To all the people out there that think CLAIM JUMPING is ok.
Keep in mind that you are stealing someone else’s lively hood.
If you are claim jumping in the top of the south area, and you and your vehicle are caught on camera, expect to receive a court summmons.
I will be taking private prosecution out on anyone caught taking gold off my claims.
Retribution of up to $30,000 will be sort.
No more warnings, all names and photos will be posted on line.
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I dont know if the court would grant $30,000 compensation. You would have a job getting that and in order to get it might have to prove that is the type of return you achieve over the same time period that the alleged poachers are there. In turn this might lead to questions being asked by Mr Taxman and unless you have the physical gold this could lead to problems.
A poacher was caught on one of our claims recently. He had been there several times. A trespass notice was issued by my next door neighbour.
As for court action - can be expensive so maje sure you gave every detail jncluding camera with gps feature. The gps feature was the main feature that jed to a successful prosecution in a hunting poacher incident a while ago.
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lammerlaw how u doing,mind if i ask where your claim roughly is?is it on the lammerlaw itself?
One is. We have just set up cameras on it to deter those who seem to think they can go where ever they like.
Its a partnership of four of us.
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I doubt even the poor dairy owners would get that kinda money after being ram raided !! , not much justice happening for victims these days , probably better of going old school & taking up matters with your own hands .
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is there a way i can message you personally on here?
There is if you look at profiles.
As much as I love all the youtube videos the simple fact is its hard times in old NZ for many they see easy gold all the data is on line so it not overly hard to track down claims good luck if you catch people but many walk away from serious crime for little more than a smack on the hand we live in woke times
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Yep. It is as easy as going to the top of this page & click on Permit Map. Simple as. Ignorance is not an excuse & it is the individuals responsibility to suss out what is claimed & what might not be, not the claim owners, before just heading off to a location willey nilley.
JW 
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There’s plenty of gold on streams and rivers that don’t have claims, sure thats illegal too but dont see why someone would claim jump and risk claim owner reteliation (violently or legally lol) when theres plenty of gold out there where there isnt claims … Stupid thieves!
That is absolutely right - in fact there are areas that are not claimed that are better than many areas that are claimed.
The trouble is some idiots think that because an area is claimed then its the best spot to go to when it actual fact it might be far from it.
With a bit of research and homework it should be relatively easy to find a good spot.
As far as going to a spot that is not claimed is concerned then as far as I am concerned WE are the New Zealanders and WE should have the right to go gold fossicking where ever we want as long as it is not on a claim or private property. The moral of that story is that if ever I see anyone looking for gold on an area that isnt claimed I will wish them good luck and pass on by with a smile after all our politicians are selling us down the drain day by day and allowing foreigners to take our gold - money speaks.
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What actually does the law do about claim poachers? I reckon they wouldn’t give you the time of day. What is the penalty, by law, for a claim poacher. Is there even any such thing as a penalty?
JW
The penalty for illegal mining can be up to 2 years in prison or a $400,000 fine. If the offence is a continuing one a potential futher fine of $20,000 per day. This is the information I was given by NZPAM when we were dealing with a poacher on our claim
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Good info KD. Lawyers might argue about what constitutes ‘mining’
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Exactly, methods like sniping don’t even use tools, and the definition of gold fossicking on DOC website is “Gold fossicking is the activity of collecting gold by a stream or river using pans, shovels, and sluice boxes.” So in court, sniping with no tools should be completely ‘legal’ right? 
A decent lawyer will obtain a prosecution and the culprit will not have a leg to stand on.
Mining - Mining is the industry and activities connected with getting valuable or useful minerals from the ground.
It need not mean the use of modern equipment or machinery. The mere act of obtaining the minerals is mining. No definition will state that machinery or any other method to extract the mineral is required.
If you have a pan and shovel and you are extracting gold then you are mining gold, if you have a detector and are detecting gold and you remove that gold from the ground then you are mining, no matter how small or large the operation might be. there is no gray area.
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Ok. Who knows of any claim poacher being caught, prosecuted & charged for trespass & stealing gold, & what was the penalty?
JW
As someone who is new to the gold bug and who hasn’t always lived on the right side of the law on in the (passed ) i would never go on to another man spot who has forked out his hard earned $ to live his dreams so it comes down to someones values and if they don’t have those values fair game how u deal to them i say
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Ok, so you break a few knee caps & they then do you for assault. So you are losing again.
There is a saying on the West Coast, West Coast Justice. That is the practise of taking the law into your own hands. Kind of illegal too but is what you are referring to. 
Has its merits though as I don’t think the law gives a shit about claim jumpers.
JW
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Mr officer, I was claim jumping and someone assaulted me! 
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