More than two dozen Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust members toured the area Santana Minerals has proposed mining for one of New Zealand’s biggest gold discoveries in 40 years.
Trust secretary Terry Davis said the trip built mutual understanding between the mining and heritage communities.
Key archaeological areas were toured after Santana representatives outlined the company’s plans to balance gold extraction with protecting Central Otago’s historic legacy.
Trust president Rex Johnston said members had been concerned about the impact of the proposed mine on goldfields heritage and it was a relief to see what would actually be impacted, he said.
Seeing the sites first-hand helped clarify what was going to be disturbed, Mr Johnston said.
There were no intact stone huts in the area but the Common Times Stamper Battery further down the hill was a true gem in its own right.
"It’s outside their project area but it’s relatively close so it needs to be considered just in terms of making sure it’s not harmed in any way."
There was no comparison to the Bendigo Heritage Reserve buildings.
"They are absolutely classic. They are the true gems up on those hills. However, they’re subject to the weather. They could well do with restoring roofs on them."
There are other huts over in that area that could conceivably be restored to those levels.
"I’m non-archaeological, I’m just an enthusiast but I would be very hard-pressed to say whether anything was part of a building site or just the remnants from somebody’s work digging away and moving stones out of creek beds and recovering gold."
The trust hoped to work with Santana on ways to reuse heritage material from within the project area to help restore historic structures elsewhere.
"We’d like to sit around the table and talk about what can be done with the remains of any sites that are moved. There’s a real opportunity to turn a loss into a restoration project," he said.
The Trust was aware Santana was committed to the mining project so they need to be practical about the best outcome for all.
"It’s weighing up what’s there against the potential value that could be obtained from it. It’s very hard to be comfortable about removal of any archaeological site and I think you could say that we would definitely not promote that.
"We need to be practical and say, well, if we’re not going to be listened to and our opinion doesn’t matter, then what is the next step? What is the next best outcome? That would be to be on hand to help guide and support some value being made of those remnants," Mr Johnston said.
Santana Minerals senior adviser — communications and government relations Polly Clague said the company welcomed the chance to host OGHT members and share the site’s future vision.
"Many of the trust members have deep local knowledge of mining history. It was a day of genuine exchange where we learned from each other," she said.
Archaeological studies had confirmed the project area had historic features including 19th-century water races, stone huts, dams and retaining walls linked to the region’s pioneering gold-mining past. Several sites, such as the historic Rabbiter’s Hut, would be preserved intact and new recording and interpretation initiatives were planned to ensure the stories of early miners and settlers remained visible, she said.
Santana’s plan proposed reusing heritage stonework in post-mining landscape features, installing interpretive signage and a partnership with the Cromwell Museum to display recovered artefacts and records, Mrs Clague said.
