While you're exploring Kingower, be sure to head over the historic bridge on Kingower-Brenanah Road and into the Kooyoora State Park to check out the remnants of the Union Reef workings.
The site is marked by a sign. On the left side of the road you'll find a remarkable stone Cobb & Co well, and on the right you'll find Union Reef.
If you head up the small hill you will come to a small but striking open cut. There is also a puddling machine down from the hill, and old diggings along Levers Gully.
Brief History of Union Reef
This reef was discovered in the mid 1850s, and was worked by various small claim holders.
From around 1860 onwards, mining companies worked the reef, including the Amalgamated Co., National Quartz Mining Co., Kingower Quartz Mining Co., and Union Co.
Puddling machine at Union Reef
The Union Reef site holds the remains of an old puddling machine, pictured above, which is fairly well defined but has a tree growing in it.
The Gold Fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria, 1869, provides the following description of a puddling machine:
A puddling machine consists of a circular space, the sides and bottom
which are lined with iron or laths of hardwood, with a perpendicular
shaft moved by steam or horse-power, working in the centre of a circle.
To the shaft are attached two harrows, which are dragged around the circular space, puddling the washdirt with which it is charged. Water is supplied in sufficient quantities to
keep the charge in such a condition as to admit of its being puddled by
the action of the harrows. The gold is left in the bottom of the
circular space, and is finally cleaned by panning.
Gold prospecting at kingower's Union Reef
Gold prospecting is permitted at Union Reef, as it lies withing the area of the Kooyoora State Park where prospecting is allowed.
For more information on prospecting in Victoria's state and national parks,
check out this page.
Cobb & Co Well
The
19th century stone-lined well in Kingower was used by Cobb
& Co for their animals travelling along this route. The well is 11
feet in diameter and at least 10 feet deep, and stands alongside
Kingower-Brenanah Road at the Western Road turnoff.
The well is marked by a roadside sign, which also points to the
Union Reef Mine site on the opposite side of the road to the well.
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
Kingower
