Aurora Mine, Bendigo, Central Otago District, Otago Region, South Island, New Zealand
| Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 44° 55' 55'' South , 169° 21' 36'' East |
|---|---|
| Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -44.93195,169.36022 |
| Köppen climate type: | Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate |
The Aurora Company discovered a reef in what is now called Aurora Gully in May 1869, and sank two shafts, extracting 10 tonnes of ore to be crushed at a battery in Cromwell. They then purchased their own battery from the defunct Criterion Company at Arrow River, erecting it at their mine in September 1869.
The company had started as a water race venture, constructing one from Devils Creek to the south to the Bendigo Goldfield. The race opened April 1867, and was designed to provide water for miners to hydro sluice the alluvial gravels at the goldfield. The company was made-up of Barnes, Gerrard and Co., who found a quartz lode reef. A 5 stamp battery was purchased, with a further 5 stamps added, opening February 1870. There were rich initial crushings, but this quickly went downhill, and the battery was opened for public crushing.
By 1871 the mine is on tribute, but they abandon the underground workings within six months, and decided to sluice the neighbouring terrace for gold in the gravels. The following year only two men are tributing at the mine. The company is voluntarily wound up in September 1874. The battery is purchased by the Cromwell Company, and moved to its main shaft.
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
| Pleistocene 0.0117 - 2.588 Ma ID: 1309184 | Early Quaternary till deposits Age: Pleistocene (0.0117 - 2.588 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Pakihi Supergroup Description: Till deposits comprising pebbly to bouldery gravel, sand, silt and mud. Comments: Zealandia Megasequence Terrestrial and Shallow Marine Sedimentary Rocks (Neogene) Lithology: Gravel, sand, silt, mud 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] |
| Middle Pleistocene 0.126 - 0.781 Ma ID: 1353117 | OIS12 (Middle Pleistocene) glacier deposits Age: Pleistocene (0.126 - 0.781 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Lindis Formation Description: Till consisting of moderately weathered, poorly sorted, bouldery sandy gravel with silt lenses. Comments: Middle Pleistocene glacier deposits. Age based on C14, U-Th dating Lithology: Major:: {till},Minor:: {boulders, gravel, sand, silt, clay} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13] |
| Triassic - Permian 201.3 - 298.9 Ma ID: 3189657 | Paleozoic-Mesozoic crystalline metamorphic rocks Age: Phanerozoic (201.3 - 298.9 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Haast Schist Comments: Caples Terrane Lithology: Metawacke; greenschist/almandine amphibolite grade metasedimentary/metavolcanic schist 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] |
Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
References
