Figure 49: Karangahake, circa 1900. Inset: Diagram of a typical stamper battery.

Reefs lie on the upper reaches of the Komata River east of Paeroa and to the north-west of Waitekauri township. Both fields lie in the Ohinemuri 20 block, which was the last subdivision of the Ohinemuri block to be investigated by the Native Land Court, largely because of Tukukino’s resistance. The block was created and title investigated in August 1884, and title was reheard in 1885.

The Waitekauri Valley was prospected prior to 1870, presumably under extra-legal private arrangements. Some claims were pegged out in 1875 and several were amalgamated to form