Story: West Coast places

Mitchells Gully gold mine

Mitchells Gully gold mine

Gold miners around Charleston worked ancient marine sandstone with finely dispersed gold. The sand is cemented with iron, so the miners used crushing equipment developed for quartz mines to crush the sand and recover the gold. Mitchells Gully gold mine is a partly restored mine run by descendants of the original miners. This crushing battery is powered by a waterwheel.

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Photograph by Simon Nathan

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How to cite this page:

Simon Nathan, 'West Coast places - Coast road', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/20986/mitchells-gully-gold-mine (accessed 28 March 2024)

Story by Simon Nathan