Posted by John Wilson on May 28, 2011 at 18:57:16 user hugo.
In Reply to: Re: Mining at Coniston (was Gold in the Hills) posted by Jock on May 28, 2011 at 14:06:35:
The SAD Mining Company or SADMC “stakes its claim” by putting up a sign “Jumpers Beware”. This was applicable when prospecting for alluvial gold during the 19th century gold rushes of the Yukon or Central Otago, New Zealand (1860s). A distant relative retorned from the Hamiltons goldfield in Central Otago to Devon with £900, so the family story goes.
As described below the miner would claim a square of land perhaps 24 feet each way, panning for gold or using a cradle. There were wardens appointed to sort out disputes. Digging a tunnel and crushing the gold-bearing quartz or dredging a river required more capital, hence carried out by companies funded by optomistic investors!