UC GoldSoc

Our club is different as it is very unique and the first of its kind, a gold mining club to be established in New Zealand! We aim to educate students about recreational gold prospecting, also commonly called gold panning. We support industrial players too, such as Santana Minerals NZ, that have found $14 Billion US dollars worth of gold in Otago. A lot of people are raised today thinking that gold mining & the physical stuff is something of past or only exclusively for the elite. We're here to inspire people that anyone can find some gold, no matter what class you're from or what you study!

We aim to do trips to the Central Otago & the West Coast, as gold only forms in those regions in the South Island. I spent 7 days in Nelson Creek, where I survived all by myself and found a few grams. This experience made me realise that we have to invest in good safety gear, walkie-talkie radios, an emergency locator beacon rented from DOC, a first aid kit, and workshop safety training to make sure our members are always aware. I purchased at the start of 2026 a $1,400 gold detector called the Gold Monster 1000, which uses frequency signals to tell the difference between iron (scrap metal) and precious metals such as gold, silver, titanium, platinum etc.

In the North Island the one of the only places is in the Coromandel. We support environmentally sustainable mining done right on both small and large scales. We also have an investment wing that focuses on teaching students about gold investment into physical bullion/coins and into gold mining shares, risk management, and other finance-related topics.

Once we become affiliated, we plan to book out the C-Block to promote our new club and gain recruitment. We understand we could quickly gain hundreds of new members due to people's excitement about global gold prices and the gold fever. After that we will have a meeting and if enough people have signed up and it is very popular, we will issue a $5 membership fee. As we are positioning ourselves as a premium club similar to HuntSoc, FishSoc, Tramping club, Orienteering club and InvestSoc. We have a database, online signup form to keep track of new members. People will associate our club with the likes of the TV show GOLD RUSH.

Once we become affiliated with UCSA, we aim to also become affiliated with UCE under as a type of business club. This is so we can hold huge events by getting in professionals from industry experts such as Damian Spring CEO of Santana Minerals and experts such as the Sluicers. We have ideas to sell sustainably made gold pans, t-shirts etc.

The Sluicers are a father and son gold prospecting duo who found a $10,000 nugget a few years ago and have mined over in the Yukon in Alaska.

We also want to plan a BBQ to kick off UC GOLDSOC for 2026 and firmly establish it so it continues well after that, we have all left UC and graduated! Our club will appeal to a lot of sectors, from Engineering, Science & Accounting & Finance!