old mine is now mapped and recorded :)

[stoyve]

i notice in some of your photos there looks to be recent activity in some of the mines is this a common occurrence and what might the reason for it to be

Gday warrior707,
The recent activity you have seen in some mines is explained this way.
The one you see with red paint is well known by some locals who have parties in there every now and then in the Ist 100 metres .
very few go past that point.
Others you may have noticed black Polly pipe or wire 3 phase power, this is because some of the mines were worked in the 1980s, also Parks Victoria have put some gates on some of the more publicly accessible mines.
About 90-95 percent of the mines that you see on here have been researched and found by members such as Dean, Damo, Hunting the Yellow, myself and others.
Cheers Steve

 

[dean65]

Chewton and nearby goldfields areas are littered with shafts and adits. Entering them is fraught with danger. Old structures can collapse, shafts are often unseen in dark areas and pockets of stale air and toxic gases can be encountered. Not a place for the inexperienced!

 

[PabloP]

You're a crazy b@stard, but thanks for sharing your adventures.

Rob.

 

[MJB]

great pics mate

 

[G0lddigg@]

awesome share as always

 

[Hunting the yellow]

yes lots more to come im still trying to make my book on mines in a certan area but its harder than i throught as i have to map the underground workings and take photos and write the history about them as well as production totals etc but ill tell you this when its done its going to cover over 140 old mines in about 5 diffrent towns and its going to be about 300 pages long

 

[Next1m8]

yes lots more to come im still trying to make my book on mines in a certan area but its harder than i throught as i have to map the underground workings and take photos and write the history about them as well as production totals etc but ill tell you this when its done its going to cover over 140 old mines in about 5 diffrent towns and its going to be about 300 pages long

Can't wait to buy a copy mate, still looking forward to one day joining an expodition I'll learn so much happy exploring and as always be safe mate

 

[dean65]

Chewton is one part of the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park and this national park gets its status because of the remarkable gold mining heritage that is so well preserved.

 

[MJB]

awesome as always...just tell me you sampled those rich looking veins

 

[warrior707]

what do you use the small star pickets for

 

[dean65]

what do you use the small star pickets for

We have then for safety reasons. If someone fell down a shaft we could secure a rope for rescue purposes. We have never had to use them.

 

[dean65]

Fryerstown is a small town in the goldfields region of #Victoria, #Australia. At the 2011 census, Fryerstown and the surrounding area had a population of 320, which peaked at 15,000 during the Victorian gold rush. The Post Office opened on 19 April 1854 as Fryer's Creek, was renamed Fryerstown in 1856, and closed in 1975.

 

[Next1m8]

Nice nearly stacked rocks, great pictures There fellas

 

[user 1769]

I always enjoy watching these posts!

You guys are lucky, over here in Tasmania, many shafts are filled to overflowing with garbage, old car bodies, etc. Even historically significant ones, and more likely so the closer they are to habitation.

Also I'm always surprised to see how dry the mines are. Ours are usually much, much wetter, often the timbers are completely rotten!

Cheers!

 

[Varts]

This is a crazy world ,so these mines all hand dug ,
I can't imagine getting gold fever in one of these mines back in the day ,
You find a good pocket ,the shaft is so dangerous,you want that gold!
Many lives must have been lost,taken to the surface ,and the dig would continue.

It must of been a very hard life ,these guys would need the gold to get by.and to feed there families aswell.
WOW.

Thanks for sharing these stories and pictures mate ,me being a bit clostrofobic,I would never see the past like this .

 

[dean65]

The Mines , near Ballarat , slowly withdraw back into the earth, taking along their secrets and memories. Not a place for the inexperienced!

 

[dean65]

In September 1859 the earliest deep-lead alluvial company, the Try Again, acquired a forty-nine-acre lease in the Devils Kitchen, and drove the first tunnel into the cliffs. By this time, Patersons Crescent had become the Devils Kitchen, Mount Yeerup had become Mount Erip, and the Spindella had become the Springdallah Creek. - See more at: http://prov.vic.gov.au/publications/provenance/provenance2013/piggoreet#sthash.GpwQTZwW.dpuf

 

[dean65]

Chewton is one part of the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park and this national park gets its status because of the remarkable gold mining heritage that is so well preserved.

 

[MJB]

great pics.....amazing how neat they stacked the rocks

 

[goldtruck59]

thanks these pics are fab
always wanted to see down these mines but not able to do it myself.
have you found many relics from yesterday?
Cheers GT