Waiorongomai, Matamata-Piako District, Waikato Region, New Zealandi

Regional Level Types
Waiorongomai	- not defined -
Matamata-Piako District	District
Waikato Region	Region
New Zealand	Country

(Hart, 2016) tome on Te Aroha, the Tui Mines, and the Waiorongomai goldfield is probably the most extensive historical account for a goldfield in New Zealand. It is a tale of woe, and none of the mines were successful from when gold was discovered in 1880, until recent times (Norpac, Tui Mine, Te Aroha). The refractory nature of the ore, the inability of the plants to process it leading to much gold being lost, inexperienced miners, under capitalised companies, erratic ore values, the fineness of the gold, all led to a failure of any mine achieving long term success, despite numerous attempts.

Waiorongomai is noted for numerous lease names, regular lease name changes, portions of leases siphoned off into other neighbouring leases, constant ownership changes, several lodes or reefs, and a gradual consolidation of leases until the Bendigo Company in the early 20th Century controlled most of the field.

The main lodes or reefs mentioned include Silver King, Werahiko, Loyalty, Welcome, Goldsworthy, Diamond Gully, Hero, Premier, Moa, with many smaller reefs. Many are named after historical mines which operated briefly on them. In the early days these were often found outcropping across high mountain spurs, and in thick forest. Ore was virtually impossible to be transported down to batteries on the flats, until the local council constructed a tramway up the mountainside.

Despite several rumours of gold being found in preceding decades, credit for gold being discovered here goes to a Maori called Hone Werahiko in 1880.
Malcolm Hardy was the last miner to give the Waiorongomai area a go through the 1930's and 40's. Various companies, prospecting syndicates, individual miners, financial backers, impresarios, and working groups of miners, operated each briefly on sections of the goldfield between these times.

Main lease names include Morning Star, Sunbeam, Stout, New Find No. 1 and 2, Young Colonial (Colonist), Queen of Beauty, Canadian, Young Prince of Wales, Premier, Smile of Fortune, All Nations, Early Dawn, Bonanza, United, Lucky Hit, Cambridge, Rose of Denmark, Prospectors Claim, Golden Hill (part of the prospecting claim), Little Jimmy, Eureka, Pearl, Vulcan, Hero, Three Fools, Star, Arizona, Waitoki, Waitoki Extended, Werahiko, Silver King (part of Waitoki), Sunny Corner, .... plus seventeen companies including the New Find Werahiko Gold Mining Company, New Find Gold Mining Company, Colonist Gold Mining Company, Waitako Gold Mining Company, Eureka Gold Mining Company, Inverness Gold Mining Company, Diamond Gully Gold Mining Company, Vermont Gold Mining Company, Waiorongamai Company, Welcome Company, all just in the early 1880's.

In the late 1880's, the Great Western Company owned the former Eureka, Little and Good, Coquette, and New Find 2 leases. In the 1890's, Henry Hopper Adam owned several of the mines, the Colonist lease had changed name to the Warrior, the Peter Ferguson Syndicate, Hero lease tributed by Newsham and party, the Loyalty Mine (Palace, Loyalty Palace, Loyalty United) which included the old Inverness, Lucky Hit, and Phoenix mines, New Premier, Werahiko 1 and 2, Newry, Welcome, Success, Stoney Creek, All Nations, Golden Crown, Hot Springs, Starlit Dell, Waitoki, Waitoki Extended, Little Wonder, Cadman (on old Werahiko, Silver King, Success, and Waitoki), the Anglo-Continental Syndicate, The New Zealand Exploration Company are all mentioned as active as main players for mining and prospecting.

The first decade of the 20th century, Hardy Mines Ltd took over several leases owned by Edwin Henry Hardy, Sceptre, Silver King, Werahiko, Waikato, Moa, are all mentioned. The second decade the Bendigo Gold Mining Company dominated the field, while 1933-34 the Waiorongomai Gold Mines Inc had another go at mining here. The list in not complete, and none were overly successful.

Several walk trails now traverse the area through fern and kauri forest. Impressive relics remain of the Butler and Fern Spur inclines, including rail tracks still in place, as well as some relatively minor relics of several batteries. The area is 5 kilometres south-east of Te Aroha.

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