Idaburn Mine, Idaburn, Central Otago District, Otago Region, South Island, New Zealand
| Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 44° 59' 9'' South , 169° 58' 44'' East |
|---|---|
| Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -44.98601,169.97898 |
| Köppen climate type: | Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate |
Coal.
Located 500 metres north of State Highway 85, from the location of Idaburn.
The site contains an abandoned open cast (pit), and a raised coal hopper/feeder. Next to the hopper was once a 1900 era green tin shed. This was a railway shed moved from Wedderburn nearby, so as to store coal at the mine. The shed features in a well known painting by locally famous artist Grahame Sydney. Wedderburn residents raised money to move the shed back to near its original site, but at the time of writing remains empty. Sydney from the 1970s painted the bleak Central Otago landscapes, and old railway and mining buildings from the area.
Lignite beds of the Oturehua Seam, Fiddlers Member, Dunstan Formation, formed from a swamp forest, or evergreen vine forest. The seams contain much fossilised wood, mainly agathis, podocarpus, nothofagus, physllocladus or dacrydium. Resin 'tears' in the lower part of the lignite seam are of agathis. Amber has been found in the pit.
The coal mine opened in 1870, as an open cast (pit) operation, with horse drays being loaded at the coal face. John White was mine manager from 1891, then in 1897 purchased the mine at 3 acres, and surrounding 50 acres of freehold land. The lignite seam was 18 feet thick, the mine producing around 1200 tonnes of coal per annum.
The region is littered with small coal mines, who sold coal locally, of which there is little information. Lachlan McLean, and the Beck brothers (Ernest and William) also had coal mines listed at Idaburn, but local knowledge is needed to locate them. White is noted in warden reports in 1899, 1903, 1907, and 1923. The mine may have been active since that time but no information was found.
It is clear the mine was active in recent decades, someone living locally will be able to shed light on this. The mine must have closed before 2002, as this is when the Wedderburn Shed was moved. An Idaburn Coal Company Limited was registered from 1977 to 1989, of Robin and Nathaniel Bates of Dunedin.
Mineral List
Rock Types Recorded
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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: 1310995 | 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] |
| Tortonian - Burdigalian 7.246 - 20.44 Ma ID: 1354937 | Bannockburn Formation and Waitangi Formation (Manuherikia Group) Age: Miocene (7.246 - 20.44 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Bannockburn Formation; Waitangi Coal Measures Description: Lacustrine clay, silt and sand with lignite seams; basal fluvial quartz sand and conglomerate. Comments: Neogene sedimentary rocks. Age based on palyno Lithology: Major:: {siltstone},Minor:: {sandstone, lignite} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13] |
| 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] |
Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
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