MORNING LIGHT REEF WORKINGS
66 HAM STREET GOLDEN GULLY, GREATER BENDIGO CITY
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Statement of Significance
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MORNING LIGHT REEF WORKINGS - History
Contextual History:History of Place:
Heritage Inventory History of Site:
September 1860: Carshalton Reef - This line is improving, at least a dozen claims are in active work; the lead is shallow, and about 17 dwt appears to be about the average yield.
June 1868: From our old reefs there has been more rich quartz crushed than I have known for some time past. Several claims have lately been taken up on the Sarnia, Lawrence, Glasgow, Carshalton, and Bignell reefs, and most of them are doing well.
Period of production - 1876 - 1880 & 1882 -1883.
Dec 1876: Sandhurst Division [N G Stephens] ... The Morning Light Co., in Golden Gully, last week obtained 336ozs. of gold from 10 tons of dressed pyrites.
June 1899: The Napoleon line also runs through the property, which was once famous for the doings of the Morning Light and its tribute companies. The ground produced some 15,000 to 16,000oz. of gold between 1871 and 1884, and considerable quantities before the earlier of those two dates; the records prior to that time having been destroyed in the Beehive fire of 1871. One of the tribute companies, the Hansel Monday, after paying 20 per cent to the parent company, distributed £22,000 in dividends from its workings on the main Carshalton line to a depth of a little over 300 feet, the bulk of the dividends being got from above 150 feet.
1934, 25 October: Modern Methods - Application to Bendigo - Bendigo Mines Ltd - with the advent of Bendigo Mines Ltd to this field an opportunity of seeing what modern appliances and methods mean to gold mining will be afforded. This great and commendable venture, which is introducing more than £1,000,000 of capital from England, America and Australia, plans operations on a scale never attempted on this field. By Bendigo Mines Ltd’s large-scale methods, Bendigo reefs are to be given a great test, and should their enterprise bring the success expected, it should mean a new era for gold mining in Bendigo. The goldfield, with its 500 miles of reefs only partly worked, offers great scope for mining in this manner.
Bendigo Mines Ltd, the parent company of the new venture, has so far floated the Napoleon and Nell Gwynne Companies, and the third company, the Carshalton, is now in the course of flotation
The Napoleon or Glasgow line is situated 200 yards west of the Nell Gwynn anticline. In the nineties the G.G. Consolidated worked on this line, and a report of that time states that the Glasgow Company, which had worked in this locality in the early days, had obtained as much as 40 oz to the ton. In 1899 it was reported that Mr George Lansell possessed 40,000 out of the 49,000 shares of the G.G. Consolidated Company, which had made calls amounting to £53,287 and paid dividents totalling £16,537
A real hive of industry at the moment is the new Napoleon shaft, where about 50 men are employed. One of the features of the work is the shaft, undoubtedly the largest ever sunk on this field. Inside the timber the shaft is 17ft 6in by 5ft 2in and will thus provide for four compartments, two for hoisting, one for pipes and ladderways, and the other for ventilation. A large machine shop has been erected at the Napoleon Mine, incorporating a carpenter’s shop and electrician’s shop. All tool sharpening for the group of mines under control of Bendigo Mines Ltd, will be undertaken at this main shop. Adjacent to the machine shop is the mine offices and store, while in close proximity to the shaft is a changing shed capable of accommodating 150 men. The engine house will be an all-steel structure, housing two air compressor units and a large electrical winding engine. The compressors will also be electrically operated, being of 850cfm capacity. In all phases of the operations of the new venture, electric power will be used wherever possible. This is also a new departure for the Bendigo field, where steam power has always remained a firm favorite. A direct line from the Bendigo power station has been connected to the mine, and the company is to be one of the largest consumers in this district.
1934: Main features for the year 1934, include:
There have been exhaustive geological examinations of the areas, and bold comprehensive plans for prospecting the field, particularly the portion west of the New Chum line, by the Bendigo Mines Limited. Shafts have been commenced on the Napoleon, Carshalton, and Nell Gwynne lines of reef. Each shaft will be equipped with electrically driven machinery early in the new year.
1936: Morning Light - This was sunk to 614feet, and about 2,000 0z. of gold were obtained between 200 feet and 400 feet. From 20,000 tons crushed the yield was 10,000 oz. of gold.Heritage Inventory Description
MORNING LIGHT REEF WORKINGS - Heritage Inventory Description
Morning Light mine site Pyrites Flue (c.1884)/nA 15m section of stone flue runs up the hillside. Its dimensions are 8ft wide and 5ft high. The route of the flue is traceable as an earthen channel for a further 42m, terminating on the hilltop in a circular depression surrounded by brick rubble. Traces of battery sand are to be found in the gully to the south of the surviving section of flue. Winding engine/Battery site (Possibility of three phases of mining plant footings at Morning Light site - 1860s, 1870s and 1930s.)/n35m north of the base of the flue is an intact mullock heap, approximately 40m in diameter and 10m high, with two dumping lines. 20m west of the heap is a machinery site, whose fabric - stone, brick and concrete - suggests three phases of construction. The structural remains are largely buried, but visible is a 10ft-square concrete winder bed, south of which are the remains of a stone engine bed with protruding mounting bolts. Nearby is another partially buried stone bed which appears to have been added to or repaired with later brickwork. Further south is a levelled area with mounds of brick and stone rubble. A dry dam lies above, or west, of the machinery beds.
Heritage Inventory Significance:/nRegional/nThe site has:/nHistorical value, because it:/na)represents a sequence of uses or functions over time: palimpsest of machinery plant covering some 70 years./nb)is part of a group or network of sites, the totality of which is considered to be significant. The network comprises Sites no. 4.12A, 4.12B, 4.13, 4.14 and 4.15./nc)is of considerable age, although precise historical significance of the site is not at present known: more research required to date the flue remnant./nd)is associated with an important period of BendigoÆs mining history, the 1860s - one of the few features of this early period surviving in the region/nScientific value, because it: /na)represents an important mining technology/nb)is a rich archaeological site, with the ability of the site to answer timely and specific archaeological research question./nSocial value, because of the siteÆs importance to the local or wider community, as part of the Diamond Hill Historic Area.
Recorded By: David Bannear. Date recorded: Feb 1992
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GOLCONDA - GLASGOW REEF GOLD MINESVictorian Heritage Register H1359
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GLASGOW AND GOLCONDA MINEVictorian Heritage Inventory
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MORNING LIGHT MINEVictorian Heritage Inventory
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