New company to remine Ross pit

A new mining company plans to sift through the tailings left behind from the famous Ross Pit, mined in the 1990s, in a project that will extend over 30ha of land immediately adjacent to the township.
Ten to 20 years ago, Birchfields Minerals re-mined the deep leads that in the 1860s were among the richest gold pickings in New Zealand.
Now the Ross Mining Group — with partners on the West Coast, and in Christchurch and Nelson — has applied for a 20-year resource consent to pick over the tailings left by Birchfields.
It is part of a wider consent that also covers farmland and regenerating bush immediately south-east of the village.
The Westland District Council has publicly notified the application because the effects of the noise and visual activities were deemed to be “worthy of public knowledge”.
Ross Mining Group partner Adrian Mayberry, of Christchurch, said results from preliminary drill tests showed that processing the tailings left behind by Birchfields Minerals would produce enough of the precious metal to be viable, especially with gold now commanding record prices worldwide.
“We’re going to get at the maiden ground underneath the tailings (by) running through (the tailings) rather than just scraping them out of the way.”
However, Ross gold miner Evan Birchfield said he doubted whether there would be much winnings left in the tailings.
“We tested the outflow all the time, and we had people with all these aspirations to make money off our outflow — they might have got six flecks (of gold) a week.”
Mr Birchfield, who now mines near the Ross beach, said he understood it was the land beneath the tailings that was the real target of the new mining venture.
The Ross Mining Group plans to clear 4ha of bush, after re-mining the tailings, but will exclude a 1.2ha of land next to the ‘Ross Lake’ that was left by the Birchfields mining.
The company says in its consent application that mining will be out of sight of the Ross township and will create minimal noise for residents due to the large buffer zone.
“We have made significant effort to site equipment as far away from all houses as possible and will be working behind a significant elevated buffer, which will muffle any machinery noise and keep our operation completely hidden from all residential properties,” Mr Mayberry said in the application.
Initially, three to five people will be employed. Water will be drawn from the lake, treated to remove sediment and then returned to the lake.
It says the site is covered with tailings, which are partly covered with tutu and gorse. Crown Minerals has already granted a mining permit. A separate consent application has been lodged with the regional council, and the Department of Conservation approached.
Submissions close on September 3.