UNITED MINERS MINE AND BATTERY SITE
GRAVEYARD GULLY HARRIETVILLE, ALPINE SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
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UNITED MINERS MINE AND BATTERY SITE - History
Heritage Inventory History of Site:
Discovered in 1866, the United Miners Reef had produced nearly 20,000 oz by 1874, nearly half of it in the first three years' mining. The reef straddled the Omeo Road, about 3 km south of Harrietville and was traced along the surface of the spur for about 150 metres. Initially it was worked by shaft, then by a series of five adits, No. 5 being the lowest.
A 10-head battery was erected at the mine in late 1867, and in its first ten months' crushing the mine paid dividends in excess of £16,000. In 1868, appliances were added to the battery to aid in the separatation of gold from the pyrites in the ore. High-level production continued until 1874, when the gold cut out. The Admiral Co. worked No. 5 tunnel from 1877 into the next decade, erecting a battery which saw very little work. Very little gold was produced after 1875. Nonetheless, the early success of the United Miners mine made it by far the biggest gold producer at Harrietville during the 1870s. It was considered at the time one of the 'most important and valuable mines' in the entire Buckland Mining Division.
The United Miners Reef was worked in a small way during the late 1880s and early 1890s. The Port Melbourne Co., working the mine in 1894, was considering installing a (new/additional?) battery. Soon after, the mine was sold to the large Harrietville Co., which appears not to have worked it. The mine was prospected from 1910-13, but no more gold was forthcoming. The United Miners was finished.Heritage Inventory Description
UNITED MINERS MINE AND BATTERY SITE - Heritage Inventory Description
/nAdmiral Company, United Miners battery Mine workings - Five levels of adits. No. 4 adit is open, with a post and rail door and a large mullock heap. The battery is located below the No. 5 adit. Battery site - On a benched platform is a portable steam engine. The engine's boiler is in fair condition, although its flue has gone and the smoke box has rusted. The engine has two cylinders, each 7 inches in diameter and 17 inches long. The engine itself is 11 ft long. The firebox door is still in place, but a tree has fallen across the engine and smashed its fly wheel. The back wheels of the engine have been removed and lie (obscured by ferns) near the engine, their hubs still bearing traces of red paint. The battery itself has been removed from the site - only a few artefacts remain to indicate its former presence. Forge - A well-preserved stone forge is located near the back wheels.
Heritage Inventory Significance: National Estate. The site has scientific significance, as possibly the oldest portable steam engine still surviving on the Victorian goldfields. Network value - as part of the east Ovens group of mines.
Archeological Potential: High
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UNITED MINERS MINE AND BATTERY SITEVictorian Heritage Inventory
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