The Waitahuna Copper Mine: An early speculative mining venture, Otago, New Zealand, 1865-1885
BY ROSS BARNETT
Adjunct Professor, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand Key Words: Copper Mining; Otago; Mining speculation.
he Bruce Herald reporter’s glowing commentary that ‘every way one turns copper is to be seen’ after a visit to the Waitahuna copper mine in 1881,1 reminded me of a comment attributed to Mark Twain that ‘a mine is a hole in the ground with a liar standing next to it’.2 The history of mining is replete with examples of mining booms where the gullible public was convinced to invest their money in different mining projects, many of which were unproven and had no hope of ever returning a profit.3
The historical mining literature has devoted considerable attention to investor behaviour and mining speculation and how it has been affected by a variety of economic, political and social factors. Most work has focused on gold and silver mining booms but attention has also been directed at non-ferrous mining for copper, lead and tin.4 This paper adds to this literature by providing an example of mining speculation in nineteenth century Otago, New Zealand. It explores the promotion, development, and failure of the Waitahuna Copper Mine. This was a small development located southwest of Dunedin, then the main city in New Zealand, owing its initial prosperity to the gold rushes of the 1860s. The Waitahuna Copper Mining Company was a very short-lived enterprise. Founded in 1881, it went bankrupt just four years later and never produced any copper other than a few ore samples for assaying.
However, like so many speculative mining ventures of the time,5 the mine, and others like it in the Tuapeka Goldfield, was associated with particular investment strategies and some notable personalities which gave it a certain legitimacy it did not deserve. The remainder of the paper, therefore, focuses on seven themes; (1) the initial discovery of the mine and (2) the first attempt to float a company; (3) private capital investment and; (4) the formation of the new Waitahuna Copper Mining Company in 1881 and its key shareholders; (5) how the mine was promoted; (6) mine developments by the Company 1881-84 and thereafter; and, finally, (7) an assessment of why the venture failed.
Although it has remained a site of geological interest, from a mining heritage point of view, the site has largely been forgotten and, despite its location in the Tuapeka Goldfield, is not mentioned in a recent book on the area.6 In examining this case study reliance is placed on old newspaper records held in Papers Past, as well as some archival evidence held by the Hocken Library in Dunedin and Archives New Zealand.
Initial Discovery
The Otago Gold Rushes, sparked by the discovery of substantial alluvial deposits by Gabriel Reid, both at Gabriel’s and Waitahuna Gullies in 1861, as elsewhere around the
T
Pacific Rim, changed the fortunes of the areas where gold was found. However, as the initial rushes subsided and the alluvial gold in Otago dwindled, more capital was needed for mining. Consequently many new companies were formed under the Mining Companies Limited Liability Act of 1865 to mine quartz or to prospect for other minerals.7 The influx of gold miners into Otago resulted in the discovery of many other minerals, including copper, antimony, scheelite, and cinnabar, including copper deposits at Waitahuna and Moke Creek. but little attention was paid to them by itinerant miners more intent on finding gold, until a ‘cupriferous gossan’ in the Waitahuna River attracted the attention of gold seekers, (Fig. 1) probably in 1862 - although dates of discovery vary. They wing-dammed the river bed from the point of the lode outcrop to a distance of 70 feet downstream and, in that distance, recovered 24oz gold.8 Marshall (1918) described the deposit as a ‘fine grained mixture of pyrite and chalcopyrite … with a gossan cap.’9
Figure 1: Chalcopyrite ore samples from Moke Creek (left) and Waitahuna (right).
Source: Left - Author; Right - image courtesy of E and K. Warburton, Dunedin
As part of his explorations into the geology of central and eastern Otago, in late June 1865 the lode was inspected by James Hector, the newly appointed provincial geologist.10 Hector was accompanied by Thomas Ridge Hacket, an English geologist and mining engineer, who periodically assisted Hector on his geological explorations.
As Hacket had already inspected the lode the month before, the pair spent less than a day at the site before returning to the nearby gold mining settlement of Waipori (Fig. 2).
No results were disclosed, but the Tuapeka Recorder neverthless reported that copper
‘abounds in large quantities, at a place known as Reddy’s (Reedy’s) Creek’11 and ‘the discovery still contines to attract a good deal of attention.’12
Hacket, acting as a consulting engineer, immediately set about proving the
‘lode’. By October, 1865 it was reported that operations had just commenced on the deposit, the outcrop 4.5 feet in width crossing the bed of the Waitahuna River in an east-west direction. On the west side the seam dipped into the hill while on the east it rose up the side of a gully.13 Hacket’s initial operations involved the construction of two exploratory shafts in the bed of the river, an upper one 14 feet deep, which exposed an ore body 2.5 feet wide and a second one 40 yards further downstream reported to be 10
Source: Compiled from locations in Table 1.
feet deep, exposing a copper seam 4 feet thick.14 It was also indicated that a third shaft was soon to be commenced futher downstream. The initial two shafts were both protected from the river by wing dams which diverted the water away from the workings into a false channel. The Tuapeka Recorder, indicated that Hacket had issued a very favourable opinion regarding the lode and that copper ore of a ‘superior quality’
had been struck.15 Hand picked samples from these initial investigations produced values ranging from 12-22% Cu.
The First Attempt to Float a Company
On the basis of these initial investigations, Hacket, ‘so confident of the discovery he has made’, took the first steps to form a mining company. Hacket was not short of experience. He had managed copper mines in Britain and Germany and in 1857 was appointed for a three year term as manager of the Dun Mountain Copper Mining Company in Nelson. After prospects of copper mining appeared poor, in 1861 he recommended the company focus on chromite, but fell out with his employer after he attempted to develop his own private chromite mines.16 Hacket left Nelson soon afterwards and from 1863 was Hector’s assistant in his Otago geological explorations.
In this capacity it was Hacket who first visited the Waitahuna discovery site in May, 1865. The discovery had already caught the attention of some prominent Otago people who had never been near the goldfields. Men such as Julius Vogel MP, who was elected to represent the Dunedin and Suburbs North Electorate in 1863, and who later became the Premier of New Zealand (1873-1876), and William Mason, Mayor of the City of Dunedin, had started to invest in mining enterprises and got caught up in the speculative mania.
Figure 2: George Watson’s Mining Interests. 1878-1885.
On July 3, 1865, one month after Hector and Hacket’s visit to the site, A.D. Wilson of the Gold Fields Department in Dunedin, wrote to John
Drummond, Mining
Surveyor in the Tuapeka, requesting him to survey the copper claim of ‘Vogel and Party’.17 While Hacket had managerial experience, and became the first mine manager, he lacked the financial resources to develop the property.
