Marlborough gold mining licence being auctioned online

A LICENCE for a remote gold mining claim located at the tip of the South Island has been listed for online auction at a starting price of $75,000.

The mining licence comes with a hut and 5km of river in Marlborough — most of which has not been worked on for more than 100 years, according to the listing.

Wakamarina River, where the hut is located, was considered the fourthrichest river in the world in the 1860s based on its size. During the gold rush it was swarmed by miners panning for the precious metal, which eventually spread to the West Coast.

Today there are several mining licences for the Wakamarina River.

‘‘[The river] is now patchy because of the gold rushes of 155 years ago; however, rich crevices are still being discovered [we have found a few] and it contains heavy nuggets,’’ the listing says.

The licence expires in January 2026 and owner Paul Bensemann said he and his partner are giving the rights up as they are now in their 60s.

Mr Bensemann said he last found gold in the river on Saturday, though it was only ‘‘one little piece’’.

‘‘It’s more of a hobby claim; this is not a big business. You can find big nuggets up there but it’s not something that happens every day.’’

The owners are also selling a mining licence for a smaller portion of the river, listed for a starting price of $40,000.

According to the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966, gold was first found in the Wakamarina River in 1864. About that time, 778kg of gold was panned.

Following the first prospectors discovering gold just weeks later, there were around 4000 miners, mostly Australians, working on the river.

The mining licence was previously up for sale in 2010. That’s when Mr Bensemann found his partner.

‘‘I’m very, very reluctant to sell this claim. I went up there with my dad when I was a toddler and I’ve been going up that river all my life,’’ Mr Bensemann said.

His portion of the river does not have road access — one of the reasons he believes there is still gold there.

‘‘It’s all in native bush . . . and it’s an absolutely beautiful area.’’.