Lake Puketirini | |
---|---|
formerly Lake Rotoiti | |
Location | North Island |
Coordinates | 37°34′01″S175°08′28″E / 37.567°S 175.141°E Coordinates: 37°34′01″S175°08′28″E / 37.567°S 175.141°E |
Type | former opencast mine |
Basin countries | New Zealand |
Max. length | 700 m (2,300 ft) |
Surface area | 54 hectares (130 acres) (open water) |
Max. depth | 64 metres (210 ft) |
Settlements | Huntly |
Lake Puketirini is a former opencast coal mine, immediately to the west of Huntly and east of the larger, but much shallower Lake Waahi, in the Waikato Region. It is circled by a walkway.
The area was initially known as Puketirini, which included Lake Rotoiti, [1] which was shown on maps until 1949, [2] though a 1944 map showed it as Westmere and drained. [3] The west shaft of Ralph Mine was at Puketirini and used for rescue after the 1914 explosion. [4] The site was identified as a potential coal mine in 1929 and land was bought by the government between 1940 and 1980. [1]
Mining began on part of the site in 1954, [5] or 1956. The initial mining used small excavators. [6] From 1984 the mine was extended to the north. [7] It was transferred to the Coal Corporation in 1986 and Weavers opencast coal mine excavated the area until 1993, using a bucketwheel excavator and conveyor belt to dig out 16,000,000 m3 (21,000,000 cu yd) of overburden and 2,300,000 t (2,500,000 tons) of coal, mostly for Glenbrook steelworks. [7] Much of the area around the lake is unconsolidated overburden. [8]
The shoreline was shaped by 1999 and the lake was full by 2005. [1] In December 2006, Waikato District Council acquired [1] part of the site for recreational use [8] from Solid Energy. [1]
A 2006 study found the lake was mesotrophic and that koi carp were present. [9]
A 1978 map shows a siding from the Glen Afton branch had been laid. [10] It was on that alignment that, in 2008, the 1939 Huntly railway station was moved, as part of plans to put the Waikato Coalfields Museum beside the lake. [11] In 2017 the museum was further discussed [12] and moved to the centre of Huntly. [13]
In 2000 the New Zealand School of Commercial Diver Training opened. [6] It now operates as the Subsea Training Centre. [14]
Huntly is a town in the Waikato district and region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is on State Highway 1, 95 kilometres (59 mi) south of Auckland and 32 kilometres (20 mi) north of Hamilton. It is situated on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) railway and straddles the Waikato River. Huntly is within the Waikato District which is in the northern part of the Waikato region local government area.
Milton, formerly known as Tokomairiro or Tokomairaro, is a town of over 2,000 people, located on State Highway 1, 50 kilometres to the south of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand. It lies on the floodplain of the Tokomairaro River, one branch of which loops past the north and south ends of the town. This river gives its name to many local features, notably the town's only secondary school, Tokomairiro High School.
The Retaruke River is a river in the North Island of New Zealand. It joins with the Whanganui River at Whakahoro just above Wade's Landing and downstream from Taumarunui. The river flows through the farming communities of Upper and then Lower Retaruke Valley. Downstream from this junction is the Mangapurua Landing with its Bridge to Nowhere, servicing the ill-fated Mangapurua Valley farming community.
The Moehau Range is the northernmost range on the Coromandel Peninsula, extending from the settlement of Colville northwards to the tip of the peninsula. Mount Moehau is the highest point of the range, at 892m above sea level.
Rotowaro was once a small coal mining township approximately 10 km west of Huntly in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The town was built especially for miners houses, but was entirely removed in the 1980s to make way for a large opencast mine.
Harrowfield is a suburb in eastern Hamilton in New Zealand. It was built in about 1991.
Magellan Rise is a new suburb in north-eastern Hamilton in New Zealand. In the 2018 census it is at the boundaries of Flagstaff North, East and South areas and is described by others as Flagstaff.
Ōtorohanga railway station served the town of Ōtorohanga, on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand from 1887 to 2021. The current station dates from 1924.
Huntly Railway Station is on the North Island Main Trunk line and the Awaroa Branch in the town of Huntly in the Waikato District of New Zealand, 65 mi (105 km) south of Auckland. It is 7.31 km (4.54 mi) north of Taupiri and 2.78 km (1.73 mi) south of Kimihia.
Glen Massey is a former mining village, 9.5 km (5.9 mi) west of Ngāruawāhia, which was, until 1958, terminus of the Glen Massey Line. It then went into decline, but is now becoming a home for Hamilton commuters.
Lake Kimihia is located approximately 5 km to the Northeast of Huntly, in the Waikato Region of New Zealand. Lake Kimihia is a riverine lake, which links to the Waikato River.
Lake Waahi is located immediately to the west of Huntly, in the Waikato Region. Lake Waahi is a riverine lake, which links to the Waikato River by way of the short Waahi Stream. The smaller Lake Puketirini lies immediately to Waahi's southeast.
Kimihia Railway Station was on the North Island Main Trunk line, north of Huntly in the Waikato District of New Zealand. The station was in 1886 measured as 19 mi 33 ch (31.2 km) south of Mercer, which is where an unnamed block is shown on the 1929 map, near the junction of Fisher Road with SH1, about 1.4 km (0.87 mi) north of the junction with the Kimihia branch. That junction was 101.06 km (62.80 mi) south of Auckland and 576.54 km (358.25 mi) from Wellington.
The Waro Limestone Scenic Reserve is a conservation area near Waro near Hikurangi, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) north of Whangarei on the North Island of New Zealand.
Lichfield is a rural settlement in the South Waikato District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island.
Hauturu is a village near the eastern shores of the Kawhia Harbour, in the Otorohanga District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island.
Mangapehi was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Waitomo District of New Zealand. It was 5.89 km (3.66 mi) north of Poro-O-Tarao and 5.15 km (3.20 mi) south of Kopaki.
Te Rore was in the 1850s an important transhipment point on New Zealand's Waipā River, between the agriculture of the Waikato basin and its Auckland market. That was ended in 1864 by the Invasion of the Waikato, when Te Rore was, for a few months, part of the supply route to four redoubts set up nearby. It is now a rural community in the Waipa District, 6 km (3.7 mi) north of Pirongia and roughly the same distance south of Ngāhinapōuri on State Highway 39.
The Rhenish lignite mining area, often called the Rhenish mining area for short, is a mining district in the Cologne Bay, on the northwestern edge of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. The mining of lignite using the open pit method has had a significant impact on the landscape here and led to the formation of several important industrial sites. The area includes the Zülpicher and Jülicher Börde, the Erft lowlands and the Ville, making it the largest lignite mining area in Europe. To a lesser extent, clay, silica sand and loess are mined here. The area is the only active lignite mining area in what was West Germany during German partition and contains the mines with the largest surface area, greatest depth, and biggest annual output of coal.
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