May 2018 Project Martha – Historical & Archaeological Background 40 New Zealand shareholders from the liquidator in London…The whole of the company's assets were purchased by the Martha Gold Mining Company (Waihi), Limited, last year. Winning of ore from the Junction shaft ceased at the end of 1937. The Martha company mined and treated about 265,000 tons of ore which would otherwise have been left in the property. The Waihi Grand Junction Company was incorporated in 1897, and was a reconstruction of a company of the same name registered in 1895 to acquire properties in Waihi. An agreement was entered into in 1926 for the Waihi Gold Mining Company, Limited, now the Martha Company, to develop sections of the mine, profits to be shared equally. Dividends of 1d a share were paid in 1928 and 1929, and 4d a share, tax-free, from then onward. Profits for the last financial year, ended December, 1937, were £9622.’154 Rising prices for gold on the international market allowed the Martha (or Waihi) mine to operate profitably throughout the 1930s; however, the Second World War (1939-1945) created a labour shortage and in 1942 production from the mine declined by 12,374 tons.155 By 1949 the mine extracted 81,388 tons worth £307,181, and underground mining operations at Martha eventually ceased in 1952.156 Intermittent mining was carried out at Waihi throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The Frewin Brothers worked on the Martha refinery site from 1955 to 1960 and in 1959 a Canadian Company, known as South Pacific Mines, acquired the rights to treat surface ore on the Union and Martha Hills.157 During the 1970s the Union Hill area was worked by Mineral Resources NZ Ltd, who built a gold recovery plant and scavenged from the old Waihi Battery and refinery site.158 Bulk sampling on Martha Hill was undertaken by the joint venture known as Waihi Mining and Development (comprising Mineral Resources and Green and McCahill) from 1978 to 1980 and investigation of the Union Hill, Silverton, Gladstone Hill, and Favona areas was continued by Mineral Resources (later Otter Gold Mines Ltd) into the 1990s.159 Other areas were also re-opened for prospecting in the late 20th century. In 1987 a mining license for Martha Mine was granted to the Waihi Gold Company who installed a conveyor tunnel through Union Hill and commenced operations in 1988.160 An Exploration Permit was later granted to Welcome Gold Mines Ltd (owned by ACM) and Auag Resources Ltd (owned by Otter Gold Mines Ltd), known as the Union Hill Joint Venture, over the Union Hill and Favona sites in 1998.161 Normandy Mining acquired ACM in late 1990s and, in December 2000, entered into an agreement to sole fund exploration on Union Hill and Favona.162 In February 2002 Normandy Mining was acquired by Newmont, and in 2016 the Waihi Gold Mining Company Ltd (the New Zealand holding for Newmont’s Waihi operations) was sold to Oceana Gold (New Zealand) Ltd.163 154 New Zealand Herald, 5 June 1939, p.5. 155 Climie 1962, p.65; McAra 1988, p.167. 156 McAra 1988, p.168. 157 Clough 2004, p.14. 158 Ibid., p.43. 159 Ibid., 44. 160 Ibid., p.17. 161 Ibid., p.14. 162 Ibid., p.44. 163 Ibid.; ‘The Modern Martha Mine’, Oceana Gold Waihi Operation website, accessed via: https://www.waihigold.co.nz/about/history/timeline/the-modern-martha-mine/
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