Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):	37° 33' 8'' South , 143° 52' 18'' East
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):	-37.55242,143.87185
GeoHash:	G#: r1q63gu33
Köppen climate type:	Cfb : Temperate oceanic climate

Historic gold mine.

The area was originally worked by the Black Hill Company on the Majestic Reef in the 1870's. A shaft had been sunk to 280 feet, and open cut 1140 feet long, 150 feet wide, and 60 feet deep. Large dividends were paid, but no record was kept on yields at the time.

In 1899, the New Zealand Trust Company took over the area, and sank a shaft 1100 feet, on the north-west shoulder of the hill. The shaft had chambers at the 230, 464, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 feet. A the last level a cross-cut had been driven, but little exploration had been made above this to the 464 foot level.

They broke into the old Black Hill Company workings at the 464 foot level, and took out 2794 tonnes of ore yielding 689 ounces of gold. They attempted to follow the Majestic Reef however it dipped down and was lost. Gold being found was not payable, then the chairman, J. Russell died in London, and the shareholders grew tired of making calls. The lease was abandoned.

In 1906, the Kia Ora Company was formed, a semi private venture to re-open the mine. The name means 'good luck' in Maori (amongst other meanings), and was chosen after a recent visit to Ballarat by former New Zealand Premier Sneddon, who shortly after passed away. He was said to have used the term often, and the syndicate wished to honour him in some way. E. Jenkins was mine manager during the New Zealand Trust days, and continued as mine manager for the Kia Ora Company.

The lease covered 175 acres, encompassing 4950 feet of the lode. A ten head stamp battery was erected. The company's funds were soon exhausted, and an attempt was made in 1907 to float the mine in London. Government grants were requested in 1908, and the government agreed if shareholders raised the same amount of money. When shareholders failed to support more calls the company was wound up at the beginning of 1909.

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

Early Silurian - Cambrian 427.4 - 541 Ma ID: 3185333

Paleozoic sedimentary rocks Age: Paleozoic (427.4 - 541 Ma) Comments: Lachlan Fold Belt Lithology: Sedimentary rocks 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]

Darriwilian - Tremadocian 458.4 - 485.4 Ma ID: 931622

Castlemaine Group Age: Ordovician (458.4 - 485.4 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Castlemaine Group Description: Marine turbiditic sandstone, mudstone, black shale; minor granule conglomerate. Comments: sedimentary siliciclastic; synthesis of multiple published descriptions Lithology: Sedimentary siliciclastic Reference: Raymond, O.L., Liu, S., Gallagher, R., Zhang, W., Highet, L.M. Surface Geology of Australia 1:1 million scale dataset 2012 edition. Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia). [5]

Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

References