Hazeels Terrace, Skippers, Queenstown-Lakes District, Otago Region, South Island, New Zealand
| Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 44° 43' 33'' South , 168° 42' 50'' East |
|---|---|
| Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -44.72610,168.71416 |
| Köppen climate type: | Cfc : Subpolar oceanic climate |
Alluvial gold.
David Hazeel like many miners of the time emigrated from Scotland (Dundee) to the Victorian goldrushes (Australia) of the 1850's, and was then attracted to the Otago goldrushes in the 1860's, arriving in Queenstown in 1863. He was initially a storeman for John Angus, Beach Street, Queenstown, before owning the Commercial Hotel, Rees Street Queenstown, advertised in the local paper between between 1864 to 1865. It had the only American bowling saloon in town. He was charged early 1865 with not having his billiard tables licenced. Apparently a fee was placed on each table in hotels to raise revenue for the authorities.
He then moved to the Branches pastoral station homestead, combining farming, with gold mining on what was to become known as Hazeel's Terrace. This is one kilometre north-west of the present The Branches homestead, on the western side of the Shotover River, the terrace bordered on the north by the Flood Burn (creek). This small terrace contains a large area of sluicing along its northern rim bordering the creek. It is the northern most terrace on the Shotover goldfield. It is on private property (The Branches Station).
R. Burns is noted also on the mining application.
Rough, nuggetty gold was found in the Shotover River immediately below the terrace. The river at this point is braided before it congeals into its long rush down Skippers Gorge. The Shiel Burn and Polnoon creeks a few kilometres upstream were also said to contain a few rich patches.
Hazeel also had a store here which closed at some stage between 1881 to 1884. Around this time he moved to Matheson's Farm at Millers Flat, which he occupied for seventeen years. He died in 1909 aged 79.
W.H. Crozier 1890, the Ward brothers 1911, T.H. Robertson 1935 are all mentioned working the terrace. In 1901, the Branches Hydraulic Company bored down finding a deep layer of sand full of water, described as a quagmire, and interpreted as a false bottom, containing gold.
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
| Quaternary 0 - 2.588 Ma ID: 1311668 | 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] |
| Holocene - Late Pleistocene 0 - 0.126 Ma ID: 1365988 | OIS1 (Holocene) river deposits Age: Pleistocene (0 - 0.126 Ma) Description: Unconsolidated gravel, sand, silt, clay, and minor peat of modern to postglacial flood plains, may be terraced. Comments: Holocene river deposits. Age based on geomorphic estimate Lithology: Major:: {gravel},Minor:: {sand, silt, clay, peat} 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
