Steventon Mine (Hill's), Coalgate, Selwyn District, Canterbury Region, South Island, New Zealand

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	43° 27' 2'' South , 171° 51' 22'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-43.45072,171.85613
Köppen climate type:	Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate

Old coal mine and pottery clays.

Located next to the Steventon Homestead, approximately 7 kilometres west north-west of Coalgate.

It was developed by a dip drive, with levels driven north-east and south-west, on a 14 foot thick coal seam, dipping south-east 30 degrees. There were two seams, but only the one furthest away from the intrusion was mined. The coal seam was cut by three faults. Speight in 1928 states a considerable amount of coal had been extracted, until creep caused the workings to be abandoned. A new drive nearby was dug. An intrusion has caused the coal to convert to lignite altered coal or anthracite.

Near the homestead garden was also an old fireclay pit for pottery. This showed as basal greywacke, red highly ferruginous sandstone, sandy clays with Fe concretions, hardened fireclay with sandstone concretions showing leaf imprints and coal fragments, sandy shale showing fossilised flattened tree stems and small coal lenses with pyrite concretions, grey laminated sand, fireclay with coal pieces, and near the surface light coloured clays.

Speight mentions three prospecting shafts in the vicinity of the homestead. One showed coal seams, one at 4 feet thick, another 2 feet of altered coal, and a third 14 feet thick with sandy clay and shales. A fourth shaft recently sunk is also mentioned on a 2 foot thick coal seam, with several smaller brown and black coal seams.

Also noted is an old adit from the 1870's. This was probably developed by H.P. Hill, who owned the property at the time. A drive was dug at the foot of the ridge behind the homestead in 1871, with 400 tonnes of coal extracted from a nearby shaft. It was abandoned soon after, but re-opened later by the new homestead owner. The coal was described in 1871 variably as massive, compact, friable, lustrous, black to brown non coking coal as a C upper seam, and massive less friable, lower lustrous dull coal from a lower D seam. The coal was semi anthracite.


No minerals currently recorded for this locality.

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

Jurassic - Triassic 145 - 252.17 Ma ID: 3185705	Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks Age: Mesozoic (145 - 252.17 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Torlesse Supergroup Lithology: Mafic volcanic rocks; basalt; chert,greywacke,argillite,limestone Reference: Chorlton, L.B. Generalized geology of the world: bedrock domains and major faults in GIS format: a small-scale world geology map with an extended geological attribute database. doi: 10.4095/223767. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5529. [154]
Hettangian - Artinskian 199.3 - 290.1 Ma ID: 1358663	Undifferentiated Rakaia Terrane Permian - Triassic sandstone and mudstone Age: Phanerozoic (199.3 - 290.1 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Rakaia Terrane Description: Well indurated, massive or bedded, greywacke sandstone and argillitic mudstone/siltstone; minor conglomerate/chert/volcanics; TZI. Comments: Basement (Eastern Province) sedimentary rocks. Age based on Atomodesma at 1 locality, ?Monotis Lithology: Major:: {sandstone},Minor:: {mudstone, siltstone, conglomerate, chert} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13]
Triassic - Guadalupian 201.3 - 272.3 Ma ID: 1310138	Rakaia Terrane Permian-Triassic sedimentary rocks Age: Phanerozoic (201.3 - 272.3 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Torlesse Supergroup Description: Quartzofeldspathic sandstone and thin- to thick-bedded, graded sandstone and mudstone with minor conglomerate; local basaltic volcanic rocks, limestone and chert commonly associated with areas of deformed rock. Comments: Eastern Province (Rakaia Terrane) Rocks Lithology: Sandstone, mudstone, conglomerate, basalt, limestone, chert 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