Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	37° 7' 15'' South , 175° 32' 52'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-37.12111,175.54780
GeoHash:	G#: rckufdq1b
Locality type:	Mine
Köppen climate type:	Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate

Thames is a town, Thames is a goldfield, Thames as a battery, Thames is also a relatively minor historic gold mine from the late 19th Century in the Thames area. The existing species listed here for the 'Thames Mine' (Simmons, 2005) relates to the goldfield in general, although none of the species are out of order (albeit enargite and cinnabar have very limited distributions in the area), and may have been found in the old mine.

(Fraser, 1910) reports a Thames claim of 94 acres, covering the ridge between the Waiotahi and Maonataiari creeks. The lease was adjacent to the Old Alburnia, Magnet, Trafalgar, West Coast, and May Queen leases. Prior to 1896 it was known as the Fame and Fortune, and part of the Non Pareil claims.

Companies operating on the leases include the Pinafore Syndicate (1888), the Fame and Fortune Gold Mining Company, Golden Age Company (1889-1905), the Non Pareil Gold Mining Company (1896-1905), and the Thames Gold Mining Company (1906-1908). The last produced 262 tonnes of ore for 119 ounces of gold during this two year period.

The country rock is propylitised andesite, dacite breccia, with some hard dark bars of un-altered andesite. The Thames claim is east of the major north-south Moanataiari Fault which divides the goldfield in two. The lease contained two major reefs being the Waiotahi-Cambria, and Golden Age reefs, dipping 45 degrees north-west, at one to three feet wide. Irregular quartz masses are noted on the Footwall side, and numerous quartz stringers below the reefs.

Mineral List

12 valid minerals.

Regional Geology

This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.

Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org

Miocene 5.333 - 23.03 Ma ID: 1308094

Coromandel Group Miocene andesite and basaltic andesite lava Age: Miocene (5.333 - 23.03 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Coromandel Group Description: Andesite and basaltic andesite lava, tuff and tuff breccia, agglomerate and pyroclastic flow deposits; andesite, diorite and dacite dikes and subvolcanic intusions. Comments: Zealandia Megasequence Extrusive and Intrusive Rocks (Neogene) Lithology: Andesite, tuffite, tuff-breccia, agglomerate, pyroclastic material, andesite, diorite, dacite Reference: Edbrooke, S.W., Heron, D.W., Forsyth, P.J., Jongens, R. (compilers). Geology Map of New Zealand 1:1 000 000. GNS Science Geological Map 2. [12]

Tortonian - Burdigalian 7.246 - 20.44 Ma ID: 1315860

Kuaotunu Subgroup andesite and dacite (Coromandel Group) of Coromandel Volcanic Zone Age: Miocene (7.246 - 20.44 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Kuaotunu Subgroup Description: Basaltic andesite, andesite and dacite intrusives, flows, volcaniclastites and volcanic epiclastites. Comments: Neogene igneous rocks. Age based on K-Ar Lithology: Major:: {andesite},Minor:: {dacite} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13]

Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

References