Waihi's Martha Hill mine to close early

Martha Hill mine, one of the richest in the country's gold mining history, will close early next year, about a year earlier than planned.

The open pit mine in Waihi in the Bay of Plenty produces about $1m in gold and silver each week. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get ore out of the ground to processing plants as the mine gets deeper.

The huge mining pit will eventually be filled with water and become a recreational reserve but Hauraki District Council mayor, John Tregidga said that would take several years to complete.

Mr Tregidga said once the Martha Hill mine closed, Newmont Gold would move its mining to the nearby underground Favona mine.

He said the mining company would have to deal with stability problems in the walls of the pit before the lake was formed.

He said the historic pumphouse, which has one of the country's highest historic classifications, would also have to be preserved, probably by moving into to another site in the town.

The cost of moving the 1500 tonne pumphouse is likely to be about $3m.

Mr Tregidga said the area had huge potential as a tourist attraction and the community trust formed to oversee the rehabilitation after Martha Hill closed wanted the lake completed and all the tourist facilities built by 2020.

"I can see Waihi, potentially over the next 10 to 20 years, being a major tourist attraction."

The existing mine attracts abut 12,000 visitors a year.

Gold was found at Martha Hill in 1878 and the mine became one of the country's richest.

By the time the mine closed in 1952 it had produced 174,160kg of gold and 1.2m kg of silver.

It reopened in 1987.

- NZPA