Others, however, thought they did have access to
Figure 3: Copper lode licence boundaries as shown on 1939 NZMS 13 Cadastral Map.
Source: http://www.mapspast.org.nz/
capital and five months later in December, 1865 Vogel, along with Mason and John Bathgate from the Bank of Otago and three others, floated the Waipori Copper Mining Company with a capital of £12,000 in 1200 shares at £10 each.18 The newspaper report accompanying the announcement noted that an obligation to grant a lease of 80 acres as a Mining Reserve had been given by the government which ‘will afford a sufficient area for extensive workings.’ This was later extended to 300 acres and the boundaries of the reserve were still evident on the 1939 cadastral map (Fig.3) indicating property
boundaries.
Although Dunedin
entrepreneurs were becoming extremely active, the flotation of the Waipori Copper Mining Company was not successful as the capital required was not fully subscibed.19 This was also the case of some other potential developments in the region.
In 1866 Vogel and Ben Farjeon had applied for a lease to mine cinnabar, a mercury sulphide, found at Waitahuna Heights, just a short distance to the east of the newly discovered copper mine.20 Again nothing eventuated until the turn of the century when some unsuccessful attempts were made to explore and mine the lode.21 Initial attempts to develop other mineral resources of the Waipori Goldfield failed during the 1860s both because of the prohibitive costs of transport associated with poor access to the interior and because investors were more interested in gold. Unlike risky and unproven ventures involving other minerals, good returns could still be made with gold mining especially as the scale of operations increased in size and more effective technologies and partnerships developed.
Private Capital Investment 1880-81
Following a long lull in activity since the first attempts to float a company in 1865, ten years later Hutton & Ulrichsuggested that the ‘vein deserves a further trial’, especially since the lode contained gold ‘in very marked quantities.’22 In 1881 Rowe, who twice visited the mine in 1880 on behalf of the New Zealand Geological Survey,23 although being non-committal on the paying qualities of the mine nevertheless suggested that ‘I am quite certain that the masses of solid ore taken from the shaft sufficiently guarantee the existence of a strong lode existing in this locality’.24
Despite some hesitancy over its future prospects, in 1880, the mine was taken over by George Watson, his brother John M. Watson and William Buchan. It is not clear how this partnership was formed. Buchan had been involved in antimony prospecting since 1873 on the Carrick Range near Cromwell25 and soon became involved with the Watson brothers in the Waipori Antimony Mining Company in 1880 (Table 1), so copper prospecting in the same locality was a natural extension of these
activities.26 Consequently, a considerable amount of exploratory work was undertaken, involving the development of three shallow shafts, six drives, two boreholes and several open cuts.27 Two of the shafts on the east bank of the Waitahuna River, where copper was first found, had been sunk to depths of 9 and 20 feet deep and drives put in from the bottom of both shafts.
Table 1: George Watson’s Mining Interests 1878-1885.
Year Company/Activity Involvement Place (Region)
1877 Last Shot Gold Mining Company, Carrick 124
Application for a Mineral Lease (with W. Buchan & J. Pryde)
Bannockburn (Dunstan) 1878 Dusky Sound Copper Mining Co 125 Manager, secretary &
shareholder
Dusky Sound (Fiordland) 1879 North Tipperary Gold Mining Co. 126 Shareholder Macetown (Wakatipu) 1880 Waipori Antimony Mining Company Co.
(Ltd) 127
Manager & shareholder (with J. Watson & W. Buchan)
Waipori (Tuapeka) 1880 Moke Creek Mining Company128 Application for a Mineral Lease
(with W. Buchan)
Queenstown (Wakatipu) 1881 Waitahuna Copper Mining Co. Ltd Director & shareholder
(with W. Buchan) Waipori (Tuapeka) 1881 Nuggety Gully, Waipori, quartz mining,
processing 129
Shareholder Waipori (Tuapeka)
1882 Golden Terrace Company Ltd, Carrick 130 Director Bannockburn (Dunstan) 1882 Carrick Range Antimony Mining
Company 131 Secretary Bannockburn (Dunstan)
1882 Star of the East Quartz Mining Company, Carrick 132
Legal Manager Bannockburn (Dunstan) 1882 Carrick Range 133 Application for a quartz claim
(with W. Buchan, J. Pryde, J.D.
Menzies, W. Asher) & water race
Bannockburn (Dunstan)
1883 Deep Valley West Quartz Mining Company, Long Valley, Serpentine134
Shareholder Serpentine (Dunstan)
1883 Maruia Gold Mining Company 135 Legal Manager
(with W. Buchan) Lyell (Buller, West Coast) 1885 Glenorchy Scheelite Mining
Bucklerburn 136 Lessee of the mine
(with W. Buchan) Glenorchy (Wakatipu) 1885 Invincible Mine, Otago Pyrites Company
137 Director Glenorchy (Wakatipu)
1885 Criffel Diggings, Pisa Range 138 Proposal for aerial tramway Criffel (Dunstan/Wanaka) Sources: See:
1.Endnote 104; 2. endnote 105; 3. endnote 106; 4. endnote 107; 5. endnote 108; 6.endnote 109;
7. endnote 110; 8. endnote 111; 9. endnote 112; 10. endnote 113; 11. endnote 114; 12. endnote 115;
13. endnote 116; 14. endnote 117; 15. endnote 118.
This exploratory work reflected a lack of knowledge of the ‘lode’ since there were few surface exposures apart from a small outcrop in the riverbed. This initial venture was a substantial operation which employed nine men under the charge of Mr Black, a certificated mining manager, but fewer than the 15-20 men employed at the Stoney Creek Antimony Mine also owned by two of the partners. Transport had improved since 1865 with the development of the railway to Waitahuna township approximately 15km away, and a consignment of 15 tons of copper ore was reported as being forwarded to the Sydney smelting works.28
Despite there being good indications of ore, work seems to have stopped again.
By the time of Rowe’s visit to the mine in 1880 the site was again deserted. The river
cutting, where the deposit was first found and the two east bank shafts were filled with debris from an earlier flood which had also swept away the wing dam.
Formation of the Waitahuna Copper Mining Company, 1881
Despite gold mining being well established in Otago in the 1880s, investment conditions changed. The confidence of the Vogel era was undermined by an economic depression which hit New Zealand in 1879.29 The long depression of the 1880s severely hurt Otago’s economy, led to a population exodus to Australia and created much hardship. Gold returns fell and such investments were not attractive as they once were although this was soon to change a decade later with the development of the dredging boom.30 Olssen noted that Dunedin’s mercantile professional elite ‘survived the depression reasonably well’31 partly because of investments in newly developing industries, such as engineering works and foundries, as well as in more traditional sectors such as mining. If gold had lost some of its lustre, it appears that interest remained high in other mineral opportunities which had previously been neglected.
