This poppet head (together with the nearby poppet heads of the
Deborah Company 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.
You get a great view of both the chimney stack and the poppet head from a gravel parking area on Eve Street.
Fences surround the mine site along with 'no entry' signs and a warning about dangerous mine shafts and tunnels. Do not enter.
There you'll see a poppet head, foundations, a boiler and a five head stamp battery.
History of the North Deborah Gold Mine
A plaque mounted on the North Deborah chimney stack displays the following text
The North Deborah Gold Mine
1937 ~ 1954
The North Deborah Gold Mine was established on this site on the 28th May, 1937. For an initial cost of £2,000 to erect the plant, plus capital of £37,500, the North Deborah proved to be the most abundant and profitable of all the post Second World War mines in Bendigo. The North Deborah produced 128,000 ounces of gold from 1937 to it's closure on 23rd December 1954. when mine manager E. J. White closed the doors that day, he signalled the end to a great story of gold discovery and production.
The North Deborah was the last mine to operate on the Bendigo goldfield during the initial golden era. It was not until the new century that gold mining would return. This historic chimney was restored by Bendigo Mining Limited in 2006. Along with the poppet head, it is the only visible surface remains of the original North Deborah Mine.
The Victorian Heritage Database provides the following description of the site:
The North Deborah Quartz Gold Mine consists of a steel poppet head, sets of concrete engine beds, an intact
brick chimney stack, and remnants of flues and boiler setting. These are relics of quartz mining carried on at the
site between 1937 and the mid 1950s.
This mine was the 'flagship' of the Bendigo goldfield in the late 1940s (as
Bendigo historian Frank Cusack put it, 'the last in the roll-call of great Bendigo mines'. The historical remains are
unique, due to the survival of the mine's steel poppet head and nearby brick chimney stack.
The North Deborah Quartz Gold Mine is also historically significant in association with the Deborah Mine to the
north, and the Central Deborah Mine to the south, as the only example in Bendigo where the once-common
spectacle of poppet heads marking out the line of a reef, can still be observed.
The North Deborah Quartz Gold Mine is scientifically important due to the survival of the steel poppet head (a
rare type of construction) and in having the only mining-related chimney stack remaining on the Bendigo
goldfield.
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
You may also be interested in checking out the
Beehive Mine in Maldon, where a thirty metre 1863 brick chimney stack remains intact today!
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
