Good work Gavin. Will be interesting to see their response.
Unfortunately the system does what it wants. Worldwide the masters that own and control us want to stop the average person getting their hands on their gold. Funnily enough a lot of western countries seem to have been selling off their gold reserves, just to have their gold snapped up by the likes of some of the asian countries. i still suspect Queenie is sitting on her hoard though, haha.
The current deal here clearly doesn't work. Yep, the miners and even hobbyists know more than the guys pushing the pens and hiding behind computer screens. Yet they get no real say. Just like a submission to your local council on some matter, any correspondence will be ignored as is just part of the process in changing the structure and thus pricing to exclude.
Personally I've fossicked on some of the few areas set aside to legally hunt for gold, I've dredged on leased ground under someone else's permit, and I've hunted the hills of public lands with a detector and sniping gear. What I know is all the claims are generally for waterways. All are quite sizeable, many are not worked. This has tied up all known ground and is producing bugger all for anyone in many cases. Sucks for anyone looking for somewhere to go whether they have the money or just are seeking an odd day here and there on someone else's permit.
From the point of the permit holder's, you need a lot of ground to make it worth going through the permit process and all that goes with it. Of course, known ground has been worked a couple of times before on average meaning you are just picking up the dregs of the missed patches, the gold lost via older sloppy workings of the ground, plus usually much of the ground is covered in the previous guy's tailings.
The new proposed costs, which i see as most likely to be implemented, will make it beyond reach of most people. Reality is most river permits are just hobbyist miners. You can't make a living all year round due to restrictions on mining, nature throwing in floods and droughts and frozen ground and frigid temperatures. Yet the costs represent a successful industry that is making a fortune , when in reality many guys are doing it for fun and covering costs, hopefully.
Under the new regime some may walk away when faced with the increased costs and time wasted completing extra paperwork.
I fully agree with you Gavin and your statement that the permitting system needs to consist of a couple of permit types. Sure the land based operations need a separate system that represents their nature of scale and working. But the guy dredging needs a break. Reality in today's NZ dictates these waterways won't probably ever get worked by the big companies again. Just too much cost to get set up, too much opposition, and too much risk of environmental damage, noise of operation and all that sort of thing.
So why not open up watery areas for dredgers? Set up a system where ground actually gets worked, encourage more gold to be found. Let it benefit the miner, let it benefit the government via spending and some fees. Simplify the current system. Spend some money so this can happen. How hard would it be to categorise waterways, stretches of waterways, to determine what can be achievable? Rather than the opposite, no you can't do this and that, but hey, throw some money at us and you may have a chance eventually of seeing something happen.
It's a big shame the guys in charge can't look at what is going on in the structure of operations in other countries, along with analysing miners opinions of their respective systems and costs.
One thing I am sure of is people won't stop mining, even if it is deemed an illegal activity. It is something that has been done throughout civilisation and I doubt it will change anytime soon. Even in poorer countries people are mining under bigger threats. Take Mongolia. The sheer numbers of miners coming from a background of no employment and a bleak future has seen vast numbers hand mining ground, digging dangerous drives and shafts, all whilst being threatened with weapons, beatings and fines. Yet they still persevere and keep returning.
With the nature of our country it's going to be hard to stop people sniping in the bush. Plus there's no money to be made off that via permitting.
Detecting isn't much different. Sure, you could fine the odd guy. Bust them with one of two little nuggets at a time. But hardly a wise use of resources.
To me it would make more sense to provide an acceptable system and structure that keeps all parties happy.
Perhaps everyone on here and other forums can provide a description of how they mine (dredge, detect, fossick in approved areas), plus explain how often they get out to mine and what type of set up would be ideal in their eyes. Maybe someone will take note.
What I most see lacking is somewhere for folks to highbank. Why don't we have set areas for this. Considering a lot of people don't have the time or health to get into the rugged mountains it would make sense for a couple of places for this activity as they do in other countries. Again, a nice fee could be collected, but most of all it would keep people from having to either miss out, or have to sneak about.
What seems to be forgotten is this country was founded on gold mining. Many of our ancestors partook in it, emigrated here because of it, made their wealth from it, and set up many of today's businesses and enterprises and industries from wealth gained from it. It is our history, so why can't we participate in it on the odd weekend in such historic areas without having to fork out thousands in fees which is clearly a barrier to exclude the majority.
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