The equipment cost about $35,000 to restore and was "unveiled" at the end of the Dunstan Gold 150 parade on Monday. The battery will remain a static display and the plan is to add other gold-mining equipment to the museum grounds.
The project was a long-held dream of Clyde Museum member the late Wilson Paton. Mr Paton and his late wife, Allison, were "driving forces" of the museum, Vincent Community Board chairwoman and museum member Clair Higginson said.
Pieces of the battery had been stored behind the museum building after being donated to the facility by the Harliwich family, of Roxburgh, the last owners of the mining equipment.
Grants were offered last year by the Central Lakes Trust for projects marking the 150th anniversary of gold discovery in Central Otago.
"Mark Paton [Wilson and Allison's son] rang up and said 'do you think we could do something with the stamper battery, my Dad wanted to do this', and that's how it got under way," Ms Higginson said.
Funds for the project had been provided by the trust, Transpower and Contact Energy.
It was "overwhelming" seeing the project nearly completed, she said.
Some more pieces still had to be added to the structure along with information panels. Many volunteers had been involved in the project.
"Clyde's future depends on its past and we respect the gold-mining industry which led to the creation of this town," Ms Higginson said.
Carl Livingston, of Clyde, was involved, through Ironwood Recycled Timbers, in sourcing timber to restore the wooden part of the battery. Hardwood from power poles was used, along with European larch from the Naseby Forest, he said.
The original timber was rotting.
Ken Harliwich, of Roxburgh, said his father Nicholas John bought the battery with the hope of striking it rich but never found gold.
His father and two of his uncles made their way to Bendigo during the Great Depression but gave up after spending a lot of money and time digging and tunnelling around their Rise and Shine claim to try and find the gold reef while their battery sat dormant.
He said there had been a lot of gold in the reef but they had lost the reef and could not find it again.
It was suspected some kind of seismic event had caused the land containing the reef to move.
Mr Paton said the machinery was made in Scotland and probably dated from the late 1890s or around the turn of the century. It was a "kitset" designed to be moved several times in its lifetime.
The components of the battery, with the exception of the wood, were all structurally sound and had to be put back together "like a jigsaw".
