Bendigo General History - Department of Planning and Community ...

Quartz miners 1350 2 1352
Total 2130 602 2732
The machinery is as follows:
Alluvial Mining:
Puddling mills, 220 at work, 20 idle
Quartz Mining:
Steam engines, 61 at work, 8 idle, 739 stamp heads, 1286hp
Total value of machinery £164,100
Square miles of alluvial ground, 7
No of distinct auriferous reefs, 79
Great activity has prevailed in mining operations in consequence of our having a supply of water.
Nearly all the crushing machines have been in full work, and the quartz in many instances, especially
from the old lines, the New Chum, Victoria, Hustler’s, and Comet have yielded most satisfactorily,
and at depths varying from 200 to 350 feet. The Hustler’s Reef Company are adding crushing
machinery to their plant and in many instances winding and pumping engines are being erected, in
order to abridge labour as much as possible, and facilitate the working of the mines. The Energetic
Company have recently opened a reef on the Hercules line (Victoria Reef), which yields splendidly
and they are about to erect a winding and pumping engine ... The Great Extended Hustler’s Reef
Company are also erecting powerful machinery on their claim. A great many companies have
resumed operations since water was obtained, and some contributed largely to our returns; but many
of the new companies as yet have been anything but successful. New prospecting claims - Dicken’s
Reef, head of Long Gully; Willie Davis’s Reef, head of Kangaroo Gully; Sherwood Reef, Kangaroo
Flat, and Don Juan Reef, near the Big Hill. Alluvial mining, though not so prosperous as formerly,
affords employment to a considerable number of persons, but a great many puddling machines have
been abandoned. No tailings have been crushed, but large quantities have been purchased for the
purpose of subjecting them to Brissendon’s patent for the extraction of gold, which will, if
successful, afford employment to a great number of persons, and add largely to the resources of the
district. 1
June 1866:
Eaglehawk Division. [G W Hart]
The total number of miners is as follows:
European Chinese Total for the Subdivision
Alluvial miners 3210 500 3710
Quartz miners 1242 1242
Total 4452 500 4952
The machinery is as follows:
Alluvial Mining:
Steam engines, 28 at work, 249 stamps, 365hp
Puddling mills, 171 at work, 36 idle
Quartz Mining:
Steam engines, 33 at work, 4 idle, 307 stamp heads, 599hp
Total value of machinery £150,000
Square miles of alluvial ground, 6 1/2
No of distinct auriferous reefs, 67
1 Mining Surveyors’ Reports, June 1866