Grey District, West Coast Region, New Zealandi

Regional Level Types
Grey District	District
West Coast Region	Region
New Zealand	Country

The Grey District is one of three comprising the West Coast Region (the other two are Buller to the north and Westland to the south). The Grey District is governed by the Grey District Council, with Greymouth its seat. The population of the district is around 13 000, with 27% of that in Greymouth, its largest town. The district covers 3510.48 square kilometres.

Towns in the area were initially established by the 1860's gold rushes. After this died down there was a gold dredging boom in the 1890's. The first half of the 20th Century saw many underground coal mines established in the area, much like the Buller District to the north. Information against the listings in this section are littered with explosions, and the deaths of coal miners, its final chapter the Pike River coal mine disaster.

The Brunner coal mine complex (the site of its own disaster) can be easily examined on State Highway 7. A short detour to Blackball, reveals some interesting relics from bygone coal mining days. There are some public gold fossicking sites also listed under this section.

The district is found on the west coast of the South Island, its northern limit is Punakaiki, the southern limit the Taramakau River. The district encompasses the lower Grey River Valley, crossing east at Ikamatua, half-way to Reefton. Its eastern border matches the West Coast/Canterbury Region border.

Geochronology

Mineralization age: Late/Upper Cretaceous : 81.7 ± 1.8 Ma

Important note: This table is based only on rock and mineral ages recorded on mindat.org for this locality and is not necessarily a complete representation of the geochronology, but does give an indication of possible mineralization events relevant to this locality. As more age information is added this table may expand in the future. A break in the table simply indicates a lack of data entered here, not necessarily a break in the geologic sequence. Grey background entries are from different, related, localities.

Geologic Time				Rocks, Minerals and Events
Phanerozoic
	Mesozoic
		Cretaceous
			Late/Upper Cretaceous	ⓘ Zircon 81.7 ± 1.8 Ma French Creek Granite Intrusion, Grey District, West Coast Region, New Zealand

Fossils

There are 9 fossil localities from the PaleoBioDB database within this region.

BETA TEST - These data are provided on an experimental basis and are taken from external databases. Mindat.org has no control currently over the accuracy of these data.

Occurrences	33
Youngest Fossil Listed	0.01 Ma (Pleistocene)
Oldest Fossil Listed	408 Ma (Early/Lower Devonian)
Stratigraphic Units	Unit No. Occurrences Age Kaiata Mudstone 1 37.2 - 34.3 Ma (Eocene) Kaiata Siltstone 1 37.2 - 36 Ma (Eocene) Island Sandstone 3 37.2 - 34.3 Ma (Eocene)
Fossils from Region	Click here to show the list.
Accepted Name Hierarchy Age Rugosa subclass Animalia : Cnidaria : Anthozoa : Rugosa 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Enallopsammia genus Animalia : Cnidaria : Anthozoa : Scleractinia : Dendrophylliidae : Enallopsammia 15.9 - 13.65 Ma Miocene Notocyathus genus Animalia : Cnidaria : Anthozoa : Scleractinia : Turbinoliidae : Notocyathus 41.3 - 38 Ma Eocene Laevidentalium genus Animalia : Mollusca : Scaphopoda : Dentaliida : Laevidentaliidae : Laevidentalium 41.3 - 38 Ma Eocene Tentaculites genus Animalia : Mollusca : Tentaculitidae : Tentaculites 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Loxonema genus Animalia : Mollusca : Gastropoda : Loxonematidae : Loxonema 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Duplipecten genus Animalia : Mollusca : Bivalvia : Pectinida : Pectinidae : Duplipecten 41.3 - 38 Ma Eocene Bryozoa phylum Animalia : Bryozoa 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Reeftonia genus Animalia : Brachiopoda : Rhynchonellata : Orthida : Rhipidomellidae : Reeftonia 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Schizophoria genus Animalia : Brachiopoda : Rhynchonellata : Orthida : Schizophoriidae : Schizophoria 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Parachonetes genus Animalia : Brachiopoda : Strophomenata : Productida : Strophochonetidae : Parachonetes 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Rhynchonellida order Animalia : Brachiopoda : Rhynchonellata : Rhynchonellida 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Spiriferida order Animalia : Brachiopoda : Rhynchonellata : Spiriferida 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Pleurothyrella genus Animalia : Brachiopoda : Rhynchonellata : Terebratulida : Meganterididae : Pleurothyrella 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Reeftonella genus Animalia : Brachiopoda : Rhynchonellata : Terebratulida : Meganterididae : Reeftonella 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Crinoidea class Animalia : Echinodermata : Crinoidea 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Schizaster genus Animalia : Echinodermata : Echinoidea : Spatangoida : Schizasteridae : Schizaster 37.2 - 36 Ma Eocene Isurus genus Animalia : Chordata : Elasmobranchii : Lamniformes : Lamnidae : Isurus 15.9 - 13.65 Ma Miocene Hydrurga genus Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Carnivora : Phocidae : Hydrurga 0.0117 - 0 Ma Quaternary Rhynchonellidae family Animalia : Brachiopoda : Rhynchonellata : Rhynchonellida : Rhynchonellidae 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Athyrididae family Animalia : Brachiopoda : Rhynchonellata : Athyridida : Athyrididae 407.6 - 393.3 Ma Early/Lower Devonian Caryophyllia clavus species Animalia : Cnidaria : Anthozoa : Scleractinia : Caryophylliidae : Caryophyllia : Caryophyllia clavus 13.65 - 12.7 Ma Miocene Flabellum rubrum species Animalia : Cnidaria : Anthozoa : Scleractinia : Flabellidae : Flabellum : Flabellum rubrum 15.9 - 13.65 Ma Miocene Notocyathus pedicellatus species Animalia : Cnidaria : Anthozoa : Scleractinia : Turbinoliidae : Notocyathus : Notocyathus pedicellatus 37.2 - 13.65 Ma Cenozoic Balanophyllia alta species Animalia : Cnidaria : Anthozoa : Scleractinia : Dendrophylliidae : Balanophyllia : Balanophyllia alta 15.9 - 13.65 Ma Miocene Caryophyllia lamellifera species Animalia : Cnidaria : Anthozoa : Scleractinia : Caryophylliidae : Caryophyllia : Caryophyllia lamellifera 15.9 - 13.65 Ma Miocene Stephanocyathus (Odontocyathus) ixine species Animalia : Cnidaria : Anthozoa : Scleractinia : Caryophylliidae : Stephanocyathus : Stephanocyathus (Odontocyathus) ixine 15.9 - 13.65 Ma Miocene Palaeoneilo mundeni species Animalia : Mollusca : Bivalvia : Nuculanida : Palaeoneilo : Palaeoneilo mundeni 237 - 208.5 Ma Late/Upper Triassic
Fossil Localities	Click to show 9 fossil localities

Localities in this Region

Other Regions, Features and Areas that Intersect