Gold (Westland) EarthCache
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Size:  (other)
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The story of Ross Goldfields...
Ross was settled in 1865, a gold mining town nestled in a sweeping curve of rainforest-clad hills between the Totara and Mikonui rivers. At this time the west coast of New Zealand's South Island was largely unexplored; a wilderness of swamp and rainforest, home to few Maori and no European settlers. Ross proved to be gold-rich and the town thrived with about 2500 inhabitants, numerous hotels and even a harpist! A vast amount of gold was extracted from the area, but the major Ross gold rush ended in the early 1870s, with most large mining operations turning their attention to new areas.
Mining continued in Ross with some success, but the population gradually decreased. Quartz was mined sporadically on Mt Greenland, a lofty ridge towering 3000ft above the township, but gold proved to be elusive and efforts meet with little real success. In 1909 two miners reworking the bank of Jones Creek, unearthed a fist-sized nugget weighing about 3.1kg. This was a celebrated find, and the nugget was christened 'the Honourable Roddy Nugget', after the Minister of Mines Roderick McKenzie.
Ross weathered the ups and downs of the post gold rush years, with new industries beginning to pay. One of the largest indigenous timber mills in the South Island was established in Ross, and the town became more accessible, with an inland road and railway line from Hokitika. Farming became more viable and a lime works was founded in the 1900s in the hills opposite the township.
Today remnants of the gold rush can be seen everywhere: in original buildings and in the landscape itself, altered by excavations and vast mounds of tailings. Mining relics, tunnels and the remainder of miles of water race can be found in the regenerating rainforest, and descendants of those early diggers still make the town their home.
Like all metals heavier than iron, the atoms of gold that compose the veins of gold ore in the earth's crust were already present in the cloud of dust and gas from which the solar system condensed 5+ billion years ago. They had to have been originally formed in supernova explosions of previously existing stars in the vicinity of what is now the solar system. In other words, our sun is at least a 2nd-generation star since the big bang.
After the earth coalesced and then cooled to form a solid crust, the gold was mostly dissolved in superheated water that exists in magma. Wherever high concentrations of molecular gold reached the crust it precipitated into the mineral crystals of the crustal rock, eventually forming the veins that are mined.
To log this EarthCache, you must do the following and email us the results. You can go ahead and log your find, (ie. you don't need to wait for permission) but if we don’t think you have honestly completed the required tasks we will delete your log (after emailing you first of course):
1)De Bakker cottage - what year was it built?
2)Take a altitude meter reading with your gps - email me the altitude at GZ
3)GoTo S 42 54.062 E 170 48.908 and tell me the dates on the nearby plaque
4)Take a photo of yourself with gps @ S 42 54.063 E 170 48.896
5) How much moneys worth of gold is under Ross today?
Please email me this info, please DO NOT post it with your log. Just post your photo.
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