Barewood Reefs, Hindon, Dunedin City, Otago Region, New Zealandi

Regional Level Types
Barewood Reefs	- not defined -
Hindon	- not defined -
Dunedin City	City
Otago Region	Region
New Zealand	Country

Barewood is located 30 km northwest of Dunedin and was settled and mined for gold and scheelite from 1888-1919. A northwest-trending normal fault, the “Barewood Reefs Fault”, dips 55°NE and hosts two styles of mesothermal quartz veins. Massive, white, tabular quartz pods (1-10 m), with sparse gold and scheelite, occur sporadically in leftstepping dilational jogs associated with a normal+sinistral fault movement.

Also referred to as Barewood Creek workings.

Gold was discovered here in 1888. The provincial government had vested the Barewood pastoral station with the Otago University (Dunedin), and probably contributed to the late discovery. Initially the university granted mining leases to seven applicants- John Cunningham, Allan Scott, Robert Scott, Harry Hertslett, Henry Orbell, W.G. Mouatt, and George W. Pogson. It then received a further seventy applications. Initially it decided to refuse to have its land over-run by miners, but subsequently after public protest, granted the leases upon payment of a fee by each applicant. Pogson queried the university's legal authority to grant leases, and the government was approached. The Mines Department refused further requests to grant leases on the land, however existing leases which applied anyway to the auriferous reefs continued.

The individual leases were gradually consolidated, until around 1898, the Barewood Gold Mining Company controlled it. It was floated as a public company December 1902, with 8000 pounds capital. In 1899, the company gave an option over the lease to the Anglo-Continental syndicate, and the New Zealand Exploration Company for 1000 pounds. They expended 12 301 pounds sinking three shafts, finding a payable reef in one, and a lot of water in all. They agreed to continue for another year on payment of another 1000 pounds, but after expending a further 5670 pounds, abandoned the option. As the second 1000 pounds had not been paid, this ended in court.

The Barewood company continued developing the property using one of Anglo-Continental's shafts called Scott's Shaft. This was down to 200 feet, but only the upper 130 feet was worked. They erected a five head battery but the ore was not covering costs. Engineer, D.B. Waters was employed from Australia, who changed what ore was coming out of the mine, with improved results. W. Hitchcock is mine manager. This company continued operations until around 1911.

The increase of the price for tungsten during the World War One years, saw renewed interest at the site. Scheelite had been picked out of the ore, and dumped on the tailings as a nuisance by the early gold miners. The Pukerangi Company, and H.S. Molinaux were both mining scheelite, with processing plants. A new reef was discovered by Alex Ewart in 1919, and an option was secured over it by the Pukerangi Gold and Scheelite Mining Company Limited, who drove a tunnel to test the lode.

The Barewood site contains gold and scheelite bearing quartz veins within north-west striking faults, with mine workings covering an extent of 900 metres along three sub-parallel lodes, hosted in Otago schist. Quartz is found as early massive white, and later clear prismatic quartz crystals. Arsenopyrite dominates the sulphides, with lesser pyrite, and minor chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and galena.

Gold is found microscopically enclosed in arsenopyrite, pyrite, or chalcopyrite, or mobilised free from the sulphides due to near surface oxidation. Secondary gold up to 1 mm in diameter is found in fractures, shears and cavities in quartz veins, and associated sheared schist, intimately associated with goethite, and kaolinite near surface. Gold has not been enriched in the alteration zone.

There is a zone of kaolinization 10- 20 metres from the surface, containing pale coloured kaolinite, goethite patches, relict metamorphic quartz, and muscovite. Scorodite and pharmacosiderite is noted as grain size.

The site is on private property.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References