More than two dozen Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust members toured the area Santana Minerals has proposed mining after one of New Zealand’s biggest gold discoveries in 40 years.
While a former trust member said the trust was well-meaning but "way out of their depth" in their actions, 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, he said.
Trust president Rex Johnston said members had been concerned about the impact of the proposed mine on goldfields heritage, but it was a relief to see what would actually be impacted.
"Ultimately we were at the Rise and Shine site standing beside the areas of concern of which nobody could recognise anything and didn't know they were standing beside sites.
"It's like piles of rocks around the place.
"That doesn't invalidate them as heritage or archaeological sites, it just means that they are not in a built form."
There were no intact stone huts in the area, but the Come in Time stamper battery further down the hill, in the Bendigo Historic Reserve, 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."
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," Mr Johnston said.
Central Otago Environmental Society secretary Matthew Sole said the trust should return to the area with a qualified archaeologist to get a better view of the proposal.
The consultant archaeologist, who recently ended a more than 30-year relationship with the trust, said not all archaeology was above ground and it was "very dangerous" just to focus on above-ground structures.
Sites could be "complex" or "messy" and were not necessarily aesthetically pleasing, but once interpreted could be seen to be significant, he said.
"We can’t just pick out all the nice wee huts and batteries."
Santana Minerals communications and government relations senior adviser Polly Clague said the company had welcomed the chance to host trust members and share the site’s vision of the future.
"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 also proposed reusing heritage stonework in post-mining landscape features, installing interpretive signage and it planned to partner with the Cromwell Museum to display recovered artefacts and records, ensuring that the goldfield’s stories remained accessible to the public, Mrs Clague said.
