Canaan, Tasman Region, New Zealandi

Regional Level Types
Canaan	- not defined -
Tasman Region	Region
New Zealand	Country

Joe Sixtus took up farming here in 1919, with his son, Ed Sixtus taking over in 1940. The farm was later purchased by Ken Jenkins, before being absorbed into the neighbouring Abel Tasman National Park.

A couple of locations here, including Harwood's Hole were used in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films. A camp-ground and several walk trails are in the area, found 8 kilometres north of State Highway 60, the turn-off just after the Takaka Hill summit.

(Williams et. al. 1959) states in general for the Canaan area: 'consists of the Mount Arthur Marble and syntectonic intrusive diorite in faulted contact with the Separation Point Granodiorite. Gold, monazite, rutile, ilmenite and fergusonite are minor detrital minerals. Lead, copper, and iron minerals, and vermiculite are found as non-economic in-situ occurrences, while scheelite is found in quartz reefs trending north north-east, parallel with the folded axes.'

Local collectors describe several decades ago collecting impressive quartz crystals from the area, with permission of the land owner -Ken Jenkins of Canaan Downs. The area is now part of the Abel Tasman National Park, and any collecting should be checked first with the Department of Conservation as to their present rules.

In the late 1970's, a specimen was described dug out by a local collector, Murray Heath, as a quartz crystal clast 71 cm x 50 cm, with the whole specimen covered in a thin veneer of quartz crystals, and two pale amethyst coloured calcite crystals attached also.

Another describes obtaining quartz crystal specimens from a hillside of sticky wet clay, the best piece 30 cm x 38 cm, stated as a knobbly fluted piece.

(Savage, 1971) states the Canaan farmland contains drusy quartz crystals, large clear quartz crystals, rock crystal, massive garnet and epidote, fuchsite, chalcopyrite, hematite, silver and zinc ores, scheelite, and mineral bearing gravels or sands containing rutile, manganese and gold, without providing further details.

(Watters, 1963) states there are several quartz reefs with appreciable amounts of scheelite, coated with tungstite, and lesser amounts of pyrite. A zoned blue beryl specimen is described.

(Sixtus) lists a whole range of minerals found in the Canaan area, with little supporting information. The area contains skarn outcrops of massive andradite garnet, epidote with hornblende, pyrite, quartz, actinolite, zircon, and magnetite in mineralised quartz veins.

Quartz outcrops are in the valley, and crosses Mount Evans, containing galena, molybdenite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, fluorite, talc, anglesite, pyromorphite, covellite, and cerargyrite. Nearby and parallel is a zone of granite-titanite-tourmaline and zircon.

On the north side of the Canaan Valley are several mineralised dykes and veins containing pyrrhotite, pyrite, chlorite, actinolite, scapolite, tourmaline, adularia, calcite, dolomite and rutile. Numerous small quartz veins in marble contain galena, scheelite, talc, chrysocolla, chalcopyrite, malachite, azurite. One mile further north are quartz outcrops in granite and diorite containing scheelite, tungstite, chalcopyrite, covellite, pyrite, talc, muscovite, galena.

Sixtus continues stating in the general area are zoisite, graphite, clinozoisite, ilmenite with hematite inclusions, pyrolusite, psilomelane, quartz crystals, wollastonite, drusy quartz.

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References