EXPLORE
Golden Point Reserve
The Golden Point mine, situated in Deepdell Creek was wryly called Poverty Point when it was first opened in 1889 by the Morrin Brothers and J Wrigley. It shortly after became the property of the Golden Point Mining Company, who built a battery and went into liquidation within a year. The stone work of this first battery can still be seen. The claim, water rights and battery were bought by the Donaldson Brothers who ran the operation very successfully until they sold it in 1912 to a Christchurch syndicate. The Donaldsons mining operation included extracting both alluvial gold from old gravels on the hillside and quartz from shallow tunnels run into the surface of the reef. They built a waterwheel driven from a water race as their main power source. They mined well up the hillside towards round Hill and built an aerial tramway to bring the ore down the hill. After the Donaldsons sold out their battery worked successfully until about 1930.
During its successful 40-year life the operation produced over 15,000 ounces of gold and about 800 tonnes of scheelite.
Golden Point area is unusual in that all major forms of mining in the area occurred there – alluvial mining and then quartz mining, first through the amalgamation method and then through the cyanide process. It is a complex and largely intact archaeological and historical landscape, with many of the features associated with the activity described above still being visible and intact.
The Golden Point mine was first opened in 1889, and became the property of the Golden Point Mining Company that went into liquidation. The Donaldson brothers then bought the claim, water rights and battery and ran this operation successfully until they sold it to a Christchurch syndicate in 1912. The battery worked until about 1930 and was turned into scrap metal in about 1953.
Golden Point was considered to be one of the two or three largest underground gold mines in Otago. It was the largest in terms of the area worked; however the returns were not as great as Bendigo mine. It was more significant as one of the three major scheelite mines in New Zealand. The proposed area is also noteworthy for the presence of the only working ore crushing battery site in Otago, which is one of three operating in New Zealand. While the other two batteries, both on the West Coast, are water powered, Callery’s battery is powered by a kerosene fired stationary engine.