Thus mining properties such as Waitahuna, if marketed properly, could be made attractive to investors. This became evident in later goldfield booms, where careful promotion helped suck in the ‘gullible’.32
Investment in the mine became a more attractive proposition as road and rail communications improved. Vogel’s public works programme saw the extension of the railway to Waitahuna and Lawrence just a relatively short distance from the mine. Thus, another attempt was made to raise the necessary capital to work the mine, resulting in the flotation of a new company. Two of this company’s provisional directors (Bathgate and Reynolds), had been involved in the initial Waipori Copper Company.
In May 1881, The prospectus for the Waitahuna Copper Mining Company (Limited) was advertised in local papers, including the Tuapeka Times. The paper indicated that:
we have, on various occasions, made reference in this journal to the copper lode, situated at the head of the Waitahuna River. It is no new discovery, but it was not until it fell into the hands of Mr (George) Watson, of Dunedin, that any practical steps of importance were taken to develop it. The lode has been well prospected, and the large proportion of copper found to be contained in the ore, proves it to be indeed a mine of wealth. There should be no difficulty in floating the company within the prescribed time, mentioned in the prospectus – viz, the 31 (May) when the share-list closes.33
The Company had a capital of £15,000 in 15,000 shares of £1 each. It was offered to the public in 10,000 shares of £1 each, payable one shilling per share on application, one shilling per share on allotment and the balance, if required, to be called up in intervals of not less than one month. The property consisted of 80acres on a thirty years lease. Shares were quickly taken up and by the end of the month the issue was fully subscribed. As the Bruce Herald commented, ‘we are pleased to learn that the applications for shares in the Waitahuna Copper Mining Company have exceeded the number anticipated by the promoters … With efficient management the Company will
doubtless be a complete success.’34 The £15,000 raised was a substantial amount of capital, being equivalent to approximately NZ $3.5 million in 2020.
In view of the difficulties of the original attempted flotation of the Waipori Copper Mining Company in 1865, who were the shareholders of the new company?
Some indication can be gleaned from a list of shareholders published in January, 1883.35 Table 2 shows that there were substantial numbers of small and medium-sized shareholders (5-99 shares) who comprised 72.4% total investors, but held only 25.6%
shares by value. On the other hand, the remaining 27.6% larger shareholders held 74.3%
of the shares by value, with two shareholders, George and John Murray Watson, holding 26.1%. Overall the seven directors of the company (William Asher, John Bathgate, William R. Buchan, Michael Duncan, William Reynolds, John Wain and John Murray Watson), as specified in the Memorandum of Association in 1881, along with the largest shareholder, George Watson, the secretary, commanded the bulk of the shares (37.1%). Two of the directors, Bathgate and Reynolds, had been on the Board of the previous company 16 years earlier.
Table 2: Profile of Company shareholders, January, 1883.
Number of
shares Number of
shareholders Percent Value of shares
(£) Percent
1000 or more 2 1.0 3908 26.1
500-999 2 1.0 1485 9.9
200-499 14 7.1 1850 12.3
100-199 36 18.4 3900 26.0
50-99 42 21.4 2150 14.3
20-49 58 29.6 1355 9.0
5 -19 42 21.4 352 2.3
Total 196 100.0 15000 100.0
Source: Archives NZ, Dunedin Item No. R1930456
Many of the directors had involvement in other Otago mining ventures. Between 1878-1885 George Watson, the main promoter of the Waitahuna Copper Mining Company was associated with numerous mining projects in Otago and the West Coast (Table 1). Watson, like his brother, John, joined the gold rush to the Tuapeka and was involved with mining in the Waipori area.36 By contrast, the activities of George’s brother, John M. Watson, of Milton, were more circumscribed. John became an important bridge, roading and rail contractor before moving to Dunedin in 1879, to assist his brother in various mining projects.37
In addition to the directors, substantial shareholdings occurred among professional and business interests in Dunedin, with many such individuals, including medical doctors, solicitors, civil engineers, merchants, and even two ‘gentlemen’
making up those who had purchased more than 100 shares. However, there was also a substantial number of smaller shareholders. Half of all shareholders purchased 50 shares or less and a fifth had 5-19 shares. The occupations of these groups were quite diverse and included some professionals, small businessmen, people who worked in sales and
the trades along with some miners and domestic servants. Overall, as expected, the bulk of shareholders came from Dunedin, with only 12 from outside Otago Province, including one English investor and two from Melbourne. By contrast, the flotation of the Moke Creek Copper Mining Company, by Buchan and Watson, about the same time, occurred in Melbourne with a much bigger share float and, in contrast to Waitahuna, half of the directors were ‘Melbourne capitalists’.38
How was the Company Promoted?
Prior to the issuing of shares the company went to great lengths to encourage investment. Like so many other speculative mining ventures this boosterism took a number of distinct forms. First, at the time of the issuing of the prospectus, media reports downplayed the financial risks associated with the company. As the Tuapeka Times reported in 1881:
the great element of risk so often attending new mining companies is almost entirely absent in this case, as the present owners have by patient and systematic prospecting, during the last twelve months, and at a large outlay, proved beyond any doubt the existence of a well-defined copper lode, and confidently invite intending investors to visit the mine and satisfy themselves as to its bona fides before applying for shares. 39
Media representatives were also actively involved in publicising the nature of development work as a result of visits with company directors to the mine. In May, 1881 the Otago Daily Times reporter emphasised the considerable amount of work which had been completed and, somewhat erroneously, that the ground had been ‘well prospected’. It was stated that the necessity of capital to work the mine is obvious but that the extra development needed is ‘beyond the reach of private enterprise, but there is no reason why copper mining should not be as profitable an industry here as it has proved to be in other countries’.40
Press boosterism also touted the richness of Waitahuna ore compared to that produced in some other copper mining districts of the world, including Cornwall and the ‘celebrated Moonta’, the most successful copper mine in the Australian Colonies.41 The Tuapeka Times noted that a parcel of ten tons of undressed ore sent to smelting works in Newcastle, NSW, had yielded ‘the highly satisfactory result of 11%, about twice the percentage of the Cornwall copper mines.’
