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CASSILIS GOLD MINING COMPANY TREATMENT WORKS

Other Name CASSILIS COMPANY Location BAYLISS SPUR ROAD SWIFTS CREEK, EAST GIPPSLAND SHIRE File Number HER/2001/000482 Level Registered

[1/4] CASSILIS GOLD MINING COMPANY [2/4] CASSILIS GOLD MINING COMPANY [3/4] 1 cassilis gold treatment [4/4] cassilis plan

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Cassilis GMC treatment works is in Power's Gully. It is the site of mining operations carried out from 1897 to 1916 and the elaborate plant and processes used to extract gold from heavily mineralised ore. Steam was first used to power the machinery at the site but a shortage - and consequent high cost - of firewood led to the company constructing a hydro-electric scheme. The power station operated from Victoria River. The scheme was completed in 1907, and by 1909 all steam engines had been replaced with electric motors. The significant visible components of the site include but are not limited to:
* Electricity substation.
* Loading ramp, which was fed by a tramway that runs around the spur to the mine workings.
* Battery foundations including mortar blocks and engine beds.
* Concrete vat piers and adjoining dump of treated battery sand.
* Brick and stone retaining wall.
* Brick and concrete-rendered vats and associated raised tailings pond.
* Riveted iron furnace lined with red fire bricks.
* Furnace bed.
* Remnant of large flue.

How is it significant?
The Cassilis GMC treatment works is of historical and scientific significance to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?
The Cassilis GMC treatment works is historically important as the largest and most successful mine to operate on the Cassilis field and due to its association with the construction of Victoria's first gold related hydro-electric scheme. The power station was located 27kms away, near the Victoria Falls on the Cobungra River.

The Cassilis GMC treatment works is scientifically important for the survival of a range of relics documenting the transition from steam-power to electric-power. No other historic gold mine in Victoria can match the site in documenting this transition or the underlying engineering ingenuity to achieve the switch from steam power to electric power. The site also is also significant due to its archaeological potential to yield relics associated with turn-of-the century gold mining technology.