Tour Hub
The Tour Hub is the perfect place for visitors to kick off their Self-Guided Tour. Here you can get up close to our retired CAT 5230B excavator and stand in its bucket, take a photo with our mounted haul truck tyre, or have a picnic and watch active mining in the Frasers Open Pit.Inside the Tour Hub building is information about our mining lifecycle, our fleet, our history, and more. Outside you can find our exploration and open pit information panels. They explain how these stages of our mining lifecycle work at Macraes.
Deepdell Viewing Area
At the Deepdell Viewing area, visitors can experience the complicated practice of extracting gold from the rock beneath our feet. Enjoy the 360-degree view into our active mine site including views of our Processing Plant, main open pit haul road, and rehabilitated areas of our site.Here you’ll find our underground, processing, and environment information panels, explaining how these stages of our mining lifecycle work at Macraes.Further along from this viewing area is the historic Callery’s Stamper Battery, a DOC-protected historic reserve.
Historic Stamper Battery
In May 2020 Callery’s Battery at the Macraes Operation was listed as a Category One historical place on the New Zealand Heritage List. The landmark is New Zealand’s best surviving example of a working stamper battery on its original site.Callery’s Battery is located within Golden Point Historic Reserve at Macraes Operation. Golden Point is one of the largest historic underground gold mines in Otago, in terms of the area worked.When operating in the early twentieth century, the battery processed both gold and scheelite and is an outstanding example of a small-scale stamp battery in near original working condition.
Gravel Pumping Display
Located next to the pond area (locally referred to as the Macraes Ponds) is newly restored historic gravel pumping equipment. The equipment was abandoned in the Macraes Flat area in the early 1940s following the end of historic gravel pumping mining methods.Thanks to the East Otago Vintage Machinery Club (EOVMC) in partnership with OceanaGold, these relics of the Macraes history have been restored for the public to view.The display provides valuable insight into early gold mining at Macraes Flat and has been positioned adjacent to the Macraes Ponds formed by the works between 1931 and the early 1940s.
Macraes Village
Macraes is rich in history, both farming and mining. Many remnants of which are still visible throughout the area with lots to learn and experience, including well preserved heritage buildings and a protected wetland and heritage walkway.The Macraes area is home to a unique combination of geological formations and flora and fauna that make it an amazing place to explore.
What's next
Well done. That’s the end of the tour. We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about this historic area. OceanaGold Macraes became the Founding Partner of the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark in 2019. Their sponsorship primarily supports community engagement and education by our geoeducator Sasha.Heading down the coast towards Ōamaru? Try our Waitaki Whitestone Geopark Coast Tour if you want to explore more sites along the way. If you’d like to learn more about what's in the Waitaki, including places to stay and to eat, go to Tourism Waitaki website.
