Academic literature on the topic 'Gold mines and mining New Zealand History'

Historic gold and coal mines in the same catchment near Reefton, New Zealand allow comparison of environmental effects of the different mines in the same climate and topography. Gold mine discharge waters (neutral pH) deposit hydrated iron oxide (HFO) abundantly at mine entrances, whereas coal mine discharge waters (low pH) precipitate HFO tens to hundreds of metres downstream as pH rises. Waters leaving historic mines have up to 59 mg L−1 dissolved arsenic, and HFO at gold mines has up to 20 wt% arsenic. Coal mine discharge waters have low dissolved arsenic (typically near 0.01 mg L−1) and HFO has <0.2 wt% arsenic. Minor dissolved Cu, Cr, Ni, and Zn are being leached from background host rocks by acid solutions during sulfide oxidation, and attenuated by HFO downstream of both gold and coal mines. A net flux of 30 mg s−1 arsenic is leaving the catchment, and nearly all of this arsenic flux is from the gold mining area, but >90% of that flux is from background sources. The present study demonstrates that elevated trace metal concentrations around mines in a wet climate are principally from non-anthropogenic sources and are readily attenuated by natural processes.

The history of mining and exploration in Panama is a case study of the evolution of mining in a tropical, island arc environment in the New World from prehistoric to modern times over a period of ~1900 years. Panama has a strong mineral endowment of gold (~984 t), and copper (~32 Mt) resulting in a rich mining heritage. The mining history can be divided into five periods. The first was the pre-Columbian period of gold mining from near the start of the Current Era at ~100 CE to 1501, following the introduced of gold metalwork fully fledged from Colombia. Mining of gold took place from placer and vein deposits in the Veraguas, Coclé, Northern Darien and Darien goldfields, together with copper for alloying. Panama was the first country on the mainland of the Americas to be mined by Europeans during the Spanish colonial period from 1501-1821. The pattern of gold rushes, conquest and settlement can be mapped from Spanish records, starting in Northern Darien then moving west to Panama in 1519 and Nata in 1522. From here, expeditions set out throughout Veraguas over the next century to the Veraguas (Concepción), Southern Veraguas, Coclé and Central Veraguas goldfields. Attention returned to Darien in ~1665 and led to the discovery of the Espíritu Santo de Cana gold mine, the most important gold mine to that date in the Americas. The third period was the Republican period following independence from Spain in 1821 to become part of the Gran Colombia alliance, and the formation of the Republic of Panama in 1903. This period up to ~1942 was characterized by mining of gold veins and placers, and manganese mining from 1871. Gold mining ceased during World War Two. The fourth period was the era of porphyry copper discoveries and systematic, regional geochemical exploration programs from 1956 to 1982, carried out mainly by the United Nations and the Panamanian government, as well as private enterprise. This resulted in the discovery of the giant porphyry copper deposits at Cerro Colorado (1957) and Petaquilla (Cobre Panama, 1968), as well as several other porphyry deposits, epithermal gold deposits and bauxite deposits. The exploration techniques for the discovery of copper were stream sediment and soil sampling, followed rapidly by drilling. The only mine developed in this period was marine black sands for iron ore (1971-1972). The fifth and current period is the exploration and development of modern gold and copper mines since 1985 by national and foreign companies, which started in response to the gold price rise. The main discovery methods for gold, which was not analyzed in the stream sediment surveys, were lithogeochemistry of alteration zones and reexamination of old mines. Gold mines were developed at Remance (1990-1998), Santa Rosa (1995-1999 with restart planned in 2020) and Molejon (2009-2014), and the Cobre Panama copper deposit started production in 2019. The level of exploration in the country is still immature and there is high potential for the discovery of new deposits.

