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Story: West Coast region

Chinese miners

Image
Chinese miners

These Chinese gold miners, photographed near Greenstone in the Kumara area, are working an alluvial claim. They often worked ground that was regarded as uneconomic by other miners, as well as reworking the tailings from other miners’ alluvial claims.

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Canterbury Museum

Reference: 19XX.2.664

Permission of Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch, New Zealand must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Simon Nathan, West Coast region – Settlement and changing population, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/21101/chinese-miners (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Simon Nathan, published 3 March 2009, updated 1 September 2016.