Waihi Gold Mines

By Maurice Boniface

13th August 2007

Ken said that we haven't been to Waihi to look at the gold mining operations and old sites for a while so decided that is what we would do this Monday. I went to his place and went with John, Ken and Terry. Maureen came with us as far as Katikati where she went to her sister's place for the day. We drove to Waihi and stopped at the Information Centre but we were too early - they would be opening in a few minutes - so we went up the path to look at the Cornish Pump House which was shifted last year to this site. It is a three storey concrete structure that was built in 1904 to pump the water out of the underground mine. It was decided to shift it because the ground underneath it had become unstable so the mining company strengthened it then shifted it several hundred metres last year to its present site so that people could come and look at it. It is flood lit in several colours at night. We walked over to the rim of the open cast mine and looked down on chaps who were getting ready to blast another ledge of the side because there is gold in it. 

We walked back to the Centre and booked to go on the mine bus which takes you around the various sections of the mining operation every day after lunch. We then set off to go on a new path which goes around a part of the perimeter of the huge mine pit - however we hadn't gone very far when we came to a gate with a notice to say that it would be closed from July to September so we walked around to the mine company display centre where the chap put on a DVD of the shifting of the Pumphouse for us. We looked around the various displays then walked up a short path to the viewing platform to look down in to the huge pit and could see the chaps working away over the other side whom we had watched before. While we were standing there the chap who put on the DVD came rushing over to us with my hat which I had left behind! As we left the platform we passed the ore dump truck which they have put on display. When you see them down in the pit they look so small but close up they are huge - just the tyres tower over you as stand beside them - they cost $25,000 each! We walked back down the main street to the cars and drove to Lake Gilmour for morning tea. It was made for the town by the mining company when it drained the one where the pit is now. I rang Mum and had no trouble getting her. 

We then drove down Clark Street to the car park at the beginning of the track to Ngatikoi Domain and Lookout - in other words Black Hill. The track goes along the banks of the Ohinemuri River. They have done a lot of planting of native shrubs along it which will help to stabilize the banks which look as though they keep falling into the water. It then goes along a farm road which had some very muddy patches and across open paddocks, then starts climbing up the side of Black Hill. Part way up we went onto a peak which overlooks the plant where they crush the ore to extract the gold. The ore is carried right across town on a conveyor nearly three kms long and which goes through a tunnel under Union Hill on its journey - we could see it moving. To our left we could see the entrance to Favona Mine which is an underground one they started in 2004. They are tunneling down in a spiral to three hundred metres then will take out the ore, starting at the bottom and working upwards, backfilling as they go. Over to our right we could see the top edge of the tailings lakes - they put the overburden rock around the edge of the lake then the tailings are deposited in the water where the sunlight changes the cyanide back to a harmless state. We continued up the hill, which is a bit steepish, to the Trig at the top and what a great view you get. We could see both tailings lakes with the dump trucks carrying their loads right around to the far side of the second lake. They have grassed the lower part of the lakes and there were cows on it. Right on the horizon we could see the sea. Over the town side we were looking down onto the roofs of the houses with the mine pit on the other side, the Pump House seemed to dominate over the town. We had a look around then made our way back down the hill - part way down we could see Mt Karangahake on the skyline. We also noticed a Dirt Track for Motocross riders which the mining company had made for them.

As we made our way down the hooter went for twelve o'clock - we were going to be late for lunch, so I rang Mum while we were walking along the river bank, but she hadn't started hers either. We went back to the car and drove to Lake Gilmour where we had our ours. I sent my texts and got a couple of replies. Laurie said later he looked up Lake Gilmour on the Internet and couldn't find it mentioned anywhere! After lunch we went back to the Information Centre and the little bus came along and picked us up - there was noone else going today. She was very good and had all the details about the mine committed to memory and was very clear in all that she said. The mine is now owned by an American Company called Newmont which is the third biggest one in the world and owns mines in lots of countries. She passed around some photos of what Martha Mine used to be like. She also passed around a small bar of silver and a troy ounce of gold which is about 31 grams - at today's prices it is worth $1,000. She made sure she got it back at the end! They produce around 100,000 ounces of gold and 700,000 ounces of silver each year, so it is certainly a paying proposition. They expect the open pit to last another two years and the Favona one about ten years. She took us to the viewing platform we had been at in the morning and told us quite a bit about it. Just along from where we were, there was some drilling gear and chaps working. She said they were test drilling to see if there was any gold there and if so they will apply for another licence for it. She then took us to the crushing plant which we had looked down on this morning. She said that the gold bearing ore is put into a drum with some steel balls about tennis ball size and these crush the rock into a powder as fine as talcum powder. A weak cyanide solution is put in which separates the gold and silver from the rock which now become the tailings and is taken to the tailings lake. She passed around a new steel ball which is very heavy then one which has been in the drum for a while and it was down to golf ball size! She drove to the lakes and showed us the end of the conveyor which goes up in the air so the dump trucks can go underneath and are loaded straight from the conveyor. Looking over further we could see the entrance to the Favona Mine. We then went back to the Information Centre and she gave us each a booklet about the mine.

We then drove to Baker Street to the start of the Waihi Walkways and walked along the Mill Stream part of it, looked at the Cascades and crossed a sturdy bridge, but turned left on the other side to go and see if we could find some Cyanide Tanks that Ken knew about on Union Hill which had been built by the Union Mine about a hundred years ago. We walked up the old road through the bush which was a bit muddy in places We came across a truck parked on the track and could hear someone operating a chain saw not far away, so presumed it was his. We saw an old concrete building through the trees which we hadn't noticed before but kept on to where the cyanide tanks were, which we came across soon after. I will attach a photo of them I took as we came up to them. As you can see they were huge, Ken and Terry look dwarfed by them in the photo. There were two more on the right of the photo. We also noticed that the area around them had all been cleared, obviously by the chap with the chainsaw. There were other concrete structures which had been uncovered so we poked around those. The towers didn't seem to have any pipework under them so we wondered how they got the cyanide solution out. After wondering around we went back to where the truck was and found a track off to the right and could see the chap working away in the distance. He stopped and looked up and saw us, so I waved to him and he waved back, then came out to see us. He said the mining company had decided to clean the area up and they were contracted to do it. The company doesn't encourage people to come in but neither do they discourage them! He then took us all around the old works.

There was a stamping battery there and it used to have a roof over the whole area. Further into the bush there were kilns to cook the ore but these stopped when the cyanide towers were built. We asked him how they got the cyanide solution out and he said that some years ago another company go a licence to try and get gold out again and they made a big mess of a lot of the old workings and that they piled stuff up on the base of the towers and they actually go down another two feet and that is where the pipe work is. We had a great poke around with him and thanked him for showing us around then made way back to the car and went to Lake Gilmour for afternoon tea (it's a very nice spot!) We went back to Katikati and picked up Maureen and came home. I got there at a quarter to five.

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