Specimens from the mine were displayed in Dunedin businesses, including A &
J. Macfarlane, an important grocery business in Princess Street and one of the major shareholders. In addition large blocks of attractive Waitahuna and Moke Creek copper specimens from the collection of two of the directors, William Buchan and George Watson, including ‘a monster block of splendid copper ore’ from Waitahuna, were displayed at George’s accountancy office in Princess Street,42 and at the Dunedin Industrial Exhibition in June 1881. These, along with Buchan’s pamphlet on ‘The Minerals of Otago’ published by the Otago Daily Times newspaper, 43 helped stimulate further interest in mining investment.44 Samples (from Moke Creek) were even
exhibited at the Berlin Exhibition in 1881, as part of a wider effort to encourage investment in New Zealand.45
Finally, reports by overseas experts, such as ‘competent and experienced mining engineers' 46 were used to ‘puff mines’.47 Such reports helped reinforce the perception of the low risk of investing in promising Otago mining ventures. Beyond the early involvement of Dr James Hector in 1865, other professionals, such as James G. Black, geologist and noted Professor of Chemistry, Metallurgy and Assaying from the University of Otago, provided favourable comments on the value of the ore, which was said to contain gold ‘in very marked quantities’, and that the sulphur could be profitably utilised in the manufacture of sulphuric acid.48 A later report in 1883 by Professor Ulrich, first Director of the Otago School of Mines, while providing more cautionary observations on the nature of the copper deposit, nevertheless still estimated that values of 15% copper could still produce a ‘handsome profit’.49
Mine development 1881-1884
Given these initial favourable perceptions, development of the mine soon got underway.
Over a period of three years there were three phases of development; (a) 1881 was devoted mainly to company formation and raising capital; (b) 1882 focused on the completion of infrastructure, shaft sinking and the first blast to produce a large enough ore sample for assaying; (c) 1883 was mainly devoted to further mine development, ore production and an evaluation of the mine by Professor Ulrich from the newly established School of Mines in Dunedin. However, the venture then came to a sudden end with the Company declaring bankruptcy in 1884.
1881 - The new Company re-opened the two shafts originally sunk on the east side of the river. In May, 1881 the Otago Daily Times reported these shafts had been sunk to depths of 40 and 50 feet.50 The development and enlargement of this shaft occupied most of 1881 along with the construction of a large bench platform for machinery in order to protect the shaft and machine site from floods.51 This involved a considerable amount of work and as the Otago Witness reported in October, 1881:
The Copper Company are busy getting out foundations for machinery. The precipitous nature of the ground near the mine renders the work very heavy, the whole of the cutting being in rock. They have a face 30 feet deep cut through solid rock, thousands of yards of which have been removed. So heavy were the shots that many of the blocks shifted had to be re-blasted before they could be cleared away. By means of a tramway the blocks are run to the river, and made to form a protection for the shaft and machinery … The main shaft has been raised some 20 feet above the river, double timbered and puddled in between. It must have cost a lot of money, but it certainly is a substantial job – perhaps the finest shaft in Otago.52
These infrastructural developments necessitated the first share call in September 1881.53 More thought had also been given to mine development. With this in mind, William Buchan had visited Newcastle in New South Wales earlier in the year for the purpose of making an exhaustive enquiry regarding the working of copper mines.54 The
increased use of labour also meant some changes to the small settlement at the mine with a store and bakery recorded by October.55
1882 - If much of 1881 was devoted to the establishment of the new company and raising capital, the main tasks in 1882 were the completion of infrastructure necessary to prove and profitably work the mine.56 This was a risky strategy in view of the lack of information on the deposit and its economic viability. Nevertheless in 1882 the Otago Witness reported that:
The Waitahuna Copper Company are evidently determined to have everything up to the handle before they commence regular mining, as they are still busy fitting up powerful machinery; and although it is a slow and expensive job the wisdom of it will be apparent when everything is ready and operations commenced.57
The key infrastructural developments included the construction of a massive stone wall dam 26 feet deep at the junction of Bulgers and Reedy Creeks (the left and right hand branches of the Waitahuna River), the water race, and the purchase of winding machinery and drilling equipment. This dam was once a substantial structure, the original application specifying a dam 100 feet long, 22 feet high and 60 feet wide at its base, with a storage area of 5 acres.58
The first blasting occurred in April and, to celebrate this, a site visit was widely reported in the media, the visiting party including two directors (Buchan and Asher), a variety of Dunedin business people and three reporters. Shaft sinking proceeded rapidly and by July the main shaft, which had three compartments, had reached a depth of 70 feet.59 This represented considerable progress by the Company, but two problems occurred. First, because of the location of the shaft close to the Waitahuna River considerable damage was done by flooding.60 The hardness of the rock also made sinking more difficult and costly for the company.61 In addition, management of the mine changed yet again with the appointment of Mr Manley.62
1883 - The year began with the usual optimistic proclamations, this time on the part of the mine manager, Mr Manley, who exclaimed, ‘indications of a big deposit at the low level are already of the most satisfactory character, the rock being charged with copperous matter’,63 while the Otago Witness reported that ‘prospects for the mine generally are cheering’.64 By the time of the Company AGM in February, the shaft had been deepened to 98 feet. Mining operations centred on extending the lower level cross- drive towards the lode and indications of copper had increased as work proceeded in that direction.65
In June another new mine manager, Mr J.B. Neale, the third in just over one year, was appointed who was equally as positive. Neale reported on the great improvement in the lode, which was about 2 feet thick. He indicated: ‘I think the Company can consider that they have a permanent lode, and of a payable nature. I am satisfied that unless this was a main lode it would not live through the very hard rock which it does’.66
In July, tenders were called for the cartage of 50 tons of ore from the mine to the Waitahuna Railway Station.67 However, given the lack of significant production, the Annual Meeting of the Company in February 1883 called for an independent review of the mine. This was done by Professor G.H. Ulrich from the School of Mines in Dunedin. Ulrich’s report, presented to George Watson on June 21, 1883, was reported in full in the Tuapeka Times and made four significant points: (1) that he was ‘much surprised’ to find that, contrary to his initial impressions, that the deposit was not a
‘genuine lode’ traversing the country; (2) that the pattern of mine development reflected a poor understanding of the geology and therefore work on the present cross-drive at the 100 foot level should be discontinued; (3) that the variability in the thickness of the
‘layer’ meant that ore dressing would be necessary in order to achieve a high enough ore grade and; (4) that further prospecting was still necessary and should be concentrated in the hill west of the river.68 Although Ulrich’s report raised important concerns with the past pattern of mine development, it nevertheless indicated the importance of ‘layer deposits’ in other parts of the world which had been economically mined.
The problems of the enterprise came to a head at the AGM of shareholders in July 1883. The Company already faced arrears of calls by shareholders, was £1,200 in debt and the directors had indicated that further calls would be necessary.
Recommendations were made to reduce the number of miners and concentrate solely on ore production and the shipment of a further batch of ore to Britain for further assaying.
