Geology and Minerals

Dun Mountain–Maitai terrane

The Dun Mountain–Maitai terrane comprises the Dun Mountain ophiolite belt (also called the mineral belt), Maitai group, and Patuki mélange. The Dun Mountain Ophiolite is an ophiolite of Permian age located in New Zealand's South Island. Prehistorically this ophiolite was quarried by Māori for both metasomatized argillite and pounamu (jade) which was used in the production of tools and jewellery. In the late 1800s, the Dun Mountain ophiolite belt was surveyed for its economic potential. During this time the rock types dunite and rodingite (after Dun Mountain and the Roding River) were first named. Discovery of economic deposits of chromite near Nelson lead to the building of New Zealand’s first railway, however, extraction only occurred between 1862 and 1866. In the 20th century, serpentinite was mined for fertiliser and the ophiolite remains one of New Zealand's main sources of pounamu (jade), but all other mineral exploration has failed to find economic deposits.

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See also

• ▸Geology of South Australia
• ▸Great Sioux War of 1876
• ▸Abraham Gottlob Werner

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