Back to search results » Back to search page »

SPECIMEN GULLY QUARTZ MINING ASSOCIATION GOLD MINE

Location

SPECIMEN GULLY ROAD BARKERS CREEK, MOUNT ALEXANDER SHIRE

File Number

607535

Level

Registered

[1/2]
SPECIMEN GULLY QUARTZ MINING
[2/2]
1 specimen gully quartz mining

Statement of Significance

The Specimen Gully Quartz Mining Association Gold Mine consists of stone foundations of a chimney stack and flue, and an engine house. Other surviving mine works include a haulage adit, open cut, shafts, carting tracks and a large water dam. These are remnants of quartz mining carried on at the site between 1859 and 1930s. The visible mining foundations appear to date to the mine's earliest period, when the mine was operated by the Specimen Gully Quartz Mining Association, the first public quartz mining company to work on the Castlemaine goldfield.

The Specimen Gully Quartz Mining Association Gold Mine is of historical, archaeological and scientific importance to the State of Victoria.

The Specimen Gully Quartz Mining Association Gold Mine is historically and scientifically important as a characteristic example of an important form of gold mining. Gold mining sites are of crucial importance for the pivotal role they have played since 1851 in the development of Victoria. As well as being a significant producer of Victoria's nineteenth century wealth, quartz mining, with its intensive use of machinery, played an important role in the development of Victorian manufacturing industry. The Specimen Gully Quartz Mining Association Gold Mine is scientifically important for it has some of the earliest quartz mining relics in Victoria, dating from 1859-61 mining operations. The place is also historically important because of its proximity to spot where the first gold on the Castlemaine goldfield was discovered.

The Specimen Gully Quartz Mining Association Gold Mine is archaeologically important for its potential to yield artefacts and evidence which will be able to provide significant information about the technological history of gold mining.

Group