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.

New Creek & Louis Creek Fossicking Area - Any one been there???
Chrispy  
Posted : Sunday, 21 December 2014 11:08:02 AM(UTC)
Chrispy

Rank: Gold Ingot

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

Groups: Registered
Joined: 31/07/2012(UTC)
Posts: 314
New Zealand
Location: Christchurch

Thanks: 82 times
Was thanked: 230 time(s) in 102 post(s)
Heading up to Quinneys Bush Nelson for a couple of weeks this Christmas and wondering if any one has been to these public fossicking areas and what they are like?? Was also thinking about panning the non permited sections of the wangapeka river maybe. Any location tips would be greatly appreciated or if anyone with a claim in the area who would be happy to let me have a we play for a day would be way cool. PM me if you want. Cheers.
Back to top
Darren  
Posted : Monday, 22 December 2014 11:14:27 AM(UTC)
Darren

Rank: Gold Flake

Groups: Registered
Joined: 6/01/2014(UTC)
Posts: 24
New Zealand
Location: Blenheim

Thanks: 28 times
Was thanked: 40 time(s) in 19 post(s)
Originally Posted by: Chrispy Go to Quoted Post
Heading up to Quinneys Bush Nelson for a couple of weeks this Christmas and wondering if any one has been to these public fossicking areas and what they are like?? Was also thinking about panning the non permited sections of the wangapeka river maybe. Any location tips would be greatly appreciated or if anyone with a claim in the area who would be happy to let me have a we play for a day would be way cool. PM me if you want. Cheers.


Louis is a great wee spot, don't expect much gold but you should find some though (I have never walked away empty handed), its best if you are set-up to crevice, there is a lot of exposed bedrock upstream.

New Creek is pretty good, but its less accessible you need a 4WD to get out to it, and the walk down to the creek is reasonably steep when you are carrying your gear (where at Louis you just walk up a flat river), bring a river sluice, classifier, and just keep digging, you will be rewarded for hard work with as much fine gold as you deserve for the work put in.


My suggestion is that you stick to the public fossicking areas, there isn't one up the wangapeka river, there are however plenty of campers, trampers and bush police (DOC rangers). Its not legal, you will get caught.
Back to top
Greg  
Posted : Monday, 22 December 2014 11:32:02 PM(UTC)
Greg

Rank: Gold Flake

Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/07/2011(UTC)
Posts: 13
Location: Auckland

Thanks: 12 times
Was thanked: 5 time(s) in 4 post(s)
Hi Darren, Thank for the info on the conditions for the New Creek area - were you meaning driving to it from lake Rotoroa or the Howard valley end? From the Howard valley would a 2WD make it in dryer conditions hopefully coming? - or only partly in and then hike to the Fossicking area? I went there and camped in the nice grassey patch near the little pan and pick monument a couple of years ago.
Back to top
Darren  
Posted : Tuesday, 23 December 2014 1:01:43 PM(UTC)
Darren

Rank: Gold Flake

Groups: Registered
Joined: 6/01/2014(UTC)
Posts: 24
New Zealand
Location: Blenheim

Thanks: 28 times
Was thanked: 40 time(s) in 19 post(s)
Originally Posted by: Greg Go to Quoted Post
Hi Darren, Thank for the info on the conditions for the New Creek area - were you meaning driving to it from lake Rotoroa or the Howard valley end? From the Howard valley would a 2WD make it in dryer conditions hopefully coming? - or only partly in and then hike to the Fossicking area? I went there and camped in the nice grassey patch near the little pan and pick monument a couple of years ago.


Rotoroa side is very steep, I would go the howard valley side always.

A 2WD will make it provided its dry, provided it has enough ground clearance, same goes for a 'soft-roader' like a Rav4 or similar, my 2WD work ute makes it without too many dramas but you do get the occasional scrape from the deeper ruts and potholes. (the road is not maintained, its rutted, its potholed and there are areas that need to be metalled but are not).
If you are driving a late model Japanese road car with low profile tyres and low ground clearance then this is not the place to go.

Edited by user Tuesday, 23 December 2014 1:04:45 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified
Back to top
jimmy bedrock  
Posted : Tuesday, 23 December 2014 3:42:06 PM(UTC)
jimmy bedrock

Rank: Gold Ingot

Groups: Registered
Joined: 14/01/2013(UTC)
Posts: 339
New Zealand

Thanks: 242 times
Was thanked: 179 time(s) in 104 post(s)
I went up there 2012/13 in my Subaru legacy..it made it ok/a bit rough but getting out was the hard part.It rained for 3 days and the small ford was now a small river lol
jimmy bedrock attached the following image(s):
SAM_0012 (640x480).jpg
SAM_0038 (640x480).jpg
Back to top
Cleggie  
Posted : Wednesday, 24 December 2014 12:32:29 PM(UTC)
Cleggie

Rank: Gold Nugget

Groups: Registered
Joined: 24/03/2012(UTC)
Posts: 88
Location: Christchurch

Thanks: 88 times
Was thanked: 59 time(s) in 31 post(s)
Jimmy, I went for a tour last month and came across the same thing. I wasn't sure how deep the ford was and couldn't see the bottom because of the flood water, so I bailed out. I was up there again yesterday and see that I could have made it across in my Mitzi Pajero but I would still want back up in case I got in trouble and needed towed out. Better to wait and be sure.

