Beachcombing gold prospector on the beach at Westport.

About this image

DescriptionA prospector at work on the beach at Westport, West Coast, South Island. He is washing black sand over a mercury-covered copper plate which separates the gold from the sand.

Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19320706-40-01PhotographerAuckland Weekly News; R. StewartDate of Photo1932-07-06Map^[1]External LinkAUCKLAND LIBRARYContributorHeather Newby

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Location (city or town)WestportEventBeachcombing gold prospector on the beach at Westport.

Category Information

Category TagGoldmining

From Facebook

Date Created9th March 2026CommentsJames Flaherty
We did this down at our batch on the west coast we also used coconut matting on another race

Mary Moffitt
Please tell us more about the mercury covered copper plate? That must have been expensive. They would then have huge overheads in the extraction of gold that would cripple their finances if the gold ‘dried up’. A hard life.

Glenn Johnston
Recycling the water.

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Beachcombing gold prospector on the beach at Westport.

Editing is temporarily disabled