Wetherstones
gold deposit is located just east of the township of Lawrence, in the Otago District of the South Island,
New
Zealand. The paper will describe aspects of the
mining and exploration history of the Wetherstones gold field, current knowledge
of the geology of the deposit, and speculate on possible outcomes of exploration
in the modern era.

As at the
famed Gabriels Gully situated nearby, most of the Wetherstones gold is/was
contained in, or recycled into modern drainages from, the Blue Spur Conglomerate
(BSC'). The BSC is the basal member of a wedge of auriferous non-marine
sediments of latest Cretaceous age which are tilted against the Tuapeka Fault
Zone, a structure of regional dimensions. In particular mineralisation of
elevated grade (which cannot yet be reliably estimated) appears to be
concentrated in an elongate basement depression (gutter') of width around 100
m, variable thickness to a few metres, and axial length in excess of 500 m. The
gutter plunges from the base of alluvial mining (where it has been partly
exploited by underground methods) to depths of more than 100 m, beyond which it
remains open and untested.

The prospects
for a revival of mining at Wetherstones depend upon confirmation of what is here
inferred to exist, and the discovery of additional gold. The economic prospects
of the project however are enhanced by what is known or indicated of the
geographic location, and anticipated geologic, mining and metallurgical
characteristics of the mineralisation, and consequent anticipated environmental
management issues.

The
recognition of gold contained in pyrite in the BSC represents an upside to
project economics which has never previously been evaluated. The Wetherstones Basin covers more than five square
kilometres in areal extent. There is no modern exploration record of the
majority of this area, leaving open the prospect of the discovery of additional
gutters, and primary mineralisation in the underlying schist.

Australasia
Gold Ltd has embarked on a program to reassess the potential resources of the
Wetherstones gold mineralisation, and to evaluate the feasibility of
mining.