Where the gold comes from

Picture: The still active Waihi gold mine that is 195m deep.

Thanks to the financial crisis the demand for gold has sharply gone up (and with it the gold price). Should you be a proud owner of a gold bar, gold jewelry or a gold watch, you might have wondered where your gold came from. Maybe from Waihi, New Zealand? Since 1878 there has been mining in this little town on the Coromandel Peninsula on the northern island of New Zealand, about 150km from Auckland. The Martha mine became one of the richest mines in the world. Until the mine was closed in the 1952, man and horses were working underground in confined and dangerous conditions, extracting gold and silver. In 1976 due to an increased gold price and new mining technology the mine was reopened as an open-pit mine, 195m deep. According to the visitor center there is about 4m NZD worth of gold and silver excavated every week from the mine. Newmont, the operator of the mine, constantly prospects for new deposits and blasts can be heard in town. The open pit can be visited on guided tours and blasts can be observed from a safe house. Bookings: bookings@waihi.org.nz 

Picture: And this is one of the many applications of New Zealand gold (Golden Pavilion in Kyoto).