Bald Hill Flat (Mitchell's Cottage; Fruitlands), Alexandra, Central Otago District, Otago Region, South Island, New Zealand

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	45° 20' 54'' South , 169° 17' 58'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-45.34845,169.29951
Köppen climate type:	Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate

Bald Hill Flat is the main historic name, based on a small hill in the middle of the flat, now significantly lower due to it being used as an object for gold sluicing. Mitchell's Cottage is the main point of interest with the location today, being a category 1 listed historic building from the gold-rush days open to the public. Fruitlands came about when the government planted 60 000 fruit trees in the area, as a post World War One soldier re-settlement scheme. Most of the trees died due to the harsh climate. Fruitlands is 13 kilometres south of Alexandra on State Highway 8.

Some of the early pioneers at the location were John Crossan or/and his brother Hugh Crossan and Francis Gray , who are noted as controlling the Excelsior Claim, a quartz reef mine at some un-identified location behind the flats in the Old Man Range. A battery was on the site by 1890, and a new larger one installed that year. A tunnel had been driven for 280 feet, but unstable ground was requiring much timbering, and the lease was abandoned. Some figures produced include 119 ounces from 50 tonnes, 25.15 ounces from 118 tonnes, 131 ounces from 59 tonnes, 64 ounces from 31 tonnes. Crossan was noted at the location from at least 1873, the last information 1896.

They also had a claim in the northern part of the flat itself, where they were sluicing, the face noted in 1894 as 35 feet wide, and 10 feet deep, on cemented quartz with small amounts of gold, bottoming on soft bluish slatey clay.

Hugh Crossan's Exhibition claim was sold by the bailiff in 1890. The lease is purchased by Henry Symes in 1893, who erects a three head stamp battery. Tunnelling finds a quartz reef with gold in 1895.

The Bald Hill Sluicing Company from Canterbury, was sluicing Bald Hill itself, and through its history in the 1890's gained enough gold to pay costs. In 1893, it is noted Bald Hill is almost gone from gold sluicing,
and the company may need to change its name to the Bald Flat Gold Mining Company. The company was shifting its focus to a claim on the flats called McCluskey's, after an early gold miner at the location, and another claim known as Webb's. They are elevating wash. Elevating was a piece of equipment which elevated wash dirt out of the hole (called paddocking) by a bucket system. In 1901, they start dredging, but no more was found.

The Last Chance Elevating Company was also active across the 1890's, although far less was written about them. The company was originally Herson, Simmonds and Co. Simmonds at least was James Simmonds, Alexandra Mayor 1880-1882 and 1892-1894, and held extensive mining interests.

Carroll and Lynch (surnames) had been at Bald Hill since the 1870's, and were still there in the 1890's. It is noted they were erecting a plant and elevator in 1894, and employing five men. It was the third plant on their lease during its history.

Hesson and party had completed a water race from Shingle Creek by 1893, and are elevating.

George Wilkinson was an early pioneer on the field from the early 1870's. In 1892, he is reported on rich ground, with many small nuggets, the largest 2.5 ounces. The last information found was 1895.

Henry Symes is noted as the only claim in the Old Man Range above the flat that was successful. He is on the old Advance lease. Symes was at the location from the early days in the 1870's, and was the last man found, being 1911, still living at Bald Hill Flat, and on a government subsidy scheme to prospect the Old Man Range for gold.

The Bald Hill area was not immune to gold dredging, the craze sweeping New Zealand in the 1890's. The Bald Hill Flat Freehold Gold Dredging Company was formed in 1899, purchasing John Kemp's farm, his Cape Broom Hotel, store, buildings, and neighbour George Burton's farm, his Speargrass Flat Hotel, and store. While the company proposed to on-sell the businesses to third parties, and dredge the surrounding lands, never get between a miner and his beer. A spat erupted between the company, and local miners, the latter claiming the company would fail due to the lack of gold at the location.

The Mitchell brothers, noted in a moment about the cottage, went quietly about their business with a minimum of fuss, unlike some of the others at the location who were prone to litigation. They are mentioned in 1890, as working away at their claim with regularity, but need more water to process the gold.

Fruitlands contains at least one of the original hotels, dating from 1871, and now a B and B. There is also a historic school house. Turn onto Symes Road, and after a kilometre Mitchell's Cottage is reached. This completely restored stone cottage was built by Andrew Mitchell, for his younger brother John Mitchell, his wife Jessie, and their ten children. They had left the Shetland Islands as young men, with Andrew on the Victorian (Australia) goldfields, before arriving in New Zealand in 1860. Their cousins, the Whites were already mining gold in the Alexandra district. Andrew came across an auriferous gold reef at Bald Hill Flat in the mid 1870's, and invited his cousin James White to join him. This mine was sold to Robert or Henry Symes in 1884, while Andrew continued mining with his brother from 1886, at a location on Obelisk Creek on the flats. Introduced trees planted by Andrew surround the site, and a sundial carved by Andrew into solid schist is also near the cottage.

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

Quaternary 0 - 2.588 Ma ID: 1313700	Late Quaternary alluvium and colluvium Age: Pleistocene (0 - 2.588 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Pakihi Supergroup Description: Unconsolidated to poorly consolidated mud, sand, gravel and peat of alluvial and colluvial origin. Comments: Zealandia Megasequence Terrestrial and Shallow Marine Sedimentary Rocks (Neogene) Lithology: Mud, sand, gravel, peat 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]
Holocene - Late Pleistocene 0 - 0.126 Ma ID: 1352972	OIS1 (Holocene) fan deposits Age: Pleistocene (0 - 0.126 Ma) Description: Loose, commonly angular, boulders, gravel, sand, and silt forming alluvial fans; grades into scree (upslope) and valley alluvium. Comments: Holocene river deposits. Age based on geomorphic estimate Lithology: Major:: {gravel},Minor:: {sand, silt} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13]
Triassic - Permian 201.3 - 298.9 Ma ID: 3189657	Paleozoic-Mesozoic crystalline metamorphic rocks Age: Phanerozoic (201.3 - 298.9 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Haast Schist Comments: Caples Terrane Lithology: Metawacke; greenschist/almandine amphibolite grade metasedimentary/metavolcanic schist 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]

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

References

External Links