The district’s mining background is the focus of this year’s Australasian Mining History Association’s conference, which has attracted 63 delegates, including 50 from Australia.
This year’s event, titled Rivers of Gold, aims to showcase the district’s many gold mining rich towns.
Historian Dr Lloyd Carpenter, who helped organise the event, said many of the delegates had been ‘‘blown away’’ by the history surrounding the area.
The group spent yesterday touring parts of Lawrence, including Gabriels Gully, where mining was a way of life from 1861 until the 1930s.
It was a chance to show delegates where it "all began", he said.
The gully was named after Gabriel Read who was the first to discover gold in the area. A report by the Department of Conservation says it was the first major gold find in Otago, which led to the gold rushes of the early 1860s and helped transform the province, making it one of the wealthiest in New Zealand at the time.
The group also visited Blue Spur, a settlement which was first made at the head of Gabriels Gully on the flat. However, it was untenable so in 1864 it was relocated to the top of the ridge away from flooding and mining.
The Lawrence Chinese Camp was also added to the group’s itinerary yesterday.
The camp was founded in 1867 to accommodate the influx of Chinese miners.
By 1883 there were about 70 buildings at the camp. Group members visited Mitchell’s Cottage, a Category 1 historic building, built by miner Andrew Mitchell over 20 years from the 1880s. Yesterday was the first day of the conference, which continues until Saturday.
Dr Carpenter said a presentation at the Cromwell Memorial Hall tomorrow would feature new findings on mining history around the world.
