Prohibition Mill, Blackwater mine, Waiuta, New Zealand

Prohibition Mill, Blackwater mine, Waiuta, New Zealand

Description: Waiuta township is today a ghost town with many mining relics. It grew along with the mine.
From 1908 to 1937 gold was processed at the Snowy Battery. The gold was pounded out of the rock using the water powered 'battery' of iron stamps. The battery was superseded in 1938 by a modern ball mill on Prohibition Hill. Here iron balls in revolving steel drums crushed the quartz rock.
From Prohibition mine and mill site you can have panoramic views of the Paparoa Range and Southern Alps in the distance.
Joseph Divis, Czech born miner was well known Waiuta's photographer.
The Prohibition mill site at Waiuta is probably the most acutely toxic historic mine site in New Zealand. Residues from the processing plant are lying exposed on the ground surface and in an old tailings dam. Most of these residues contain about 20% arsenic, and near-pure arsenic minerals are present. These arsenic concentrations are more than 1000 times higher than other NZ arsenic-contaminated sites such as orchards and sheep-dips. Some of the arsenic is highly soluble, and surface water typically contains up to 50 mg/litre dissolved arsenic, which is 5000 times higher than the NZ drinking water limit. (Cited from www.otago.ac.nz/envscience/research/ReeftonAsBackground.html, www.doc.govt.nz and www.waiuta.org.nz)

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Keywords: New Zealand, Novy Zeland, Waiuta, West Coast, gold mine, Prohibition mill, landscape, gold, mine, Joseph Divis, Prohibition Mill, Blackwater mine, ghost town

Exif: Exposure: 1/100, Aperture: 5.6, ISO: 100

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