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Story: Wellington places

Terawhiti gold mine

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Terawhiti gold mine

In the 1870s and 1880s, prospectors looked for gold – in the veins of quartz in the greywacke rocks at Cape Terawhiti. However, very little gold was found. This is the entrance to the Golden Crown gold mine in 1881.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, E. R. Williams Collection

Reference: 1/2-140357; G

by William Williams

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Chris Maclean, Wellington places – The ‘Wild West’, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/13453/terawhiti-gold-mine (accessed 5 June 2026).

Story by Chris Maclean, published 3 March 2009, updated 1 March 2016.