Hey Guys haven’t posted in a while I just wanted some advice I was thinking about applying for a claim in the north island near Waihi and was wondering what I would need to look for in terms of indicators when I go down to inspect the area iv never really been on a claim just had a pit of a play in a couple of rivers and what not and have next to no knowledge of what I am doing any advice would be appreciated
Mining in the north island is hard rock mining,requiring crushing and classifying.nuggets are mostly found in the rivers down south.
I used to live in Waihi & mucked around with that kind of stuff. I think Oceanagold would have all that area tied up, plus some. Hard rock is an expensive game & not for your typical “hobby” type operator. Unless you have gallons of $$$$ & LOTS of knowledge & very serious about it… Are you a geologist &/or understand hard rock gold deposits? Also huge environmental issues etc, especially with the Greenies & tree hugging frog arse licking type on the Coro. A hard rock claim would be a lot different to say a suction gold dredging claim & moonbeams more $$$. No gold is easy gold & getting harder by the day.
Just go out fossicking with a rock hammer. Take samples & crush them up (dolly pot) & pan off to see if any colours. You will need to know the difference between gold & pyrite in the Coro. LOTS of pyrite. 
You will need to keep a very low profile & fly under the radar. I am sure Oceana wouldn’t give a shit about you poaching on their claims/prospecting rights if that is all you are going to do. But don’t hold me to that. Been there, done that. There is alluvial/fluvial/detrital gold on the Coro. Easier than hard rock but you won’t make a living out of it so don’t quit your day job & again you would need to be stealth in what you do & where you go. Just be sensible about it & clean up after you. You don’t want to attract unwanted attention. Ahhhh…they were fun days when I was up there. It scratched the itch for me. LOL 
Some of my Coro gold finds.
Just my 10 cents worth.
JW 
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That’s some cool shit man I stated crushing up a couple of rock that had quite a bit of metallic shit in it mostly silver coloured stuff not sure if it is anything though just had fun beating the shit of of some stuff that only fights back a little bit not a lot of it was magnetic though so no idea what it is yet but shall keep you posted
By the way might be a long shot as I know people don’t like to share secrets like spots and stuff but was the a specific are in the coro that you went as I’m not exactly familiar with the area that I would be able to go for a tutu
No specific areas really but In the known gold areas you should get colour in most of the creeks. 12 areas in particular for me all the way from near Coromandel Township right down to the Ohinemuri River.Of course some areas are better than others. If you do your homework & read the right books & put in the hard graft there is no reason why you should not find bits of gold like in my above pics. Good luck out there
JW
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Has any one had a wonder in Tairua. Just asking. Must be some dust there? Or not
Tairua…Can you be more specific? But yes, Tairua has gold back in the hills & creeks. Pretty fine gold though. Again research will tell you if you read books on Coromandel Gold. Even online.
JW
I am heading for Tairua right now. Fish and chips - second only to Nolas in Mosgiel and Manuka on the North Shore. Hoping to find some petrified wood
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Havent tried Nolas but Hamden fish and chips are pretty good- Bit of a drive but theres lots of gold at the beech near there so kill 2 birds with one stone! Caught fresh of the coast every day with hand made chips grown locally.
Supposed to be gem quality opal up the back of Tairua. The farmer has gone real quiet on it though & that was years ago. Guess people have forgotten about it now which is probably what he wanted. Nice jasper in Tairua creeks 3rd & 4th branch. Some of that has a kind of opal look to it. I call it opalized jasper, but of course it isn’t really opal. Just has a mix of cool blue/white/red opaque colours to it besides the blood red jasper colour. Here is a pic of a piece along with an old pick head complete with the metal wedge that was still in the eye where the handle would have been but rotted away. found up the back of Tairua.
Also found these old crucibles at an old stamper battery site that is just totally lost to the bush. Only stumbled across it as I am a tiger for going off the beaten paths & just crashing through the bush. Again up the back of Tairua.
I gathered these all up & I still have them in a bucket in my container down here in Queenstown. I was going to crush them up & pan off for any gold that may have absorbed into the crucibles. Some are still quite complete.
Gosh…came across these pics of setting up the 4" dredge in the Tairua river. You would get the book thrown at you if caught doing that there today. Beautiful river the Tairua. Boy have I spent some time up there in that river. All the way to its headwaters where it starts off as a trickle. Grand country.
JW 
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That’s interesting John - l will have to come here longer. I had hoped to find some petrified wood but have to follow what my hosts want me to do. I was exploring Whangamata yesterday but nothing l covered. Was going to bring a detector but be her had the room in my luggage on the plane. I came up to go to a meeting which had been cancelled and l didnt know it and to give to another meeting in Whangarei but transport to Whangarei was a problem as my two friends had decided it wasnt worth going to so got the opportunity of going to Waiuku or here and much prefer here. I will possibly come up again before too long if l have company and make it a road trip…l want a week in Thames. Also want to have a look at a boat at Coromandel while l am here but mooring back home is the problem .
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What were the rivers like up there were they raging or not so bad thinking of going for a sneaky pan tomorrow
Here are a few pictures of rocks & Petrified Wood my father and I found in the hills behind Tairua after we cut them with the diamond saw, some were Bloody heavy to carry out lol
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I tried to get to were the Opal was supposedly found its on the Right a couple of kms down Hikuai Settlement Road on the way to Pauanui, I couldn’t get access to the Farm but had a good look around the other side of the hill to no avail, My Father said they tried to get permission about 20yrs ago but the land owner wouldn’t have a bar of it, there was also a rumour that he dynamited the rock face were it was supposed to be and used it as road fill.
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I can only say that l am totally jellyarse. Beautiful samples.
That one with the ruler is that quartz? It looks amazing ,good finds.
I believe the ninth picture is a type of Agate (chalcedony and quartz) I have no idea what the tenth picture is but there are small purple crystals in the holes throughout the rock.
Yeah great pictures there some nice species