Leviathan Mine, Skippers, Queenstown-Lakes District, Otago Region, South Island, New Zealand

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	44° 49' 58'' South , 168° 40' 39'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-44.83292,168.67760
Köppen climate type:	Cfc : Subpolar oceanic climate

In a way you can still experience a connection with this mine by staying at the historic Leviathan Hotel in Dunedin. The Leviathan Railway Temperance Hotel was built in 1884, and at 150 rooms, was said to have been the largest hotel in Australasia at the time. It was owned by George Bodley who sold it to Antiss Silk in 1889.

Born Antiss Dottin, Devon England 1839, she emigrated to Australia with her parents in 1857, and married George Silk in 1859. They moved to New Zealand, where George mined gold at Lawrence, and Antiss ran a successful baking and catering business. One or both of these enterprises must have been very successful, as on George's death in 1887, she moved to Dunedin, and purchased the hotel in 1889.

She also had mining interests at Nenthorn, and in dredges in the Nevis Valley. The hotel displayed a 2.3 kg cake of gold from the Surprise Company mine she owned at Nenthorn. She died 10 June 1899.

Antiss had financed two prospectors William McPherson, and James Filippini, who discovered gold in the upper Sawyers Gully, 2 kilometres west north-west of the Skippers town site. She financed the opening of the mine, with an eight stamp battery erected in 1895, the mine called after her hotel. The prospectors were also part owners, together with part owners of the neighbouring Crystal gold mine.

The battery was erected on totara and bluegum frames, with two blanket tables 6 feet long, and two electroplated silver tables 5 feet long, a berdan pan, the stamps driven by a 3 foot 6 inch pelton wheel, and supplied by a water race. The battery was capable of crushing 40 tonnes or ore per week. J.R. Tripp managed the mine and battery. Seventeen men were employed.

(Otago Witness newspaper, 1896) states work was being conducted on the Leviathan lode, and the No. 2 lode, also known as Dodge and Bray's lode. (Otago Witness newspaper, 1897) states there are three lodes named Leviathan, Young American, and Fiery Cross, or the No. 1, 2 and 3 lodes. The reefs trended north-west to south-east, dipped south, 3-5 feet wide, running parallel with each other, possibly joining at depth. It is thought the neighbouring Crystal Mine was on the same lode.

In 1897, it is reported an adit had been driven 300 feet on the Leviathan lode, while a shaft had been sunk 40 feet on the Fiery Cross lode. Ore had been crushed from all three reefs, with now only seven men employed at the site. The lodes were said to contain much 'pyrites', probably arsenopyrite and/or pyrite. The mine closed in late 1897, after 'not meeting expectations', and an unsuccessful attempt to float the mine in London.

The site can be accessed by a walking trail from the Skippers town site. The Crystal Mine has taken dominance over recent years, as DOC has called the battery ruins the Crystal Mine battery, although it is really the Leviathan mines' battery. Both mines were owned in part by the same shareholders, and ore from both were crushed at the same battery. One of the adits for the Leviathan mine can be viewed, as well as various large metal relics of the battery scattered in the thick bush of the gully, the boarded up Crystal Mine adit, and further up the hill is a hikers hut.

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

Toarcian - Olenekian 174.1 - 251.2 Ma ID: 1328591	Aspiring lithologic association TZIV pelitic schist (Rakaia Terrane) Age: Mesozoic (174.1 - 251.2 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Aspiring Lithologic Association Description: Very well segregated and laminated; abundant pelitic and subordinate psammitic greyschist; minor greenschist and metachert; TZIV. Comments: Basement (Eastern Province) metamorphic rocks. Age based on lithological inference, detrital zircon U-Pb dates elsewhere Lithology: Major:: {pelite},Minor:: {greenschist, schist, metachert, marble} 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]
Triassic - Permian 201.3 - 298.9 Ma ID: 1309452	Aspiring lithologic association Permian-Triassic TZIV schist Age: Phanerozoic (201.3 - 298.9 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Torlesse Supergroup Description: Pelitic and subordinate psammitic schist (TZIV); including areas and bands of greenschist or amphibolite, and minor marble, metachert and serpentinised ultramafics. Comments: Eastern Province (Rakaia Terrane) Rocks Lithology: Schist, greenschist, amphibolite, marble, metachert, ultramafic igneous rock 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

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