Golden Fleece Mine (Ajax), Reefton, Buller District, West Coast Region, South Island, New Zealand

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	42° 7' 28'' South , 171° 54' 2'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-42.12461,171.90083
Köppen climate type:	Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate

Abandoned historic gold mine. Most modern maps denote this site as the Ajax/Golden Fleece, largely due to Consolidated Goldfields of New Zealand Ltd, working both together as one mine. It the early days however they were separate mines.

The Ajax Quartz Mining Company was active on their lease for a few years in the mid 1870's, with a battery also on site. This was a few hundred metres up the ridge, south-west of the Golden Fleece Mine.

The Golden Fleece Quartz Mining Company operated from around 1876 to 1883. There was also a nearby Golden Fleece Extended Quartz Mining Company around this time. Anderson's and Venus are noted as nearby leases. Over the seven years, the Golden Fleece company paid out 55 000 pounds in dividends to shareholders. It closed when it ran out of capital to further develop the mine.

Richard White fell down the Golden Fleece shaft to his death in 1879.

In the late 1890's, London based Consolidated Goldfields of New Zealand Ltd, purchased several mines in the district including the Golden Fleece, and Ajax, which it intended to work as one mine. Mining activity occurred from 1901 to 1906, when the mine closed. Some exploration work continued, and there was an intention to work the mine from the old Ajax shaft, rather than the Golden Fleece tunnel below, but appears to have amounted to little.

Tributors worked the mine in 1909. From this point until 1916, the company applied for continual 6 monthly exemptions in the Warden's Court, until challenged by the Murray Creek Company who held other leases in the area. This appears to have been successful, as by 1919, they are also applying for exemptions over the Ajax/Golden Fleece lease, stating gold values at the mine are uneconomic.

The signposted Ajax shaft can be found along the Machine Track and Ajax Track walks, leaving Blacks Point, 2 kilometres east of Reefton. The entire loop trail takes 5 hours, through beech forest, in places steep.

The Golden Fleece battery can be found at Blacks Point. This operating 5 stamp battery is run by volunteers during summer months. The shed itself is not original, and has been built on the foundations of the cyanide vats. The battery was moved to the site by locals Peter Lawn, and Bill Watts in the 1970's. The battery processed 134 477 tonnes of quartz, producing 89 639 ounces of gold for Consolidated Goldfields of New Zealand Ltd.

The hamlet of Blacks Point also contains a community run mining museum housed in an old church, some miners cottages, cottage gardens, picnic area, and the 15 minute Golden Fleece Walk, which potters around the creek where the battery once stood. It is a pretty, and relaxing spot.

Map is approximate location of the mine, rather than the battery site at Blacks Point.

Mineral List

1 valid mineral.

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

Rhuddanian - Jiangshanian 440.8 - 494 Ma ID: 1350266

Greenland Group metasediment Age: Paleozoic (440.8 - 494 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Buller Terrane; Greenland Group Description: Undifferentiated greenish-grey quartzose greywacke and argillite; locally hornfelsed close to granitoid plutons. Comments: Basement (Western Province) metamorphic rocks. Age based on Based on stratigraphic age range Lithology: Major:: {sandstone},Minor:: {mudstone} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13]

Ordovician - Late Cambrian 443.8 - 501 Ma ID: 1312947

Greenland Group metasedimentary rocks Age: Paleozoic (443.8 - 501 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Greenland Group; Greenland Group metasedimentary rocks Description: Quartzose metasandstone and metamudstone, hornfelsed near plutons and locally schistose. Comments: Western Province (Buller Terrane) Rocks Lithology: Sandstone, mudstone, schist 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]

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

References

External Links