I just went for a look see to New creek, I didn't do any fossicking but I did give Louis creek a crack. I panned a few different places and found no color. I set up my river sluice in a likely spot and had a go at it anyway. Spent the whole of yesterday morning digging some gravels from behind a large bolder and got bugger all! A few small flakes and some fine gold... less than 0.1 g more like 0.01g. It was a huge disappointment for me.

I may have been better for me to have thrown the gravels away till I got down to the bed rock then run the bottom gravels through my sluice. I packed up my gear and took a short cut back to the track to where I had parked my truck and came across someone else's gear stashed under a fallen tree trunk. I didn't take anything but had a good look at the type of tools they were using. A wooden sluice box, pick axe, small shovel, rock hammer, claw hammer, crevice tools, some plastic buckets, gloves and large paint brushes.

If I had more time I would have tried to get down to bed rock to do some crevicesing. Next time I will add some extra equipment to my kit.

Good luck with the search for Louie gold!

Merry Christmas all, Ken.
Back to top
Darren  
Posted : Wednesday, 24 December 2014 3:00:52 PM(UTC)
Darren

Rank: Gold Flake

Groups: Registered
Joined: 6/01/2014(UTC)
Posts: 24
New Zealand
Location: Blenheim

Thanks: 28 times
Was thanked: 40 time(s) in 19 post(s)
Please don't talk about what equipment you come across in the bush, this forum is watched and some people out there are not as honest as me or you, I have a fair idea who's gear that is and I would be gutted if anyone took anything from that bloke, could you please edit out that reference.

Both of these creeks, New and Louis, reward fossickers who go hard and go deep. I have never found anything in a pan from the streamside at either (although I think it would be possible to get a few colours at New creek as there is flood gold all the way through the gravels there). So as far as I am concerned panning up there you will be wasting your time, *unless you are crevicing the upper reaches*.

Finding gold on Louis creek, the lower reaches of, What I have found that works is to de-rock a likely area using a big pry/crow bar to get the big rocks out (inside of a bend, where the river flattens out), classify #2/#4 mesh into buckets, run that through the sluice, de-rock some more, classify some more, keep going deeper and deeper. I find stuff all in the first foot of gravel if any, the second foot maybe a few specs of colour on the black ripple mat on my keene A52, after that though you start getting rewarded, once the hole is up to around waist height, that's where the gold is, it gets better and better as you go deeper and deeper.

UserPostedImage

That was what I got out of 4 hours up there in October, had I spent twice as long up there I would expect to have gotten at least 3 times that amount. There is gold to be had sluicing but it might not be for you if you have a bad back, the exact same techniques will work up new creek but expect to get colour on the mat from the very first bucket.

Edited by user Wednesday, 24 December 2014 3:02:53 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified
Back to top
Cleggie  
Posted : Wednesday, 24 December 2014 4:50:49 PM(UTC)
Cleggie

Rank: Gold Nugget

Groups: Registered
Joined: 24/03/2012(UTC)
Posts: 88
Location: Christchurch

Thanks: 88 times
Was thanked: 59 time(s) in 31 post(s)
Hi Darren, I doubt anyone would find the gear stash as it was well hidden and although I understand what you are saying I didn't give away any clues, the Louis creek is a big area so I think the gear will be safe.

Thanks for your info, much appreciated.

Back to top
LBD  
Posted : Tuesday, 30 December 2014 12:35:35 PM(UTC)
LBD

Rank: Gold Ingot

Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 101
Man
Laos
Location: PhuBia...for a change

Thanks: 22 times
Was thanked: 43 time(s) in 33 post(s)
Went up the Rotoroa side twice in the last couple of days... definitely a more serious 4wd track...ie... not a subaru legacy etc...

To all those that I met up there... hope you all had success.

And if you were wondering about the small pump/chain saw type noise... was only I cleaning up around the Sabine monument with a weed eater....

Edited by user Tuesday, 30 December 2014 9:26:20 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified
Back to top
sycotoad  
Posted : Friday, 2 January 2015 4:36:23 PM(UTC)
sycotoad

Rank: Gold Ingot

Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/08/2012(UTC)
Posts: 569
New Zealand
Location: downunder

Thanks: 120 times
Was thanked: 126 time(s) in 97 post(s)
That will make it easier to swing a detector .............many thanks lol
Makro - Nokta - deteknix - GoldFinder
Back to top
WWW