Belle Brook, Waimumu, Gore District, Southland Region, South Island, New Zealand
| Latitude & Longitude (WGS84): | 46° 7' 43'' South , 168° 45' 0'' East |
|---|---|
| Latitude & Longitude (decimal): | -46.12874,168.75002 |
| Köppen climate type: | Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate |
Alluvial gold.
Gold nuggets up to 6 mms across are found in quartz gravels at Belle Brook. These gravels were deposited by ancient river channels during the Pliocene period, and are the result of decomposition of clay altered lithic clasts during sedimentary recycling.
The interior of the nuggets are coarsely crystalline, much twinning, with up to 5 wt% Ag. This texture extends to the edges of some nuggets producing skeletal octahedral crystals.
There is the basal Miocene Gore Lignite Measures with seams up to 10 metres thick, overlain by the Pliocene auriferous Waimumu Quartz Gravels, with some greywacke. The gold particles are usually overgrown with marcasite.
It appears gold was only found in the area when farmers sank wells in the 1890's. Gold dredging occurred during the first decade of the 20th Century, and some ground sluicing in the area in the 1930's.
Mineral List
3 valid minerals.
Rock Types Recorded
Select Rock List Type
Alphabetical List Tree DiagramRegional 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
| Miocene - Late Oligocene 5.333 - 28.1 Ma ID: 1310275 | East Southland Group Age: Cenozoic (5.333 - 28.1 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: East Southland Group Description: Sandstone, siltstone, claystone, conglomerate, carbonaceous mudstone and lignite seams. Comments: Zealandia Megasequence Terrestrial and Shallow Marine Sedimentary Rocks (Neogene) Lithology: Sandstone, siltstone, claystone, conglomerate, mudstone, lignite 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] |
| Burdigalian - Chattian 15.97 - 28.1 Ma ID: 1349934 | Chatton Formation (East Southland Group) Age: Cenozoic (15.97 - 28.1 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Chatton Formation Description: Fossiliferous sandstone with mudstone and shellbeds. Comments: Paleogene - Neogene sedimentary rocks. Age based on macro, micropaleontology Lithology: Major:: {sandstone},Minor:: {mudstone, conglomerate, shellbeds} Reference: Heron, D.W. . Geology Map of New Zealand 1:250 000. GNS Science Geological Map 1. [13] |
| Jurassic 145 - 201.3 Ma ID: 3189617 | Mesozoic sedimentary rocks Age: Jurassic (145 - 201.3 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Murihiki Supergroup Comments: Hokonui Terrane Lithology: Sandstone,siltstone; body fossils,turbidite 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
