I have bumped into quite a few people recently who are using public fossicking areas as their main source of income and essentially raping the area for all its got.
I feel ike this goes against the whole point of the public fossicking area and it’s a dam shame.
Personally I only get to go on an adventure to the likes of shamrock creek once every couple years.
Is there any viable solution or it is what it is.
As long as people are following the rules then it is what it is. There’s no time limit or restrictions on how hard you’re allowed to work so good on them
What areas are you referring to? Maybe it’s just camping season? At least they’re having a go and not bludging the system back in the city. I know some spots it’s the endless stream of people making the big holes, esp if a campsite adjacent. New guys just go to same old area. Easy to start in a ready dug spot than dig your own new hole. Once a flood blows through most people will move on I reckon. The old floods to break the gold fever some get.
I was referring to shamrock creek but I imagine places like slab hut have the same issues.
These are public fossicking area’s not public mining area’s.
Is it that much of a pain to get a permit for your own claim that people don’t bother?
Have heard horror stories of up the howard, I think nzpam and doc have sorted them out now tho apparently
Yeah myself, partner and son have gone for a few weekend trips to the coast over this summer and I was a bit taken aback by the number of people that looked pretty clearly set up for the long haul. Has been a good number of years (at least 10) since I’ve even been sluicing and am quite keen to get the young fella into it but hesitant to upset the local “residents”. Seems like its going the way of whitebaiting. Purely my own opinions by the way and not ment in any way to offend anybody.
Most places, eg shamrock creek have DOC campsites. Maximum stay is 7 nights in a 30 day period. Theoretically there should be no long stay fossickers there. But my money is on DOC not policing this rule.
I reckon it’s a shame because the long stayers should get their own claim to work long term. This way weekender and holiday makers get a decent shot at finding some colour.
I was at shamrock yesterday for a quick look. There seemed to be some long stayers. But under the first bridge there were no holes. A bloke I saw had got a bit of colour for a mornings work.
Yeah its certainly changed a lot in the public areas since I’ve last been. I’ve just put up a post on the main goldfever page if your a coasty and could potentially offer any insight it’d be warmly received haha.
Cheers
Pretty much all ground is under permit. Check out the map in the links above. There is bugger all easily accessible free ground left.
I thought I’d found a nice wee creek - but turns out Reefton Resources have the gold permit for mega square kilometers of land. Like from north of Reefton down to lake brunner. And olvine Ltd go from Springs junction down past the Taramakau river
Yeah its crazy looking at the maps. 10 years ago there was a heap less than there is now. I’m more after insight in the coast weather and public areas. Done a lot around Tasman growing up and a couple of trips to the coast. I’ve basically got a week and a half left off work and am trying to figure out where to go as the weather is looking pretty grim. Looking like it might be a drive to arrowtown hahaha
Well I’m heading over for a couple nights to have a gander up shamrock creek on Friday.
Been a few years since my last adventure, I definitely annoyed a local last time, haha he said I was in his spot and he does this for a job.
I just left him to it and went up further.
Has anyone had a look above where the fossicking area finishes? I imagine it’d quite a hike with some bush bashing, I think that’s where the slicers go sometimes.
I’ve been up past the tunnel a wee bit. Trouble was creek ran out of water for the sluice. Don’t think I’d want to be on the wrong side of the tunnel if there had been a bit of rain. It’s an easy enough walk for an explore. But don’t be carting loads of gear up on the first outing
Oh wow that’s cool didn’t know there was a tunnel.
Were the old timers looking for the hard rock seam or is it an alluvial tunnel.
Yeah I’ll probably just take the pan if I’m going that far.
Also the big companies are putting blanket exploration permits across vast childbearing ground which according to NZPAMS representatives means if you want to apply for a tier 3 mining permit you need to get permission from these companies. Which is a feat in itself just to get in contact with anyone able to give that permission. I would say almost impossible in most cases as they are overseas and massive operations.
It’s a tunnel to get through to next piece of ground.
It’s really cool if creek is low enough you can dig through the over burden to parpa floor. And you can see the gutter they dug at the bottom to collect the heavies
Quick Q mate; is the tunnel to the left or right at the fork above camp site?
I took the SDC 2300 up for a wee play last week, parked a few hundred metres above camp site and ventured upstream
Left hand fork. Right hand fork takes you beneath the road and up against a miners permitted area.
I went up last week Barra. Lots of gear on the banks (brave bastards) but no one in plain sight. I went up the right hand creek for maybe 800m, easy walk but be mindful of the slippery rocks. If you drive up to Callaghans Rd close to where a crew is Logging, can enter the creek there and walk a couple of k’s back downstream to the campsite.
Past the second tunnel is Stewarts Point where Stewarts gully joins the Shamrock creek through another tunnel and gorge. Technically it is outside the public area. An epic mission is required to get into this zone. I don’t recommend it solo or without a beacon.
Awesome map, thanks for the details. Awesome to hear it from someone who knows the area.
I’ll have to find a friend or a beacon then. If anyone is game let me know.
Looks like a fun adventure.
How long do you recon it would take for a round trip ? 4h
