Gold rush
13th November 2009 This morning we headed for Waihi, about an hour north of Katikati where we stayed last night. This region has been associated with gold mining for over 150 years and there has been a gold mine at Waihi since 1879. In fact, the main street in Waihi has a large open cast gold mine called Martha Mine. We headed for the information centre, and while the rain came down outside we delved into the history of this mine through a really interesting exhibition. The open cast mine which is 250 metres deep closed in 1952 but open-cast mining restarted in 1988 and is still producing gold, although only about 3g per tonne of rock. ...