Four new directors were needed, with one director, J.B. Bradshaw, indicating that if he continued, then he would move to wind up the Company which he believed could never be profitable.69 The disquiet shown by Bradshaw was also evident in letters to the editor of the Otago Daily Times when questioning the secretive management of the company and showing little faith in its operations. Questions were raised about the need for further share calls, why no scrip had been issued and whether the company was a swindle.70
Towards the end of 1883 a little known event occurred which affected George Watson and the operations of his company. In October, an application, under the provisions of the Lunatics Act, 1882, was made by William Proudfoot Watson to the Dunedin Supreme Court to have George committed to the Ashburn Hall asylum for treatment for a period of six months.71 This was not widely reported in the media and, other than the court application, seems to have been a private family matter. Clearly the stresses of running the Company and the involvement in numerous other mining ventures had affected George and help explain the deteriorating fortunes of the Waitahuna Copper Mining Company and the events that transpired in 1884.
1884 - Given the problems of 1883, and the poor assay values of the ore samples which had been sent to Britain, the Company was declared bankrupt with proceedings starting in July, 1884.72 Despite increased copper prices, the low assay values of 6.9 and 8.0%
Cu meant that the ore was not profitable to mine. Important questions were raised by Professor Black over the variability of assay values and their reliability,73 and also by the media over why the ore was shipped to Britain and not Australia.74 As the Tuapeka
Times lamented, so ended a ‘promising but short-lived enterprise,’75 The Waitahuna Copper Mining Company lease (No. 22) was finally declared forfeited on 7 November 1885, as was the Moke Creek copper lease (No. 13) one week later.76
Aftermath - After the collapse of the Waitahuna Copper Company, a few other attempts were made to prospect the locality.77 The most substantial of these was by Eaton and Ellis 78 who worked the mine between 1907-1910, and who drove a 200 foot tunnel and cross-cut (Figs 4-5). As copper prices had risen substantially over the intervening years since 1885, Eaton and Ellis lost no time in having ore samples tested by Professor Black. Black’s report showed a potential profit of £5 per ton on raw material landed in London.79 However, no further media reports occurred on this venture so it can only be assumed that, after considerable effort, the partners ran out of capital or that no significant copper deposits were encountered. The last effort was by Moen and Robertson’ who constructed an adit on the northwest side of the creek sometime after 1909 (Figs 4-5). They represented a small syndicate of Waitahuna people wanting to give the lode a further trial. Oluf Moen, son of John Moen, of the Norwegian Party of Waitahuna Gully,80 was a trained metallurgist and graduate of the Otago School of Mines.
Why did the Venture Fail?
The record, and subsequent failure, of the Waitahuna Copper Mining Company in 1884 has much in common with many other speculative mining developments in the nineteenth century. The mine, and others like it, was developed in the aftermath of the gold rushes when capital became more available for other than gold mining ventures. It also preceded the great boom of 1895 when British capital flooded into New Zealand resulting in a deluge of flotations.81 However, like these later developments, there are certain parallels with the experience of the Waitahuna mine.
Figure 4: Aerial View of Waitahuna Copper Mine site .
Source: Google Earth Image
Figure 5: Waitahuna Copper Mining Mine Site.
Source: Author’s photograph, December, 2020
First, the development of the Waitahuna Copper Company reflected the speculative investment culture of the time where mining or exploration companies were developed, the majority on untested ground which was often worthless. Although the 1880s in Otago was hardly a period of financial excitement, there was sufficient confidence, both among entrepreneurs and potential shareholders, in the mineral potential of the province. Mining projects could now be advocated as capital was more readily available than before. However, as in the Coromandel,82 in the process of floating new mines company directors were often guilty of spending shareholders money on mining infrastructure aimed at raising the profile of their company. As Curle, in writing about the general management of gold mines in New Zealand in 1899, indicated:
The mines were floated ... with directors, who, entirely deficient in the important qualifications necessary for such a post, were only anxious to make money. The development of the mine of the erection of machinery, was to them only important in so far as it added a glamour to the specious market value of the shares. The mines were therefore developed in a more or less slipshod manner, and were neither systematically nor carefully sampled, while the manager’s chief attention, and an appallingly large amount of the cash at the company’s disposal, were devoted to costly water races, aerial trams and batteries, with all the additional expenses which their construction implies. 83
To a large extent this description reflects the activities of the Waitahuna Copper Company in building its dams and water race, erecting expensive machinery and investing in new drilling equipment, before a resource had been proven. It also fits many of the other speculative activities George Watson was involved in, such as the Carrick Range Antimony Company, which had an even shorter lifespan than the Waitahuna copper mine. In an attempt to reconstitute the earlier unsuccessful venture, the Otago Antimony Company, formed by Buchan and Pryde, Buchan teamed up with
George Watson who was able to raise the necessary capital, enabling the completion of the pack track into the mine and the building of an ore smelter at Bannockburn.84 Despite some misgivings on the part of the Cromwell Argus newspaper,85 the smelter was opened with great fanfare in July 1882, but to no avail. A lack of proven ore reserves led shareholders to liquidate the company just eight months later.86
One could argue that while such developments did not benefit shareholders, for a short time at least, they raised the profile of the mine promoters and enabled them to access sources of development capital. It should also be remembered that the Watson brothers, along with William Buchan, had already invested substantial amounts of their own capital in attempting to prove the value of their mines. When this proved insufficient, further mine development could only occur as a result of involving new partners or a public flotation. While this may have been speculative it did reflect wider political imperatives to economically develop the province of Otago, evident in Vogel’s many public works programmes. However, without proving the economic viability of their mines, such projects were bound to fail. The numerous development projects undertaken by Watson and his partners (Table 1) suggest that at some stage they were likely to have known this and used their ready capital to help fund other projects in the hope of eventual success. But this cycle could not go on for long.
