Just In Time Mine, Reefton, Buller District, West Coast Region, South Island, New Zealand

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	42° 4' 33'' South , 171° 56' 10'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-42.07590,171.93636
Köppen climate type:	Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate

The historic Just In Time gold mine is on Kirwans Track, a 5 hour walk along Boatmans Creek, through beech forest and ferns, up the Victoria Range to Kirwans Hut. The beginning of the track can be found at the end of Boatmans Road, off State Highway 69, sixteen kilometres north of Reefton. The Just In Time Mine site is about one hour into the trek bordering the Boatmans Creek.

The Just In Time gold mine was the eleventh richest in gold production for the Reefton district, producing 13 755 tonnes of quartz, yielding 17 168 ounces of gold, at a grade of 38.8 .

Gold was first found at the site in January 1872 by Axel Topfer, the claim initially called Boatmans Creek. The western reef at the future mine was discovered by James Clark. In 1873, the Just In Time, and Fiery Cross companies jointly erected a 15 head battery. The first crushing from the Just In Time Mine achieved 1631 ounces, and did much to shore up waning public confidence in the Reefton district, hit by wild cat scammers, cashing in on the boom.

In 1874, the eastern lode at the mine was discovered. A third short shoot to the north on the same channel was discovered in 1875. In 1881, a rich shoot south of Just In Time was found in the Imperial claim (later Alhambra, Reform, and Rise of Lancaster), although it proved small and unimportant. The Just In Time Mine later absorbed this claim, and explored the lode.

Prior to 1882, mining was by long adits and winzes, but a shaft was sunk in 1883 close to the Imperial boundary. Rich quartz bearing gold was found at the 200 foot level. Most ore however was obtained from the Walhalla, and Boatmans adits, on the western reef, 200 feet west of the main shoot. The main shoot also had an adit.

Gold values in the main reef were rich, but of limited width,had an irregular shape, averaging 4 feet wide, and 200 feet long. At depth the ore shoot was cut off sharply by faults. The western reef is considered a fragment of the main shoot, dislocated west by faults. The ore body here was 167 feet long, and 18 inches thick, with the ore very broken. There was also an adit on the south side of the ridge (it is assumed the southern side of Boatmans Creek, as maps place the main mine of the northern side of the creek), exploring a small outcrop.

In 1895, the Consolidated Goldfields of New Zealand took over the Fiery Cross, and Just In Time claims, cleaning out the shafts in 1899. They also deepened the Just In Time Shaft to 400 feet. It appears the rich gold bearing quartz had already been taken, and the company dismantled the battery.

Prospectors registered the claim again on 06 August 1910, with the intention to re-open the mine, however nothing valuable was found, and the company was liquidated.

Mineral List

1 valid mineral.

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

Rhuddanian - Jiangshanian 440.8 - 494 Ma ID: 1327522

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]

Ordovician - Late Cambrian 443.8 - 501 Ma ID: 1312947

Greenland Group metasedimentary rocks Age: Paleozoic (443.8 - 501 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Greenland Group; Greenland Group metasedimentary rocks Description: Quartzose metasandstone and metamudstone, hornfelsed near plutons and locally schistose. Comments: Western Province (Buller Terrane) Rocks Lithology: Sandstone, mudstone, schist 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]

Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

References