Scientifically speaking, gold is a chemical element (Au), and a transition metal that appears reddish yellow in its purest form. It is thought to have been produced through what’s known as supernova nucleosynthesis. In other words an extreme explosion in space involving a lot of space matter and gas, which happened before the Solar System was formed.
A little-known fact about the West Coast, and Hokitika in particular, is that in 1866 the humble town - whose current population is just shy of 3,000 - boomed at a staggering 25,000-odd. In that moment in history it was the most populated town in New Zealand and its social life was roaring, with the town boasting more than 100 pubs.
With every advancement of technology in gold mining, there came a bit of a gold boom.After gold was first discovered in New Zealand - in 1852, Driving Creek, Coromandel - there came a hard-earned flurry of discovery through alluvial deposits (river gravel) by miners working by hand.
Gold mining in New Zealand was kickstarted in 1852, when a man named Charles Ring found a small amount of gold in a place called Driving Creek in Coromandel. Other discoveries then happened in Marlborough, Nelson and Otago and of course the West Coast.