Second, just as in recent times, the development culture must have placed immense pressures on mine managers. This was evident at Waitahuna where four new managers (Hill, Coombs, Manley, Neale) were appointed, in quick succession, to manage exploration and improve mine operations and profitability. Most of these people had backgrounds in either gold or copper lode mines, but seem to have not appreciated the nature of ‘layered’ gold deposits such as those present at Waitahuna and the difficulties of mining these. Consequently a great deal of expensive development work was done, which was of little use to the company. This was evident in Ulrich’s 1883 report when he recommended the discontinuation of the cross-drive then under construction which had been driven too low to strike a steadily upward rising ore horizon. As Ulrich stated:
Judging from the surface outcrops (of the layer or bed of ore) … a short distance south of the shaft, on the banks of the Waitahuna River, it is indeed not improbable that from there the schist rock, and therewith the ore-bed, will commence to rise southward; and if this happens, the low level being driven from the shaft in that direction will never strike the ore bed, but run underneath it, except its dip be reversed again to the present direction. The ore may, of course, be reached from the lower level by breaking overhead; but considering the expense and time involved in driving the level … before attacking the deposit in this way, I should rather advise to stop it for the present.87
Although work in this case was discontinued, managers did not always follow Professor Ulrich’s suggestions. For example, J.B. Neale, the new manager appointed in 1883, contrary to Ulrich’s suggestions, put in a winze following a small seam, however, only ore of inferior quality was struck compared to the richer yellow ore being worked at the time.88
Third, the lack of knowledge of the Waitahuna resource, both by the directors and mine managers was a major constraint affecting the profitability of the mine. This was evident to Ulrich who, in his letter to George Watson, described the deposit as ‘a layer or bed of ore parallel to ‘the schist beds between which it lies,’ ranging in thickness from a few centimetres to 60cm.89 The deposit, because of its stratiform habit and association with green schist, is thought to have a pre-metamorphic origin and was in situ at the time of the formation of the Otago schists.90 Wood (1967), suggested that
‘the copper minerals are thought to have been deposited or precipitated under conditions of geosynclinal marine sedimentation, more or less contemporaneously with a submarine eruption of basic lava or tuff.’91
Most contemporary geological reports generally suggest that the deposit was a
‘fahlband’, a term applied to elongated schist zones impregnated with sulphides that often extend for considerable distances. Individual fahlbands may be made up of hundreds of small sulphide-rich lenses with their long dimensions parallel to the strike of the host metamorphic rock, but, unlike true lodes, seldom cut across the foliation. As at Moke Creek,92 at Waitahuna within the lode formation the copper sulphide minerals lenses occurred in bunches or lenses. This variability, made the deposit difficult to mine. It was the ‘layer’ versus ‘lode’ distinction, coupled with the highly variable width and values of the ore body, which influenced J.B. Bradshaw’s decision to resign from the company in 1883. In his view, the vein was generally too narrow to be profitable and values of 6-10% Cu simply would not pay. Although higher assay values had been recorded during the history of the mine, including copper contents of up to 22-32%,93 these would have been hand-picked samples not representative of the ore body. Thus it is suggested that, in New Zealand at least, known fahlband-type deposits generally have little economic potential.94
A fourth factor which helped create a sense of unreality over the significance of the deposit was the role of the media. Media reports often created a false impression of the success of the mine and its importance in the economic development of Otago. Site visits by reporters to the mine suggested that the presence of copper in abundance whereas this was not the case. As a Bruce Herald reporter observed before the initial share float in 1881:
The bright yellow ore makes sight truly grand, and impresses one with wonder and admiration of the great work of creation. The lode is clearly defined. Every way one turns copper is to be seen, in some places one foot thick, in other places, two or three feet thick, and here and there the whole height of the drives.
Having filled my pocket with specimens, I was once more with my foot in the loop ... entirely at the mercy of the men in charge of the windlass.95
However, Waitahuna was not Cornwall and never would be. Yet press boosterism touted the richness of the Waitahuna ore compared to that obtained in other copper- producing regions around the world.96 Such impressions would have affected public perceptions and most likely the development strategies pursued by mine managers.
Finally, the Waitahuna Copper Company must be seen in terms of the men involved. The motives of men like George Watson were not just about making money,
but the prestige of being involved in numerous mine developments must also have been important. If John Ewing was the ‘gold baron’ of Otago in the 1870s,97 George Watson, can similarly be considered to be someone who also aspired to be mining baron.
Watson’s mining portfolio comprised many failed ventures, the last of which was an unsuccessful attempt to mine scheelite at ‘Glenorchy which left substantial debts, mainly unpaid wages, to a large number of creditors.98 Not all Watson’s mining ventures, however, were failures. One exception, and notable success, was the Otago Pyrites Saving Company formed in 1885 to treat tailings from the Invincible Gold Mine at Glenorchy. From 11.5 tons of pyrite concentrate the company recovered 108oz of gold (that is, 9.5oz per ton). The success of this venture prompted the Invincible Company to process its own tailings resulting in the Pyrites Company having nothing left to process, closing down in 1886.99
However, for Watson the key director of the Waitahuna Copper Company, his involvement in a wide range of mining projects, was a source of stress and a weakness.
Just as Ewing’s last great mining gamble failed in 1922, so did that of George Watson earlier in 1884. Like Ewing, the challenge of developing profitable mining properties became too great, leading in Watson’s case to the embezzlement of funds from the Caledonian Society, of which he was Secretary, the onset of excessive drinking, his admission to Ashburn Hall in Dunedin in 1885,100 and to his own bankruptcy a year later.101 The Waitahuna Copper Mining Company was only one of Watson’s many mining ventures and its failure needs to be seen in this light (Table 1 & Fig. 2). The dream of a mining empire in Otago also seems to have afflicted George’s brother, John, who was also declared bankrupt in 1883.102 For George Watson, these unfortunate events were largely hidden from public view in Dunedin, except for a very brief comment on ‘Dunedin Gossip’ in a Central Otago newspaper, the Cromwell Argus in 1885:
George Watson was well known throughout Otago for his connection with the attempted development of the copper and other mineral ores with which Otago abounds. He was left to bear the brunt of the many speculations which he and his partner were concerned in, and when pushed the temptation (of embezzling funds from the Dunedin Caledonian Society) proved too strong. The last trump card was played in the scheelite mine at Lake Wakatipu, but it proved useless and he went under.103
Nevertheless, despite being caught up in the speculative hype of the 1880s, George Watson and his partners helped explore and raise awareness of the mineral resources of Otago. Even if their own personal enterprises were not particularly successful, by encouraging mineral exploration they nevertheless helped make a positive contribution to the development of the province.
Conclusion
The experience of the Waitahuna Copper Company is typical of many other speculative mining ventures which were developed before a mineral resource was proven. While many local interests, including the mine developers, local media and various business
interests ‘puffed’ the potential of the Waitahuna copper mine, its failure was inevitable in the light of the lack of a proven resource, exhaustion of capital, and poor management, particularly by its main promoter George Watson. Following the demise of the Waitahuna Copper Mining Company in 1885 other local miners were persistent in their efforts to prove a resource but these came to nothing. Yet the last evaluation of the mine by Mutch in 1967 did not rule out the possibility of an economic resource and recommended possible strategies for further prospecting.104 Given that the wider area is now subject to gold exploration using modern methods 105 and there is interest in the wider associations between gold and other minerals,106 the history of the Waitahuna deposit may not yet be over.
