swim down three meters and bring up buckets of gravel/sand to pan.

Have you had any experiance, and any luck?

[slodave]

I did two summers ago. I just didn't get a chance to go this year.







I have a bit more than that, just can't find the pic.

[Joeaksa]

Same here and its a lot of fun that might just turn into some $$.

[tevake]

That sounds like a fun trip Bill, bet you will find yourself in some beautiful spots.
When we did a trip around the South Island my quest was green stone. I ended up find some nicely polished small stones on the beach on the west side, had to do battle with the no see ums for them tho.

What an amazingly diverse terrain there is to experience there. You going to be chasing the trout around?

We were in Queen's town for my birthday, so I splashed out on a tandem hang glider flight there that was way fun!!

Drop us some pics and stories from your trip, you know how we love road trips.

Cheers Richard

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by tevake

so I splashed out on a tandem hang glider flight there that was way fun!!

Wow, GOLD. Well done

I am NOT doing a hang glider flight LOL. I'm afraid of hights A birthday a few years ago bought me a trial trainee pilot flight in a (I think) Piper Cherokee. Whooo, it took me about three days to recover from the expreriance.

The trip should be fun. I'll sort out my trout gear, the tent, portable bbq and things and we'll head off there. I've got another paddleboard on order for my GF as a Christmas present so that will be the theme of the trip. Plus paddling around flat fresh water lakes instead of getting beaten up in the surf does sound appealing.

Re the standup paddle board. I know a few of us are curious about them so I'll start a new thread with pics in the new year

[cgarr]

The tax paid on gold you sell is collectibles gain but what do you pay when you dig it out of the ground??

[RWebb]

the fish pay the tax thru damage to their habitat

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by RWebb

the fish pay the tax thru damage to their habitat

Sorry but we ate the fish. Next silly argument?

[Hugh R]

Originally Posted by slodave

I have a bit more than that, just can't find the pic.

You found a gold dime? That's awesome!

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Sorry but we ate the fish. Next silly argument?

recreational gold mining thru use of suction dredges has severe effects on fish

try not to be so silly next time

[slodave]

Not sure there is that much damage to the fish. The video I have seen shows the fish very eager to root around the newly uncovered areas of the river bottom and don't seem very afraid of the divers and equipment. I also think that Cali didn't allow dredging around the spawning season.

I didn't dredge, just a sluice and a pan.

Hugh: haha! I wish.

[RWebb]

I don't think there is much damage from your shovel and bucket usage Dave.

The suction dredges can move much more material -- one reason Calif. has them on a permit system or banned, and Oregon is doing the same thing.

[Bill Douglas]

We don't pay any tax on it Craig. Recreationally found gold can be kept or sold, and other gold sold would be treated as income tax or business tax. We don't pay tax on collectables, capital gains on property or increases in the value of your stocks in this country.

A few gold fossickers don't do any harm to the rivers. Every time a big rain comes through it alters the rivers and unearths a WHOLE LOTA GOLD hehe.

[tevake]

I sure would be trying not to fall off those SUP boards in some of that glassier melt water that and bounce back up quickly.

How do you track the areas that are holding? I thought the gold was in coromandel?

[daepp]

We hike the east fork of the San Gabriel. I've never gone after it myself, but the guys we encounter say there's lot of money to be made in gold - by mining other peoples wallets!

[slodave]

Originally Posted by RWebb

I don't think there is much damage from your shovel and bucket usage Dave.

The suction dredges can move much more material -- one reason Calif. has them on a permit system or banned, and Oregon is doing the same thing.

I was being clear. I had someone ***** me out on Youtube.

Cali had a permit system and the program is still suspended. I understand how the dredge works, but the material is just moved. At a faster rate than normal, but it's still there. The videos that I watched, showed just as many fish before and after a dredge moved through. I do believe there is an impact on the wildlife, just not as bad as it being made out to be.

I think hydraulic mining is the worst.

Anyway, I think the permit based system was fine and was not doing much harm to the fish.

I also think that sluicing will be next on the chopping block.

[daepp]

Still, the camaraderie etc - pretty cool way to spend a free weekend if you ask me!

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by tevake

How do you track the areas that are holding? I thought the gold was in coromandel?

There's gold in both areas. Otago was one of those gold rush places 150 years ago. And it seems to be in the rivers. I guess that's because the rivers cut through the earth and uncover fresh areas each little while. There is a web site on where it's legal to get gold and lots of info on where there is gold.

I think??? Coromandel is a big hole in the ground mining place. I think hat's why it winds the hippys up.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by tevake

How do you track the areas that are holding?

Here's a bit of info.

Finding Gold in Rivers, Culverts, Lakes and More

If you find small gold flakes like I did above at a river, usually moving up river will yield bigger and bigger flakes and nuggets. Eventually, you can find the vein where it comes out of the ground. The smaller the piece, the longer and farther it's traveled down river.

[RWebb]

Dave - does Calif. require a permit for the sort of mining in your pics? A guy with a shovel and a 5 gal. bucket?

I am mostly a terrestrial biologist but the trout guys at Or. Dept. Wildlife & Fisheries and in Wyo. Dept. of Game & Fish were really exercised about the mining damage. These are the same guys who don't like the env'l groups much...

The problem is damage to the bottom of the stream where the fish need particular types of stuff on the bottom to lay their eggs in. You could have adult fish who were attracted to a mining area b/c it stirs up sediments and insects that they can eat. But then the fish go extinct (extirpated) in that area as their eggs won't hatch.

If there were thousands of people with shovels and buckets one small stream I guess it could get bad.

This is an example of things that really tear up the stream -- a suction dredge:



those 2 guys can backpack it in to almost any stream - even in a wilderness area