Caledonian Gold Mine Thames NZ:
Maker
Unknown Photographer
Production date
Circa 1890-1910
Description
This image by an unknown photographer depicts the Caledonian gold mine in Thames, Coromandel. A prospector named William Hunt was the first to discover a major deposit of gold in 1867 in the bed of the Kuranui Stream. The subsequent mine produced over 102,353oz bullion and was known as the Shotover. The Thames gold rush and resulting boom was from 1868 to 1871 with production during this period topping nearly one million pounds sterling – an enormous sum at the time. Towards the end of the last century Thames was the largest centre of population in New Zealand with 18,000 inhabitants and well over 100 hotels and three theatres.
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