In the Bathurst Mining Camp (BMC), 12 of the 45 known massive sulphide deposits were mined between 1957 and 2013; one was mined for iron prior to 1950, whereas three others had development work but no production. Eleven of the deposits were mined for base metals for a total production of approximately 179 Mt, with an average grade of 3.12% Pb, 7.91% Zn, 0.47% Cu, and 93.9 g/t Ag. The other deposit was solely mined for gold, present in gossan above massive sulphide, producing approximately one million tonnes grading 1.79 g/t Au. Three of the 11 mined base-metal deposits also had a gossan cap, from which gold was extracted. In 2012, the value of production from the Bathurst Mining Camp exceeded $670 million and accounted for 58 percent of total mineral production in New Brunswick.Base-metal production started in the BMC in 1957 from deposits at Heath Steele Mines, followed by Wedge in 1962, Brunswick No. 12 in 1964, Brunswick No. 6 in 1965, Caribou in 1970, Murray Brook, Stratmat Boundary and Stratmat N-5 in 1989, Captain North Extension in 1990, and lastly, Half Mile Lake in 2012. The only mine in continuous production for most of this time was Brunswick No. 12. During its 49-year lifetime (1964–2013), it produced 136,643,367 tonnes of ore grading 3.44% Pb, 8.74% Zn, 0.37% Cu, and 102.2 g/t Ag, making it one of the largest underground base-metal mines in the world.The BMC remains important to New Brunswick and Canada because of its contributions to economic development, environmental measures, infrastructure, mining innovations, and society in general. The economic value of metals recovered from Brunswick No. 12 alone, in today’s prices exceeds $46 billion. Adding to this figure is production from the other mines in the BMC, along with money injected into the local economy from annual exploration expenditures (100s of $1000s per year) over 60 years. Several environmental measures were initiated in the BMC, including the requirement to be clean shaven and carry a portable respirator (now applied to all mines in Canada); ways to treat acid mine drainage and the thiosalt problem that comes from the milling process; and pioneering studies to develop and install streamside-incubation boxes for Atlantic Salmon eggs in the Nepisiguit River, which boosted survival rates to over 90%. Regarding infrastructure, provincial highways 180 and 430 would not exist if not for the discovery of the BMC; nor would the lead smelter and deep-water port at Belledune. Mining innovations are too numerous to list in this summary, so the reader is referred to the main text. Regarding social effects, the new opportunities, new wealth, and training provided by the mineral industry dramatically changed the living standards and social fabric of northern New Brunswick. What had been a largely poor, rural society, mostly dependent upon the fishing and forestry industries, became a thriving modern community. Also, untold numbers of engineers, geologists, miners, and prospectors `cut their teeth’ in the BMC, and many of them have gone on to make their mark in other parts of Canada and the world.

Economists and historians have identified the period between 1870 and 1914 as one marked by the movement of capital and labor across the globe at unprecedented speed. The accompanying spread of the gold standard and industrial techniques contained volatile and ambiguous implications for workers everywhere. Industrial engineers made new machinery and industrial techniques the measure of human effort. The plight of workers in South Africa's deep-level gold mines in the era following the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902 provides a powerful example of just how lethal the new benchmarks of human effort could be. When by 1904 close to 50,000 Africans refused to return to the mines, mining policy began to coalesce around solving the “labor shortage” problem and dramatically reducing working costs. Engineers, especially American engineers, rapidly gained the confidence of the companies that had made large investments in the deep-level mines of the Far East Rand by bringing more than 60,000 indentured Chinese workers to the mines to make up for the postwar shortfall in unskilled labor in late 1904. But the dangerous working conditions that drove African workers away from many of the deep-level mines persisted. Three years later, in 1907, their persistence provoked a bitter strike by white drill-men.

Abstract Sumatra, Indonesia, has a long and checkered history of mineral exploration and mining that dates back to prehistoric times. These activities have been dominated by gold, involving both the local population and mostly foreign companies. The first documented mining activity was the reopening of the ancient silver-rich Salida gold mine in West Sumatra in 1669 by the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie), a Dutch trading company that for two centuries monopolized trade between Europe and Asia. The government of the Netherlands East Indies initiated geologic investigations and mineral exploration in 1850, and private industry followed 30 years later. Between 1899 and 1940, 14 gold mines were developed, most of which were short-lived and uneconomic. Total production between 1899 and 1940 was 101 t Au and 1.2 Mt Ag. During the Japanese occupation, in its aftermath, and for the first 20 years of Indonesia’s independence, there was very little activity. In 1967, introduction of new foreign investment and mining laws by the New Order government heralded a new era of exploration and mining activity that continues to the present day. Since 1967, there have been several peaks in exploration activity, viz. 1969 to 1973 (porphyry copper), 1985 to 1990 (gold), 1995 to 1999 (gold), and 2006 to 2010 (multi-commodity). A variety of previously unknown mineralization types were discovered, including porphyry Cu, high-sulfidation Au, sediment-hosted Au, and sediment-hosted Pb-Zn. Activity during the modern area has included the reopening of one of the old Dutch mines, development of four new gold discoveries including the giant Martabe district (310 t Au), and exploitation of several small Fe skarn deposits known from the Dutch time. By world standards, to this day Sumatra remains underexplored.

