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ALLTHOUGH Marlborough
produced some 33,000 ounces of gold from the
Wakamarina in 1864-65, the only goldfield of any size which remains to
be discussed is the Hauraki Mining District. Nine years after Ring’s
discovery, Coromandel again became the scene of mining operations. In
June 1862 Coromandel was proclaimed a goldfield. The Maori Wars
prevented any large influx, of
miners, despite the report of alluvial gold at Te Aroha. In 1865
gold was reported to be present in the Thames Valley. Maori prospectors
‘ struck it rich’ in that area, and the Thames gold-field was proclaimed
in July 1867. A month later, when
the alluvial gold was already becoming scarce, a
prospector named Hunt, working with three other miners, White, Clarkson,
and Cobley, discovered very valuable gold-bearing rock near the mouth of
the Kurunui Creek. ‘ Hunt’s Shot-over’ became the first quartz reef mine
on the Thames
goldfield. The four men are said to have gained £40,000 apiece. Some
129,211 ounces of gold were won in the Thames
and Coromandel areas in less than two years. The fame of the Thames El
Dorado brought on the usual rush. In 1871 the Thames field had a gold
output of 330,326 ounces.
Grahamstown, part of the modern town of Thames, became the mining
centre of the Thames area. Close by lay some of the most
celebrated mines in
New Zealand—the
Shotover, the Caledonian, which in its first
year paid over £500,000, the Golden
Crown, which paid £200,000 in one year, and the Kurunui, which
yielded £25,000 from the first week’s crushing.
Other parts of the Hauraki area
paid the company
shareholders handsomely. For example, the famous Waihi mine,
opened in 1878, has yielded nearly £20,000,000 in gold and silver. The
Ohinemuri district and the New Find Reef, Wairongomai,
near Te Aroha, had to wait for the
introduction of modern
methods to become paying concerns.
Quartz-crushing still continues,
although literally millions
of tons of quartz have been forced to yield
up their spoil of bullion.
A water colour sketch between 'Grahams Town and
the Thames Goldfields.'
Hunt's Claim and the Kurunui
tramway, from the 'Illustrated New Zealand
Herald' (1869)
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The Shotover mine, the first
quartz reef mine on the Thames goldfield.
A gold battery on the Tararu
Creek, Auckland, from a wood engraving published in the 'Illustrated
New Zealand News' (1865).
These are the Gentlemen diggers
who pronounce the Thames goldfield a "Duffer" is the description of
this cartoon in 'Punch' (Auckland) of 1868. A 'duffer' was a goldfield
which had disapointed the hopes of prospectors.
A quartz mine at
Karangahake, near Waihi.
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