Central Otago's Bendigo and Lindis Pass goldfield sites have been officially recognised as historic areas by Heritage New Zealand.
The Bendigo Quartz Reefs Historic Area, on the lower slopes of the northern face of the Dunstan Range overlooking the Upper Clutha Basin, was home from the mid-1860s to the early 20th century to miners, their families and associated businesses in search of prosperity.
Heather Bauchop, of Heritage New Zealand, said the area had considerable aesthetic, archaeological, historical and technological significance or value which warranted its placing on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero.
''You could say it's a historical goldmine in what remains ... The sites have the potential to yield valuable archaeological information on the miners and their families. This is one of the best and most accessible sites in Otago that illustrates quartz mining archaeology.''
The Lindis Pass Historic Area - the site of the first gold rush in Otago in 1861 - includes the ruins of the Lindis Pass Hotel which closed about 1950, alluvial gold-mining remains, the Lindis Pass School site and the hut of Watson Thompson, a returned World War 2 serviceman who enjoyed the area's solitude before being killed in the 1979 Mt Erebus disaster.
''There are significant archaeological remains of the alluvial mining from the 1860s, including sluicing faces, a water race and tailing''.
Ms Bauchop said because the Lindis Pass rush was so short - a matter of months - the area's historical significance had been overshadowed by Gabriel Read's discovery further south later that year.
Wanaka Department of Conservation office spokeswoman Annette Grieve said the department, which manages the sites, was pleased an extra level of protection had been added to the historic sites.
