DOGTOWN (HANS REEF) AREA
MOOMBA SPUR TRACK STIRLING, EAST GIPPSLAND SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
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DOGTOWN (HANS REEF) AREA - History
Heritage Inventory History of Site: Early in 1884, the Jorgensen brothers (ubiquitous Gippsland prospectors) discovered a rich quartz reef on Haunted Stream, about 5 km upstream from the later Stirling township. Their mine was called the Hans, and it went on to become the most important on the goldfield. Almost immediately, a 10-head battery was erected, powered by a 30-ft diameter waterwheel—soon after, a portable Robey steam engine of 10 or 12 hp. was installed for auxiliary power, and a further 5-head battery (Munro & Co., Melbourne) was added. Early yields from the Hans mine—averaging 7 dwt to the ton—do not sound especially promising, but because the ore was plentiful and easy to treat on site, it was considered fairly payable. Mining operations in the Hans–Dogtown vicinity relied on the processing of large quantities of low-grade ore.The mining settlement that grew up around the Hans mine was known as Dogtown. By early 1887, there was an established feel to the place, with good gardens surrounding the miners' huts.The Commotion Reef was discovered in 1886 in one of the Hans leases, but remained virtually unworked until 1894. At that time, an initial crushing of 50 tons yielded 157 oz. A 5-head water-powered battery was installed downstream from the Hans battery, on the opposite side of the stream. Five more stampers were added to the Commotion battery in 1900.In 1895, the Hans mine was idle, although still held under lease by the Jorgensens. Plant at that time included tramways totalling 2,400 ft in length, bringing ore to the battery, as well a firewood tramway and a 325-ft iron-lined ore chute. Cherry and Co. took up some of the Hans ground in 1895, installing their own 10-head battery (later known as Dominey's battery) a little downstream from the Hans plant. In 1902, a Jorgensen Proprietary Co. was formed to work ground adjoining the Hans mine by tunnelling, and their mine paid well for a number of years. The Hans mine itself became active again during the same period. In 1905-6, a steam-powered 20-head battery with four Wilfley concentrating tables was erected, together with a new winding plant at the shaft. The large investment in plant failed to pay off: after two years, the Hans Co. had obtained just 60 oz of gold from 700 tons of ore. The Jorgensen Co. meanwhile employed more than 20 men and achieved consistent yields of ½ oz to the ton, until 1907 when water in their mine proved too much for their equipment. The Hans Co. recommenced work for a couple of years, working on low-grade ore and prospecting for something better. Their main shaft was 360 ft deep and equipped with a winding winch and air compressor; with the help of a government grant in 1909, they acquired a neighbouring lease (Jorgensen Co.?) on which they erected a winding plant and sank a new shaft to 200 ft. The company failed to find payable gold, though, and operations ceased in 1911. Their battery and plant were sold at auction the following year, but the battery's new owners never took it away. Over the years, scrap dealers broke and blew it up and carted most of it away. The Commotion battery met a similar fate.Heritage Inventory Description
DOGTOWN (HANS REEF) AREA - Heritage Inventory Description
Features include two battery sites, Dogtown settlement and the site of the Hans battery and mine workings.
Heritage Inventory Significance: RegionalNetwork valuesùrange of sites
Heritage Inventory Site Features: battery site (1)WaterwheelùWaterwheel pit and mortar block foundations/slots. Heavily looted site with a scatter of artefacts and features including a cam shaft for 10 head of stamps, a shaft and numerous 4ft-wide iron waterwheel paddles. RaceùA water race runs to the site.The Commotion battery was erected on the opposite side of the stream (downstream?) from the Hans battery in 1894. It was water-powered with five head of stamps; five more were added in 1900, making 10 head in all. The mine operated until the early 1900s. Otherwise, this could be the site of Cherry's 1895 battery.dogtown settlementHut sitesùSeveral hut platforms, some with the remains of stone or brick fireplaces, visible from the track. Also one substantial clearing near the Hans mine site.hans battery, mine workings, and cyanide worksOpposite a small clearing (now used as a camping ground and probably once the centre of the Dogtown settlement) is a large benched platform which once housed a battery.BatteryùMortar block foundations and slots for a 20-head battery. The battery itself has been blown up for scrap iron. The platform is littered with machinery fragments, including sections of cam shaft and battery stems. BoilerùA multi-tubular boiler, measuring 16¢ ft x 6 ft. All the tubes have been removed and ends blasted away. The brick and stone boiler setting has been largely demolished. Mine workingsùSeveral adit levels and benched carting tracks above and up the gully from the battery sites.Cyanide worksùOn the opposite side of the stream to the battery site, on the edge of the clearing, is a tailings dump with at least one galvanised iron cyanide vat.A steam-powered 20-head battery was erected on the site in 1905-6. After the Hans mine closed in 1911, the battery was left on the site, but was eventually demolished and largely removed by scrap dealers. An extensive network of tramways may formerly have run along the benched tracks. The cyanide works would date to post-WW1ùprobably 1930sùwhen the tailings from the Hans battery (and probably others in the area) were re-processed. Murray noted in 1887 that the quartz at Haunted Stream was of a pyritous character, requiring treatment by special appliances and processes; but no reference was found to any such plant at the Hans or other mines in the area.battery site (2)Mine workingsùAdit with large mullock heap. A tramway runs from the mine to a battery site.WaterwheelùLargely-buried mortar block foundations, slots and tie bolts for 10 head of stamps, and a partly-buried waterwheel pit. The battery has been blown up for scrap metal.Water raceùA water race runs to the site.Possibly Cherry and Co.'s (later Dominey's) 1895 battery.
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DOGTOWN (HANS REEF) AREAVictorian Heritage Inventory
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