Coromandel Gold Rushes
The Coromandel Gold Rushes on the Coromandel Peninsula and around the nearby towns of Thames and Waihi in New Zealand in the nineteenth century were moderately successful. Traces of gold were found about 1842. A small find was made near Coromandel in 1852; and a larger find in August 1867 when there was a modest rush. But Thames acquired a reputation for speculative holding of unworked ground despite regulations designed to check it, and some miners left for Queensland. Most of the gold was in quartz reefs rather than in more accessible alluvial deposits and had to  be recovered from underground mines and extracted using stamping batteries. The decline in New Zealand gold production was halted in the 1890s. The Waihi Mine had been discovered in 1878, but was not seriously worked until 1887, when English capital set up a cyanide process plant. Hence, with these mines and gold dredges extracting gold from the Molyneaux River in Otago, the gold production of New Zealand again exceeded half a million ounces in 1902. The Golden Cross Mine closed in 1920 but reopened from 1991 to 1998. The Martha Mine closed in 1952 but reopened in 1987 and is  still operating. Reward for gold. A group of Auckland businessmen offered a reward of £100, increased to £500 for the finding of gold in the Auckland region. The Auckland Provincial Council then offered £2000 for the finding of a goldfield in the Hauraki region south of Auckland, though southerners like the "Otago Daily Times" regarded the potential Coromandel goldfields as a "Complete Hoax". First gold rush. In October 1852 Charles Ring who had been on the California goldfields and his brother Frederick found some gold flakes on the banks of Driving Creek. The government leased land from  the local Maori, but accessible alluvial gold ran out after a month, The field was reopened in 1862. Thames goldfields. Hunt discovered the Shotover quartz lode at Thames in 1867; usually said to be William Albert Hunt but possibly his brother (the confusingly named) Albert William Hunt. His brother was responsible for the Hunt’s Duffer incident on the West Coast in 1866, when he escaped from a large crowd of miners who followed him to Bruce Bay. He had previously discovered the rich Greenstone field near Hokitika in 1864. The more lasting Thames field to the south was proclaimed  on 30 July 1867; in Grahamstown near Thames, and in Shortland in the southern part of Thames. The field produced £18,000 worth in 1867 and £150,000 worth in 1868 from underground mines. From 1867 to 1924 the total value was £7,178,000, giving a boost to the northern North Island. At its peak Thames had a population of 15,000 (rivalling Auckland). A contemporary description in 1868 said that the population of the Thames Gold Fields was at least 18,000, with 11,000 miner’s rights issued, “but many persons who hold shares do not reside upon the diggings”. About  2,000 claims employ an average of 4.1268 men each. Various stampers employ 185 men, averaging five to a mill. About ten steamers ply between Shortland and Auckland fifty miles away, and a wharf is being erected. The five leading companies in the 1870s were the Caledonian, Moanataiara, Alburnia, Kuranui (Barry’s Claim), Long Drive and Una Hill (Hape Creek); but there were scores of failures. In most Thames and Coromandel mines the rich patches were interspersed among low-grade ore. The Waiotahi Company was notable for being prudently managed by James Smith from 1873 to 1904 so not requiring "reconstruction