Lammermoor, Ranfurly, Central Otago District, Otago Region, South Island, New Zealand

Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	45° 33' 12'' South , 169° 47' 29'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-45.55343,169.79147
Köppen climate type:	Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate

An alluvial gold sluicing area active in the very early 20th Century. The diggings are in remote countryside, characterised by a bleak tussock grass plateau, south-west of Loganburn Dam.

Access is long and difficult, mobile reception unlikely, a 4 wheel drive needed, and avoid winter or if it has been raining. The tracks about to mentioned could be closed, and/or have locked gates.

One access route is to travel south-west of Patearoa on Paerau Road approximately 40 kilometres to the Lammermoor homestead. The track continues south-west, then south into the Lammermoor Ranges. After about 7 kilometres, just before the track makes a sharp turn east towards the dam, take a minor track heading south-west again, that then heads south. The diggings are reached after another 3 kilometres.

Alternatively, from Clarkes Junction on State Highway 87, head north-west on the Old Dunstan Road. After roughly 30 kilometres (a little after the agricultural land, and into the hills), just south of Loganburn Dam, head west for approximately 15 kilometres to the diggings.

A further 2 kilometres south south-west of the above diggings, is a further four areas, tending north-south, a little east of the Taieri River. The easiest method is to walk cross country from the first diggings.

Alluvial miners arrived around 1863, termed Greek's rush, but with the area snow bound in winter, and its remoteness, major mining had to wait.
Read (surname) developed the site in 1905 with hydraulic sluicing and elevators, of shallow wide workings over several hectares. The southern diggings show unusually neat rectangular workings and neat piles of tailings. Various companies worked the site until 1918.

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

Pleistocene 0.0117 - 2.588 Ma ID: 1311234	Early Quaternary alluvium and colluvium Age: Pleistocene (0.0117 - 2.588 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Pakihi Supergroup Description: Weathered gravel, sand, silt and mud of alluvial and colluvial origin. Comments: Zealandia Megasequence Terrestrial and Shallow Marine Sedimentary Rocks (Neogene) Lithology: Gravel, sand, silt, mud 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]
Middle Pleistocene - Calabrian 0.126 - 1.806 Ma ID: 1355441	OIS16+ (Early Pleistocene) river deposits Age: Pleistocene (0.126 - 1.806 Ma) Description: Mixed angular schist and rounded quartz gravel, sand and boulders in former channels of Taieri River. Comments: Early Pleistocene river deposits. Age based on geomorphic estimate Lithology: Major:: {gravel},Minor:: {boulders, 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