The discovery of large quantities of gold and silver in the New World following the voyage of Christopher Columbus had a major impact on the subsequent history of the world economy. These two precious metals together with copper were regarded as the standard and measure of value in all societies throughout history. The sudden increase in the supply of gold and silver greatly increased the capacity of individual countries such as Spain and Portugal to finance wars and imports of consumer goods. The new Spanish coin, the real of eight, became an international currency for settling trade balances, and large quantities of these coins were exported to the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and China to purchase oriental commodities such as silk piece goods, cotton textiles, industrial raw material such as indigo, and various kinds of spices, later followed by tea, coffee, and porcelain. The trade in New World gold and silver depended on the development of new and adequate mining techniques in Mexico and Peru to extract the ore and refine the metal. South German mining engineers greatly contributed to the transplantation of European technology to the Americas, and the Spanish-American silver mines utilised the new mercury amalgamation method to extract refined silver from the raw ores. Although the techniques used in Mexico and Peru were not particularly advanced by contemporary European standards, the American mine owners remained in business for more than three hundred years, and the supply of American silver came to be the foundation of the newly rising Indian Ocean world economy in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Colonial Australian science grew by a process of transplantation, adaptation, and innovation in response to local conditions. The discovery of gold in 1851, and the location of vast resources of other minerals, transformed the colonies, as it did the imperial economy. In this process, the role of mining engineering and mining education played a significant part. Its history, long neglected by historians, illuminates the ways in which the colonial universities sought to guide and direct this engine of change, conscious both of overseas precedent and local necessity. This paper considers the particular circumstances of New South Wales, and the role of the University of Sydney, in seizing the day—and producing a degree—that lasted nearly a century.

Rocks exposed by mining can form physically, mineralogically, and geochemically diverse surface substrates. Engineered mine rehabilitation typically involves covering these rocks with a uniform layer of soil and vegetation. An alternative approach is to encourage the establishment of plant species that are tolerant of challenging geochemical settings. The zonation of geochemical parameters can therefore lead to geoecological zonation and enhanced biodiversity. Abandoned gold mines in southern New Zealand have developed such geoecological zonations that resulted from establishment of salt-tolerant ecosystems on substrates with evaporative NaCl. A salinity threshold equivalent to substrate electrical conductivity of 1000 µS separates this ecosystem from less salt-tolerant plant ecosystems. Acid mine drainage from pyrite-bearing waste rocks at an abandoned coal mine has caused variations in surface pH between 1 and 7. The resultant substrate pH gradients have led to differential plant colonisation and the establishment of distinctive ecological zones. Substrate pH <3 remained bare ground, whereas pH 3–4 substrates host two acid-tolerant shrubs. These shrubs are joined by a tree species between pH 4 and 5. At higher pH, all local species can become established. The geoecological zonation, and the intervening geochemical thresholds, in these examples involve New Zealand native plant species. However, the principle of enhancing biodiversity by the selection or encouragement of plant species tolerant of diverse geochemical conditions on exposed mine rocks is applicable for site rehabilitation anywhere in the world.

Sabulopteryxbotanica Hoare &amp; Patrick, sp. nov. (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae, Gracillariinae) is described as a new species from New Zealand. It is regarded as endemic, and represents the first record of its genus from the southern hemisphere. Though diverging in some morphological features from previously described species, it is placed in genus Sabulopteryx Triberti, based on wing venation, abdominal characters, male and female genitalia and hostplant choice; this placement is supported by phylogenetic analysis based on the COI mitochondrial gene. The life history is described: the larva is an underside leaf-miner on the endemic divaricating shrub Teucriumparvifolium (Lamiaceae), and exits the mine to pupate in a cocoon in a folded leaf of the host plant. The remarkable history of the discovery and rediscovery of this moth is discussed: for many years it was only known from a single sap-feeding larva found in a leaf-mine in a pressed herbarium specimen of the host. The adult was discovered by BHP in Christchurch Botanic Gardens in 2013. Most distribution records of the moth come from a recent search for mines and cocoons on herbarium specimens of T.parvifolium. Sabulopteryxbotanica has high conservation status, and is regarded as ‘Nationally Vulnerable’ according to the New Zealand Department of Conservation threat classification system, based on the rarity and declining status of its host plant. However, the presence of apparently thriving populations of S.botanica on cultivated plants of T.parvifolium, especially at the type locality, Christchurch Botanic Gardens, suggests that encouraging cultivation of the plant could greatly improve the conservation status of the moth. A revised checklist of New Zealand Gracillariidae is presented, assigning all species to the currently recognised subfamilies. The Australian Macarostolaida (Meyrick, 1880) is newly recorded from New Zealand (Auckland), where it is established on Eucalyptus.

