Waihi - a historic mining town in the Coromandel - New Zealand (4K)
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- Waihi was one of the great gold mining districts of the world with the township growing around the mining operations since the discovery of gold in 1878 .
The Martha Mine eventually grew into one of the world's most important gold and silver mines, after industrial cyanide processes made recovering gold from the low-grade ores easier. Waihi prospered with the mine, by 1908 being the fastest-growing town in the Auckland Province, three times the size of Hamilton !
Originally a 600m deep mine with 170km of tunnels in 15 layers this was later open cast.
A cool little town with few outsiders who travel through realising the enormous pit right next to the main shopping area.
Back in the 1970's (before the mine was open-cast) I occasionally visited Waihi with my best friend as his grandmother lived there, her house in Galbraith Street is still there with minor extensions, it was a tiny place dating to the early 1920's.
Well worth a visit, there are some good little cafes there, an excellent museum and easy viewing of the mine.
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#waihi #coromandel
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I'm genuinely blown away-excellent work!😝🤪🤪🤪
Glad you enjoyed the brief tour 😀
Always like to look at some old photos to know a bit more of the history - very interesting story 😊😊😊😊
Glad you liked it Kylie😀
Thank you for sharing and have a lovely evening 😊
Hey thanks a lot , appreciate the visit 😀 actually Sunday morning here 😀
Wow, look at all those tunnels! It's incredible to learn what the miners endured and how their lives were shortened for their work. To think they would just be openly inhaling particles. Thanks for sharing, really interesting! 👍👍🪖
Hi, yes when you look at the tunnel map it’s no wonder sections of the town are subsiding ! They had a 3D version of the map made of layers of glass in the museum but I just couldn’t work out a practical way of filming it. I think health and safety were not top of mind for owners back in those days and even today mining I’m sure is a very hazardous occupation . As recently as 2010 we had a complete disaster on the West Coast where 29 miners died in a methane explosion in the Pike River Mine - an extremely dark day in our history.
Great informative video on this historic mining town mate! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Thanks Peter, I’m sure you’ve got endless similar towns across the ditch 😀
Fabulous video- says it all. If you take something out - you have to put something else back in. I love Waihi. Haven't managed to get there this time but have left many many footsteps there. Great work Chris. 🩷😎🙋♀🥝
Hi, Thanks a lot - this video doesn’t do the place justice really, you could make a one hour TV doco given the colourful history of the area, the mine, the strikes, collapsing land, more recent environmental concerns and so on. Been there three times recently, cute place plus you have the beautiful Karangahake Gorge not five minutes away.
@@Chris-NZ I used to stay in a batch in Waihi. The beach is paved with my footsteps. Love the place. Pity o can’t visit. No wheels and a time issue 🥹! 😎
@@IamaDutch-Kiwi Art, my best mates gradmother lived there , we used to frequent the beach in our Minis and motorbikes , happy days 😀That would have been mid 70's
Like you use green colour to standing out of the title of the video 🎉🎉🎉 it's very interesting historical mining town, especially with the underground mine.
Thanks Kylie , I’m getting to know photoshop a little better 😀.
Fantastic historic tidbits for sure!!
Hi Bruce, yes an interesting town with much history, I think you could easily make a one hour documentary here and still not cover everything. 😀
Very interesting Chris! Wow, quite a change from 1920 to 2024! I wonder how they could have such a busy shopping street right next to the mine? It’s great to see the map of all the old tunnels and hear about the levels… I guess having it open is much easier? Always great to learn more about NZ and your history! Thanks! 👌🌻🌻🌻 - Jen
Hi Jennifer, I remember the first time back in the town in decades after they had made that huge hole, looking in and found myself expressing an involuntary expletive !!!
@@Chris-NZ I bet! Wow!
Remember Jimmy’s grand mother lived there, commented on his reg, I think it was 97YE, ooh look she said 97 wai hi
Correct Mal, her house is still there lovingly looked after and occupied, probably one of the few 100 year old places left in the street. Who can forget that trip with Grant Western , Jim the mighty 350 4’s and a certain Escort with horns . Plus your grandmother in Taupo “wheezing … you all right in there ? Wheezing” , I still have the 8mm - been thinking of getting the 8mm’s digitised.
That is just too incredible! I didn’t realize that y’all had Gold mining over there. We have gold mining over here as well and one of the first gold mining rushes to occur here in the states happened here in the Appalachians. Great video and photos!!
Hi Gracie , yes lots of gold prospecting here in the early days with miners coming from all over the world to make their fortune with alluvial gold in the Otago . Gold can also be found on the northern South Island , on the West Coast and of course the Coromandel Peninsula of which Waihi is just part. There is still alluvial gold mining going on in central Otago (southern NZ) . I got to visit (southern) Alaska almost 20 years ago and learned a lot about the gold rush up there and the incredibly hash conditions especially in the winter the miners faced.
Just to say Gold was first discovered in 1866. My Great-grandfather welcomed mining into the district. The Martha continues to function even though the old mines are closed. Today it's alluvial mining.
@@dumdum607 cool piece of family history. Those early miners dealt with some pretty low grade safety conditions that just wouldn’t be tolerated these days. The Museum in Waihi has a huge amount of info on those early days. Thanks for watching. 😀