Visit the Deborah Company Historic Area and explore the ruins and remnants of one of Bendigo's most successful gold mines of the 1930s-40s. A steel poppet head, concrete engine beds, and foundations of a twenty-head stamp battery remain at the site.
The Deborah Company operated this mine from 1932 - 1950. It was then purchased by the nearby
North Deborah Company which worked it until 1954. While you're here, definitely take a look at the nearby
North Deborah Historic Area, which lies just down the road from this spot. There you'll see a poppet head, foundations and an intact brick chimney stack.
A shed containing a five-head stamp battery was relocated to this site in the mid 90s, having previously served as the Golden Square State Battery. The shed has an open front covered with steel mesh, so visitors can get a close look at the stamp battery inside.
This poppet head (together with the nearby poppet heads of the
North Deborah and Central Deborah mines) forms a rare example of the once-commonplace sight in the Victorian Goldfields, with multiple poppet heads marking out a line of reef.
Boiler
This is a great spot to see a twin-flue Lancashire boiler, which sits behind the battery shed. A lot of the boilers left lying around throughout the Victorian Goldfields are single-flue Cornish boilers.
An information sign stands at the front of the Deborah Company Historic Area along Abel Street and displays the following text:
Deborah Mine Site
The Deborah Company Mine was one of Bendigo's most successful during the 1930s-40s, producing more than 50,000 ounces of gold and a profit of £386,000. The crushing battery at the mine was powered by a gas-producer, and a powerful steam driven winding engine operated at the mine shaft. The mining machinery and sheds were removed from the site, leaving concrete foundations, the steel popped head, and mullock (waste rock) which are still visible today. The five-head battery now of the site was relocated in 1995 from Golden Square, where it had previously served as a government battery.
A restoration program is being implemented by the Committee of Management controlling the site, with assistance from the City of Greater Bendigo Council and the Deborah Triangle Traders.
The
Victorian Heritage Database provides the following description of the site:
The Deborah Company Quartz Gold Mine consists of a steel poppet head, sets of concrete engine beds,
concrete foundations of a workshop and a 20-head crushing battery. The Deborah Company's operations on the
site span the period 1932-50, when the mine was one of the most successful of Bendigo's (and Victoria's) 1930s
mining revival. The mine and the machinery were subsequently purchased by the adjoining North Deborah
Company, which worked it until 1954. It appears that crushing continued to be carried out at the battery until the
early 1960s. The shed and crushing machinery plant presently on the site are the former Golden Square
government battery, which was relocated to the site in 1996.
The Deborah Company Quartz Gold Mine is of historical, archaeological and scientific importance to the State of
Victoria. The Deborah Company Quartz Gold Mine is historically and scientifically important as a characteristic example
of an important form of gold mining. Gold mining sites are of crucial importance for the pivotal role they have
played since 1851 in the development of Victoria. As well as being a significant producer of Victoria's nineteenth
century wealth, quartz mining, with its intensive reliance on machinery, played an important role in the
development of Victorian manufacturing industry. The Deborah Company Quartz Gold Mine is important as a
manifestation of this facet of gold mining.
The Deborah Company Quartz Gold Mine is also historically significant in association with the North Deborah
Mine to the south, and the Central Deborah Mine (also to the south): jointly they form the only example in
Bendigo where the once-common spectacle of poppet heads marking out a line of a reef, can still be observed.
The Deborah Company Quartz Gold Mine is scientifically important due to the survival of the steel poppet head
and a comprehensive array of foundations relating to one of Bendigo's most important twentieth-century mines.
The site is archaeologically important for its potential to yield artefacts and evidence which will be able to provide
significant information about the technological history of gold mining.
GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE BENDIGO GOLD FIELD, 1923
Geological map of the Bendigo gold field which shows historical features in superb detail, including mine shafts/companies, gullies, lines of reef, dams, and sand heaps. Originally prepared in the Bendigo Office, Mines Department, 1923. High quality, durable A1 print in a satin finish. Large, 594 x 891 mm.
Go to online shop.
SEE ALSO
PROSPECTORS AND MINERS ASSOCIATION VICTORIA
Established in 1980, the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria is a voluntary body created to protect the rights and opportunities of those who wish to prospect, fossick or mine in the State of Victoria, Australia.
You can support the PMAV in their fight to uphold these rights by
becoming a member. You'll also gain access to exclusive publications, field days, prospecting tips, discounts and competitions.
BBQ
Bendigo
