The Bendigo Goldfields region of Central Otago is an historic area comprising several former mining settlements in the southern South Island of New Zealand.

These miners brought with them a rich diversity of cultures from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Sweden, China, Australia, Canada, and the United States.

A bonus for visitors is the magnificent view of the Pisa Range across the upper Clutha Valley, and north towards the mountains beyond Lake Hāwea.

Logantown and Welshtown would eventually become part of the wider Bendigo site of alluvial mining when quartz miners drove dozens of shafts into the hills.

[5] Within the Bendigo Scenic Reserve there are several walks with a number of interpretative panels, ranging from short wanders to a 5-hour loop trail.

Several stone building ruins, vertical shafts, adits, numerous battery sites, water races, pipelines, and the remains of several wooden drays may be seen in the area.

[7] With reports of significant quartz finds people flocked to Bendigo (44°55′30″S 169°20′40″E / 44.92500°S 169.34444°E / -44.92500; 169.34444), but it would not be until 1869 that the Provincial Government was forced to survey and lay out an official town.

By December 1869, a thriving town had built up on an area of flat ground midway between Logan's and Colclough's reefs; this became known as Logantown (44°56′5″S 169°22′5″E / 44.93472°S 169.36806°E / -44.93472; 169.36806).

[8] Logantown continued as a much smaller settlement through the remainder of the 1870s and by 1878 was reported by the Dunstan Times newspaper to consist of a hotel, a butchery, and a few huts.

Further up the road from Logantown, on the crest of Bendigo Hill, was the settlement of Welshtown (44°56′25″S 169°22′10″E / 44.94028°S 169.36944°E / -44.94028; 169.36944), so-named due to the predominance of Welsh miners.

It is the only instance of such action in any industrial conflict in New Zealand's history in which each miner whose house, hut, or cottage was built on the 16½ acres of the Cromwell Company lease (half of Bendigo's Welshtown) had their homes destroyed.

[9][11] Some of the remains of houses demolished by the Cromwell Company bear testament to this dark period of Bendigo's history, reminiscent of the Irish Land Wars and Scottish Highland Clearances.

Although the first gold to be discovered in Bendigo was alluvial in origin, the greatest rewards would come from the quartz reefs in the nearby hills.

A party of miners used Thomson's Saddle, an old Māori greenstone trail over the Dunstan Mountains, in order to take the ferry across the Clutha River at Wakefield (now known as Crippletown[10]) near Rocky Point, on their way to the Shotover, Arrow, and Cardrona goldfields.

In 1863, Logan began to prospect the lower slopes of Bendigo Hill, searching for quartz reefs from which the alluvial gold had been liberated.

[8]: 126  The generally held belief at this point is that Logan felt the businessmen were treating him unfairly, and he subsequently led them to poor ground causing them to eventually withdrawal from the project.

Together with William John 'Jack' Garrett, Brian 'Charcoal Joe' Hebden and George Goodger, he formed the Cromwell Quartz Mining Company.

Some parts of it yielded as much as six ounces of gold to the ton, and as the stone was generally friable, great quantities of it could be extracted and put through the stamper daily.

By 1871 the mine was on tribute, but within six months they abandoned the underground workings, and it was decided to sluice the gravels of the neighbouring terrace for gold.

[6] Although he discovered it, Williams played little part in the subsequent development of the mine, instead moving to the Carrick Range as a principal share holder in the Young Australian Company.

A third attempt to reopen the mine in 1912 resulted in the erection of an aerial cableway which lowered the quartz ore to the old Come in Time battery.

[22] Coal carrier John Kane discovered a gold-bearing quartz reef in a small tributary to the east of the Rise and Shine Creek in June 1880, while on a delivery run from Bannockburn.

[23][15] Kane went into business with William Cameron to mine the quartz reef, purchasing the abandoned Eureka Battery on the slope above and shifting it to its current location.

In June 1908 a new Come in Time Mining Company was formed,[8] and half of the 20-stamp Matilda Battery was moved from nearby Logantown to the site.

Lidston formed the Jubilee Syndicate which started with a 2-head battery and a shaft dug 40 ft (12 m) deep before yields dropped to 0.5 t oz (15.5 g) per ton.

Despite this, the Jubilee Syndicate bought and moved the 5-stamp Young Elephant battery from Thomson Gorge and continued to work their original claim.

A newly formed Shine Again Gold Mining Company worked the reef from January 1938 onward using a 5-stamp battery originally from the Stoneburn near Dunback.

Following the filling of Lake Dunstan in 1993, the dredge ladder became redundant and was moved to its current resting place overlooking its original Bendigo working area in July 2012.

[7][25] For three years he laboured single-handed at stacking a huge pile of boulders along the bank of the creek with the aim of getting down to the pay dirt at the bottom, only to have it buried beneath a deep layer of stones in a flash flood.

The shear zone occurs in the footwall of the Thomson Gorge Fault[1] trending northwest–southeast, along which the Rise and Shine Creek is confined.