Lone Star Mine, Reefton, Buller District, West Coast Region, South Island, New Zealand
| Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 42° 4' 56'' South , 171° 56' 0'' East |
|---|---|
| Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -42.08224,171.93345 |
| Köppen climate type: | Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate |
Only minor gold was ever found at the Lone Star Mine, development work conducted from 1886 to 1894. The lode was discovered by William Heaphy and John McCaffrey, in 1885, who also controlled half the 24 000 shares of the subsequent company floated, the Lone Star Gold Mining Company Limited.
A journalist who visited around the same time stated the reef was 3 feet thick, on which a winze had been sunk to 32 feet, and the lode driven along for 50 feet. It had further been trenched along the surface for 100 feet, and 40 tonnes of stone stacked for processing at the Specimen Hill battery. A tunnel is also reported separately. An aerial cableway was installed in 1889 to the Just In Time battery.
Shortly after another lode was found to the south, and activity switched to this with the sinking of a winze. A mullocky lode was driven on, without result.
Despite the large number of locations under Reefton, Mindat only lists the most major mines. For example along the one kilometre long Lone Star line of lode from the north were the Homeward Bound, Eureka, Welcome, Hopeful, Fiery Cross, Walhalla, Just In Time, Reform, South Hopeful, Chicago, Multum In Parvo, Lone Star, Britannia, Britannia Extended claims, as well as several other smaller leases which were soon wound up. Of these the Welcome, Hopeful, Fiery Cross, and Just In Time were the only leases to provide significant dividends to shareholders.
The Lone Star mine site is several hundred metres south of the Just In Time Mine, on a minor tributary off Boatmans Creek. The area can be accessed along the Kirwans Track, which starts at the end of Boatmans Road, off State Highway 69. There appears no clear access to the Lone Star site itself.
No minerals currently recorded for this locality.
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: 1327522 | 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