By the 1930s, silicosis – a debilitating lung disease caused by the inhalation of silica dust – had reached epidemic proportions among miners in the gold-producing Porcupine region of northern Ontario. In response, industrial doctors at the McIntyre Mine began to test aluminum powder as a possible prophylactic against the effects of silica dust. In 1944, the newly created McIntyre Research Foundation began distributing aluminum powder throughout Canada and exported this new therapy to mines across the globe. The practice continued until the 1980s despite a failure to replicate preventative effects of silicosis and emerging evidence of adverse neurological impacts among long-time recipients of aluminum therapy. Situated at the intersection of labour, health, science, and environmental histories, this article argues that aluminum therapy represents an extreme and important example where industry and health researchers collaborated on quick-fix “miracle cures” rather than the systemic (and more expensive) changes to the underground environment necessary to reduce the risk of silicosis.

Rocks of the South Island of New Zealand are locally enriched in metalloids, namely arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) and boron (B). Elevated levels of As and Sb can be found in sulphide minerals mostly in association with mesothermal gold deposits, whereas B enrichment occurs in marine influenced coal deposits. The mobility of these metalloids is important because they can be toxic at relatively low levels (e.g. for humans >0.01 mg/L of As). Their mobilisation occurs naturally from background weathering of the bedrock. However, mining and processing of coal and gold deposits, New Zealand's most economically important commodities, can significantly increase metalloid mobility. In particular, historic mines and associated industrial sites are known to generate elevated metalloid levels because of the lack of site remediation upon closure. This work defines and quantifies geological, mining, post-mining and regional processes with respect to metalloid, especially As, mobility. At the studied historic gold mines, the Blackwater and Bullendale mines, Sb levels in mineralised rocks were generally negligible (<14 ppm) compared to As (up to 10,000 ppm). Thus, Sb concentrations in solids and in water were too low to yield any meaningful information on Sb mobility. In contrast, dissolved As concentrations downstream from mine sites were found to be very high (up to 59 mg/L) (background = 10⁻� mg/L). In addition, very high As concentrations were found in residues (up to 40 wt%) and site substrate (up to 30 wt%) at the Blackwater processing sites (background < 0.05 wt%). Here, roasting of the gold ore converted the orginal As mineral, arsenopyrite, into the mineral arsenolite (As[III] trioxide polymorph) and volatilised the sulphur. The resultant sulphur-defficient chemical system is driven by arsenolite dissolution and differs significantly from mine sites where arsenopyrite is the main As source. Arsenolite is significantly more soluble than arsenopyrite. In the surficial environment, arsenolite dissolution is limited by kinetics only, which are slow enough to preserve exposed arsenolite over decades in a temperate, wet climate. This process results in surface waters with up to ca. 50 mg/L dissolved As. In reducing conditions, dissolved As concentrations are also controlled by the solubility of arsenolite producing As concentrations up to 330 mg/L. Field based cathodic stripping voltammetry showed that the As[III]/As[V] redox couple, in particular the oxidation of As[III], has a major control on system pH and Eh. Site acidification is mainly caused by the oxidation of As[III], resulting in a close link between As[V] concentrations and pH. Similarly, a strong correlation between calculated (Nernstian) and measured (electrode) Eh was found in the surface environment, suggesting that the overall Eh of the system is, indeed, defined by the As[III]/As[V] redox couple. Once the metalloid is mobilised from its original source, its mobility is controlled by at least one of the following attenuation processes: (a) precipitation of secondary metalloid minerals, (b) co-precipitation with - or adsorption to - iron oxyhydroxide (HFO), or (c) dilution with background waters. The precipitation of secondary minerals is most favoured in the case of As due to the relatively low solubility of iron arsenates, especially at low pH (~0.1 mg/L). Observations suggest that scorodite can be the precursor phase to more stable iron arsenates, such as kankite, zykaite, bukovskyite or pharmacosiderite and their stability is mainly controlled by pH, sulphur concentrations and moisture prevalence. Empirical evidence indicates that the sulphur-containing minerals zykaite and bukovskyite have a similar pH dependence