BORHONEYGHURK COMPANY
GRANTS LANE MORRISONS, MOORABOOL SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
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BORHONEYGHURK COMPANY - History
Contextual History:History of Place:
Heritage Inventory History of Site:
The first gold discoveries in the Steiglitz Mining Division were along the Moorabool River, near Morrison’s Station; at Dollys Creek; and in the vicinity of Steiglitz itself. The focus of alluvial mining were on the two first localities, where miners found gold in high terrace Teritiary gravels. These gravels, commonly referred to as cement, were deposited up to 40 million years ago. They were, in fact, the remnants of ancient river systems. By 1858, miners at Morrison’s were vigorously tunnelling under the basalt along western bank of the Moorabool.
The Morrison’s and adjoining Tea Tree diggings had a very intensive cement mining, involving shaft sinking, tunnelling and the treatment of material in sluice boxes and puddlers. Initially only rich deposits on the west side or Moorabool River, and up Tea Tree Creek, were worked, but in 1864, tow rushes Evan’s and Wallace’s opened up extensive deposits along the east bank of the Moorabool. By 1863, the Lal Lal water race had been extended to Morrisons and the mining registrar felt that it enabled miners to wash with profit about 50% more material than previously treated.
By 1866m alluvial mining on the Morrison’s field was declining. The miners had by this time treated most of the easily won auriferous material. Attempting to arrest the decline on the field, two companies Gold Rivers and Borhoneyghurk embarked on ambitious new mining ventures. The former sunk a shaft (beyong 400 feet) and extended numerous drives in order to discover the continuation of the rich Ballarat deep leads; and the latter, installed the division’s largest crushing plant, a 70hp steam engine and 28-head of stamps to crush cement deposits. In June 1866, the registrar reported that the failure of the crushing works had caused a severe mining depression in the area.
With a general decline in quartz mining in the mid 1870s, alluvial mining revived. The focus of the work was Dolly’s Creek and Morrisons where miners again relied on the water from the Lal Lal race. By this time the race appears to have been taken over by the government. The renewal of activity was brief.
References: Mining Surveyors Quarterly Reports: October 1863, June 1865, June 1866, June 1874, June 1876.Heritage Inventory Description
BORHONEYGHURK COMPANY - Heritage Inventory Description
Heritage Inventory Significance:/nState
Recorded By: David Bannear Date recorded: July 1994 Heritage Inventory Key Components: /n Battery: Benched platform, obscured by black berry bushes, which contains a massive stone engine bed. The engine bed is 26ft x 5ft, 9ft high and has 3 inch mounting bolts. The bed is constructed of stone blocks and concrete mortar and is capped with a solid bed of basalt blocks. Possibility of obscured or buried foundations.
Tailing dumps: Below the benched platform is a large dump of crushed pebbles.
Golden Rivers Company : Mullock heap: 200 metres up (west) Tea Tree Creek from battery site, north side, is intact mullock heap with several dumping lines. No machinery foundations visible.
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BORHONEYGHURK COMPANYVictorian Heritage Inventory
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