Where is gold found in NZ?
Where is gold found in NZ?
The principal New Zealand goldfields were Coromandel, Nelson/Marlborough, Central Otago and West Coast. The two main types of gold mine were: ‘hard rock’ quartz mines, and. alluvial mining which included panning and cradling, sluicing and dredging.
What geology is gold found in?
Gold is most often found in quartz rock. When quartz is found in gold bearings areas, it is possible that gold will be found as well. Quartz may be found as small stones in river beds or in large seams in hillsides.
Where can I find gold in creeks NZ?
Designated public areas where you can fossick for gold
Gold fossicking area | Permit number | Location |
---|---|---|
Aorere River A (GFA 13) | 42013 | Nelson/Tasman – Kahurangi National Park |
Lower Louis Creek | 55529 | Nelson/Tasman – Glenhope Scenic Reserve |
Jones Creek (GFA 4) | 42004 | West Coast – Ross area |
Jones Creek (GFA 5) | 42005 | West Coast – Ross area |
What rocks are associated with gold?
The ore minerals associated with gold consist of base metal sulphides and Sb-bearing suphosalts. Arsenopyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, pyrrho- tite and galena are the principal sulphide minerals present. The sulphosalts include tetrahedrite, boulan- gerite, bournonite and jamesonite.
Can you metal detect for gold in NZ?
Gold fossicking is the activity of collecting gold by a stream or river using metal detectors, pans, shovels, picks and sluice boxes. In gold fossicking areas, anyone is free to look for gold as long as you use non-motorised machinery and hand tools.
What depth is gold found?
What depth is gold found at? Between blocks 5 and blocks 29, or blocks 80 in badlands.
What if I find gold on my land?
Your finds Minerals are the property of the Crown. If you discover gold or other minerals or gemstones on land not covered by a mining tenement, and the ground is Crown land (under the Mining Act 1978), then you are free to keep what you have found (as long as you hold a Miner’s Right).
Where can I get gold for free?
10 Free Gold Panning Areas in California
- Auburn State Recreation Area.
- Butte Recreation Area.
- Columbia State Historic Park.
- Keyesville Recreational Mining Area.
- Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park.
- Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park.
- Merced River.
- South Yuba River State Park.
Where is the most unmined gold?
In 2020, the United States was estimated to have some 3,000 metric tons of gold reserves in mines. Thus, the U.S. was within the top group of countries based on mine reserves of gold. Australia is estimated to have the largest gold mine reserves worldwide.
Where is the gold found in New Zealand?
In Otago (and Marlborough) gold is found in quartz veins in schist and in river gravels which have weathered from schist. On the West Coast and at Golden Bay, gold is found in older Paleozoic greywacke and argillite rocks in faulted areas called shear zones.
How old are the gold veins in New Zealand?
The gold veins are hosted within a fine-grained volcanic rock, andesite, aged between 3 and 12 million years old (Ma), which formed during the Pliocene and Miocene. Under Martha Hill at Waihi, there are numerous closely spaced gold-bearing quartz veins.
Where is gold found in the Southern Alps?
Progressive uplift and erosion of the schist released the gold into the sedimentary environment where it was further concentrated by physical and chemical processes. Gold occurs in thin veins of white quartz near the crest of the Southern Alps. It is transported in rivers and deposited near the sea.
How did the Gold Rush affect New Zealand?
The major New Zealand gold rushes, on a par with those in North America and Australia, put the country on the world map, making it a promised land where instant fortunes awaited the most industrious and daring.