Jade Creek (Olderog Creek; Dalziel), Hokitika, Westland District, West Coast Region, New Zealandi

Regional Level Types
Jade Creek (Olderog Creek; Dalziel)	Creek
Hokitika	- not defined -
Westland District	District
West Coast Region	Region
New Zealand	Country

A deposit of "greenstone" (nephrite) boulders.

It is hard to travel anywhere in New Zealand where tourists visit without coming across shops selling jade, or nephrite to give it the proper title.
(New Zealanders often call it Greenstone, or its Maori name Pounamu, and can refer to nephrite jade, bowenite, and serpentinite. There are several further local names relating to varieties of jade based on colour, texture and hardness). It is mostly sold as jewellery, pendants, and small carvings, and is rarely found for sale in the rough.

Most nephrite in New Zealand comes from the West Coast of the South Island, centred particularly on Hokitika, its main street full of shops selling the material. Nephrite is usually found as loose boulder float, in streams or rivers, and turfed onto the surface by historic gold mining, at a time when jade was little valued.

In situ jade reefs are very rare, although why this is remains a mystery. One exception is Jade Creek, found in the upper reaches of the Arahura River. The location is approximately 20 kilometres inland from Hokitika, in rugged steep mountainous country. Past Lake Kaniere is Milltown Road, and where this crosses the Arahura River, is a walking trail up the Arahura Gorge. The gorge is popular with white water kayakers. The lower gorge to the swing bridge is relatively easy, but beyond this the tracks in the upper Arahura, Styx, and Taipo rivers are for experienced hikers, requiring overnight stays in huts. This advice includes Jade Creek.

Jade is found near the headwaters of Jade Creek, which is a tributary of Olderog Creek, in turn flowing into the Arahura River. The lower hut erected by Westland Greenstone Ltd in the early to mid 1960's is derelict, however climbing the ridge on the eastern side of Jade Creek goes to a hut called the Lower Olderog Bivouac, which is said to be habitable. There are several other abandoned huts in the area.

Jade boulders were found in the Arahura River as early as 1906, however the remote nature of the upper Arahura valley deterred further exploration. Westland Greenstone Ltd in 1962 accessed the area, broke the boulders into manageable pieces, and hauled them out by helicopter to the nearest road. The principal and some of the employees were deer hunters, and the huts were used at times by other hunters, who would in return report any nephrite finds.

Another claim mentioned in the area is for Cliff Dalziel, who obtained material from here for his jewellery carving, and is known in New Zealand jade carving circles as an early pioneer of the modern interest in the material in the region. Jade may have been collected here however from since pre-European times. Nephrite and semi nephrite is found in pods up to 2 feet thick in the Pounamu Formation. In the late 1970's, more nephrite was obtained from a spur lower down Jade Creek.

Since 1997, the collecting of nephrite requires the permission of the Ngai Tahu, a business and cultural organisation representing Maori groups on the South Island.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References