Ted, every claim and every Resource Consent application is different. The council will look at your application and what you wish to do and go from there. A lot of time, money, consultants etc are all part of the RMA application
Thanks Les….I guess I was just wondering if there are set rules on size of digger/plant if you are not on a river…seems 6” dredge and below is ok for a recreational permit on a river…just thought might be similar rules for off river workings?
No unfortunately, rules and restrictions vary
from region to region - different councils have different rules.
Yes, it is messy and confusing.
The 6"intake rule you refer to is used by the Otago regional council
Hi ted
Councils make the rules deliberately complex to keep themselves in a job. The permitted 6inch rule only applies in parts of otago. Im happy to give some tailored advice if you PM me of the rules relative to where you are. My advice thou is to avoid the need for consents or consultants if possible.
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That’s real cool to see! Thank you for taking the time to share this.
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Hi there Cardrona. Yes, Thank you for those pics & your information. Very interesting. I worked with an excavator operator at David Reed Homes here in Queenstown who was an excavator driver for that operation in Cardona. He went by the nickname “Footy”. If you were part of that operation you possibly know who I am talking about. I think he said he was 18 at the time. He told me the ground was very deep. So when I see suction dredging claims up on offer, I shudder. Especially from where the upper creek enters just above the township & on down stream. Also knowing the history of the operation you show & tell us about & the upper reaches getting a hammering from every Tom Dick & Harry that threw a dredge in there direct from off the road. Very easy pickings . I don’t see a suction dredging operation having much chance these days.
JW 
No worries, yes some nice bits of gold there.
Hi,no i wasn’t involved it, visited for summer holidays as a kid, A family member was one of the 3 who ran it. Another family member had the cardona claimed from the last chain bay down to the passing lane (roughly😎was a long time ago) we used a small suction through various stretches was great fun.
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You didn’t happen to be mining with robbert Duncan did you? Heard rumours at times things were pretty rough working up through there.
Pretty rough in what way?
JW
Had to be financially bailed out or at least helped a couple of times. And that when they hit virgin ground generally the gold dropped off. Did better when they were finding relics in the worked ground
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Thats gold mining for you…
No, a family member was part if the cardrona mining company, i spent summer holidays there as a kid, and would go and visit the claim.
Hey cam, so have surmised from this that the original workings must have been very rich.
And that the tailings of the old workings were still even of a higher grade than virgin ground?
Meaning that the oldest gravels are patchy or has golds more or less generally distributed throughout, the highest concentrations being in more modern gravels of the surface?
I wonder whats on the true bottom of the Cadrona…and the area under the pub!
Any drill logs?
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From what I’ve heard alot of the workings were underground and alot of the time the modern miners were chasing the pillars between the tunnels. And had some phenomenal days.
I can’t remember exactly but have heard rumours of the old guys finds being in the ounces per bucket of dirt they pulled up. But im guessing that was just the very high grade off the bottom.
Also apparently behind/under the pub is reported to have been exceptionally rich
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Hi Matt. How’s things over Wanaka way? My wife told me she bumped into you at St Bathans a wee while ago. Crazy fine gold there.
Very nice piece of gold. Was that in the Cardrona area, what is the weight? Crazy the places I found gold there. But that is gold. You got to walk the ground & poke around. I am sure you & many others have read about how the first gold discovery was made up the Cardrona valley on a cattle track, away from the creek.
Here is a bit of Otago gold discovery history for those not familiar with it…
http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=2706
JW
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Hey Ross you still have a claim on the wakamarina available