Keep It Dark Mine, Reefton, Buller District, West Coast Region, South Island, New Zealand
| Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 42° 8' 8'' South , 171° 54' 29'' East |
|---|---|
| Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -42.13583,171.90818 |
| Köppen climate type: | Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate |
The Keep It Dark gold mine, achieved the fourth highest output for gold for any mine in the Reefton area, crushing 333 780 tonnes of quartz for 182 616 ounces of gold, at a grade of 17g/t. The original capital invested was 20 000 pounds, while gold recovered equalled around 500 000 pounds, with dividends issued at 175 000 pounds, a 900% return on investment.
The mine was located south of the Energetic and Wealth of Nations mines, and was part of the same lode, although a barren area of ground separated the two. The lode at Keep it Dark generally dips west, but is vertical at depth. Gold comes as free and fine, but grades decrease with depth. There are also auriferous pyrite seams and stringers, with patches of stibnite, sometimes carrying gold. A dyke is found near the hanging wall, separate by a thin area of pug (clay), the dyke containing many thin threads of quartz, in some areas forming a comb structure. The dyke does not appear to have influenced the distribution of gold. Brecciated quartz is reported in some parts of the mine.
It is hard to imagine when walking through the present beautiful beech forest, with an understorey of ferns, that this area was once an industrial site, with timber cleared and a scarred landscape. The steep hills became unstable, and in 1896 heavy rain led to part of the hill above the Keep It Dark Mine collapsing, smashing the poppet head, old winding wheel, and carrying the blacksmith's shop clear away. No one was injured.
Albert Young fell down the shaft and died in 1905, while Jeremiah Grant was killed by a fall of stone in 1907. In 1913, a miner named Coon (surname) was injured in a fall of stone. Timberer, John McLean died when he fell down the shaft attempting to rescue the original miner. G.R. Proctor died at the mine in August 1915.
The mine started with the Keep It Dark Quartz Gold Mining Company in 1873, with crushing beginning in 1875. The Hercules Quartz Gold Mining Company Ltd, and Keep It Dark No. 2 South Gold Mining Company were later absorbed by the main Keep It Dark company.
The original company collapsed as it had not kept funds to use to prospect once the original rich shoot was exhausted. A second company took over, and spent much money prospecting without success. Shareholders were prosecuted for overdue calls. The mine was let on tribute to Obey Moyle.
A new company was formed with 50 000 pounds capital by Wilson and others to take over the mine in 1916. Much money was spent over the years searching for extensions of the rich ore shoot, without success.
Ore was transported to the 15 stamp Keep It Dark Battery which was on the northern side of State Highway 7 at Crushington, 3 kilometres east of Reefton in the Inangahua valley. James Bain Auld (1870-1955) was battery manager in 1900, having previously worked his way up through the Wealth of Nations, and Globe batteries.
Tailings up until 1896 were dumped into the Inangahua River. Improvements in technology with the introduction of cyanide showed about half the gold was being lost in the tailings. Most batteries had stockpiled their tailings for a future date, however Keep It Dark's are now found further down river, either picked up by dredging, or the gold is still there.
Mineral List
4 valid minerals.
Regional Geology
This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.
Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org
| Devonian 358.9 - 419.2 Ma ID: 1308158 | Reefton Group Age: Devonian (358.9 - 419.2 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Reefton Group; Reefton Group Description: Quartzose metasandstone, metamudstone and limestone. Comments: Western Province (Buller Terrane) Rocks Lithology: Sandstone, mudstone, limestone Reference: Edbrooke, S.W., Heron, D.W., Forsyth, P.J., Jongens, R. (compilers). Geology Map of New Zealand 1:1 000 000. GNS Science Geological Map 2. [12] |
| Rhuddanian - Jiangshanian 440.8 - 494 Ma ID: 1350266 | Greenland Group metasediment Age: Paleozoic (440.8 - 494 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Buller Terrane; Greenland Group Description: Undifferentiated greenish-grey quartzose greywacke and argillite; locally hornfelsed close to granitoid plutons. Comments: Basement (Western Province) metamorphic rocks. Age based on Based on stratigraphic age range Lithology: Major:: {sandstone},Minor:: {mudstone} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13] |
Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
References
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