Paeroa Mining History

When gold was discovered in the district in the late 1860s, Paeroa soon became a hive of activity with miners and mining companies looking to stake their claims. Paeroa quickly became their base and a commercial infrastructure sprung up to meet their increasing demands.

By March 3, 1875, agreement was reached with local Maori land owners for access, and Ohinemuri gold fields were declared opened. Over the preceding days several steamers, came up the Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers bringing hundreds of miners from Thames and Auckland to seek their fortune. But alas, they found the gold locked in hard quartz rock, which required specialised treatment and a large amount of funding to establish the processing plants. From over 600 miners on opening day, there were a little over 100 left in three months time.

By the 1890s three major companies were operating in the Karangahake area, 6km east of Paeroa, while further east there was a large mining operation at Waitekauri and three main companies in Waihi.

With the gold processing in full swing the Government of the day, in 1895, passed legislation by an Act of Parliament to allow the companies to dump the debris from their operations into the Ohinemuri River—it was declared a sludge channel. The fine talcum-like residue deposited, some containing cyanide, soon killed all river life turning the river’s pristine waters into a dirty grey-colour. This continued until 1954, a year after the last processing plant, at Waikino, closed.