The last of the Cardrona Valley's abandoned goldmining sections has sold, years after a search began to trace descendants of the land's original owners.
Nine unclaimed sections were offered for sale in June this year for the first time since being occupied by Chinese gold miners and other early settlers dating back to the 1870s.
They were put on the market by the Public Trust after the original owners' descendants were unable to be traced.
Eight of the sections sold by private tender in July and the remaining section sold last week, all for undisclosed sums.
Three on either side of the Cardrona Hotel were bought by hotel owners Cade Thornton and James Jenneson for future expansion of their business, while Wanaka developer Lane Hocking, who owns two farms in the Cardrona Valley, bought the five unclaimed sites across from the hotel.
Mr Hocking said yesterday he was yet to decide how he would develop his sections, which were originally earmarked for a village green by the Queenstown Lakes District Council and used at present as village car parking.
''If someone's got a bright idea they're more than welcome to tell me.''
Harcourts agent Eamon Young said the last site, further up the valley on Tuohys Gully Rd, was also sold to a local buyer.
Unlike the other eight sections, the Tuohys Gully one was unusual in that it had a ''provisional title'' on it.
That meant a new title had to be applied for through Land Information New Zealand, which had ultimately delayed the sales process, Mr Young said.
Public Trust general manager retail customers Matt Sale said the net sale proceeds would be held for the relatives of the original owners.
''Public Trust will endeavour to trace them but if unsuccessful the funds held will, after six years, be transferred to the Consolidated Fund under the Unclaimed Money Act.
''If there are any claimants after the money is paid to the Consolidated Fund, they can apply to the fund for payment.''
Earlier this year, Mr Sale said solicitors previously acting for the QLDC had tried unsuccessfully for six or seven years to identify descendants of the owners.
Court orders were then obtained in 2012 appointing the Public Trust to manage the abandoned land and further investigation was carried out by the trust.