Little remains at the site today (Figs. 4-7). The modification of the site by subsequent agricultural activities is regrettable in view of the mineralogical and heritage significance of the locality.107 Since copper deposits are uncommon in the Otago schist belt, the site is of mineralogical significance and the past involvement of an important politician, Julius Vogel, in early attempts to float a mining company makes the site one of national historical significance and deserving of greater heritage protection.
Figure 6: Close up view of 1882 shaft site and stone bench.
Source: Author’s photograph, December, 2020.
The Waitahuna experience provides an interesting case study of mining speculation which involves both contextual and personal influences. The economic history literature is replete with examples of mining speculation and the role of entrepreneurs in promoting mine development and the risks associated with such ventures. As a result, a much deeper understanding, particularly in Britain and the United States, has emerged of the formation of early mining companies in the nineteenth century, their key promoters and the search for local and regional sources of capital.108 While such broader processes have added to our knowledge of mining speculation in general, such work has generally been lacking in New Zealand.109 More
micro-level studies, as undertaken here, thus have the potential to increase our knowledge of the historical development of New Zealand’s mineral resources.
Figure 7: Dam and water race remains at the junction of Bulgers Stream (left) and Reedy Creek (right) branches of the Waitahuna River.
Source: Author’s photograph, December, 2020.
Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges the National Archives in Dunedin, particularly Mr Geordie Muir, for his help in providing access to information concerning the Waitahuna Copper Company and its key promoter, George Watson. He would also like to thank Kathy and Euan Warburton of Dunedin for sharing their knowledge of the mine site and for their help in obtaining early records from the Hocken Library and National Archives. I would also like to thank the managers of Waipori Station for allowing access to the site, Doug Johnston for helpful discussions, and Pauline Barnett for editing text.
Units in this article
1 pound (lb) = 0.454 kg, 1 ton (long) = 2,240 pounds (lbs) = 1.01604 tonnes.
1 foot = 0.3048 m, 1 yard = 0.9144 m; 1 acre = 0.4047 hectares.
1 troy oz (the standard measure of gold and silver) = 20 dwt = 31.10348 g; 1 dwt = 1.555 g
Endnotes
1 ‘An Old Correspondent out for a Holiday’, Bruce Herald , Vol. 14, Issue 1304, 29 April, 1881, p. 3.
2 J.S. Hammond, The Autobiography of John Hays Hammond. Farrar Rinehart, New York, 1935, p. 97.
3 J.H. Curle, The Gold Mines of the World, Waterlow and Sons, London, 1899, pp. 4-5.
4There is a vast literature on mining speculation and its economic, political and social context. However, studies of base metal investment patterns and capital markets are less common, for example, see: R. Burt,
‘Segmented capital markets and patterns of investment in late Victorian Britain: evidence from the non- ferrous mining industry’, Economic History Review Vol. 51(4), 1998, pp. 709-733. In addition to focusing on key structural factors affecting capital markets and mining developments, detailed studies have also occurred of the role of important personalities in the gold and silver mining industry. Two notable USA examples include Thomas F. Walsh and Horace Tabor in Colorado. See, J. Stewart, Thomas F. Walsh,
Progressive Businessman and Colorado Mining Tycoon, University Press of Colorado, Boulder, 2007;
D.A. Smith, Horace Tabor: His Life and Legend, University Press of Colorado, Boulder, 1973.
5P. Hart, ‘Australian capital in New Zealand: The Te Aroha Silver and Gold Mining Company’, Journal of Australasian Mining History, Vol. 2, September 2004, pp. 35-53; P. Hart, The Mining Boom of the 1890s in general and Hauraki in particular, Te Aroha Mining District Working Papers No. 95, Historical Research Unit, University of Waikato, Hamilton, 2016; Ken McQueen, ‘Abandoned hopes: Reef mining on the Albert Goldfield, North-Western NSW’, Journal of Australasian Mining History Vol. 6, September 2008, pp. 111-135.
6 D. Still, Gold Beneath Dark Waters. The People of Waipori, MCK Design and Print, Dunedin, 2016.
7 R. Dalziel, Julius Vogel: Business Politician, Auckland University Press, Auckland, Ch. 6.
8 W.E. Rowe, On the Waitahuna Copper Lode near Waipori, Tuapeka County, NZ Geological Survey Reports of Geological Exploration, 13, 1881, pp. 156-158.
9 P. Marshall, The Geology of the Tuapeka District, New Zealand Geological Survey Bulletin No. 19 (New Series), Government Printer, Wellington, 1918, p. 44.
10 S. Nathan, James Hector: Explorer, Scientist, Leader, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, Lower Hutt, 2015.
11‘Waipori’. Tuapeka Recorder, May 19, 1865, p. 2.
12Ibid., June 30, 1865.
13 Ibid., 20 October 1865, p. 7.
14 Ibid., 17 November 1865, p. 3.
15Ibid., 24 November 1865, p. 2.
16 Hacket was resident in Otago from 1863-1868 before going to Gympie in Queensland. He returned to
Nelson in 1878 to resume his search for copper and chromite deposits. M. Johnston, High Hopes: The History of the Nelson Mineral Belt and New Zealand’s First Railway. Nikau Press, Nelson, 1978, p. 24.
17 Correspondence – A.D. Wilson, Gold Fields Department, Dunedin to John Drummond, Mining Surveyor, Tuapeka, 3 July 1865, Reference No. ABBO D98 25208, Archives New Zealand, Dunedin (hereafter ANZD).
18 ‘Advertisements: Prospectus of the Waipori Copper Mining Company’. Otago Daily Times, 13 December 1865, p. 6.
19 ‘Copper’, W.R. Buchan, ‘The Minerals of Otago’. In: The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout, Vol. 40, NZETC - New Zealand Electronic Text Collection, Victoria University, Wellington.
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Stout40-t36-body-d1-d4.html
20 Otago Provincial Government Gazette, Vol. 10, No. 409, 28 February 1866.
21 P. Galvin, The New Zealand Mining Handbook, Government Printer, Wellington, 1906, p. 324.
22 F.W. Hutton and G.H.F. Ulrich, Report on the Geology and Goldfields of Otago, Mills, Dick & Co.,
Printers, Dunedin,1875, p. 184.
23A.R. Mutch, The Waitahuna Copper Lode, Eastern Otago. Economic Geology Reports, No. 19. New Zealand Geological Survey, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dunedin, 1967.
24 W.E. Rowe, ‘On the Waitahuna Copper Lode near Waipori, Tuapeka County’, NZ Geological Survey
Reports of Geological Exploration, 13, 1881, pp. 156-158.
