The Poverty Mine Monument stands alongside the impressive remains of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Tarnagulla, Victoria.
A miniature poppet head stands atop the stone monument and a plaque displays the following text:
This reef was discovered by New Zealanders from Poverty Bay and called Poverty Reef
1852 - 53
13 1/2 tons or 324,000 oz. of gold was obtained
Erected by the citizens of Tarnagulla
The Earth Resources website provides a report on the Tarnagulla Goldfield, and the abstract includes a description of Poverty Reef:
The Poverty reef dominated the field for high grade and gold yield. From 1853 - 1866 360,000 oz (11,197 kg) of gold were mined from the "Bonanza Shoot" of 122,000 tonnes (an average head grade of 92 g/t), at the north end of the Poverty reef.
Reef Mining N.L. discovered a second high-grade shoot at the south end of the Poverty reef in 1994. The vertical shoot, named the Nick O' Time Shoot (NO'T) has been mined from the top (70 m below surface) to a depth of 250 m via a decline, for a yield of 57,400 tonnes @ 29.1 g/t; 53,000 oz (March, 2000).
(Source: Earth Resources)
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Tarnagulla
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