Buster Diggings

Located within Oteake Conservation Park, Buster Diggings is a spectacular sculptural landform created by alluvial gold mining and was once New Zealand’s highest altitude goldfield at 1200m.

Buster Diggings is an extensive complex of high-altitude (1200 m above sea level), alluvial gold workings in the vicinity of Naseby in Central Otago. The diggings were worked from 1863 to the early 1900s and at their peak sustained a population of over 700 people. Because of their altitude and the complexity of providing an adequate water supply they were not able to be worked during winter months. Buster Diggings is managed by the Department of Conservation as an Actively Conserved Historic Place.