25 William Buchan, was an active prospector and, in 1875, President of the Bannockburn and Carrick Range Miners’ Association. He perhaps is most noted for his discovery of Buchan’s lode on the Carrick Range in 1873/74, see Otago Witness, Issue 1187, 29 August 1874, p. 6.
26 The Watson-Buchan partnership characterised not only Waitahuna but many other Otago mineral developments. See, A. McKay, ‘On the antimony lodes of the Carrick Ranges, Vincent County, Otago’, in James Hector, Reports of Geological Explorations During 1882, Government Printer, Wellington, 1883, pp. 80-83. Buchan initially prospected the Carrick Range antimony lodes in 1874. See, James Park, The Geology of the Cromwell Subdivision, Government Printer, Wellington, 1908, pp. 66-67. His partnership with Watson appears to have begun soon after that. Buchan bought to the partnership his geological knowledge and communication skills, whereas George Watson was more adept at raising capital. See: ‘The Exhibits’. Otago Witness, Issue 1545, 18 June 1881, p. 11; ‘Our Mineral Resources’.
Otago Witness, Issue 1524, 22 January 1881, p. 6.
27 ‘A Visit to the Waitahuna Copper Mine’, Otago Daily Times, Issue 6016, 23 May 1881, p. 3.
28‘Our Mineral Resources’, Otago Witness, Issue 1524, 22 January 1881, p. 6.
29E. Olssen, A History of Otago, John McIndoe, Dunedin, 1987.
30 T.J. Hearn and R.P. Hargreaves, The Speculators’ Dream: Gold Dredging in Southern New Zealand, Allied Press, Dunedin, 1985.
31Olssen, A History of Otago, p. 91.
32T. Hearn, Nenthorn, The Gold and the Gullible, Otago Heritage Books, Dunedin, 1988.
33Tuapeka Times and Goldfields Reporter and Advertiser, Vol. 14, Issue 736, 14 May 1881, p. 1.
34Bruce Herald, Vol. 14, Issue 1313, 31 May 1881, p. 3.
35 ‘Summary of Capital and Shares’, Waitahuna Copper Company Ltd. Item No: R1930456, 1882, ANZD. This showed the names, location and occupation of each shareholder along with the number of shares held.
36 It is not clear when George Watson, a Scot, arrived in Otago. However, in 1866 the Otago Gold Rush
Data Base records a transfer from George Watson to George Melville for his share in Race 906 situated at Lammerlaw (Waipori). See Waitahuna District Warden’s Office Applications Butt Books, ABBO D98 738 Waitahuna, April-July 186, pp. 2251-2300. https://kaelewis.com/OtagoRecords.htm. In the January 16 issue of the Tuapeka Times in 1869 he was listed as being an office bearer for the Ancient Order of Foresters (Friendly Society) at Waipori, and the 1873 Tuapeka Electoral Roll records him as a Waipori resident, see Tuapeka Times 28 August 1873. In 1876 the Otago Area Directory records him as being a resident of Havelock (Waitahuna), but two years later he is described as a ‘Certified Accountant in Bankruptcy, Land and Estate Agent and Sharebroker’ in Dunedin, and Manager of the Dusky Sound Copper Company. See Otago Daily Times, 3 October 1878, Otago Witness 2 November 1878. The 1880- 81 Otago Directory records him as being a ‘Commission Agent’ in Princess Street, Dunedin but later entries also list him as being a ‘money agent’ in Manse Street. By 1879 George also had become the Secretary/Treasurer of the Dunedin Caledonian Society and this involvement would have helped raise his profile in Dunedin business circles. His last Otago Area Directory entry is in 1886. With respect to residential addresses, electoral roll data show that George and William Proudfoot Watson shared the same Dunedin address in 1875-76, with John Murray Watson joining them in 1880. By 1890 only William Proudfoot was present. It is likely that, after his various financial and mining debacles, George Watson soon left New Zealand. After 1886 there is no record of him in electoral rolls and he is not recorded in death notices.
37 Bruce Herald, Vol. 9, Issue 1098, 25 March 1879, p. 5.
38 ‘Dunedin Gossip’, Cromwell Argus, Vol. 12, Issue 619, 20 September 1881, p. 3; Our Mineral Resources. Lake Wakatipu Mail, Issue 1237, 30 September 1881, pp. 2-3. It is interesting that Watson and Buchan attempted to sell this lease to Messrs Lyell and Gown, Melbourne sharebrokers. However, after the latter had an inspection made of the property they declined to go ahead with the purchase – see Otago Witness, Vol. 12, Issue 1566, 12 November 1881, p. 10.
39 ‘Prospectus of the Waitahuna Copper Mining Company’, Tuapeka Times, Vol. 14, Issue 736, 14 May
1881, p. 3.
40‘A Visit to the Waitahuna Copper Mine’. Otago Daily Times, Issue 6016, 23 May 1881, p. 3.
41 ’Prospectus of the Waitahuna Copper Mining Company’. Tuapeka Times, Vol. 14, Issue 736, 14 May
1881, p. 3.
42 ‘Our Mineral Resources’, Otago Witness, Issue 1524, 22 January 1881, p. 6.
43‘The Minerals of Otago’, Tuapeka Times, Vol. 15, Issue 826, 15 March, 1882, p. 5.
44 ‘The Exhibits (Dunedin Industrial Exhibition)’. Otago Witness, Issue 1545, 18 June, 1881, p. 10.
45Ibid., Otago Witness, Issue 1545, 18 June 1881, p. 10.
46 ’Prospectus of the Waitahuna Copper Mining Company’, Tuapeka Times, Vol. 14, Issue 736, 14 May
1881, p. 3.
47Hart, The Mining Boom of the 1890s in general and Hauraki in particular.
48 ’Prospectus of the Waitahuna Copper Mining Company’, Tuapeka Times, Vol. 14, Issue 736, 14 May
1881, p. 3.
49‘Waitahuna Copper Mine’, Tuapeka Times, Vol. 27, Issue 950, 27 June1883, p. 5.
50 ‘A Visit to the Waitahuna Copper Mine’, Otago Daily Times, Issue 6016, 23 May 1881, p. 3.
51 Tuapeka Times, Issue 769, 7 September 1881, p. 2; ‘Waitahuna Mining Company’, Otago Witness, Issue 1579, 18 February, 1882, p. 12.
52 ‘Mining at Waipori’, Otago Witness, Issue 1564, 29 October, 1881, pp. 14-15.
53 ‘Waitahuna Copper Mining Company’, Notice of Share Call’, Tuapeka Times, Vol. 14, Issue 5788, 26
September 1881, p. 3.
54Tuapeka Times, Vol. 14, Issue 751, 6 July, 1881, p. 2.
