Public Fossicking Area Collaboration (Jones Creek)

Please feel free to contribute to this tread,any information you would like to share on the public fossicking area (Jones Creek) 0.5 km southwest of Ross. Information may include-vehicle access and parking,track locations,hazards,camping facilities,toilets,accommodation,access and/or local info contact numbers,boundary locations,how bad the sand flies are and last but not least any general locations for finding a little gold.(Or a lot who knows!)

Dont forget to upload any good photos or Youtube links too!!

The more of us who contribute the better so don’t be shy.

This could be an excellent resource for us Paydirt gold seekers!!

Couldn’t find much on Jones Creek,a lot of gold history in Ross,location of biggest nugget found in NZ

Anyone prospected this creek?

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I spent a couple hours there just panning but got nothing so didn’t bother setting up sluice.

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We went past ross so we decided to spend the day at jones creek, there were about 20+ hand panners throughout the river due to the goldfield centre there teaching gold panning and letting people hire pans. We spent ages test panning and sluicing areas all the way up and down the creek to clay but very little luck, most of the spots that would have had a chance for gold had already been mined as it has been hammered and the ones that could have been good just didnt pay out, for 5 buckets through the sluice from 2 diffrent locations down to clay and a bunch of test panning we got 2 flakes bigger then micro fine and a dozen or so specs, about 5 cents worth for an afternoon so defintley not worth a trip to, in fact it would have to be the worst public site we have ever been to in terms of gold and so far we have been to all but the aorere river and five and twelve mile.

Easy accsess though and right next to ross and quite a nice spot, you can give it a scratch around if you want but really it seems like more of a tourist attraction/if you want to give panning a go, type site rather then an actual get the sluice out and mine and get solid gold type site.

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That’s interesting re Jones’s Creek. Remind me not to go there!

i had high hopes with it being an being an old mining area. thought there might still be a few wee flakes left over here and there but i certainly wont be hurrying back

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Well, like you said, the access is really easy & the info center pump you full of gold fever & end up getting some money out of people from hiring pans & a little shovel. 20+ panners you say, & that was just the time you were there. So absolutely done to death.
My wife & I spent a couple of hours up Jones Creek on our way back from Kiwikeiths memorial service. It was late in the day, the info center was just closing & there was a family group just up above us. I had driven up the road a bit to get further away from where most just walk up from the info center. Chose a big rock in the side of the creek against the bank & started digging. I had set up my little sluice box & was just shoveling straight into it while my wife cleaned out the bigger rocks. Ended up with some colour for a couple of hours light work. One piece hit the ribbed matting at the head of the box fairly early & just sat there for the duration of the time despite the number of shovel & bucket loads I put down.
I have always got a bit of gold at Jones Creek, cant say the same for Slab Hut Creek though. Didn’t get a speck there. Goldsborough gave up a little bit to me as well. Wont be quitting my day job though :wink:

JW :cowboy_hat_face:

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Maybe we didnt try any of the obvious spots but we just couldnt get more then a few flakes, both goldsborough and slab hutt always do pretty good for us, goldsborough if you go far enhough up stream the clay is only 20CM deep and if you can follow it down to a spot someone hasnt got yet you always get solid medium sized gold, in slab hutt outside of the camp area is really hammered but if you go upstream about 15 mins there a bunch of massive bends with huge rocks if you can find an unmined one you get pickers galore and get a really nice haul in the end.

But yeah overall none of the sites are crazy rich and you would have to be pretty tryhardey to make a living any better then tent and baked beans.

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To be honest it was my first time ever at Slab Hut Creek. Outside the camp area was certainly hammered. Lots of holes & rock pools & sluice box dams. I just chucked a pan, bar, shovel & hand trowels in my pack & went up stream. Just up past where the track hits the creek. Looks like the creek washed out the track at that point. There were a few holes that people had been in. I just carried on in a few of them & got nothing. Tried hauling out a few rocks & panning material from under. Tried a bit of mossing & grass roots. Even pulled a few big rocks out from the bank in a few spots & not a speck.
Maybe I needed to go way further up. I have just seen Henrys haul from Slab Hut. That was impressive.
Like Goldsborough, do you need to get down to the clay bottom at Slab Hut? Cheers.

JW :cowboy_hat_face:

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The clay bottom at slab hutt is a bit difficult to understand but from what I can gather there is generally more pay on the clay bottom upstream but from about 1/2 way up the track and down it is almost the exact same the whole way through as 2 years ago diggers went through and dug up all the creekbed for bank strengthing so gold has not had time to deposit on the bottom in that area, but further upstream the pay is better on the clay, but ideally I would do a bucket or so of gravel in a good looking spot if there was still poor gold at the surfacce it cant be that much better on the bottom but if you are getting a reasonable amount off the top it will probably be very good once you get deeper.

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