Waihi's Cornish Pumphouse is located on the edge of town in
a dynamic and changeable area where history affects the future. As in any
successful project, ingenuity and team work have been significant factors in the
planning and implementation of the building's relocation.

Work around
the Pumphouse site commenced circa 1900 with preparation to sink the No 5 shaft.
Construction of the pumphouse and the steam driven C pump was completed by
1904 with hints of what was to come evident in 1905 as the No5 Shaft collar had
sunk 350mm infour years. By 1907 surface cracking developed over the Milking Cow cave
area and in 1913 200 mm was cut off the main pumping rod as the ground was
sinking at a rate of 25 mm per year.

In 1913 ground around
No 6 shaft had subsided 600 mm.It was also the end of an era as steam
gave way to hydroelectricity and electric pumps replaced the C Pump. C Pump was
maintained as a backup from 1913 to 1929 and then finally scrapped. 25 years of
underground caving operations removed approximately 400 000 cubic metres
of ore leaving a 7 ha collapse crater that eventually became known as the
mine lake.

On the
edge of town a tension zone over the Royal Lode began to develop 50 m
diameter chimney collapses as large scale blocks relaxed into unfilled stopes in
the old Martha underground mine. After the 1999 collapse part of the main street
was closed and after the 2001 collapse Hazard Zones were declared, more streets
closed and areas evacuated and retired from residential use.

By 1984 the Pumphouse has approximatelyone degree of
tilt and in 2002 tilt on the Pumphouse accelerated briefly and then settled
down. Tilt accelerated again late in 2004 and a scoping study was initiated to
define protection options for the pumphouse. The Martha Mining Licence requires
Newmont to 'Take whatever precautions are necessary to protect the old Cornish
Pumphouse adjacent to No5 shaft' and viable solutions needed to found.

Any
work on the Pumphouse comes standard with a wide range of stakeholders,
governing agencies and legal framework to consider. Land Information New Zealand
(LINZ) is owner and administrator of the pumphouse.