Garibaldi diggings, Ranfurly, Central Otago District, Otago Region, South Island, New Zealand

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	45° 9' 17'' South , 169° 51' 27'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-45.15477,169.85751
Köppen climate type:	Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate

Gold.

To reach turn south into the White Sow Valley Road, from State Highway 85, one kilometre west of Wedderburn, and continue approximately 25 kilometres to the end of the road to the diggings. The last part of the road leaves the flat agricultural lands, and traverses a terrace between the North Rough Ridge to the west, and the Gimmerburn Gorge to the east. A 4 wheel drive is recommended for the last stage of the trip, and avoid winter, or when it has been raining. The road ends at a hut, with the diggings immediately south, along the base of the range.

Gold was found in alluvial quartz gravels typical in the region. The gravels are up to 15 metres thick , with some clay bands, as fan deposits showing recycled quartz conglomerate, grading upwards into schistose detritus. At the base of some channels is 20-50 cms schist clasts, and rounded to angular quartz pebbles and cobbles. Under this is sub-horizontal bedded quartz conglomerate and sandstone, along a short fault depression.

Gold nuggets have been found in the gravels up to 3.8 mms in diameter, with some grains showing platy secondary gold, and many pseudo-octahedral crystalline clusters. At the micro level, gold nuggets show an Ag rich core, and depleted Ag rim.

Gold was discovered here by a party of Italians in 1865. While it is easy to assume one of the party was called Garibaldi, it is just as likely the diggings were named after Guiseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), a popular Italian general, politician, and nationalist, credited for the unification of Italy.

Sluicing produced phenomenally rich returns across five years. At this point, the leader of the mining party, Garicondi (surname) left, dissolving the partnership. Garicondi went to Melbourne, and used his winnings to purchase a large hotel.

The next mining party sluiced the site until 1885, also getting rich returns, then they dissolved also. One bought a farm, while the other two 'gravitated to the wine and liquor business'. (This is possibly code, for the two individuals spending all their money at a bar somewhere). It is noted that operations were only conducted four months of the year, yet enough money was made to buy a farm, and hotel.

An old time miner, John Green then took over the lease. He constructed a tail race and water reservoirs, but before he could sluice the ground with the water obtained, he died. The workings at this stage are described as narrow, down to 10 feet, with a high west face and shallow east face, in keeping with working the hill-side on the western side of the terrace.

The next owner, John Theodore Brooke Hickson, took over the lease in 1887. He
had experience mining in Victoria (Australia), and elsewhere in New Zealand. He conducted some prospecting around 1887, by driving tunnels into the hillside up to 200 feet. The wet ground and lack of timber restricted activity. In 1888, he formed the Garibaldi Hydraulic Sluicing Company Limited, with a capital of 4000 pounds, mainly from local shareholders in the district. The company is still active in 1889, but then the trail is lost.

H.G. Palmer, mine manager for the Farrell mines writes to a local newspaper in 1896, claiming no visible gold can be seen at Garibaldi. Farmers on the flats below the workings, take the miners to the wardens court in 1901, for damaging the Gimmerburn Creek, by discharging sludge into it.

Glass Earth Gold Limited announced the discovery of quartz gold lodes near the diggings in 2012. It stated gold grades of up to 16.1 g/t Au, within an area 900 metres long by 300 metres wide.

Gold is found in a quartz vein swarm over a one kilometre square area, the veins 1 cm to 1.8 metres thick, as an intricate network structure, as part of up to 30 normal faults. The veins strike north-east, and dip 60 degrees north-west. The quartz veins show abundant breccia, with altered quartzofeldspathic schist clasts. The veins contain sparse scheelite, but no sulphides. Near the surface is a thick zone of kaolinitised greenschist, overlying auriferous sediiments. A thick alteration zone forms a low north-east trending ridge, stained heavily with iron and manganese oxides.

Mineral List

5 valid minerals.

Rock Types Recorded

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

Jurassic - Triassic 145 - 252.17 Ma ID: 3185705	Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks Age: Mesozoic (145 - 252.17 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Torlesse Supergroup Lithology: Mafic volcanic rocks; basalt; chert,greywacke,argillite,limestone 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]
Hettangian - Roadian 199.3 - 272.3 Ma ID: 1315309	Undifferentiated Rakaia Terrane Permian - Triassic TZIV schist Age: Phanerozoic (199.3 - 272.3 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Rakaia Terrane Description: Strongly foliated and segregated/quartz-laminated psammitic and pelitic schist; minor greenschist; rare metachert; TZIV. Comments: Basement (Eastern Province) metamorphic rocks. Age based on lithostratigraphic inference Lithology: Major:: {schist},Minor:: {psammite, pelite, greenschist, metachert} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13]
Triassic - Guadalupian 201.3 - 272.3 Ma ID: 1308156	Rakaia Terrane Permian-Triassic TZIV schist Age: Phanerozoic (201.3 - 272.3 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Torlesse Supergroup Description: Pelitic and psammitic schist (TZIV) with areas of greenschist or amphibolite and minor metachert, metagabbro and nephrite. Comments: Eastern Province (Rakaia Terrane) Rocks Lithology: Schist, greenschist, amphibolite, chert, gabbro, nephrite 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