Croesus Mine, Lyell, Buller District, West Coast Region, South Island, New Zealand
| Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 41° 47' 41'' South , 172° 3' 51'' East |
|---|---|
| Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -41.79476,172.06441 |
| Köppen climate type: | Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate |
The only reason this mine is remembered today, is due to its battery, the stampers still remaining at the end of a 2 kilometre walk up Lyell Creek from the campground.
The original prospectors formed the Croesus Quartz Mining Company Limited in 1881, with 12 000 pounds capital. L. Fantella was appointed manager. The following year a 10 head stamp battery was erected. Average amounts of gold were obtained over the next eighteen months. The workings described as a tunnel on a reef track, striking north-south, with well defined walls, 2 feet apart, with quartz, pug, and rubble between.
The 1882 workings were described as a low level tunnel near the creek, then 200 feet above on the hillside No. 2 tunnel, then a further 200 feet up the hillside No. 1 tunnel, here the reef 1-2 feet wide, driven on for 380 feet showing gold. The first trial crushing of surface stone achieved 24 ounces of gold. The next crushing of 20 tonnes of quartz yielded 34 ounces.
At this time the Croesus was bordered by the Sydney lease to the north, Albion to the south, then the No. 1 South Croesus, and Dunedin leases, none remarkable for gold found. The Croesus Mine early 1884, is placed on tender for tributing.
A new syndicate takes over in 1892, sinking a winze 32 feet, on an auriferous gold leader 16 inches thick, in slate. The first crushing produced poor results, and the company ceased operations. There was an intention at this stage of removing the battery, but at least some of the machinery remained on site. Another syndicate took over in 1902, cleaning out the old winze, but no more was heard.
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
| Mesozoic - Devonian 66 - 419.2 Ma ID: 3188899 | Paleozoic-Mesozoic intrusive rocks Age: Phanerozoic (66 - 419.2 Ma) Lithology: Intrusive igneous rocks Reference: Chorlton, L.B. Generalized geology of the world: bedrock domains and major faults in GIS format: a small-scale world geology map with an extended geological attribute database. doi: 10.4095/223767. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5529. [154] |
| Rhuddanian - Jiangshanian 440.8 - 494 Ma ID: 1365757 | Greenland Group metasediment Age: Paleozoic (440.8 - 494 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: 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: 1312867 | Greenland Group metasedimentary rocks Age: Paleozoic (443.8 - 501 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Greenland Group 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] |
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References
