Honourable Roddy Nugget, Ross, Westland District, West Coast Region, South Island, New Zealand
Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 42° 54' 2'' South , 170° 48' 55'' East |
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Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -42.90069,170.81528 |
Köppen climate type: | Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate |
Arthur Sharpe and John Scott discovered New Zealand's largest ever nugget near Ross in 1909. It weighed 99.63 ounces, and was the size of a man's fist. The nugget was named after the then Minister of Mines, Roderick McKenzie.
The nugget was purchased by a local storekeeper, then the New Zealand government in 1911. They gave it to the British royal family as a coronation gift for King George V. At some point they melted down the nugget to gild a Buckingham Palace tea set. Further investigations have failed to find the tea set, and it remains missing to this day.
The Ross information centre notes a second story, that the nugget was smuggled into New Zealand from Australia, and claimed then to have been discovered at Ross, to increase the sale price of a gold lease. The ultimate salting scandal. This cannot be proved, and remains unverified.
Ross is 32 kilometres south of Hokitika.
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
Quaternary 0 - 2.588 Ma ID: 3186280 | Cenozoic sedimentary rocks Age: Pleistocene (0 - 2.588 Ma) Comments: surficial deposits Lithology: Unconsolidated sand, gravel and mud 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] |
Quaternary 0 - 2.588 Ma ID: 1309795 | Late Quaternary alluvium and colluvium Age: Pleistocene (0 - 2.588 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Pakihi Supergroup Description: Unconsolidated to poorly consolidated mud, sand, gravel and peat of alluvial and colluvial origin. Comments: Zealandia Megasequence Terrestrial and Shallow Marine Sedimentary Rocks (Neogene) Lithology: Mud, sand, gravel, peat 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] |
Late Pleistocene 0.0117 - 0.126 Ma ID: 1339636 | OIS2 (Late Pleistocene) river deposits Age: Pleistocene (0.0117 - 0.126 Ma) Description: River gravel and sand deposits. Comments: Late Pleistocene river deposits. Age based on Based on stratigraphic age range Lithology: Major:: {gravel},Minor:: {sand, silt} 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
External Links
http://www.hokitika.org/places/67/Ross
http://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/nz-s-heaviest-ever-gold-nugget-discovered