Coaster’s Club Top Video Posts


This week’s top posts from the Coaster’s Club

Our most popular posts this week include the Hokitika Gorge and the Clear Creek restoration.

The Hokitika Gorge and its new swing bridge:

Hokitika Gorge a must when you come home Coasters.

Hokitika Gorge a must when you come home Coasters.

Posted by The Coasters Club on Saturday, September 12, 2020

 

Clear Creek restoration with Birchfield mining Ross:

Clear creek Ross restored from an 1880s mess and its brilliant

Clear creek Ross restored by Birchfields Ross mining from an 1880s mess and its brilliant in 2020.The family started in Ross 3 decades ago when the Birchfield Ross Mine was an open pit (cast) operation active between 1988 to mid 2004, on the historic Jones Flat, which held several underground gold mines in the 1870's. The open pit is now water filled, and can be found at the eastern end of the town of Ross, the town itself 32 kilometres south of Hokitika.The open pit swallowed a set of pensioner flats, and the rugby ground, before closing as it could not extend further into the town. A study by a government geologist in 1993, estimated much gold remains under the town- 3 billion dollars worth when last calculated in 2010 and now close to nine billion dollars. Moving the 300 odd residents however is another matter.The mines was owned and operated by the local Birchfield family, in particular Evan Birchfield. This company owns a number of small gold and coal mines, logging operations, and an earthmoving business on the West Coast of New Zealand. Evan has stated the biggest problem he had at the mine, was haulage trucks falling down old mine shafts. They would be on their end, and have to be pulled out. Then the drivers would refuse to get back into the trucks.The mine produced around 65 000 ounces of gold, from a series of 'bottoms', being flat lying gold rich gravels, layered one under the other, separated by relatively barren gravels. That around 195 million at todays prices.Since 2003, Birchfield has moved to mining the shallow Alymer beach strand deposit, north of the town, and a series of pits south of Ross, on or near the historic Mont D'Or, and Donoghue claims, and on the flats between the highway, and beach where its future looks to be.

Posted by The Coasters Club on Wednesday, September 9, 2020



This week’s top posts from the Coaster’s Club