Waitahuna, Clutha District, Otago Region, South Island, New Zealand
Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 45° 59' 13'' South , 169° 45' 23'' East |
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Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -45.98699,169.75655 |
Köppen climate type: | Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate |
Waitahuna is a small collection of houses along State Highway 8, about 85 kilometres south-east of Dunedin. There is little left at the town to denote it was once a major goldfield in the 19th Century.
Most of the gold was found in Waitahuna Gully, 3 kilometres south-east of the town in conglomerate. For a time the town in the gully outshone Waitahuna proper, although again little is left to be seen. There is a miners memorial, and a new alluvial gold mine at the top of the gully (2017).
Some mining did take place around Waitahuna itself, although indications are it was never rich. Various dredging or sluicing ponds remain around the town, on private land. Many Chinese re-worked the claims after others had left. One writer in 1887 stating on visiting the field: ' The Chinaman gives us a good example of what industry and sobriety can do in these days of depression, for there is no unemployed among them, and none ever clamour for government assistance'.
Some gold dredging occurred in the area in the late 1890's, and first decade of the Twentieth Century. None lasted long. The Waitahuna Gully dredge operated from 1897 to 1901, the company then liquidated. The Gordon dredge closed down in 1905, after an un-specified chequered career.
The Havelock Sluicing Company operated behind the old railway station site in 1910. The area was said to be a swamp at the time, the operations providing interesting entertainment for train passengers who stopped at the station. The Waitahuna Sluicing Company was re-working old dredge tailings nearby.
Paddy's Point Gold Mining Company was active in the area in the 1920's, and by 1937 sluiced the former showgrounds, with the permission of the Farmer's Association, who go a tidy sum in the process.
Mineral List
Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities2 valid minerals.
Rock Types Recorded
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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.
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Quaternary 0 - 2.588 Ma ID: 1313894 | 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: 1333202 | OIS2 (Late Pleistocene) river deposits Age: Pleistocene (0.0117 - 0.126 Ma) Description: Poorly consolidated, slightly weathered sandy quartz-, schist-, or volcaniclastic-derived gravel and sand. Comments: Late Pleistocene river deposits. Age based on geomorphic estimate Lithology: Major:: {gravel},Minor:: {sand, mud, 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
Localities in this Region
- South Island
- Otago Region
- Clutha District
- Waitahuna
- Clutha District
- Otago Region