The gold was, in the first instance, obtained from the surface, and was followed to a depth of eight feet ; the bottom was pipe-clay, over which was a layer of light green clay, very tenacious, and thickly studded with gold.
Higher up the hill, a stratum off red conglomerate was found overlying the green clay, which was in places very rich, as much as 14 lbs. weight having been washed from a tin dishful of the dirt.
The thickness of washdirt in the deeper claims varied rom two to five feet, but in some of the shallow claims the whole of the earth, from the surface to the bottom, was taken out and washed. This latter mode of working was termed "paddocking." Where shafts were sunk they were mostly round or oval, the washdirt was taken off the bottom of the shaft, and from the sides as far as could be reached from the shaft by means of a pick and shovel, but no drives were at first put in.
After a time single drives were cut in different directions from the shaft, leaving the blocks of earth between the drives (called "pillars") as supports, there being no timber supports used ; thus only a small portion of the claim was, in the earliest days, worked out by the first parties.
In many instances the layer of cement, when met with in sinking, was mistaken for bottom, or was looked upon as a substances not to be sunk through, and the claims were abandoned.
Many of these shafts were subsequently taken possession of by other parties, but in consequence of the earth about the upper part of the shaft being unsound, it was found necessary to support it by some means.
Mr. Beilby, about the end of the year 1852, conceived the idea of employing saplings for this purpose, and he procured a quantity (about our inches in diameter) from the neighboring hills, cut them into lengths to suit the size of the shaft, fitted the ends and sides together by means of grooves or notches, and placed them in the shaft much in the same manner as slabs are now used in shallow workings.
The depth of sinking at this part of the hill was about twenty-five feet, and wet. Having secured the top of the shaft, they attempted to sink through the cement by means of hammer and gads, but were not able to make much progress, in consequence of the hardness of the cement and the quantity of water, and having nothing but a nail-can to bale with, they were compelled at length to abandon it.
In January, 1853, a shaft near the head of the Red Streak Lead was slabbed with sheets of bark placed perpendicularly against the sides of the shaft, and fixed in position by means of sapling frames.
In March, 1853, a party commenced sinking at the foot of the Golden Point, towards the Gravel Pits Flat, and used split slabs as supports ; these were the first split slabs used ; the sunk through the cement by means of blasting, which operation as at that time regarded as a great novelty.
About this date the first engine arrived, and was erected at the foot of Golden Point, for the purpose of washing everything on a face to the depth off twelve or fourteen feet, by means of sluice and cradle; but the enterprize was abandoned after a short trial, and the engine removed.
Source: The Gold Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria, R. Brough Smyth, 1869.