South Westland mica.

About this image

DescriptionDuring the Second World War, when this photograph was taken, a shortage of mica sparked a search for possible New Zealand sources as part of the war effort. The mineral was used in radio condensers and in aircraft as spark-plug washers. The search focused on the hills of South Westland, where dykes known as pegmatites occur in the rock. These contain large-grained minerals, including muscovite mica. However, the New Zealand deposits proved too small, and inferior to those overseas.Date of PhotoBetween 1st January 1940 and 31st December 1945Map^[1]ContributorHeather Newby‎

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Location (city or town)South Westland

Category Information

Category TagMining

From Facebook

Linkhttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?.....=o.796216413725000&type=3CommentsBob Homewood thanks ,very interesting
9 December 2014 at 18:00 · Like · 1

Heather Newby I didn`t even know about South Westland mica.. Bob Homewood I had never heard of this war effort before.
9 December 2014 at 18:29 · Like · 1

Bob Homewood Yes I had read about it somewhere before ,the War made people start looking elsewhere ,likewise up here it kick started the mining of manganese in the Hunua Ranges in the search for alternative sources
9 December 2014 at 18:33 · Like · 1

Heather Newby Did you hear about the find of uranium in the Buller Gorge> I can remember there was a fuss about it when i was a kid. Bob Homewood
9 December 2014 at 18:40 · Like · 1

Bob Homewood Yes ,it was a sort of big thing when that happened
9 December 2014 at 18:42 · Like

Alan Messenger I worked in the mining industry years ago and knew a lot of geologists. Apparently a little bit of uranium goes a long way, so is not much future in mining it.
9 December 2014 at 18:45 · Like

Maye Dunn This photo is of men mining micah at Mahitahi South Westland 1944-45
Maye Dunn's photo.
9 December 2014 at 18:51 · Like · 3

Glenn Johnston There is a benched horse track that branches off the Cattle Track south of the Moeraki (Blue) River in Sth Westland. When I first come across it I thought it must have been for getting stock up on to the Mataketake Range tops for summer grazing but later discovered it goes to an old mica mine. The track is not maintained but is still followable.
9 December 2014 at 19:24 · Like · 4

Pat Cooper Great shot of them actually peeling the mica crystal of its plane.
It's great for boiler windows as it has a melting temperature way higher than glass.
Our stuff on the coast had too many imperfections in it for this though.
9 December 2014 at 20:04 · Like · 2

Geoffrey Bell This photo is of a piece of Mica Rock I have from this area. I have had it for about 50 years.
Geoffrey Bell's photo.
10 December 2014 at 11:06 · Like · 2

Bob Homewood Thanks for that photo Mr Bell

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South Westland mica.

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