DescriptionFrederick Tuckett reported a coal seal at Kaitangata in 1844 and from 1859 coal from the first mine at Coal Point was carried to the Clutha River where it was loaded onto the TSS Tuapeka. Kaitangata quickly became one of New Zealand’s principal coal centres with several more mines opening in 1869 and 1870.
Castle Hill and Lockington were underground mines which were made up of horizontal shafts driven as tunnels into the hills. These mines produced good quality coal which was used both industrially and in households. These mines continued until a shock closure in 1970.
Since 1970 an opencast mine has operated at Wangaola on a much smaller scale.
A few other mines operated in the district between Kaitangata and Milton in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These mines were generally short-lived enterprises.
There have been several coalmining disasters in the district, the worst being the 1879 explosion at Castle Hill which killed 34 miners.