to scorodite with solubilities slightly lower than scorodite and kankite. If dissolved As concentrations decline, iron arsenates potentially become unstable. Their dissolution maintains a pH between 2.5 and 3.5. This acidification process is pivotal with respect to As mobility, especially in the absence of other acidification processes, because iron arsenates are several orders of magnitude more soluble in circum-neutral pH regimes (~100 mg/L). From this, it becomes apparent that external pH modifications, for example as part of a remediation scheme, can significantly increase iron arsenate solubility and resultant As mobility. In contrast to As, the precipitation of secondary Sb and B minerals is limited by their high solubilities, which are several orders of magnitude higher than for iron arsenates. Thus, secondary Sb and B minerals are restricted to evaporative waters, from which they can easily re-mobilised during rain events. Metalloid adsorption to HFO is mainly controlled or limited by the extent of HFO formation, which in turn is governed by the availability of Fe and prevailing Eh-pH conditions. Thus, mineralisation styles and associated geochemical gradients, in particular pyrite abundance, can control the amount of HFO and consequent metalloid attenuation, and these can vary even within the same goldfleld. Furthermore, it was found that there is a mineralogical gradation between ferrihydrite with varying amounts of adsorbed As, amorphous iron arsenates and crystalline iron arsenates, suggesting that the maturity of mine waste is an important factor in As mineralogy. Once dissolved metalloids enter the hydrosphere, dilution is the main control on metalloid attenuation, which is especially pronounced at the inflow of tributaries. Dilution is, therefore, closely related to the size and frequency of these tributaries, which in turn are controlled by the regional topography and climate. Dilution is a considerably less effective attenuation mechanism and anomalous metalloid concentrations from mining related sites can persist for over 10 km downstream. The complex and often inter-dependent controls on metalloid mobility mean that management decisions should carefully consider the specific site geochemistry to minimize economic, health and environmental risks that can not be afforded. On a regional scale, background metalloid flux determines the downstream impact of an anomalous metalloid source upstream. For example, the Bullendale mine is located in a mountainous region, where rapidly eroding slopes expose fresh rock and limit the extent of soil cover and chemical weathering. Consequently, the background As flux is relatively low and As point sources, such as the Bullendale mine, present a significant contribution to the downstream As flux. In contrast, the bedrock at the Blackwater mine has undergone deep chemical weathering, resulting in an increased background mobilisation of As. Thus, the Prohibition mill site discharge, for example, contributes only about 10% to the downstream As flux. This information is relevant to site management decisions because the amount of natural background metalloid mobilisation determines whether site remediation will influence downstream metalloid chemistry on a regional scale.

Beginning in 1848, the circum-Pacific world experienced dozens of gold rushes; they punctuated the histories of the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Although individual prospectors dominate the national narratives of gold rushes, by the mid-1850s, industrial mining technologies had largely replaced individual miners with their pans and shovels. Notable among these industrial technologies was hydraulic mining, which used high-pressure water hoses to flush large amounts of gold-bearing gravel into sluice boxes saturated with mercury. Industrial mining technologies were portable—engineers who perfected hydraulic mining in California exported the practice to Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Hydraulic mining exacted startling environmental costs: floods, deforestation, erosion, and toxic pollution. This chapter is by Andrew Isenberg.

This chapter discusses the place of mining in the history and theory of capitalism. It talks about Adam Smith who explained that of all the expensive and uncertain projects which bring bankruptcy upon the greater part of the people who engage in them, there is none perhaps more perfectly ruinous than the search for new silver and gold mines. However, Adam Smith could not anticipate the innovative industrial force that mining would have in nineteenth-century Britain. Nor did Smith see the force of mining in the movement toward land improvements in northern Europe. Other than reflecting negatively upon the coal mines of England, Smith said very little about the relationship between mining and wealth.