Ore bucket; RM75
Ore bucket
About this objectIron, 30cm tall, 25cm diameter, holed, metal handle. This battered and rusted piece of ironmongery is a relic of the manganese mining days. These mines in the bowels of Tikitikiora "Mountain" (or more correctly, Tikitikioure) worked from about 1872 to the '90s. Tikitikioure rises above the junction of the Whangarei and Aucks Roads a few miles out of Russell. The loop in the handle of the bucket was for hanging it on the hooks of the endless chain which carried the ore from the slopes down to the shore where it was sorted (the children's work) and loaded into lighters. The lighters took it across Orongo Bay's shallow, tidal flats to the overseas ships anchored off Russell. This bucket is a small one of its kind. The old people say that the usual size was about six times as big as this. It was found in one of the old shafts and presented to the Museum by Mr L Hirst of Russell.
Credit LinePresented by Mr L Hirst, Russell
Object numberRM75
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