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Kōrero: Gold and gold mining

First gold discovery at Dunstan

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First gold discovery at Dunstan

This newspaper article reports that Horatio Hartley and Christopher Reilly (here erroneously named ‘Simmons’) arrived in Dunedin on 15 August 1862 with 87 pounds (39.5 kilograms) of gold they had found. The article states Mt Watkins, inland from Waikouaiti, as the source, but this is incorrect. The gold had come from the banks of the Clutha River in Cromwell Gorge, and it led to what would become known as the Dunstan gold rush. The pair received £2,000 (worth about $180,000 in 2005) in return for revealing the source.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Reference: Otago Witness, 16 August 1862, p. 5

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Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Carl Walrond, Gold and gold mining – Otago, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/document/8606/first-gold-discovery-at-dunstan (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Carl Walrond, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009.