Kaniere Gold Dredge, Taramakau River Valley . 1947.

About this image

DescriptionThe Kaniere gold dredge commenced operations in 1938 at Kaniere. It was rebuilt near Kumara to work the nearby Taramakau River in the late 1950s.

Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1370-276-12PhotographerBergman, Wilfred Charles, 1904-1982Map^[1]External LinkAUCKLAND LIBRARYContributorHeather Newby

Shown in this image

Location (city or town)KaniereOrganisation (eg business)Kaniere Gold Dredge

Category Information

Category TagGoldmining

From Facebook

Date Created7th February 2026CommentsArthur Bass
I reckon I may have heard a story this weekend the grey river one may go back to production.

Kevin O'Regan
Arthur Bass hi Arthur, I for one would be thrilled if that rumour comes to fruition

Arthur Bass
Reckon you might get a job califlower ?

Kevin O'Regan
My day is done Arthur. Memories tasol nau.

Cherrie Mcglashan
I went to Kaniere Primary School in 1950's. The dredge went right past -we could only hear that noise all school day.

Andy Bone
Remember dad driving out his way to show us as kids where it was each year on way to the coast..

Geoffrey Collis
Heard that story too Affa

Gordon McIntosh
Went on a school trip from Hokitika Primary School to this dredge when it operated on the Taramakau River at Kumara in the mid 1960's. We all went on board and clambered through the Dredge looking at all the processes etc... fascinating stuff but I doubt you would get away with that in today's Health and Safety environment!
The old Dredge buckets and straining plates had there uses in their afterlife as well... quite common to see them around. My dad dug a serious shaft in our backyard for drainage and covered with dredge plates and then soil on top. I often wonder if the people who live their now are aware of the shaft, or if it's fallen in at any stage since the early 1960's. It's a long time ago!

Noel Clark
Dad used to do the wash up every week or fortnight. The result published in either the Argus or evening star. He said there was no security they just trusted him.

OCR Text Transcription Edit Edit +-Close

Editing is temporarily disabled

Cancel Edit

Start typing here to find a location	Latitude	Longitude	Zoom	Actions

loading google map....

Save Cancel

Menu

Kaniere Gold Dredge, Taramakau River Valley . 1947.

Editing is temporarily disabled