Paydirt.co.nz

New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

 

The forum has moved to community.paydirt.co.nz, see you there!

This forum is now an archive to preserve the knowledge and finds posted here.

Wool to capture fine gold
cluthapete  
Posted : Saturday, 18 August 2012 7:44:47 PM(UTC)
cluthapete

Rank: Gold Nugget

Medals: Outstanding Contribution: Organised get together for Paydirt members in Lawrence (Nov 2012)Donation: Made a donation helping cover the running costs of the site - thank you :)

Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/05/2012(UTC)
Posts: 50
Man
Location: balclutha

Thanks: 51 times
Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 17 post(s)
I read somewhere, the old timers sometimes used wool to capture gold
Has anyone tried it and if so, how successful was it.
There is a fair amount of fine gold in parts of the Clutha and if wool did actually catch the fine stuff, I may have come up with a cunning plan to let the river do the work for me.

Edited by user Saturday, 18 August 2012 8:01:43 PM(UTC)  | Reason: wrong spelling
Back to top
overdog  
Posted : Saturday, 18 August 2012 8:15:17 PM(UTC)
overdog

Rank: Gold Ingot

Medals: Donation: Made a donation helping cover the running costs of the site - thank you :)

Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/03/2010(UTC)
Posts: 418
Man
Location: nelson

Thanks: 69 times
Was thanked: 82 time(s) in 68 post(s)
Hi Pete-not tried it myself but they used to use a fleece to trap fine gold in Greece and Croatia-thats where the golden fleece story comes from...
Back to top
cluthapete  
Posted : Saturday, 18 August 2012 8:44:08 PM(UTC)
cluthapete

Rank: Gold Nugget

Medals: Outstanding Contribution: Organised get together for Paydirt members in Lawrence (Nov 2012)Donation: Made a donation helping cover the running costs of the site - thank you :)

Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/05/2012(UTC)
Posts: 50
Man
Location: balclutha

Thanks: 51 times
Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 17 post(s)
Thanks Overdog, i'll do a google and see what pops up
Back to top
NUGGY  
Posted : Saturday, 18 August 2012 8:51:00 PM(UTC)
NUGGY

Rank: Gold Ingot

Groups: Registered
Joined: 20/07/2012(UTC)
Posts: 267
Man
New Zealand
Location: greymouth

Thanks: 85 times
Was thanked: 76 time(s) in 58 post(s)
Back in the early 1970's miners were still using wool carpet and hessian sacks in the bottom of sluice boxes, to hold the gold. They work ok, but have to be burnt to get all the fine gold out. If the carpet has any synthetic component, you could end up with a sticky black ball of muck with your gold stuck in it.
If the plan involved leaving sheep fleeces in the water, you will find eels love to chew on them, then get their teeth stuck in the wool, this was a method of catching eels when I was a kid. Works good on crawlies and crayfish too.
Miners moss, artificial grass, ribbed carpet and rubber mat are easier to get the gold out of. I have a small amount of rubber mat with small - 1cm square cells on the surface, I think this would be really good, but have yet to try it. Nuggy
Back to top
cluthapete  
Posted : Saturday, 18 August 2012 9:15:46 PM(UTC)
cluthapete

Rank: Gold Nugget

Medals: Outstanding Contribution: Organised get together for Paydirt members in Lawrence (Nov 2012)Donation: Made a donation helping cover the running costs of the site - thank you :)

Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/05/2012(UTC)
Posts: 50
Man
Location: balclutha

Thanks: 51 times
Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 17 post(s)
Thanks Nuggy
Never thought I might get a free meal as well. Might have to put eel & yabbies' on the menu at the Get Together Weekend.
I found a couple of locations where it floods every night due to water being released from the Dam and there seems to be a fairly high concentration of fines in certain channels
My idea is to sandwich a fleece between netting and weight it down with rocks and leave a couple of days.
I’ll let you know if it works
Back to top
kiwikeith  
Posted : Saturday, 18 August 2012 10:18:15 PM(UTC)
kiwikeith

Rank: Gold Ingot

Medals: Outstanding Contribution: Helped organise get together for Paydirt members and volunteered gold claim for the event (Oct 2013)

Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/06/2011(UTC)
Posts: 648
Location: hector

Thanks: 359 times
Was thanked: 230 time(s) in 154 post(s)
aliitle before my time and not on the west coast taken from a new book just purchased "mineral wealth of nz" got of nice picture of a large gold nugget on the front cover so had to have it not to much on gold mining but

" alluvial gold was retrived using sheepskins 3000 years ago in greece. the river sands washed over the skins which trapped the gold in their greasy wool fibres the golden fleece in the greek legend of jason and the argonauts."

page 5

i posted this awhile back on west coast stories it may help
Back to top