Story: West Coast region

Stamper battery

This video clip of a stamper battery at the Blacks Point Museum shows how the set of heavy stampers are lifted and dropped by the action of the drive wheel. Most batteries were water or steam powered, and the stampers crushed the quartz as they fell. The din of the stampers was constant in hard-rock mining towns.

Using this item

Private collection
Video by Simon Nathan

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

Simon Nathan, 'West Coast region - Mining', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/video/21136/stamper-battery (accessed 19 April 2024)

Story by Simon Nathan, updated 1 Sep 2016