Pink Cliffs Geological Reserve

Once a hydraulic sluicing site, mining activity in the late 19th century washed away the top layer of earth and revealed the dramatic, colourful cliffs on display today. 

What is Hydraulic Sluicing?

Visiting the Pink Cliffs Geological Reserve

THE MINING PROCESS

Prior to the discovery of gold, this area was open box forest growing on red-brown soil over a layer of gravel. The first nuggets of gold were found in 1852 and sluicing began using the creek to wash the gold-laden soil.

In 1887 Hedley and the Hon JA Wallace began experimenting with hydraulic sluicing by pumping, instead of relying on the pressure gained from the gravity fed water race.

In 1887 sludge in the creek became a significant problem and The Sludge Inquiry Board was formed. In 1890 the Heathcote Sluicing Company's mining lease was not renewed due mainly to the decisions made by The Sludge Inquiry Board.

The colour kaleidoscope you can see today is the remaining granite sliced through with reddish brown cracks filled with quartz. 

The surface fine granite was washed by percolating ground water containing sodium, chlorides and carbonates, which helped to dissolve the iron ore minerals and weather the granite.

In the process, the granite became stained with iron rich solutions, the colour intensity being directly related to the amounts of iron ore minerals within the cracks. 

Erosion has proceeded at such a rate that the present surface still resembles a moonscape. 

For further information call into the Heathcote Visitor Information Centre, cnr High (main street) and Barrack Street, Heathcote.

HEDLEY'S WATER RACE

"The water was conducted to the sluicing site in an open channel which followed the contour of the ground to a well constructed flume, made of three sawn planks about twelve inches wide and one inch thick. 

Then it went into a heavy canvas hose, to increase the pressure and at the end of the hose there was a nozzle made of stout galvanized iron tipped with cast iron." - JO Randall, 'McIvor'

In 1865 the McIvor Hydraulic and Gold Mining Co began constructing a water race from the headwaters of the McIvor Creek near Mt Sugarloaf at Tooborac, to convey water 'at a sufficient elevation to command the whole McIvor gold field'. 

The race anticipated to carry six million gallons per day, to operate 60 sluice heads. 

Initially only seven miles (about 11 km) was to be constructed. This required tunnelling for short distances, construction of flumes or aqueducts accross gullies as well as the formation of the race walls. 

The engineering feat of creating the fall of the water along the length of the race was measured using a beer bottle containing water as a 'level'.

In 1874 Thomas Hedley continued the water race to bring water to a holding dam he constructed in Long Gully (known now as Hedley's Dam) and on to Red Hill - a distance of 26 miles (about 42 km)

THE MINERS

In 1865 there were around 1200 European miners and 70 Chinese miners on the Heathcote goldfields.

Miners came from Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland) and Europe (Germany, France, Italy, Scandinavia, Croatia, Russia and Spain). 

There were also Cornish miners and others from South Africa, China, South America (Chile) and North America. 

Some of these men were colourful characters - sailors leaving their ships, young men leaving their jobs or farms to seek their fortunes. 

Dutch and Irish miners would fire pistols in the air at night to indicate that they had guns to defend their gold. As a result, large numbers of pistol balls are still found by fossickers. 

Many of the women who accompanied their husbands or fathers to the goldfields proved to be excellent businesswomen, setting themselves up as bar owners or washer women, or providing hot meals to the many hungry miners at the end of the day. 

As access to gold became more difficult and the alluvial gold became scarce, many of the miners moved on to other goldfields or became employees in the growing deep mining operations that grew as surface gold became scarce. 

Some of the miners turned to the land and sought to make a living as farmers. 

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