From 1861, the Central Otago goldfields were a frenzy of hard work as pioneers and adventurers flocked from all over the world in pursuit of striking it rich.
The small towns such as St Bathans and Clyde, and the vast landscapes, have been left with an an indelible imprint of the miners’ activity.
About 57 tonnes of Otago gold was sold on the world market at the peak of the rush.
An estimated 40,000 diggers worked claims from Kyeburn to the Kawarau.
Among the many new towns were Hogburn (Naseby), Blacks (Ophir) and Oturehua, where many relics of the gold-mining days are still to be found, as well as remnants throughout all of Central Otago.
As the easily gained gold from the riverbanks started to run out the prospectors moved up to the terraces and gullies, where high-pressure water cannons were used to pound rock faces into washable gravel.
A classic example is the Bannockburn sluicings, a stark landscape of tailings, caves and tunnels.
Related Stories
Comments
This is just evidence that the mining industry never cleans up its mess, never restores and rehabilitates the landscape. They take what they want and leave the mess for the taxpayers.
This is a warning about what the current miners are going to do once their mines have been cleaned out of everything they value, but they do it now on a much larger scale. And keep in mind that toxic chemicals can also be associated with these sites.
Stop romanticizing these polluters and see it for what it is. History is there to learn from, not to be dazzled by.