Waiuta

Waiuta, 17 kilometres off State Highway 7 between Greymouth and Reefton, is worth a detour because of its rich history. Now a ghost town, Waiuta has a long history as a centre of quartz mining and more significantly gold, producing about 19,845 kilograms of gold. West Coast’s richest gold mine, grew from the region’s last great gold discovery, made back in 1905. With the discovery of gold the town became a booming centre with more than 600 residents from all over the world, apost office, a police station, a hospital, school, sports ground,a swimming pool, two tennis courts, and several churches.

But when the mine shaft collapsed in 1951, the mine closed down and people moved to find work elsewhere. Many of the houses were relocated when the town was abandoned. While buildings were dismantled and removed when the mine closed, and gorse has taken over much of the land, enough remain to give a vivid impression of life in an early mining town. Remaining buildings include Gills Cottage, the barber shop, the police station and a house belonging to miner and photographer Joseph Divis?.

The hospital had been rebuilt into a lodge, while the barber shop was recently re-clad and made weather-tight. The shell of the Olympic-size swimming pool built by local miners built is still there.

DOC information panels tell the story. DOC also manages the old lodge where you can book to stay for a small fee while you explore the area.

Plans are underway to revive the town as the website of the Friends of Waiuta reveals.

There are also plans to reopen the mine.Tasman Mining intends to dig new 3.3 kilometres of exploration tunnels to access the base of the historic mine to find out how much gold is available before mining begins.