Goldwater Claim (Silver King; Glamorgan; Herald; Observer), Whangamata, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato Region, New Zealandi

Regional Level Types
Goldwater Claim (Silver King; Glamorgan; Herald; Observer)	- not defined -
Whangamata	- not defined -
Thames-Coromandel District	District
Waikato Region	Region
New Zealand	Country

In 1872 a prospector named Brogan (surname) is said to have discovered an auriferous reef at the small Wairoa Stream, a side tributary off the lower Wentworth River, 5 kilometres south-west of Whangamata. The following year he brought another prospector with the appropriate name Goldwater (surname) to the site. While Goldwater waited at the stream below, Brogan brought down some ore, and in one rock Goldwater saw some gold.

Goldwater was subsequently awarded a reward claim of 30 acres by the government, which led to a rush of one hundred miners to the site. A newspaper article at the time provides a detailed account of what unfolded next, albeit in the quaint language of the time, totally at odds with the rough nature of gold miners.

The miners had approached Goldwater to show them the reef, stating reasonably as he had been awarded a claim by the government, his status on the field was assured, and they wished to peg neighbouring areas. Goldwater refused stating they had no right to be there. The miners showed 'dissent', 'strong language' and 'felt they had been trifled with'. Threats of violence followed. This persuaded Goldwater to show the miners the reef, however he was 'utterly confused by numerous questions, and unable to locate the reef', with a 'peculiar and disagreeable position'. Either Goldwater was indeed unaware of the reef, as only Brogan knew its whereabouts, or was still unwilling to share the field with other miners. A suggestion was made to pay for Brogan to be brought to the site, however it was then thought unlikely he would be willing to place his safety at risk by doing so. The following day the miners held a meeting, and decided the best course of action was to form a lynch mob, but on arriving at the prospecting party's camp, found they had all left in the night.

After the event one scribe states more directly 'On the strength of what this novice believed to be a genuine find, our provincial doltheads waste our taxes, and delude our miners by the purchase and proclamation of a goldfield', noting most of the miners had left.

McKay (surname) one of the original party, with Kelly, Harris and McWilliams returned in 1887, extracted 11 tonnes of ore for 14 ounces of gold from an auriferous reef on the eastern ridge from the Wairoa Stream.

The Goldwater Gold Mining Company was formed. Some rich stone was found at the surface, with the company producing 31 tonnes of ore yielding 1271 ounces of gold. The ore shoots were short, and discontinuous, with mining ending in 1889.

In 1897 there was another attempt by the Prince Charlie Gold Mining Company with dis-appointing results. In 1909, the Glamorgan Gold Mining Company took over the old Goldwater, Silver King, Herald, and the eastern portion of the Observer claims (100 acres), stated as lying both sides of the Wentworth River, just upstream from its confluence with the Wairoa Stream. Intermittent mining or prospecting continued into the 1920's.

The country rock is andesite, much oxidised near the surface. Ill-defined, lenticular, discontinuous quartz veins are found of white granular, and platy quartz after calcite, with patches and veinlets of dark grey acanthite.

The area is now farmland, and it is thought little if anything of the original workings remain.

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