Clough & Associates Ltd. Page 15 Union Hill Heritage Management Plan HISTORY, CONTINUED Table 1. Timeline of key events (information from Moore, Lens & Ordish 2010 and Clough, Best & Hooker 2004) 1875 Ohinemuri district officially declared a goldfield 1876 Prospecting in Waihi area 1878 First Waihi lode mined at what became the Martha mine by McCombie and Lee 1879 Waihi field opened for prospecting 1880 Official recognition of the Martha reef, and the start of the Waihi settlement 1885 Discovery of reef on Pride of Waihi (Rosemont) claim Union Gold Mining Company formed First shaft sunk on Union claim 1887 Waihi Gold Mining Company incorporated Union, Rosemont and Amaranth claims taken over by WGMC 1888-9 Construction of Waihi Battery First ore roasting kilns built Dams and low level water race constructed 1890 Martha mine acquired by Waihi Gold Mining Company Waihi Battery expanded from 30 to 60 stamps Horse tramway constructed from the Martha low level to the kilns on Union Hill 1891 High level water race constructed Old No. 1 shaft sunk 1894 Cyanide plant completed Waihi Battery expanded from 60 to 90 stamps 1894/5 Union-Waihi Gold Mining Company formed to work Union Hill claims 1895 New No. 1 shaft sunk 1898 Union-Waihi Gold Mining Company acquired the Silverton claim 1901 Union-Waihi Company's properties taken over by the Waihi Gold Mining Company 1902 Mining on Union Hill ended Waihi Battery converted to wet crushing 1904 Tube mills installed (among other improvements) 1905 Paeroa to Waihi railway officially opened 1907 Third and final refinery built 1909-10 Six air agitation ferro-concrete cyanide tanks built 1912 Miners’ strike 1913 Waihi Battery closed (refinery remained in use) 1930s-40s Minor exploration on Union Hill 1952 Martha mine closed Continued on next page
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