Burkes Terrace, Skippers, Queenstown-Lakes District, Otago Region, South Island, New Zealand
| Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 44° 50' 32'' South , 168° 40' 52'' East |
|---|---|
| Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -44.84240,168.68116 |
| Köppen climate type: | Cfc : Subpolar oceanic climate |
Alluvial gold in gravels.
Burkes Terrace is the location of the former Skippers town site, now occupied by a stone schoolhouse and cemetery. The Mount Aurum Homestead was destroyed by fire in January 2018, shortly before this was written. The terrace covers 80 acres, wedged between the tiny but incredibly rich Skippers Point Terrace to the north, and the larger and only slightly less rich Londonderry Terrace to the south.
Mining occurred around the edges of the town, however was limited by several houses, Johnston's Hotel, a number of stores etc, although the miners would have dearly loved to bulldoze the town to get to the gold underneath.
One did try. Julien Bourdeau was a French Canadian who had a store in the town, and for 54 years brought in supplies by pack horses. The horses understood French, but apparently not English. In 1916, aged 86 he was found dead by the side of Skippers track in the process of bringing supplies again to his store,which he had done twice a week.
In 1899, the Skippers Sluicing Company had plans to demolish the store to sluice the ground underneath. Bourdeau had not agreed to this, and the matter was taken to the warden's court.
In 1891, the Londonderry Sluicing Company was formed consisting of a few rich Melbourne businessmen, the claim partly covering the Londonderry and Burke terraces at 36 acres. D. Miller is mine manager. A 5 mile water race had been constructed crossing 3 gullies by siphons, and costing 8000 to 12 000 pounds depending on who to believe. The capital of the company was 120 000 pounds, an outrageously large amount for a alluvial gold sluicing claim.
The main shareholder was Sir Joseph Davies, chairman of the Mercantile Bank. He was charged with fraud in 1892, alleged to have used the bank's funds to invest in the sluicing claim, and other pet projects in his name. The mortgagee sold the claim in 1893.
In 1922, Smith and Jacobson (surnames) are sluicing an old paddock. There were probably various other alluvial miners, on the terrace who go unrecorded.
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
| Toarcian - Olenekian 174.1 - 251.2 Ma ID: 1328591 | Aspiring lithologic association TZIV pelitic schist (Rakaia Terrane) Age: Mesozoic (174.1 - 251.2 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Aspiring Lithologic Association Description: Very well segregated and laminated; abundant pelitic and subordinate psammitic greyschist; minor greenschist and metachert; TZIV. Comments: Basement (Eastern Province) metamorphic rocks. Age based on lithological inference, detrital zircon U-Pb dates elsewhere Lithology: Major:: {pelite},Minor:: {greenschist, schist, metachert, marble} 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] |
| Triassic - Permian 201.3 - 298.9 Ma ID: 1309452 | Aspiring lithologic association Permian-Triassic TZIV schist Age: Phanerozoic (201.3 - 298.9 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Torlesse Supergroup Description: Pelitic and subordinate psammitic schist (TZIV); including areas and bands of greenschist or amphibolite, and minor marble, metachert and serpentinised ultramafics. Comments: Eastern Province (Rakaia Terrane) Rocks Lithology: Schist, greenschist, amphibolite, marble, metachert, ultramafic igneous rock 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
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