Macraes, formerly known as Macraes Flat, and known in Māori as Ōtī,
Place names
'' on Kāti Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki website, viewed 2012-01-04 is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in the

Waitaki District Waitaki District is a territorial authority district that is located in the Canterbury and Otago regions of the South Island of New Zealand. It straddles the traditional border between the two regions, the Waitaki River, and its seat is Oamaru. ...

in Otago,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is known as a mining town, with a long history of gold extraction. The town sits 55 km north of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

in New Zealand's South Island. The

Macraes Mine Macraes Mine in East Otago is New Zealand's largest gold mine, and consists of a large scale opencast mine opened in 1990, and a newer underground mine, opened in 2008.New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's largest gold mine, is nearby. Macraes Flat stamp mill, Otago, New Zealand

The settlement was named after John McRae, who lived in the area in the late 1850s before gold was discovered nearby. In 2015 the name of the town was officially altered from Macraes Flat to Macraes.

References

Waitaki District Populated places in Otago Mining communities in New Zealand {{Otago-geo-stub