New Zealand’s heaviest gold nugget on record was found at Ross on the West Coast. Weighing 3.09 kg, the nugget was named the 'Honourable Roddy' after the minister of mines, Roderick McKenzie.
Goldfields
Events In History
29 March 1901
At 96 m long and 91 m high, the suspension bridge over the Shotover River near Queenstown in Central Otago is one of the most spectacular bridges in New Zealand.
26 July 1863
Approximately 25 gold miners died on the Arrow diggings, north-east of Queenstown, in a series of flash floods and slips caused by 24 hours of heavy rain.
11 October 1861
In its first venture from Dunedin to Gabriels Gully, near Lawrence, Cobb & Co. reduced the time for the trip from two days to nine hours.
23 May 1861
Gabriel Read gained fame and fortune when he found gold near the Tuapeka River, a tributary of the Clutha River in Otago.
Articles
Maungatapu murders, 1866
The 'Burgess gang' murdered and thieved their way around the South Island during the 1860s. Their most notorious crime was five killings over two days in June 1866, on the Maungatapu track near Nelson. Now you can read their story in a virtual comic book. Read the full article
Page 1 - The Maungatapu murders
The 'Burgess gang' murdered and thieved their way around the South Island during the 1860s. Their most notorious crime was five killings over two days in June 1866, on the
Page 2 - The Burgess gang
Richard Burgess, the gang's ringleader, originally known as Richard Hill, had been transported from London to Melbourne for theft at the age of 16, arriving in
Page 3 - The crimes
In May 1866 the Burgess gang embarked on a crime spree on the west coast of the South Island that would culminate in the murder of five men on the Maungatapu
Waiuta
Today Waiuta is a West Coast ghost town. But from 1906 to 1951 it was the company town for the South Island's largest gold mine and home to 600 people. The superb photographs of Czech immigrant Joseph Divis provide a fascinating glimpse of Waiuta in its heyday. Read the full article
Page 1 - Waiuta through the eyes of a miner
Today Waiuta is a West Coast ghost town. But from 1906 to 1951 it was the company town for the South Island's largest gold mine and home to 600 people. The superb photographs of
Page 2 - The Blackwater mine
A small prospecting group discovered a gold-bearing quartz reef in the upper reaches of Blackwater Creek, a tributary of the Grey River, on 9 November
Page 3 - The town of Waiuta
As more houses were built, Waiuta started to look less like a mining camp. It always had the appearance, though, of a frontier town dominated by wood and corrugated
Page 4 - From boom to bust
The outbreak of the Second World War led to a gradual decline in the number of
Main image: Jubilee at Waiuta
The 1931 jubilee, marking 25 years since mining and settlement had begun, was the greatest event in Waiuta's history.
