This detailed and informative account of gold dredging operations in New Zealand and Australia highlights an industry which has unfortunately died out. The rich alluvial rivers of New Zealand’s West Coast attracted prospectors and engineers in the 1800s, and their methods of dredging were perfected under trying conditions. McGeorge recounts the success of the Rimu Dredge near Hokitika from 1921 to 1953, and contrasts it with the Newstead Dredge in Victoria, which operated from 1936 to 1948.
Excerpt:
On April 15th, 1953, the ‘Hokitika Guardian’, announcing the closing down of the Rimu Dredge, contained the following brief comments:
“The Rimu Dredge finally ceased operations, after 32 years of service, at 8:10 a.m. this morning ... Production reached a peak in 1929 when 1,397 ounces of gold were produced in a fortnight. In the months immediately proceeding the cessation of operations, the gold yield had fallen to little more than 300 ounces a fortnight.”
92 pages, A5 sized paperback