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Post by RKC on Mar 5, 2013 21:43:33 GMT 12
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2013 10:14:39 GMT 12
Always wanted to go there, had a file 1" thick, loaned it to someone, never to be seen again. There was some good results especially on some of the islands and the sea beaches. NOT a place to be caught by Doc, in the National Park ??
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Post by RKC on Mar 6, 2013 20:23:27 GMT 12
G'day homesouth, Its a place I've also wanted to visit! A surprisingly large number of people go in there each summer ... mostly Southlanders. Many just make it a weekend trip. The usual way to get in there is to hire a boat from a main center,such as Invercargil, and go in a group (with costs shared). DoC even have a cabin on one of the beaches. There is a lot of well preserved old mining equipment still in there ... which is an attraction that's enough to interest me and enough of a reason alone for me to maybe make it in there one day. Preservation Inlet goldRegards, Rob (RKC)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 13:57:48 GMT 12
Hi Rob, There are some good books out there on the area written by John Hall Jones ?? Bit expensive when they come up on trade me but libraries should have them. A friends sister used to be related to the lighthouse keeper. Told us they could pick up nuggets at but they had trouble telling them from the beech leaves.
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Post by RKC on Mar 7, 2013 14:58:06 GMT 12
G'day homesouth,
I was in the library this morning looking for the Jones book, but could not find it. If I remember correctly it mentions a very large nugget that was found on this goldfield. I'm fairly sure I have a copy of the book ... but its probably in storage with all my other stuff and would take ages to find. If I get a chance I will try and find a copy somewhere as I would like to know the actual size of the large nugget found there.
I also thought I had a DoC report that documents all the historic sites at Preservation Inlet. But I can't find it on my computer.
Fascinating area, unlike anywhere else in the South Island. I wonder how much it would cost to be flown in by chopper for a few days.
Regards, Rob (RKC)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 22:23:16 GMT 12
Should see if anyone else is interested in a trip down there. Met a guy from Stewart Island mined at Orepuki, who had a big "boys boat" even had a helipad on it. I'll try and fish out his card. It would make a good base. Or if there was enough interest hire a chopper to ferry guys from Te Wae wae.(sp) When you check Kisbee on Google earth there is a flash looking building there. Snuffy did a lot of commercial fishing in the area he might give his 2 cents worth.
ALSO, talking to Peter Osullivan from Minerals west coast yesterday, was saying they are thinking of having one of their meetings in Otago if the support was there. Good guy and good organisation that could be of help to lower south Island miners.
Cheers
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Post by RKC on Mar 8, 2013 13:01:37 GMT 12
G'day homesouth, I managed to unearth the Jones book ... and it makes very interesting reading! The reference in the book to the finding of a large nugget is as follows ... "It was here amid the shingle of Moonlight Beach that Lewis Longuet picked up the huge nugget which made him famous. Although accounts vary as to its size from 20 ounces right up to 40 ounces it is now believed to have been 16 ounces. In 1979 the author interviewed Frank Bielawski who prospected on Coal Island in the 1930s and who at the age of 81 is the last of the Coal Island miners. "The nugget was 16 ounces," he stated firmly. "A 40 ounce nugget would have been enormous. The largest I picked up during my 5 years on the Island was 2 1/2 ounces".Further comments from the book about the nuggety nature of Preservation Inlet gold, is as follows ... "The best claims were in No 2 Creek" he reported, "and here McNamara and Carran got a 4 1/2 ounce nugget in their claim. Morgan and party had picked up a 2 1/2 ounce piece and several others had found 1 ounce nuggets in their claims."Although up to the end of April 1890 there had been "about 400 ounces of gold obtained". The gold was "tolerably coarse", he observed, but there were large granite boulders in the creek beds, and some required blasting before they could be removed." and "The gold is nearly all of splendid coarse sample," continued the reporter, " and it is not uncommon to strike ounce nuggets."Preservation Inlet in the 1890sPortPortRegards, Rob (RKC)
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Post by waipori on Mar 8, 2013 13:41:52 GMT 12
In the Journals of the House of Representatives, C papers, 1893, there is 2-3 pages on Preservation Inlet and surrounding area.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2013 8:32:42 GMT 12
Hi Waipori,
Those journals are getting pretty thin on the ground. Any chance of scanning the pages and posting here? Cheers
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Post by waipori on Mar 9, 2013 10:04:47 GMT 12
We can't scan them, they are too thick and too fragile. To look at them go to National Library on line For researchers, scroll down the right hand side and click on A to J on line. The Mines papers can be found at C. This should keep you in reading matter for a while!!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2013 15:29:34 GMT 12
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Post by RKC on Mar 11, 2013 15:46:40 GMT 12
G'day pgm,
What a great read!
Thanks for finding that, and posting here.
I thought I had been through all of Papers Past and seen everything on Preservation Inlet. But I missed that article. One thing I have noticed about doing a keyword search on scanned newspapers is that the word you are looking for can very often be missed in the search.
Regards, Rob (RKC)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2013 19:02:37 GMT 12
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Post by oldrimu on Jun 5, 2014 22:48:24 GMT 12
Neil & Alan Begg wrote a book called 'Port Preservation'. It's collectable and hard to get cheaply but it is a great read. I'm in Dunedin area 7 happy to lend a copy to anyone that wants to read it. I think I have about 3 copies. It covers the gold rush & has a copy of an report by Alexander Mckay who visited in 1896. He was the Gov't Geologist at the time. i read the book, got hooked with the history & got flown in there in 1970? by a pilot called Peter Plew who died in a top dressing accident in Australia a few years later. He landed on a beach at split Island close to where the maori pa was. Only found a few colours, heaps of sand flies, great fishing but I was in the wrong area for gold. I would love to go back.
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Post by oldrimu on Jun 5, 2014 22:53:38 GMT 12
meant 1886,not 1996
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